Blah

I feel like crap. That's really nothing new. That guy shared his cold with me last week. I suppose it's OK. I sort of liked the mode of transmission.

He's busy with school. He's studying for another exam tomorrow. I had sent him an email earlier today; he was apologetic that he was too busy to check his email. I told him that I had offered to bring him cold medicine if I could come stay the night. He could study or do whatever he needed to do, and I just wanted to sleep. Maybe cuddle for a bit and then retreat back to my side of the bed. He thought that was funny that I just wanted to come to sleep.

Just wanted a change of venue. Get away for a few hours. Too much stress.

I washed a few dishes this evening. Made myself some red beans and rice. I'm watching a couple of auctions on eBay. My New Zealand yarn "fix" is not going to be selling after 30 October, so I'm buying everything that I can afford.

I have a huge Avon order that I wanted to place as well.

Then, there is the matter of Gabriel, preschool, and tuition... This is the big issue that has be stressed-out.

With Amanda having gone back to work, the kids income is to the point that they have to pay tuition for Gabe to attend preschool. The preschool isn't run by the public school district even though the classes are held in the public school buildings and the district provides transportation. Go figure. Well, his tuition is $232 a month. Not bad really.

However, the kids being in dire financial straits are why she went back to work. My last two checks have gone to keep the mortgage from going into foreclosure and to keep the water from being shut off. This next check will be for somewhere around 95 hours, and I'm sure at least part of it will be used for something similar.

Gabe isn't doing well in regular preschool. No surprise to me. Amanda isn't really surprised by it either. However, she did want to keep him in the regular class until the end of this month before transferring him to the special needs preschool so he could go on the field trip to the pumpkin patch. He's really looking forward to that. Michael has finally agreed that regular preschool isn't the place for Gabe right now.

His teacher phoned me at 9:06 this morning. She said she had sent a note home in his folder yesterday that Amanda needed to pay his tuition for September and October. Until it was paid, Gabe would be excluded from classes. I was at the school by 9:40 to pick him up. I figured I would pay his tuition on Thursday when I get paid so he can return to school and finish out the month.

I looked at the note in his folder after I got him home. Tuition due for September is $176, for October $232. It will cost me $408 for this boy to go to the pumpkin patch. I know that there is no way that Michael and Amanda will be able to pay any of that money back to me.

The kids all need new winter coats. Christmas is rapidly approaching. The three little ones all have birthdays coming up over the next six weeks.

My winter gas bill is about to go soaring out of sight. They have forecast that gas prices are going to hit $4 a gallon by spring. As I have no insurance right now, I'm paying full price for my medication. And, I've given up on the Celexa and gone back to the Lexapro. The Celexa just wasn't quite doing what I needed it to do. 60mg of affordable Celexa per day versus 10mg of the pricey Lexapro. I guess I have to pay for what works best for me. The weather changes have arrived, and I'll be back to taking the Celebrex regularly.

So, what's a grandmother to do?

I'm thinking more along the lines of bribery and pay-offs. Gabe really won't care about missing the trip to the pumpkin patch until his sister brings home a pumpkin. I'll go buy him a pumpkin. I'm sure I can find one for less than $400. And, he could care less about school and school work. Trying to get him motivated to do homework is a serious chore. Yes, they have homework in preschool. This is where the bribery comes in.

The Nyquil is kicking me in the ass. Time for bed.