Season 2 opens with Renee preparing to have the surgery. A little off here.. a little off there.. and a tush.  After going through the skin peel with her plastic surgeon last season, you’d think she’d have second thoughts using the same dude. Especially since he looks like having an office in a strip mall would be a step up. Come on, Renee! Did you check to see if his diploma was written in a foreign language? You a stone’s throw away from Manhatten and with the bank you made during the first season, why put yourself at risk?

The recovery doesn’t go well. At all. Renee is in A LOT of pain and the meds they’re giving her (advil? motrin?) aren’t working. Her attempt at sitting up causes all the stitches in her back to open.. losing over 6 pints of blood in the process and she is rushed to an emergency room for a transfusion and later, an infection. All told, she spent 16 days in the hospital without a tush to be had.

I felt horrible for her 17 year old son, AJ .. obviously worried while him mom was IN surgery, but to see her going through what she did and almost die in the process just added more to an already heavy plate.

By only the grace of God, Renee does recover and realizes that the plastic surgery was “.. the dumbest thing I ever done.” In a conversation with Karen, she asks her not to tell the “skinny” bitches (Drita and Carla) that she should have just gone to the gym to lose the 35lbs.

Renee is also pissed that Carla, the one Mob Wife she’s known the longest, never called or visited her. Yes, she sent a text on the day of the surgery but nothing since. Renee feels hurt and that their friendship should trump any fights they’ve had in the past. One being Renee telling Carla that Carla’s boyfriend touched her in an inappropriate way.

In the mean time Drita, coming to terms with her husband cheating on her and resolving herself to divorce him, goes to the gym to take boxing lessons. She knows her behavior on the roof top with Karen during the season 1 finale .. along with the desire to make the face of the woman her huband cheated with resemble silly putty.. is not in her, nor her daughters, best interest. She wants a healthier way of dealing with her aggression. During her training session, the trainer tells her that her punch is stronger then a man’s. Was I the only one thinking that that is NOT a piece of info Drita should have?

But in an attempt to try to put the past behind her, Drita texts Karen and basically says that she things they should meet and talk about what happened. Don’t quote me here but I think Drita may have even said she was wrong to act the way she did. I also think she mentioned something about making amends for the sake of their daughters.

Karen, at the time, is having lunch.. or drinks.. or lunch and drinks.. with her “cousin”, newest Mob Wife Ramona Rizzo. Although not related by blood, Karen and Ramona have been friends since the crib so they refer to themselves as cousins. Karen reads the text aloud and Ramona right away starts telling Karen about all the rumors she’s heard about Drita putting Karen on her ass. Karen then relays the rumors SHE’s heard about Drita putting her on her ass.

So what does this fairly intelligent author do when confronted by rumor? Believes them, of course.

She assumes that the reason Drita is holding out the olive branch is because Renee is going to have a party to celebrate the fact that she didn’t die after surgery and made Karen promise not to start shit with Drita.  Karen believes that Drita knows Karen will be at the party and that her text is being cowardly.

Renee had also called Drita about the party.. and also to tell her that she wasn’t going to invite Carla. Renee had resumed therapy with a new therapist.

I have to say here that I feel horrible for Renee. She is so much a little girl trapped in the body of a woman who doesn’t know.. and is a little afraid.. to be who she IS, not who she was TOLD to be.

She’s extemely hurt by Carla’s non-actions. The therapist agrees that Carla ignoring Renee’s ordeal shouldn’t slide, he asks her what she intends to do about it. Break her jaw and have it wired, of course! Um.. no. How about just not being near her was the therapists suggestion.

.. so Renee calls Drita and tells her about the party. She also tells her that she isn’t inviting Carla and that Karen will be there. Drita mentions that she and Karen need to talk but Renee, again, makes HER promise to not have any rumbles at the party. Drita agrees. Then goes have drinks.. or lunch.. or lunch and drinks.. with Carla to tell her of her non-invite.

Carla insists she wasn’t aware of how bad off Renee was. No one contacted her. Drita reiterates that SHE was instructed to NOT tell anyone of Karen’s condition. So what’s a girl to do? Why, call Renee a bipoar bitch.. that’s what.

The day of the party comes and Drita is going alone. No back up.

Karen is taking her fri-ousin, Ramona who insists that Karen CAN’T (hand slap) BE (hand slap) NICE (hand slap). Apparently there are issues between Drita and Ramona, too. If there wasn’t, why have Ramona on the show in the first place, right?

Drita gets to the party first and is standing by the bar when Karen and Ramona come in. Karen says something to Drita about Karen being the last person she’d want standing behind her.. or something like that. I’m doing this from memory so forgive me.. Drita moves away.

Renee enters the party fashionably late wearing a dress that reminded me of the green JLo dress. Only Renee’s is shorter in length and not so neck plungy. She looked good though.. She’s all excited and exclaiming how she didn’t know she had that many friends :: but.. um.. didn’t you invite them all? :: She also see’s the big smile on her ex-husband Junior’s face and explains that even though she was done with him, he was there for her and had her back.

Dying to make trouble Ramona tells Karen that Drita is avoiding her like the plague. Karen says that out of respect for Renee and her party, she wasn’t going to start anything with Drita. Not being one to back down from anything, I’m surmising that Drita felt the same way.

She wasn’t running FROM Karen.. she was avoiding knocking her on her ass. Get with the program, Ramona!

Even though Renee made both of the promise to stay out of each other’s way, she gets annoyed when she see’s them on opposite sides of the room.. staying out of each other’s way.

Like.. WHAT??

So she does what any delusional person does.. she gets on the microphone and calls “her girls” on stage. Karen readily joins her but Drita.. well, Drita knows herself.. and knows that Renee is fucking nuts.. so instead of going up on stage, she goes out on the balcony.

Karen sees this as a slap in the face.. that Drita is making it known that she has an issue with Karen.

Like.. WHAT?? Can you be anymore full of yourself, girl?

In interview, Drita says that what Renee did was wrong. And I agree. You asked them to stay away.. they stayed away.. and then you want to put them together?

Anyway… Drita is joined on the balcony by Big Ang.

I have no words to describe Big Ang.. you’ll just have to be witness to her yourself. Plus, I don’t want to run the risk of her tracking me down!! LoL .. half LOL anyway!

Drita tells Big Ang that her and Karen fell out and that she wants to talk to her to try and make amends. Big Ang go back into the party and asks Karen to go out on the balcony and talk with Drita.

She goes.. along with Ramona.

When Renee sees this, she worries that one of them will be flipped over the balcony.

Next Week: Brawl on the balcony… Ramona with a bloody mouth.. Renee screaming to go home and Junior punching a car window. 

Karen.. Drita.. Carla.. Renee

.. When Mob Wives first premiered on VH1 last year, I’ll admit I rolled my eyes. You know me.. I’m all about reality shows but growing up an Italian in South Philly during the 80′s hayday of bubble gum gangsters and daily mob hits during Federal trials I was like.. yea, no thanks.

But during the 4 days I had off over the Christmas holiday, VH1 put the whole first season On Demand and because I was able to stay up until 3 or 4 am without worrying about dragging my ass out of bed for work.. and because I had already watched everything I wanted to watch.. I took the plunge.. and was hooked.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long before the second season premiere on January 1st.

If you have a love of reality shows.. and the way over the top woman on them, then watch Mob Wives. If you won’t have the background that I have you might find them a little on the unbelievable side. But I guarantee you.. they’re attitudes and way of thinking are very, very real.

Renee is a trip and a half. Very old school in terms of loyalty and respect and family. Very tough exterior but in true cancer fashion, very soft on the inside. In Season 1, Renee struggled with that old school thinking.. The mob’s hayday has long since passed and Renee was having a difficult time living in the here and now but thinking like back then. She also was still clinging to the piece of her heart belonging to her ex-husband and seeing a therapist because of depression and self-esteem issues.

What I like about Renee is that even though her attitude can be trying and her ways of thinking a little more than left of center, she lets everything show.. warts and all. How many other reality show mavens would allow themselves to be shown on camera after a skin peel? A very painful looking.. raw and bloody skin peel?

Not to many..

My other favorite Mob Wife is Drita D’Avanzo.

Drita puts the BAD is BADASS. But again, attitudes are deceiving. Yes, she can drop you on your ass faster than she can pull off her stilettos but as a mother of two young girls, she realizes her actions will have a negative impact on them. But sometimes, your past is the only thing that people remember..

Drita is Albanian.. the daughter of immigrants whose family sort of disowned her when she married Lee D’Avanzo.. an Italian with a little bank robbing hobby. It’s sad that Lee went away to prison when their oldest was little more than an infant.. and sadder still that his family wasn’t enough reason to keep his nose clean. He went back to prison before their youngest child could form a memory of him. This isn’t  lost on Drita.. who remained faithful and committed to him and their marriage until the end of Season 1 when she found out he had been cheating on her the last time he was a free man.

I don’t know.. I like Drita. She also wants to break free of the mold she cemented herself in.

Next up there’s Carla Facciolo.

Like Drita, the father of Carla’s 8 year old twins is in jail. But Carla is moving on with her life. She’s dating and doing “her”, as she puts it. Carla doesn’t have as big of a personality like the other three and the decision to have her on the show is sometimes lost on me. But as quiet as she is.. as nonchalant as she comes off.. there is something going on there underneath. She’s just not as bold about it.

With her babies daddy being released from jail and mandated to a half way house, Carla should have more meat in Season 2. Figuratively .. no literally.

Well.. maybe that too!

Finally there’s Karen Gravano.

While the names Graziano, DAvanzo and Facciolo may not mean anything to you.. but I think I’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of Sammy, The Bull, Gravano .. the man who turned canary and brought down John Gotti and the Gambino crime family.

Karen is his daughter.

Moving west after what went down with her father, Karen now wants to write a book about growing up the daughter of an underboss to ratted. Um.. an interesting read? Jury’s out. No pun intended.

Anyway.. Karen heads back to Staten Island in order to do research for her book even though there are people like Renee Graziano who think she needs to just stay where ever the hell she was. That was in the first 15 minutes of the first episode of season 1. Renee and Karen are now besties because they both understand honor and loyalty. Ok.

Karen also was the long time live in girlfriend of Lee D’Avanzo. Name sound familiar? Read a few paragraphs up. He’s now Drita’s husband.

So at the end of Season 1, we find Drita and Karen have an all out slug fest because of things in the past not said and not done. Renee and Carla had had a hair pulling fest because of Carla’s boyfriend that is still an open wound with both of them. Renee decided it was finally time to let go any fantasy she had with rekindling anything with her ex and Drita sees a divorce attorney because her husband’s infidelity left her feeling like a woman who’s waiting close to a decade for a man feels when they find out he’s cheated.

Season 2 began January 1st. Recap soon.

Bathroom visit? Check. Coffee refill? Double Check? Ready for this? NOT in the least.

And of course.. anything in my life that’s W.T.F. involves Weed.

Weed is now 22. Don’t know how much I caught you up on his antics but let’s just say he hasn’t changed. At all.

Back in July he caused a ruckus in front of MY family that got him kicked out of the house for good. He HAD been kicked out but for some reason had thought it was okay to stumble into the house at 2am and sleep off whatever had him wrecked in the first place.

He would either stay at the Crack Whore’s or the Crack House (both are the same in my opinion) and then in September he got arrested for shoplifting a lipstick for his skank ho girlfriend.

Thank landed him in the pokey for a month because no one who had 200.00 bucks would put it up for his bail.

He got out in October and did come over to the new house for a “family” (cough cough) dinner.

I didn’t want him here.. didn’t want Bubba here either.. but I’m not going to be the one blamed for Chief not seeing his sons. So dinner there was.. and dinner they ate.. and back to the Crack Whore’s house they went. The whole thing lasted about 3 hours.

Thank GOD for small favors.

At any rate..

A week before Thanksgiving Chief gets a phone call from Weed who tells him that he and his skank ho girlfriend have a “problem”.

Heh.. we all know what that “problem” is, don’t we?

Come on!!

Guess!!

Turns out the the skank ho girlfriend was ALSO in jail the same time Weed was. She got locked up the same time he did for the whole lipstick thing. OBVIOUSLY no one bailed her out either so OBVIOUSLY she’s not a good girl dabbling on the dark side. Turns out SHE is just as bad as HE is when it comes to popping pills, sticking needles in her arm and spending time in the pokey.

And now these two junkie low lives are breeding.

Nice.

Real Nice.

NOT being the biological parent.. and with my feet firmly planted in reality.. I IMMEDIATELY start thinking about the phone calls about the baby needing diapers.. needing formula.. needing a ride to the doctors.. etc. etc. etc. .. and I started getting pissed.

Chief.. who rides unicorns in clouds of cotton candy and farts glitter.. wasn’t down with the situation but a piece of him, I think, was a little gaga over the fact that there was going to be a baby around.

I say that because HE wasn’t understanding MY concerns. And they are concerns because even though I believe every baby is a blessing regardless of it’s misfortune of being conceived by junkies.. I know that I am the only one supporting this household right now. Chief hasn’t worked since forever and I’ve been working my ass off to not only get out of a financial hole but to get our lives back to normal.

And I am not about to backslide because the toxic twins decided to steal a lipstick instead of a condom.

Also, considering everything this kid put me through the last two years.. all the disrespect, name calling, theft of things I could never replace.. the anguish.. the attitude.. you name it.. you really think I’m all down for supporting something HE created?

I know that sounds mean.. I know that it isn’t the baby’s fault.. but I also know me and I also know how far back I’ve leaned .. how much I’ve let slide.. and as of RIGHT FRIGGIN’ NOW.. I’m bitter and resentful that Chief doesn’t have my back on this one.

End. Rant.

So fast forward to the beginning of December. Since no one is talking about anything that matters, I decide I’m going to stalk Facebook and see if I can find anything out.

We’re not “friends” .. but I am friends with someone he is friends with so I jump over to Weed’s wall. Nothing of interest. Oh, that’s right.. the Crack Whore didn’t pay the cable bill so the internet was cut. But then I see who he’s in a relationship with and let’s just say there’s a reason why I call her a skank ho.

This was early on a Thursday morning.. something like 3am. Her last post was something that I took as abortion guilt. Something about how murders deserve to be in jail and apologies for not allowing he/she to live long enough to decide whether it lived or died.

Listen, she’s a junkie. Do you really expect her to make sense?

When Chief gets up I tell him that I don’t think there’s a baby any more.

He… HE!!!.. tells me that the skank ho girlfriend od’d over the past weekend and that they took Weed in for questioning.

Um.

Wait.

EXCUSE ME?

You knew for FOUR days and you didn’t tell me WHY??

He said he found out from Spaz the previous Sunday when he picked him up from the Crack Whore’s and that he was soooo livid that he wanted to find Weed and beat the crap out of him.. and then he just wanted to put it out of his mind because he was so enflamed.

Good job on THAT one, Bucky.

I was beyond pissed. Not the first time that he hasn’t told me things that I think he should since we’re married and in a relationship and I support him and his kid’s simple asses.

But whatever.

At this point, I don’t know whether she’s dead or alive.. don’t know if Weeds’ in jail or not.. don’t know if she lost the baby because she od’d or od’d because she aborted the baby.

I let it go because they’re ALL pissing me off.

Fast forward two weeks and we have Chief’s twin brother Sarge and his wife over for dinner. I hear the three of them talking in the kitchen about Weed and I hear Chief say that Weed needs to live in a box for a while so he can get his shit together and be a productive member of society.

I stay firmly parked next to my fireplace. Let them talk. They’re all very good at talking ABOUT someone’s situation instead of talking TO someone about their situation. IF they talk at all, that is. Communication is NOT key with Chief or in his side of the family.

About an hour or so goes by and Sarge’s wife enters my personal space near the fireplace and asks me when the skank ho girlfriend is due. I tell her I didn’t think she still was and went into what I just went into above. She asked me what I was going to do about it.. and I looked at her like she ate too many candy canes off my Christmas tree.

I am doing NOTHING about it.. and went into the same thing I went into above.

She rambled something about getting stuff off Craigslist and if they want to be the knights in shining armor then more power to them. That’s how they roll.. come into a situation waving wads of cash.. offering this .. offering that.. all so they can say that THEY did something and Chief did not.

People: Now your significant other’s family before they become your significant other. Word.

So at this point.. two weeks before the Christmas dinner that his sons and the skank ho are attending, I have no clue whether or not there’s a baby.

I found out on Christmas.

When the Toxic Twins came over so freakin’ wrecked out of their minds.. and I’ve never felt so uncomfortable or so disrespected in my own home.

She’s running around the house .. jumping on my furniture.. saying how her baby is now exactly 11 weeks old and her name is whatever she said it’s name was going to be.

Weed couldn’t even verbalize:

ME: Where you working?
WEED: jdkagerj;f v irtdsf uaejrksdl  TRANSLATION: no.. but I’m trying
ME: So… you’re not working?
WEED: yifk gtreja gh;yi rfck vjitm vj TRANSLATION: i’m putting applications in
ME: So.. your not working.. have no money.. no place to live.. a baby on the way.. so how exactly were you able to get wrecked?

OR THIS CONVERSATION

WEED: sfgktkdf jto ih twy jtrfsd gab jdfkl hyt  TRANSLATION: when is your landlord going to clean out that spare room?
ME: None of your business because you’re not moving in here. Need me to say it slower?

OR THIS ONE AFTER HE SCRAPPED HIS PLATE IN TO THE DOGS’ WATER BOWL

WEED: siugjarf agt adiotrjfdkalfj adty   TRANSLATION: haha.. i’m as blind as  a bat
ME: No, you’re as high as a fucking kite.

Now, let me just add here that sometimes I have to be careful about my feelings. I don’t like these two so they could save a bag of puppies from drowning and I’d find fault with it. But since my  mother and Chief’s father were both a witness to this.. and saw the same things I saw and felt the same way I felt, I was justified in telling Chief after everyone was at their own houses that I did not want them back in my house anymore. Wasn’t happening. Wasn’t going to be disrespected or feel uncomfortable in the house that I’M paying for.

He got me. And to his credit, he had the good sense to be just as upset and pissed off as I was. For the moment anyway. Chief lets things go. I don’t. I’m Italian.

And then the straw that broke my camel’s back happened Wednesday.

Again, via Facebook, I found out that the Toxic Twins are planning to get married.

WEED: udf gafjdkgh rito afdjkg ja    TRANSLATION: it’s the honorable thing to do
SKANK HO:  fafidg  grh jthr gankdl khji tuera hd     TRANLSATION: i love my boos.

Chief had surprised me by coming up to work with lunch that day. As I sat in the car I asked him if he is ever in communication with his son OR his ex regarding the baby. He makes a face.. shakes his head and says ‘nope’.

So again.. I tell him what I saw on Facebook and he non-chalantly says “oh, yea.. Weed told me he proposed on Christmas day and I just blew it off”.

Nice. REAL Nice.

Once again.. I felt like I was kept out of the loop. Once again, I felt like we’re supposedly in a relationship where we’re suppose to be best friends and we’re suppose to support each other.. be shoulder to shoulder .. right?

OBVIOUSLY, I’m the only one who thought that.

Because APPARENTLY it’s a relationship where what’s mine is his and that’s just about fucking it.

So now here’s the thing.

If there’s one thing I know for sure is that I know how I am. It takes me a loooong time to turn my back but once it’s turned it stays that way. Once may feelings change.. they’re changed. Once I change my opinion of someone.. it’s changed.

And all the above happened.

So now I patiently wait until midnight where we tell each other our new year’s resolutions.. and I tell him that I don’t want to know about anything about anyone that doesn’t live under my roof.. don’t ask me for anything.. don’t tell me about anything.. don’t feed them food that I bought.. don’t invite them into a home that I pay for.. I don’t want to know or be a part of baby showers or wedding receptions or baptisms or births.

Done.. Over.. I’m Out..

Anyway..

I promise I will commit.. at least right NOW I promise to commit. You have to agree I need a reality show so just go easy on me!! LoL!!

Now.. back to it.

In the time honored tradition of ME101 .. let’s recap 2011

I may need a valium for this!

Okay.. the good stuff first:

After living without electricity for close to five months, we were finally able to move into The House Of My Almost Dreams. I say “almost” because we’re renting.. if I was paying a mortgage instead of rent well then.. you get the idea! But believe me, we were truly blessed to find this house. It was everything I was looking for LAST year when we thought we were moving to West Virginia.

But I think I told you all this already.

On-set Alzheimer’s. Throw me a bone, here.

Spaz started a new school and he actually has a friend. A NORMAL friend… well, as normal as anyone who would want to hang around Spaz can be. They’re kind of like the two misfits in the lunch room who sit with eachother because there is no one else to sit with. Believe me, I’m not being sarcastic. But his friend is a nice boy. Respectful and friendly. Lives close by and they even joined a school club together. Who am I to complain? It’s a step up. Believe me.

Spaz has also become a little LESS spazzy since we moved.. not ready for another nickname yet but he’s a lot better then he was so kudos to him. Being around his brothers is a WHOLE other story.. but we’ve addressed it. Told him that his attitude doesn’t get a free pass anymore because he doesn’t realize he has an attitude after spending time with them and that will be the end of it.

Did it sink in? Time will tell.

I did go back to work in May. Loving the job.. loving an actual paycheck now.. the company was sold to another company in October but so far there isnt anything to worry about. For now. But when God closes one door another opens so I’m just riding the “see what happens” wave.

My aunt bought another car and gave me her old one. It’s about 10 years old but still in great condition. The reduced rent made carrying another car on my insurance possible so now we’re actually using less gas because Chief doesn’t have to drive me to work and then pick me up. Bonus.

There may not be very many GOODS this year.. but what was GOOD is VERY VERY GOOD so I’m extremely blessed.

Now for the BAD..

When we moved out of our old house, the old landlord became very shady about giving us back out 2700.00 security deposit. Even though he gives slumlords a good name, he was fair to us when we needed him to be (think paying rent on time) and so we offered every opportunity to be fair to him. The security was suppose to be held in escrow but everybody and their mother with distant relatives knew that he didn’t have it available when he was suppose to. And if he would have just called us and told us that, we would have been cool but he decided to ignore phone calls, set up appointments for the final walk through that he didn’t keep, ignored more phone calls and then tried to pull a pile of crap out of his ass so we had to file a civil suit against him.

According to Pennsylvania’s Landlord / Tenant Act, if he didn’t return the security OR a list of deductions with the balance of the security within 30 days then he has to give us everything back. If we sued him for the original amount, he can’t counter sue us. If we sued him for double the amount (which we could) then he could counter for up to the original amount only. Either way, we walk out with the security.

We’re not greedy. We’re only suing for the original amount.

After he was notified, he sent us a certified letter outlining all the thing that we were responsible for (excuse me while I choke on complete fabrication) along with wanting to get paid for November’s rent. We were out of the house by November 1st. He’s clawing at straws. Either he really does think he has a case OR he never dealt with tenants who are actually literate and know how to read laws.

Either way, watch what happens.

The worst thing that happened this year.. actually the two worse things.. happened fairly recently and destroyed my heard.

Al .. one of our cats .. decided she wanted to be a complete outdoor cat when we moved. At the old house, she was outside 90% of the time but once we moved she decided there were far too many interesting things at the new place to waste time indoors. She stayed on the property.. had her condo on the front porch.. always had fresh food and water.. and was a happy camper.

The Saturday before Christmas Eve, Chief and I had returned in the late morning from shopping. As we turned in the driveway, Chief saw Al curled up at the bottom of the driveway.. dead. He rushed me into the house before I completely burst into tears and buried her under the japanese maple tree on our front lawn.

She wasn’t hit by a car.. and he had seen her early in the morning doing her morning yoga stretches on the front porch and she was fine. Beyond being upset, we were completely puzzled until the guy who exterminates my office building said it sounded like she had gotten into antifreeze.

Made sense.

The weather had gotten colder and I’m sure there were people in the neighborhood that put antifreeze in their cars and maybe spilled some.. hell, I could have spilled some. I don’t know.. but I sincerely doubt it was intentional. It’s just one of those horrible, hurtful things. The exterminator said that animals can’t resist antifreeze because it smells so sweet and that it can kill them in as little as 2 hours.

So let that be a lesson..

Al had had a litter of 6 kittens back in May. We kept one that we just started calling “Retard”. It’s a long story and if you’re offended then .. what can I tell you. My sandbox. But the name fit her and she was the most loving, friendly, comical, prettiest kitten you ever wanted to see.

The picture doesn’t do her justice.

She was more like a puppy, actually.. especially when I would come home from work and she would run to the door with the dogs to greet me.

About a month after we moved into the new house, she got out.

She used to follow Chief outside when he would be out there chopping wood or doing whatever.. but this time she went out the bedroom window and never came back.

We did everything that owners of lost kittens are suppose to do but nothing. Honestly, she is probably living large in someone’s house. She had no fear of people and if she wandered into someone’s yard, she would have went right to them.

that’s what I’m telling myself so don’t burst my bubble. I know everything I did wrong so you don’t have to bring that up either and it’s breaking my heart just typing this so I’m going to leave it alone.

So now we’re down to three dogs.. 1 cat.. and I pity the husband that tries to bring another animal into this house!! LoL

Now for the W.T.F!!

Believe me.. it deserves it’s own post so I’m going to run to the bathroom.. get a cup of coffee.. and set to typing!

Not to mention getting the old house ready for the landlord’s walk through while trying to make the new house more into our home. Alot of running back and forth.. trying to lure cats out of the floorboards.. dealing ONCE AGAIN with the old borough’s Code Enforcer Guy and just general BS.

Today is actually the first day we didn’t have to “do” anything but go to church, prepare Sunday dinner for my father in law and catch up on blogging. Well, and laundry.. because I can do that without leaving the house anymore!!! Damn if I won’t be washing things 2 and 3 times just because I can! LoL! No, not really. The last thing I’m trying to do is waste electricity!

But anyway.. I can tell you this:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE OUR NEW HOME!

So here’s some pics.. mind you, we haven’t done anything regarding decorating the walls yet. There is a wish list of things I want to get but I’m following the sage advise of an old German Baker that Chief knew:

If you act like you’re rich, you won’t be. If you act like you’re poor, you won’t be.

So we will get what we want to get when we can afford it.

“Stuff” aside, I can’t help feel anything but truly blessed  and further proves that if you lift your worries up to the Lord and follow the path He lays out for you then you’ll be fine. You may not get what you “want” but you WILL get what you “need”. After all, God knows what’s best for us more then we do.

Hope you like our home as much as we do:

LEFT SIDE OF KITCHEN

The entrance door would be on the left of this picture. You can see part of it’s frame. As soon as you walk in the door, the kitchen is on your left.

Behind the louver door is the water heater, breaker box, etc. etc.

The left side of the kitchen is pictured. How much do you love the pot rack hanging over the sink?

Again, excuse the cluttered-ness. The girl in me is cringing that everything isn’t neat and tidy but like I said, Chief was getting Sunday dinner prepared.

THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE KITCHEN

This is the Right Side of the kitchen.

I believe it’s called a “galley” kitchen but for Chief, the Uber Chef, it’s compact but highly functional with everything in the right place to do what he needs to do to create what he wants to create. There is a surprising amount of storage and counter space, too. And the colonial blue walls grew on me.

So this is the few you see when you come in the door and look left…

This is what you see when you come into the door and look right:

OTHER SIDE OF KITCHEN

The fridge and the washer / dryer are along the right wall… AGAIN, EXCUSE THE MESS!! .. The fridge was originally on the right side. My landlord had unstacked a stacked washer / dryer and had them next to each other. Because both were front loaders, she had a piece of counter on top giving even more counter space. But her washer went south three days before we moved in and instead of spending 450.00 to have it serviced, we told her we’d bring our washer over. Since our’s is a top loader and the cord and something-else-in-the-back is positioned differently, we had to do a little bit of rearranging.

I actually like it better this way. The original position of the fridge made the room look smaller for some reason.  Chief is going to reinstall the cabinets as soon as he gets something or other that he needs. Something I just tune out. He knows what he’s doing! LoL

Once you pass through the kitchen, you are in the dining room / living room. This part was a little tricky because it’s one space.

We basically just put our old table under the window and added a corner hutch that we picked up at a consignment shop for $60 bucks (wheeee!!!) .. Since there is only the three of us, it’s a perfect solution. The table pulls out to fit up to 6 if necessary.

Oh.. and see that door? That door actually leads to another room. The house’s original living room. We don’t have access to it right now. My landlord is storing all kinds of stuff in there and if.. when.. she decides to take it our plan is to convert it into a quasi apartment for Chief’s dad. If not, it will be converted into either a family room or traditional living room. Nothing but a multitude of ideas but whatever it will be .. it will be.

To the left of the “dining room” is the living room.

This hasn’t had the benefit of my girly touches yet but there’s enough furniture to sit on.. or do homework on.. or just whatever on.. so I’m not busting to complete this room right now. It’s functional and that’s all I need at the moment.

The room off to the side there is a Florida room. I call it my library. One side has a wood burning stove.. the other has three floor to almost-ceiling book shelves.

I didn’t hang it yet but I found a really cool country inspired sign that says NO BOYS ALLOWED that Ill be hanging above the entry way. This is MY room… make no mistake about it!! LoL

This is the far end of the living room.

Nothing really of note except that there’s another chair and the desk that you can see in the previous picture.

The chair is actually interesting.. the couch, two chairs, ottoman and coffee table were bought at a yard sale.. in almost new condition.. for 150.00 bucks. We needed a new set and this was being sold by a guy who has lost his job and had to move back in with his parents. They didn’t have any place for it so he stuck it on his lawn with a for sale sign.

What I loved about it then.. and now.. is not only is it easy to clean but the pillows are removable so you can dust down and underneath it. The cases are also removable for washing or dry cleaning.

Plus, it’s really confortable.. always a plus.

This is MY Florida room. Probably my favorite of the house.

No.. wait.. NOT probably. DEFINITELY.

Beside the obvious, I really like the big center window. My landlord was an avid gardener and outside this window she had planted all kinds of flora and wildlife attractions.

It hard to see in the picture, plus it’s winter, but I could sit there all day and just stare outside. Since we live so close to the wildlife reserve, we have all types of different birds dropping in and out.

The other side of the room is also something I always wanted in a home.

I love having a place for all my books and what nots. This is no where near full and I’m thinking about getting a few pretty baskets to store things that you need to keep in one place.

There’s also the dogs’ bed.. something which the kitten I think adopted as her own. She likes to stretch out on it when the fire’s going.

I can’t wait for Christmas because you know what room the tree is going it.. right?

The rest of the house I’ll post later, along with pictures of the outside.

There really isn’t much else.. through the living room there ‘s a hallway with a bedroom at each end and the main bathroom inbetween. There’s another hall way that T’s it .. I refer to it as the mud room.. and that leads to the back yard. There’s also a powder room there also.

Right now, time seems to have gotten away from me so I’m going to say bye-bye for now.. but there’s alot of things I need to catch y’all up on so stop back!

So where do I begin? I guess I should start with where I’m at now and work back to how I got here and if that in itself isn’t a testament to what faith does for one, then honestly I don’t know what would.

Ok.

RIGHT NOW:

We moved into a new house this weekend. Same area but better town. This is the kind of place we were looking all over Pennsyl-tuckey and West Virginia to find. Small secluded house.. wood burning fireplace.. long drive way.. large, fenced in yard.. way cheaper rent.

It looks bigger on Google Earth but this kind of gives you a rough idea:

Red Line = the entire property

Blue Line = the house (front porch, enclosed back porch and florida room)

Yellow Line = the driveway

Green Line = the in-ground pool and deck

Now don’t let the green eyed monster start to attack. We’ve been going through hell and high water since April and after a lot.. and I mean A LOT of prayer.. this place kind of fell in our laps.

The owner is moving to another state to be near her daughter and turns out that she wasn’t going to be able to take her dog with her. And like our prayer was answered when we found her house, HER prayers were answered when we told her we’d keep her dog .. a beautiful lab/setter/coon hound mix who is so laid back, gentle and quiet you don’t even know he’s around. Pics of him to come later.

BACK THEN:

If you read the last few posts you know that I was having issues with powers that be in the old town we lived in. I realize now that there issue wasn’t so much that we had had a generator but that we were sustaining on our own. We didn’t need anyone and weren’t looking for hand outs and that bothered them.

When we couldn’t have the generator anymore, we started using car batteries for electricity. I know how that sounds and I’ll have to elaborate at a later time but basically we had car batteries that kept our lives fairly normal.

NOTE: Fairly normal meaning fairly normal for us. We are SO not traditionally normal!!

We had internet.. could charge the laptop, cell phone, ipods, etc.. we even watched tv although not for long stretches. We had light via rechargable camping lanterns or oil lamps.. cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner on a camping stove and took hot showers daily by using propane. We food shopped daily and what we could store for short periods, we did so using coolers.

And look.. yes, it was frustrating at times especially during the summer when the heat index hit 104.. but we cooled the house down the old fashioned way and used 12v fans connected to car batteries at night and on those days when we thought the dogs health was in jeopardy, we got a hotel room and snuck them in for the night.

But it is one thing to try and stay cool during the summer and another to keep warm during the winter. We knew we would have to move before the cold weather started and thanks to God, we were able to.

Now we have electricity and I can’t begin to tell you the joy of buying a gallon of milk again.. or frozen vegetables!!

The whole electricity issue wasn’t the only reason why we moved.. the house we were in was literally falling apart. The roof has so many leaks.. the basement still floods.. and the landlord still isn’t doing anything about it. Mind you, we were paying 1400.00 a month and the junkies in the ghetto were living better. So yea.. time to move on.

A few other things going on with the usual suspects:

Chief has some kind of health thing going on. He was hospitalized for a week over Memorial Day weekend but after every single test known to man, they couldn’t find out what was wrong with him. He’s still having issues and was back in the ER yesterday morning in more pain then I’ve ever seen him in. Luckily.. if there is such a thing.. it was only a kidney stone trying to pass through his system. I’ll save the whole “size” jokes until after he feels a little better.

Spaz shot up a few inches and isn’t shaped like a beach ball any longer. He turned 13 over the summer and seems to have matured a little. That or he’s away from the influence of his two older brothers. I have to say that he did take not having electricity better then I thought he would. He got frustrated at times.. but we all did. He likes the new house and so far he’s been diligent on keeping his room clean and not leaving dishes in the sink. Ok.. so we’ve only been here TWO days. I can be delusional, can’t I?

Haven’t seen or heard anything from Bubba since he walked out of the house back in February because he didn’t want to go back to school. Nothing. Not a word, song or dance. Father’s day came and went.. Chief’s birthday came and went.. nada. Funny thing is about 2 weeks before Chief went into the hospital, the Crack Whore told him Bubba would have to come back and live at Chateau Ghetto for a while because she *cough cough* had to move into her pimp’s boyfriend’s mother’s house and there was no room for him.

Heh. Yea. That was NOT going to happen.

I basically told Chief that I wasn’t going to stand in the way BUT I reminded him of everything Bubba did and I was not going to be housed under the same roof as him. I’d gladly go stay at Cousin Bird’s for the duration. I wasn’t being manipulative. I was being honest.

Just so happened that Chief was in the hospital when she was beating her rent and moving into Momma Pimps’ house and I oh so gladly snipped that little plan. And, of course, the first time the boyfriend flexed his pimp hand all the text messages started about how Bubba needed to stay at our place.. he was homeless.. blah blah blah. The reality was that the Crack Whore’s parents would have gladly taken her and Bubba in but they required her to NOT run the streets and stay home and parent her son.

Heh. Yea. Right.

Of course I know that all her over-elaborated stories were just figments of a drug riddled mind and Bubba stayed out of my house.

Weed is another story all together.

After completely disrespecting me and his father at one of my family member’s July 4th BBQ’s, Chief finally kicked him to the curb for good. Guess being called a fucking cock sucker in front of people he admired and respected was Chief’s breaking point. So Weed slithered back to the crack den he had been staying when he previously disappeared for weeks at a time and about a month after that called Chief’s twin brother Sarge asking if he can stay there.  Sarge agreed. Mainly because he always tries to shove in Chief’s face that he can provide better for his kids then Chief can.

Sarge has NO clue.

The day after.. or maybe two days after Weed went to live with him.. we were at an engagement party where Sarge and his wife showed up. She brought up the fact that Weed called them for help and I gave her the whole entire lowdown. Not the sob story she had been told. Her eyes got a little wider and you could see the wheels spinning but she’s too self absorbed being righteous to admit they had made a mistake. She insisted they were going to make him get a job. Yea. Good luck on that.

But Weed, being Weed, it didn’t take long for him to find himself back in the pokey for stealing a lipstick from a local drug store chain. In fact, the Crack Whore (ever the optimist .. snort.. ) remarked that it was “only” lipstick and he was just trying to impress his girlfriend.

Considering that the girlfriend also resides in the town we just moved out of, I’m assuming she would not have been impressed had Weed had a job and actually BOUGHT her lipstick.

At any rate.. no one posted the 500.00 bail and he spent a month in county jail. He’s out now, camped out on the Crack Whore’s sofa until the next time he gets arrested.

In better news.. I was finally able to find a job in May. The company I work for is BEYOND awesome. It’s doing what I’ve done before and I kicked ass from day one. The pay is great.. the bonus’ are awesome and I couldn’t be happier. Except .. it’s me we’re talking about here.. I just found out last week that the company was sold to a bigger company based down south so I may not have a job again.

Sucks. I know. I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I’ve had. Well… yes I can.. every damn night since I found out.

What else?

Oh.

OMG!

How could I forget!!

We finally got our RV back from where we left her in West Virginia in January. Not that it was any easier getting her back here. We drove out there on a Friday and reached her at around 3am. Nobody touched her.. she started right up.. and no four legged creatures had made her it’s home. She did have more water damage from sitting in the snow and rain but we were able to catch a few hours sleep. About 20 miles into the ride to the campsite we were going to stay over at, the brakes seized and she wound up having to go to a mechanic. Very long story short for right now. We left her.. spent the night in a cabin at the campsite anyway and returned the 7 hours to our end of Pennsylvania on Sunday… only to do the whole trip over again the following weekend.

The first time we took the RV west, we drove through two blizzards. This time driving her east, we traveled through 3 torrential thunderstorms.

And you wonder why my hair is grey?

But now she’s parked safely in a storage yard around the corner from our house so all is good for her.

We also added an additional to the existing zoo that lives under our roof. Back in May, Al the cat we thought was a boy that turned out to be a girl became a woman when she had kittens. Six to be exact. We wound up keeping one, named Retard, because if you watched her you’d know that she just fits right in with this dysfunctional family! She is adorable though. Pics of her coming along with a Pages update.

So that’s what’s been going on here.. I apologize for skipping out for a while but it was unavoidable.. Now that I’m back to living like a normal person, I’ll be posting more..

What have y’all been up to and catch me up on things I’ve missed!!

Faith loves funky sunglasses just like her Aunt Leese does!

Well, okay.. she doesn’t know anything about funky sunglasses yet but these were the ones that got her to smile!!

Every morning at exactly 7am, Chief starts our lawn mower. He places it in the middle of the yard and duct tapes the bar thingy that keeps the mower running so that the motor keeps running.

He also removed the something or other that keeps it quiet so now, it’s anything BUT quiet.

He comes in … stays awhile… goes out .. mows a little.. comes in.. stays awhile.. goes out.. mows a little.

The first day he did this, the Chief of Police kept circling our house.

Apparently, our so-called neighbors still thought we had a generator.

There’s absolutely, positively NO love lost between my Chief and the Chief of Police and I wish I had had a camera to see his face when he realized it was a lawn mower.

Especially since every single thing I was able to find regarding the borough does not mention lawn mowers .. or any landscaping tool for that matter.

After a few days of this … and almost measuring our grass blade by blade to make sure we were WELL within regulation.. and mowing some more to ensure we were complaint .. Chief decided to move on to OTHER parts of the yard that needed cleaning up.

Can you say CHAIN SAW?

Dang.. those branches hanging over are dangerous. Why, the Code Enforcer Guy could poke an eye out the next time he trespassed on our back lawn.. they were hanging so low.

And since we just may have had plans on Mother’s Day he needed to get started early.

So again, at 7am this morning, he went out and just as he was about to start the chainsaw, the so-called “neighbors” two houses down walk out of their house..

He looks at them.. and in his best horror movie voice says:

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.. HEH.. HEH.. HEH..

And rips the chainsaw chord.

I don’t know about you, but this imagine IMMEDIATELY came to mind:

Funny to, a little while later when he was yet again mowing the lawn, the Chief of Police drove down our street.. slowed down.. and pointed to the blade clippings in the street.

MY Chief gave him the finger .. because there’s no law against grass clippings in the street AND they pay a street sweeper God knows how much money to drive the obscenely expensive street sweeper machine down my block twice a week.

There’s no doubt that we’re being harrassed.. there’s no doubt that we are being made to feel like criminals for doing absolutely nothing against any violation or code.

In fact, a while ago the CEG was on our ass about a pile of wood that was neatly stacked in the way back corner of our yard. A thunderstorm had downed a tree and we had it cut down and stacked. It was there for about a year when the CEG started getting ornery about it.

Just so happens.. today.. we passed by a house a few blocks from us that has a huge pile of a former tree along side their fence .. on the outside of their property. You can tell it’s been there awhile (I just never noticed it) but it got us wondering… have THEY been harassed about removing it?

My guess is no.

But honestly, it’s tiring.

I have a job interview on Monday and if I get it .. we’ve decided to move. This job will be closer to Chief’s new job and we wouldn’t have to deal with the hypocrasy that is this borough.

And believe me.. as soon as I’m out of there, I’m naming names and giving details!

Call in the Fire Marshall!

So late Tuesday afternoon, Chief was at work. The generator had been running earlier, about 11 am, and I turned it off at 2.

So what’s that? 3 hours?

The plan was to leave it off for the rest of the day. The batteries were all charged and there wasn’t a reason to turn it on again. THIS was the point we had been trying to get to. Run the thing for a short period of time to just top the batteries off and save on gas.

So what happens?

Well.. SPAZ happens.

He comes home from school around 4 and instead of just using the laptop that’s already charged up.. he plugs the laptop into the invertor. Drains the sucker down to zip. He’s been told time and time and time and TIME and FIVE WEEKS WORTH OF TIMES to not plug the laptop into THAT particular invertor.

So now the laptop is not only dead.. but the router also won’t work meaning no internet.

No internet to Spaz is like.. I don’t know.. taking food away from a rabid grizzly bear.

He tears a fit.. bitching and moaning and complaining and bitching and moaning or complaining.

Weed was there and the more Weed told him it was his own dumb fault.. the more pissy he got.

Finally, when the chef’s knive I was holding was justthisclose to flying in Spaz’s direction, I told Weed to just turn the damn generator on.

About a half hour later, there was a knock on the door. Weed answered it and told me that it was the fire marshall and he wanted to see me out back.

Great.

Have I mentioned that the fire marshall is also the guy that heads the youth group Spaz used to go to?

Great.

So I go to the back door and he tells me I have to shut the generator off. I complay.. and he tells me that he didn’t know that we still lived here.. that he thought we moved. He also said that he can’t let our “familiarity” bias him.

Of couse it couldn’t, I tell him.. and I didn’t expect it to.

See, I’m the NICE one in the family.

So he tells me that I can’t run the generator and I ask him why.. he tells me it’s against the fire code and again, I ask him why. I tell him that I’m not being sarcastic or fasicious .. I want to know what is against the code so that I know what I have to change.

He goes to his car and brings out his Fire Hazard 101 Rules and Regs and while he’s combing through the pages, who pulls up but the CEG (Code Enforcement Guy) .. he walks up into my back yard and right behind me with his arms across his chest and doesn’t say a word. No Hi.. No Fuck You.. No This-Time-I-Got-You-Biatch!

I should have told him to get off my property because he was trespassing but I didn’t.

You know how you just KNOW something .. well, I didn’t know exactly then WHAT I knew, but I knew it .. Just felt it.

So the Fire Marshall tells me that this whole set up was dangerous.. that we can’t have extension cords running into the basement .. that there’s FAUX wood on the side of the house.. that the dog house was plastic .. all these things. So I let him say his peace and then the CEG  has to go and open his mouth.

He tells me that they’ve been getting complaints about the noise and smell. I asked who? He said I didn’t need to know that. I told him that under the constitution of this republic, I have every right to know who my accusers are because I know FOR A FACT that the three houses closest me have no worries. He said that it may not have mattered to them in the winter, but now the weather got warmer and windows are opened.

I’m like WINTER? Are you freaking kidding me? This doesn’t go back to WINTER.

And he fumbled all over is tongue to say that he meant a few weeks ago while it was cooler out.

He then mentioned the tragic deaths of two people in a few boroughs from CO poisoning because the owners of the store they lived above had put a generator in the store to keep there fridges going because the power company had shut them off.

Yea.. I told him.. because they had it INSIDE .. and sorry, I don’t think a canopy of huckleberry trees constitutes INDOORS.

I then showed him the EPA stickers on the generator and the little line saying that this particular generator was well within California’s EPA codes.. CALIFORNIA, big CEG .. you know.. the EPA Capital of the World??

And noise.. what about the lawnmowers? What about the roofers using their nail guns at 7am? What about your freakin’ son on the trash truck that parks in front of my house for 40 minutes while he does God knows what on borough time?

Things started to get heated .. good thing the Fire Marshall was there, huh? ..and we got into a word exchange about how adult handle situations like adults and don’t do the weasel thing like going to the landlord or coming by when they knew Chief wasn’t home.

The Fire Marshall was getting uncomfortable because he knows what kind of people we are.. so he right away says that he knows that we didn’t MEAN to do anything wrong.. and I tell him that we followed every borough ordinance. The CEG wanted to know where we got our information because WE didn’t call HIM .. Well, guess what MR. CEG .. we DID .. you weren’t there and never came around so we did the next best thing and went on the internet where all the borough’s codes are listed.

Their outdated, he tells me.

Oh. Really?

Nice.. so what do you have them up there so people can follow the wrong codes and get fined? Is that how you keep your job?

He didn’t like that.

At all.

Now, the Fire Marshall was getting REALLY uncomfortable and to try and throw water on the inferno, he pulls out a copy of the email that my landlord requested I send to him outlining our plans for alternative energy.

Hmmmm … interesting.

He points to the part where I talked about solar panels and asked the CEG if there were any issues with them. The CEG says no but :: you’re going to LOVE this :: .. IF YOU CAN’T PAY YOUR POWER BILL HOW ARE YOU GOING TO AFFORD SOLAR PANELS.

And I swear I wasn’t raised this way but you know, some straws just break the camels back.

I looked him straight in the eye and said IT’S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS. END. OF. STORY.

I wish I had a camera.. his face was priceless.

Fire Marshall was all gulping because I know he didn’t intend to make things worse and wished, as much as I did, that the CEG would just shut the hell up.

Oh.. and while on the topic of solar panels.. the CEG happened to mention in an off-handed kind of way.. that he would like to see how they are installed. I told him fat chance he’d get that opportunity here!

I then asked why it was ok to have a generator if power was out.. CEG said because then it was an emergency .. I said that THIS was an emergency and he went on his stupid script about the neighbors and quality of living for THEM :: guess we don’t count :: and all this other bull.

The Fire Marshall butted in to say that he could care less about the noise.. he was just worried about a fire and how he would hate to have to come here and pull our burnt, charred bodies out of the house. He really did say that.

But like I said.. sometimes you just KNOW things and when I saw the email to my landlord in the Fire Marshall’s hands I knew then that everything we were doing up to that point WAS legal, the borough just didn’t like what we were doing and was going to find any way possible to stop it.

Little do they know that I’ve read the Art of War and sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war.

So I shut the generator.. called the landlord and told him that I wasn’t going to use it anymore because I didn’t want to cause him anymore headaches and when Chief came home, I told him I was done. This was it.

Unfortunately, the power company wants the WHOLE bill before turning it back on .. there was a payment agreement in place when Chief closed the deli and since he didn’t have an income, DUH .. couldn’t pay the agreement. But they didn’t care. Of course, the didn’t care.

The kids.. well, Spaz immediately called the Crack Whore because GOD FORBID if something in his life isn’t easy.. who immediately started ranting and raving about getting custody .. even though she gave her 30 day notice to her landlord and doesn’t know where the hell she’s moving to .. and Weed, well, he was the same way.

When the going gets tough.. his kids get going. And that kind of pissed me off in a major way because THEY are a majority of the reason why the bill got so high in the beginning.

We returned the generator and will now send money to the power company as we get it to get the bill down until it’s paid.

There really isn’t anything else we can do … except charge the batteries using the car :: we do drive, yknow :: and run the lawnmower.

All the time.

Because, like I said.. sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war.. and using THEIR philosophy.. and use ANY sarcastic voice you can think of .. isn’t dangerous to have a gas can filled with gas outside your house? Isn’t it a FIRE hazard? And well, how ELSE are you suppose to property dispose of gas? Just so happens that my lawnmower will use gas in a safe and non-hazardous manner.

Oh.. and did I happen to mention that my lawnmower is about 10 times louder then my generator???

Three Months Old

Has it really been three months since Faith’s been born?

Time does fly.. !!

So.. if you’re just catching up.. Faith is the baby that my cousin Bird is in the process of adopting. The mother terminated her rights and now there’s just a few more pieces of red tape to jump through and the adoption can be finalized.

She’s such a sweet baby!! Always smiling.. laughing.. until she get a colicy and then she gets into so much pain it’s horrible.

But Auntie Leese… being Auntie Leese.. jumped on the internet and found out that massaging a colicy baby’s feet is soothing to them.

Guess what? Faith LOVES having her feet rubbed.. so much so that I think Bird is going to kill me for suggesting it!!

And while Bird and her husband are over the moon with this little girl.. there are some chinks in the family armor.

Let’s rewind a little …

Bird has two grown children (25 and 21) and her husband has 3 grown children.. all adults. Two live far away but the youngest one (22) is local.

Bird’s kids adore the baby .. took to her like she was their bio-sister .. Her husband’s son? Not so much. At first he was excited but then the baby was born, obviously bi-racial, and now he doesn’t want anything to do with her or his father for that matter.

This is hurting Bird and her husband… but the son is an adult and is making his own decisions. My advice to her is to just let it go.. they’re not going to make things better by forcing the issue on him and if he chooses to not be a part of the baby’s life.. or their life for that matter.. then the best they can do is pray his opinion changes with time.

 In the meantime, Faith has so many people around her that love her no matter what that she won’t miss the one or two people that can’t see past the color of her skin.

But it’s funny how you notice people’s reactions when me and Bird take her out somewhere. You can see they want to ask.. want to be nosy.. figure that either Faith is Bird’s granddaughter or we’re a lesbian couple who adopted.

Neither which bother me.. or Bird, for that matter. People can think what we want… all I know is that this little angel is well loved.. well cared for and will have an amazing life!

Bird’s son’s girlfriend has a sister who’s husband is of a different race. They’re pregnant and due in July. What’s great about that is the Faith will have someone in the family close to her age that is also bi-racial so she won’t feel isolated within the family .. or feel different ..

All I know is that I love this baby like she’s mine.. she’s the sweetest little girl whose face lights up when she sees me ..

How can you ask for anything more then that?