Summer 2016

As a mother, my duty is to make sure my child is taken care of (clothed, fed, and housed) properly. This summer, my son is back in TX to be with his biological father for a month and a half. I was hoping he'd prepared for my son's arrival and stay beforehand. Instead, specifics were requested from us, things that his biological father could have purchased in preparation. Yes, I'm still sore about it. Let me moan and groan. Well, my son phoned me on the first day, and he broke my heart. He repeatedly asked to come back. He said he was sad. All I could say was that his bio father wanted to spend time with him. I was able to video chat with him the next day, and we were completely excited. My husband and our dog also got some camera time. My son was in his bedroom, but wasn't allowed to leave it. That made me feel uncomfortable, but I assume it was to keep the other family members from being seen on the live camera feed. The first weekend, he was able to spend with his grandmothers. They took him fishing, they took him to eat and.. you know.. spoiled him a bit.. lol! I'm hoping to video chat more often with him, I sent an index card holder full of index cards with a 3-letter word written on each. I like to ask him to read about 6 of them. He's doing so well, I really do not want him to lose any progress.
After dropping my son off at the airport with his biological father, my husband and I went walking at a popular park for a few hours. It was a great way to keep my mind off of things. I was able to enjoy a visit to an art museum and a botanical garden. That night we invited our neighbor to come out to a nearby bar&grill. It was pretty neat! They hand you your meat raw, and you grill it on a shared indoor grill. My husband and I had smoked sausage, potato salad, and we each had a couple of drinks. Our neighbor had to leave, she had to work the next morning. We stayed a bit longer to finish our drinks, then walked home. It was a nice quiet walk. That week, I kept on top of dishes and cleaning, working out.. The house has been quiet and lonely without my runt. Our dog has been kinda blah, also. We've been walking more often now, and I don't feel any anxiety. I actually drove to get groceries yesterday! I was so nervous at each stop sign, and the cars made intersecting traffic hard to see! I kept replaying the part in Finding Nemo where the dad repeatedly tells Nemo to go out, then come back in. I was looking each way 3x probably lol! I made potato salad and homemade tortillas for our Memorial Day BBQ. I am exhausted and have a full kitchen to clean. I also feel pretty drained right now due to having mixed drinks. I don't have much tolerance, since we don't drink around our son. It's been awhile since I have had more than two drinks. Last night, I had three. I was so tired, too. I think we came to bed around 10 p.m. lol! We're in our late 20's, and have a 5year old; there's no room for partying and staying up late.
I want to go walking everyday, get our dog used to being at the park. She gets too excited and chases other dogs around/ has other dogs chase her around. She LOVES playing, but I know not everyone is as excited about her. Yesterday, a lady lifted her dog so our dog couldn't smell it, and proceeded to wail as if my dog attacked her. Our dog ran large circles around her, tail wagging, tongue hanging out and ears flopping around. I feel bad for my dog, though. She just wants to play! As responsible dog owners, we intend on getting her used to being around other dogs without needing to play with them. Speaking of responsible dog owners, I have yet to meet a responsible cat owner around here! I see all these damn cats loose and fighting, mating, lounging in our patio, or the rooftops by our second story windows. I wish I could trap them and send them to the shelter. They aren't even helpful! We had a baby opossum living on the premises for a few weeks.. I was wondering why the cats hadn't done away with it. There are so many of them! I literally let my dog run them off, purposely. Yet they don't learn. They reappear as if they were our pets. No one wants them here, I can only assume other neighbors have been feeding them. I wish they'd get these damn cats fixed, instead of doing a half-assed job of caring for them. The cats are relentless with their territory claiming and mating. Anyway, I better go make some coffee and catch up on my knitting. I need to finish this curtain so I can start on other creations to sell.

-Esther Marie