Holy Mother of Murphy I've been away from this for too long!!! Life has been an absolute rollercoaster since I last posted, I don't even know where to start....here goes:
Three years ago we "adopted" another child, Noah, one of Connor's best friends. His mom fell on some hard times (we've all been there) so he came to live with us for a little bit. That little bit turned into forever and he is definitely one of ours now. He and Connor are the definition of unbiological twins--they graduated together, went to college together, left college together, worked at the same place together, but last year he took his own step and became a United States Marine. He is on base in North Carolina, getting ready for a deployment this coming spring. We have not seen him since Christmas, but we just got a surprise that he will be home next Friday for a little over two weeks....can't wait to see him! We are so proud of him and are looking forward to his future.
Connor graduated from high school (I know, I don't look like I could have a kid that old, lol) in 2008, went to FLCC for a semester and decided that college was not for him. He moved home and got a full time job at his old stomping ground, where he has worked since and is in the running for the next manager position. He's working on figuring out what he wants to do with his life, unsure about school, trade, etc. We are so very proud of him for knowing what he doesn't want and having the confidence to tell us and be open to whatever & wherever life directs him. We cannot wait to see what his next step will be!
Hannah spent half of her senior year in the pandemic that is the Corona Virus, so needless to say her senior year was less than celebratory. She was home from March on until June with distance learning, but she did graduate! The ceremony was unusual, it was just her, walking alone on stage, with a small group of us standing in the auditorium cheering her on. Not the ceremony we had all planned on, but i was no less excited and proud of her. She missed out on her senior breakfast, the senior picninc, the senior ball, and a graduation party, but she did get to spend some quality time with her family (no trade off there!!) and is more than ready to move on with her life. As we are still in the midst of the pandemic, she will not begin classes until (hopefully) January when they are in person and not all online (damn Rona). She will be taking courses to be a dental assistant, a career she can have in almost any state she chooses, so it's a really good thing!
What else.....I have a new job, I work at a school that also has an adult program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that I work with....and I LOVE IT!! It is a small program (but growing) and my position is a new one, so we are creating as we go. I work with my former supervisor (we make a great team) and have some great coworkers. The position suits me as I get to do a little of the office background work as well as visit with the people we support--best of both worlds!
I've been going through some health issues myself, my memory is not nearly what it was, and I have been having migraines, body aches, and "hot flashes" that just won't quit. Sounds like menopause, I know, but I'm a little young for that my doc's think. They tell me it's probably stress related and that I may just have too much going on--well who doesn't?? My memory is getting more scattered every day, I have even had a few instances where I'm driving on a road that I've been driving on for 15 years, and suddenlyI forget where I am and do not recognize anything (they only last a second or two, but they're not fun). I can have a conversation and the next day not even know I was involved in it. I have watched a movie with Shane, and two weeks later I want to rent it because I've never seen it.....ugh!!! The silver lining on that is I'm a cheap date....we can buy a movie and every month it's like I'm watching a new one! I'm hoping it is just a glitch and not early Alzheimer's or anything like that. It's pretty scary to be honest. Cross your fingers for me, at least I'm trying to have a great sense of humor about it!!
Shane is doing well, he is working as a chef and loves what he does and who he works with, win-win. We had a minor setback in November of 2018 in that he received a DWI and was sentenced to 3 months in jail and 5 months probation. This put a huge amount of stress on our relationship, I wasn't totally confident that we could survive it. I became a single mom for the second time in my life, and it was harder emotionally than the first time! I did bounce right back into the role however, and the kids and I spent a lot of time together learning how to manage our "temporary life." Shane's family was incredibly supportive, I could not have asked for better people to help me see the light at the end of the tunnel (and help me get through that dark tunnel), I am so very appreciative and lucky. My family was less than supportive, but we have grown apart these past few years, so I was not shocked. It was an extremely hard three months for all five of us, but we made it through. Once he came home, we had a lot of relearning to do, and he had to get his life in order, but he's done really well and we are all doing pretty good. Thankfully both of our families were very supportive of him when he came home, which has helped immensly. Shane will be celebrating 21 months sober next week and we could not be more proud of him.
Shane's family has grown a ton over the past few years...his brother got married and had a beautiful baby girl, his sister got engaged and is to be married next week, and his youngest brother also got engaged to be married next year. We are now a family of 15, not a small quiet bunch!! Everyone gets along amazingly (for the most part, lol) and it's the most fun group. Dad had a health scare last summer, he had a heart attack and double bypass surgery. He is a tough trooper though and is doing amazingly after recovery and rehab, looking forward to many more years with him. Mom has had her own health issues, some they are currently working to resolve and the outlook is very promising.
Big Grandma passed last summer---she was ready, but we weren't. It was hard to say goodbye, I never knew my biological grandparents so she and Big Grandpa were the only ones I had in my life and now they're gone. I enjoy talking about them a lot with the kids and remembering all of the laughs we had with them.
That pretty much catches us up. I am hoping to start blogging at least once a week again, it was a great way for me to remember what's been going on in our lives. Until next time.....
