Happy Times

Well I turned 50 in August and my daughter gave me a surprise birthday party. She did it all by herself, with the help of my sister and niece for the finishing touches, but basically the kid did every thing and I am so proud of her for it. It was a wonderful night, just my family and a couple of friends because she knew I really didnt' want to go out to have a party. To be honest I told my husband no party at all. I told him I wanted to stay home and have the kids and no else and that's what we did on my birthday. I didn't want to go out and have a big fuss because to me it would have been perfect to have a party in my yard with all my friends and family and not have to worry about the cost of this or that but she wanted me to have one at a resturant and I appreciate it. It's not what I would have done because it's not me but I do understand her reasoning and believe me she did a wonderful job and I totally enjoyed being pampered. We have so many friends and family though that it would cost a fortune to have every one to every party if you had it out in a resturant so that is why I tend to have it in my yard when the weather is good. This coming May my oldest son graduates college and my youngest graduates high school. I intend on giving one big party for the two of them and since it is in the yard I do not have to worry about who I invite or what time it starts or ends, just keep the food and fun coming all night long.
Another wonderful thing that happened to me this past month, my youngest son moved back home. I am thrilled and I think he is already doing better. His outlook isn't so clum and he is smiling so much more these days. He and his father had been having problems for some time and I kept telling him he needed to make the decission to move home so I didn't have to take him out of there kicking and screaming since I have custody and was allowing him to stay with his Dad to see how things went. He didn't want to leave his father alone since he was having problems in his second marriage and playing the lonely soul. Every time he thought my son was going to leave he came up with the poor Daddy syndrome and complained about how his other two children didn't want to have anything to do with him, which isn't true but to a young impressionable teenager, it hurt, so he stayed and took the bull from his father. Well recently it got to be too much. His father really laid it on thick and my son got tired of it and decided the only way out was to change schools and move home with me so we did and shortly after, like the next day, he decided not to go back to Saint Mary High School and go to the public school in my town his father told him and our other two children he was moving to Florida. He claims his boss walked in that moring and told him he needed to go to Florida and work for the company down there and he had only two days to get his things in order before he left. I, of course, knowing the man as well as I do, decided to check it out and found out he has been planning this for a year with his boss. As a matter of fact when he took the job it was told him that it would be a possiblitiy in the future for him to go to Florida and run the business down there for them. He told them he would love it and there you go. Poor Daddy once again out in the cold, doesn't know how he is going to handle being away from kids he never saw when he was here except for the youngest one. He called them from time to time while he was out there this past month and then surprised them with a visit the other day. He still has to finish selling his house and getting rid of a few things before the final move in January but all in all he is going and I am relieved. To be honest with you the minute he came back here my son changed almost immediately and I am worried about him. I am going to call his counselor today and talk to her about it. I don't want him to fall behind because his father is here and on his case again. He has been doing so well in school, keeping up on things and going to baseball practice without me riding him. I haven't had to worry about anything. Being the new kid in school and special needs because he has a memory disorder the school keeps me informed of his progress and he is doing great. Too much pressure from his dad and he slips. He doesn't like his friends, he doesn't like his girl, he doesn't like the way he played a game, or how he handled a situation during the game. He is constantly calling him complaining about something. When he was in Florida my son just didn't answer the phone as much, now I think he feels he has to. His father wants to know why he didn't stay there over the weekend but I am not answering for him. I think it's because here he feels safe, comfortable, taken care of. There they fight a lot, she drinks a lot, he is alway on our son, and they don't even cook let alone food shop so there is nothing to eat unless you order out three meals a day and if you miss the order time you don't eat because they don't order for who isn't there at that time. I had to call and order for my son so many times and put it on my card so he could eat or I had to bring food over to him so he could have it in the house. I am really relieved he's home. God has heard my prayers.