Congratulations On Your New Baby Teenage Girl!

So, big news:

I have a new sister-in-law! Er, I guess I should say cousin-in-law-who's-now-my-sister/cousin-in-law....

My husband's cousin has been thrown into the crazy loving arms of my in-laws. She is the offspring of my mother-in-law's half-brother, who is the pinnacle and absolute definition of the word douchebag. He is a lousy piece of crap who is married to another lousy, albeit more bossy and controlling and psychotic, piece of crap (who is my cousin-in-law's step-mom... her real mom is a drug-addict and is never allowed to see her; i.e. no custody at all... great options, right?). This kid has been neglected and emotionally and physically abused for years. She is 16, but to my knowledge she has never been to an actual high school. Last year when her grandmother (my mother-in-law's mom) passed away, she spoke to our family a lot about the truth behind what was going on in her life. She lives in rural upper washington, miles from any bus stop or school and with no transportation. Her dad and step-mom will leave for months on end on road trips around the country, leaving her with little food and no money to survive with. They just tell her to stay put and care for their animals. OR they drag her along in cramped quarters on the road for weeks at a time. She is "home-schooled" but none of it is ever followed through with; no one teaches her anything, none of her "homework" is graded or tested, etc. She is basically raising herself and with her family's history, she is on the fast track to fucking up her life and winding up in the system, with very little fault of her own.

So last week, shortly after her dad and step-mom left for some Christian marriage counseling bullshit retreat in Georgia, she hopped on a bus to Eugene, Oregon with some help from her neighbors (who were more than willing to do anything to help her get away from that family) and was met there by my amazing step-dad-in-law. They drove for HOURS to get back down here to California, were completely exhausted upon arrival but nevertheless left 20 minutes later for a lawyer's office so that my in-laws could file for emergency temporary custody. Emergency custody was granted on Monday and she is now being enrolled in high school, and all of us couldn't be happier. Bear is happy to see his cousin for the first time in years and to have her be a part of our lives, as am I. As for me, I'm just stoked to see her get at least a couple of years under a stable roof, with a good, strong, loving family who respects her and wants her to succeed. I'm stoked to see her get to be a kid for a couple of years, to enjoy her last years as a teenager in high school, learning and living with people her own age. She is an amazingly strong and resilient young girl and she has so much potential, and I'm so happy to have her here. And as for my in-laws, I don't think I could possibly explain how brave and awesome they are or how much I love them. They are turning their lives upsidedown and inside out to help her and to make her a part of the family so that she can have a chance to succeed and to be a kid for a while, and that is as heroic as two people can be in my eyes.

My dear in-laws, I love you both so much. V has a real life now because of you and that is the best gift any child could ever get. You guys are amazing.

My dear V... welcome to the CrazyTrain family.

As for you, Bear... CLEAN THE CATBOX!

Oh English, Why Do I Hate Thee So?

School. Just the word makes me cringe these days.

The word homework brings on the beginning of a panic attack.

I know I have to just butch the fuck up and get through it, but god I hate school. It has never been my forte and I highly doubt it ever will be. So much for being a doctor... I'd never get through 8 more years of school + a residency.

I am taking 4 classes this semester - a full load.I am keeping up fairly well in everything but my English class (which I happen to be taking concurrently with my husband), which is my only class that I am taking online. Previously, I have excelled in online classes. No problemo; way easier for me to make my own schedule than follow someone else's. But for some reason, that is not the case this time around. Bear isn't doing very well either. I am struggling enormously. I love the language, I love reading, but I despise essays, and I despise having to critically read things. I just want to fucking read something and enjoy it at my own leisurely pace, not stampede through it because I have to have it done at a certain hour. Nor do I want to break it down bit by stupid bit and analyze every conceivable thing the author might be implying. I just want to read it, and I don't want to write about it. Blogging is the extent of my writing and I am perfectly content with leaving it at that.

English is extremely important for me because of the direction I'm attempting to head in. The nursing program at my school is EXTREMELY competitive and goes not only by grades but many other factors. One major factor is how you do in English, because apparently they've found a correspondence between how well students do in English and their likelihood to succeed in the nursing program. I personally don't see the correlation but that is not of importance; what matters is that I really need an A in English and I don't think I'm going to get it. I'm already 2 weeks behind on homework and I had an essay due this past Sunday that I haven't even looked at. The book we are reading right now baffles me and I can't stand it, so you can imagine how well I'm keeping up with that. I'm so frustrated because I know I need to do well in it, but I deplore the thought of even trying to catch up and I feel awful.

In conclusion, I will pay you $1000 to take my online English class for me if you can promise me an A. But you'll have to accept payments... like maybe $20 per month for the rest of my life, okay?

Please?

PLLLEEEAAAASSSSEEE!!!!!

Oh yeah...

I forgot to mention...

I'm a redhead now!

Effing love it.

I'm a Lazy Ass

I totally suck. I haven't posted on here in ages and I suck for it. I apologize, but here are some updates.

Thanksgiving was awesome. I made lots of food, everyone had a great time, there were no beheading or eyes scratched out, it was just great. I knew stuffing the turkey with prozac would work. =]

Christmas was equally awesome. I got everything I wanted, and more, espeically because there was again no fighting and it was just a damn pleasant day. We had all decided on a "frugal" Christmas courtesy of the economy, but apparently my mom didn't get the memo and bought me a full-sized Cusinart food processor and a 9.5 quart Le Creuset dutch oven, two things I've been drooling over and fantasizing about someday wasting money on for years. I got her a blown glass hummingbird feeder... not quite of equal value, but she loved it. And even though I was slightly embarassed at my mom's generosity when we had specified frugal Christmas (my in-laws got us a couple of video games, Cranium WOW, and a Chia herb garden for me, so I hope they didn't feel awkward because I loved it all), I can't complain because I LOVE my new kitcheny stuff. I've become a pro at hummus and pesto and pot roasts and short ribs and all that yummy stuff. Super fun, super awesome.

My new love. OMG cannot tell you how much I love it.

My other new love. Hooray!

The New Year was boring but way exciting at the same time. We did absolutely nothing to celebrate New year's, but during the vacation period for the holidays we bought a brand new TV and painted our whole downstairs. Kitchen is a fun, warm, light yellow. Living/dining room is an olive reen with a dark red "chianti" accent wall where the TV is. It feels much more like home and we looooove it. The TV was a steal, too, thanks to Circuit City going out of business, so we've been throughly enjoying it.

The new TV!

View of the living room. We're still working on window treatments...

The piano wall. Yay green!

The kitchen. Note the cat on top of the cupboards, who has built a nest of shredded napkins up there. Nice.

School started mid-January, and it's a bitch. Bear's taking 11 or 12 units while working full time (though one class is online and one is a drafting/CAD class he takes every semester for work) and I am taking 15 units. We're both taking the same online English class (that we suck at keeping up with), and we're both taking math classes that suck. I'm also taking Cultural Anthropology and BAND!!!! Indeed, I am a band geek again in the my school's Symphonic band, playing my loverly bass clarinet. Woop woop HOORAY!

So we're trying to keep up, but it's hard and I think we both feel like we never see each other anymore. It's definitely had its strain on us but we're doing the best we can with it. It all needs to be done so we're just trying to get it over with. There was a huge lack of sex but then my new hormone medication changed everything up. Now I'm the horny teenager and he's the I'm le-tired and too le-tired to get funky one. But a couple of times a month we manage to sneak in some really crazy good awesome sex, and it keeps us going. He did well on Valentine's by taking me to a French Cabaret/all-inclusive champagne gourmet dinner, and all the drinks + the sexy cabaret + the lingerie that I actually went out and bought just for the occasion PAID OFF. Great night. And did I mention how much I love that man? He really is just the most amazing part of my life. *sighrainbowsheartsgaystuff*

In geekier news, we both finally downloaded and began playing WoW. We are addicted. It is pathetic but awesome.

So indeed, we are chugging along, trying to survive in this crap economy and pull ourselves through school and come out happier on the other side. I will post more often from now on, I promise.

I leave with my favorite quote from a recently seen commerical: "Chumbawumbas man, the soundtrack to my life!"

P.S. I pulled off a 3.6 GPA for the fall/winter semester; an A in WordCore, an A in Medical Terminology, and B+ in Pysch. Not bad, eh? GO ME!

P.P.S. Daisy says HI!