Of course, as I only half-jokingly predicted, all of this came to fruition on Tuesday; in fact, it was sometime Tuesday afternoon that Puff’s caseworker sent me an email. I was in the hospital at the time, drugged nearly into unconsciousness in order to escape the pain (but only nearly, sadly, so I was still awake enough to experience the agony of it all), but I made sure to check my email when I was alert enough to, because I just had a feeling that there’d be something concerning Puff. And there was. So when Dan took the kids home Tuesday night, he was able to give Puff the “advance” notice then, so he had a little more time to acclimate to the upcoming change and get his stuff packed.

Not surprisingly, Puff did leave some things behind, and there are some things he’d like to have for his room, so as soon as I’m up to it – probably later next week – Dan and I are going to take a bunch of stuff out to him, and of course visit with him. As I’ve told Puff all along, even though I have had it, I can’t do this anymore, this isn’t what’s best for him or us, I still love him, he’s still my brother, I want what’s best for him, and I will keep in touch with him, and when he is approved for visits (us going there, him coming here, “off campus” visits, etc.), of course we’ll participate in them.

Puff called me on Thursday evening and again yesterday afternoon, and he called Dan today, and so far everything sounds great. He’s settled in, adjusting to the routine, and is looking forward to possibly going to a high school he went to before, during the last few months of his foster care placement. Hopefully things continue to work out well for him, and this really will be what’s best for him.

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On the physical front, I am having yet another abdominal surgery in five days to hopefully fix the ongoing excruciating attacks of abdominal pain that have been plaguing me for over a year (hence the prescription for pain medication). I had two periods that were two weeks apart, another period that ended five days ago, and I am now spotting and cramping again. Each period is heavy, clotty, and super-painful (hence the prescription for low-dose muscle relaxants). I’ve had to reschedule my gynecologist appointment twice, and hopefully will be able to get in prior to my rescheduled surgery, which has been moved to the 31st – the same day as my gynecologist appointment. My right foot’s fifth metatarsal stress fracture is looking or feeling no better, despite me wearing a walking cast since the end of September. Contacting an orthopedic specialist is on the to-do list – with everything else going on, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m having sleep issues (surprise, surprise), and once I wake up, whether it’s after 7 hours of sleep or just 3.5, I can rarely fall back asleep.

Oh, and Ryan and I went to the doctor on Monday, and were both diagnosed with bronchitis (he also has an ear infection, again – I guess he never fully kicked the one he had right before Christmas). So now it’s crunch time, where despite all of this ongoing stress and drama I have to get over this ASAP, so I don’t have to reschedule next week’s surgery. Bring on the antibiotics, vitamin C, clear fluids, and rest!

Yet with all of this I still chug along: work, housework, family time, husband time, kid time, a little bit of me time when there’s enough time left over.

But with the exception of miniature, short-lived meltdowns, I never lose my focus of remaining positive, focusing on the positive, and moving forward. But some days – like today, where I am exceptionally weepy and curse-y (just ask Dan) – it’s hard. Damn hard.

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Thank you for subscribing to Jenn.nu's RSS feed! ♥ Jenn | Flickr: kiss-my-kitty | Twitter: @kissmykitty

While my mom and brothers were with us, the majority of her stuff was in a mobile storage unit (like a Pod) and a standard storage unit. But when they left, she left a small storage unit worth of crap behind: a 27″ television, a 13″ television, two computer towers, three computer monitors, four printers, an old Casio keyboard, and several garbage bags and tote bags worth of stuff. Dan and I got sick of this stuff cluttering up the closets in the kids’ bedroom, part of our living room and the majority of the hallway outside the kids’ bedrooms, so we rented a climate-controlled storage unit for $80/month and put all of her crap (2.5 car loads) in it. (We chose a climate-controlled unit so as not to take the risk of the electronics being damaged by the summer heat.)

That was in early June. Come late September, my mom had not bothered to pay anything on the storage unit, and the owner of the storage unit facility, D, agreed to give her/us a few extra weeks to get shit straightened out, even though she was aggravated. Come October 31st, my mom had done nothing, and D planned on auctioning everything the next day, and then sending Dan and I the bill for the cost of the unpaid storage unit rental (about $180), the cost of placing an ad in the paper ($124), and the cost of the auction process itself (about $200). So we went down there that day and paid $200 to cover the cost of the unit and a smaller, non-climate-controlled unit to move everything into.

This morning we got everything moved. It took an hour and a half, several trips between the building where the climate-controlled unit is and the building where the smaller, non-climate-controlled and much cheaper $35/mo instead of $80/mo) is. Dan was dead tired from a late night of work, and after taking one trip with a loaded up cart from the unit inside the building to my car which was parked right outside of it, I was wiped.

I just sent another email inquiring as to when we can expect reimbursement for covering the cost of the storage unit yet again (I paid the initial first month as well, which was another $80), as well as some type of convenience fee for having to move everything. If she doesn’t reply, I plan on selling all of the stuff individually. I could probably get about $75 for the 27″ TV, maybe $50 for each printer (they’re nice all-in-one printers with new ink cartridges, and one is a giant photo printer that’s worth about $250 even used), and probably $50 for each computer tower. Mind you, I don’t want to resort to selling her stuff, but her lack of paying the unit or even replying to my recent text message and email really doesn’t leave me any choice…? I refuse to be stuck with this indefinitely, or until she decides she wants it back.

Grr. I want to just move on and let go of the anger, resentment and hurt I feel over all of these situations involving my mother, but she doesn’t make it easy when she pulls shit like this.

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Today I received the surprisingly and delightful news that Dan’s youngest brother, K, and his fiancee (they got engaged within this past year), L, got married last Friday! They eloped, and none of us knew until the wedding announcements arrived in the mail today (now I know why L asked me for everyone’s addresses several weeks ago!). I adore L and think that she and K make a great couple, and I’m so so happy to now be able to call her my official sister-in-law. ♥

Learning of their marriage makes me even more aware of how much I love Dan and what a great thing we have together — and it also reminds me that we need to be more conscious of the fact that a successful relationship takes work, and we both need to put a little more into it sometimes.

Thank you for subscribing to Jenn.nu's RSS feed! ♥ Jenn | Flickr: kiss-my-kitty | Twitter: @kissmykitty