Time to Check In Again

I think the last time I posted was about a week ago. Well, here's what's happened since then. Monday was kind of uneventful, other than Y complaining about wearing a pink shirt to cheer practice. He also asked for more time practicing his tumbling/jumping/back tuck skills; so, I signed him up for one private lesson each week at another $30 a pop. He had his first private session with J today, the hubby of the hubby-wifey team who own the place. Y really likes him, and he pushes Y hard on the basics that he needs to improve, like push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and practicing getting height when he's jumping from standing still.

Monday afternoon, the vet's office called to remind me that Michael had an appointment to be "broken" the next day (Y's word; the rest of us call it neutered). I asked what time I could expect to pick him up and they told me 5pm. Oh, oh! I had to be at work at 3pm, which means I leave home by 2pm. So, I called Bill and asked if he could pick the dog up, bring him home and put him in his cage for the evening. Bill said he would do it, he would be in class that day, so he would pick Michael up as soon as class was over. He also offered to stay with Michael for a little bit to make sure he did not have any ill effects from the anesthesia. Bill has been all sweetness and light since he's moved out. I wondered how long he could keep it up.

Tuesday morning, I got a call from Y's friends' mom. Her kids were sick with the flu, and she wanted to know if I still wanted Y to come to her house that night. I told her, thanks, but no. I figured Bill would be at the house, so Y could stay home. I already told Y that if he was home alone with Bill, and Bill started raging again, that he should take Michael to his room, lock the door and call me and/or his friend the translator, or in an emergency dial 911, then call me. So, I decided to surprise Y with lunch from Subway because I now had to go to the school and tell him that he needed to ride the bus home in the afternoon. When I showed up, the school told me that I could not eat lunch with Y, nor could I leave him a sandwich because it was his last day of ISS. They do not reward the kids when they're in ISS. I asked what they did for his lunch (I was just curious). They said they would bring a school lunch (one lunch, not two) to each of the kids. No wonder Y had been coming home ravenous right after school. He has been using some of his allowance to buy two lunches almost every day (I give him enough to buy breakfast and lunch - about $6/day). If he wants to drink something other than milk or water, then he has to buy it out of his own money. I left him a note telling him about taking the bus and that Bill would be bringing his dog home later in the day, and went home to put Y's sandwich in the fridge. At least I knew what he would be having for dinner that evening.

I called Y almost as soon as the bus would be coming past the house. He got my note, thank goodness! I explained that his dog would be very tired, so please keep him in his room unless he needed to go potty, so Michael could rest. I got an, "Okay, okay. Mama, I no can talk and play! I love you, goodbye!" Wow. An unsolicited "I love you." What more could a Mama ask for?

I called again around 6:30pm, and Y wanted to know why I was calling so often. I asked how Michael was doing and he said, "Michael very tired. Very tired. He sleep on my bed now." Then he asked, "Mama, I off! Michael no like, he no can scratch." I knew immediately that he was referring to his e-collar. Nope. It stays on. I explained how Michael could hurt himself by licking the incision, so Y agreed to leave it on. Again, I got an "I love you, Mama. Goodbye." Woo hoo! Two in one day!

At 8:15pm I called a third time. No answer on Y's cell. No answer on the house phone. No answer on Bill's cell. Arrrrgh! So, I called Y's cell again. No answer. Maybe he was tired and went to bed early, or maybe he was letting Michael out to pee. I tried the house phone again, and left a message for Bill to call me back. Then I called Bill's cell phone five times in a row before he picked it up. I asked if he had fallen asleep on the couch. Yes, but he was sleeping on the couch at the other house!!!! He dropped off the dog, explained to Y about the collar, picked up some of his stuff, and went home. WTF!?! He told Y he would be back, but after falling asleep, he decided to stay there because he had to get up early the next day. So, he spent maybe two hours out of the eight he was supposed to spend with Y. I was furious. I told Bill that if Y did not pick up the phone in the next five minutes I was going to go home immediately to check on him, and if anything had happened to him, I would castrate Bill the next day without anesthesia. Lucky for Bill, Y picked up the phone. He was just taking the dogs outside, he said. Then he gave me the #1 and #2 report. I really didn't need that, I told him, as long as it all occurred outside. Then, "I love you," #3 for the day. I still left work 90 minutes early. I was so annoyed I couldn't concentrate. At least I got home in time to tuck Y in to bed for the night.

I didn't even bother asking Bill to come by again the next night. Our therapist called Wednesday morning, and I told her about the night before. She said I was stringing Bill along asking him for help with Y, and that I should definitely not ask him to do it again. She also told me that when people are in therapy, and they're really serious about it, you can tell by how they are acting. Guess Bill hasn't even called anyone yet. So, I had to leave Y home by himself on Wednesday night. At least I would be home two hours earlier than the previous night. I was rushed in the morning, so I went to Mc'D's and got him chicken strips, fries and a chocolate milkshake and left them in the fridge. We ended up having an argument when I got home, about him not eating anything after school because I bought chicken strips and not chicken nuggets. Y didn't tell me that he didn't eat what I bought until almost 11pm (he was giving me problems about going to sleep, too). He didn't like it when I told him he could heat up leftover pizza or eat some of the brownies that were left, but he could not make himself a hamburger or two on the stove at 11pm. He stormed up to bed, saying that he was going to tell everyone in America and Ukraine that I wouldn't feed him. "Go ahead, have a good time," I said. I think he was just reacting to Bill being there/not being there the night before.

At least I got the old TV repaired in the morning, and then the Dish guy showed up just in time to install my new DVR, so I have TV again!!! I even got to watch a re-run of Dexter that night. Life is good. Still haven't caught up on Heroes, yet, though.

While I was at work on Wednesday, Bill called to tell me that the electricity had been turned off at the rent house. It was because our tenant had agreed to pay half the deposit required by his electric company up front, and the rest two weeks later. He did not pay the remainder of the deposit, so they turned off the electricity. Bill wanted to know if I could "loan" him the $250 to get the electric turned back on, because our tenant would not have the money for another week. Not likely. I told him to use the generator he already had over there. He was annoyed, but I stood firm.

Thursday I worked a day shift, so I got home about 45 minutes after Y. Checked in on him on the way home, and he gave me the typical teenage "why are you calling me all the time" b.s. When I informed Y that he had about 30 minutes before cheer practice, he told me he wanted to quit the team. He wanted more time to practice his jumps and stuff. I told him that he would have to go and tell T and J that he wanted to quit, so he said let's go right now. We went, he told them he wanted to quit, and then we set up the day/time for his private lessons. T reminded me that I am still obligated to pay the $200/mo team fee, but I will still get at least one weekly class. I have to ask if I could substitute either two weekly classes or one weekly class and his private lessons instead of the cheer team. We'll see.

Earlier that afternoon we went to Kroger's where Y asked to buy a "Chuckie" DVD to watch later. We tried to hook up the DVD player to the old TV when we got home. Y did a very good job, he got the video part to work right away, but we did not get any sound from the DVD player. So, I called Bill and asked him what we were doing wrong. He made two suggestions, but we still couldn't get any sound going. Bill said he would be up in a few minutes to fix it for us. Not really what I wanted, but Y really wanted to watch that movie. I called Bill around 7:30pm. At 10:45pm he called back, and said he would be up in a few minutes to fix it. Nothing like doing things promptly! I was still awake when Bill showed up about 30 minutes later. He asked if he could sleep here because there was still no electricity at the other house, and it was extremely muggy. I was too tired to object.

Friday morning I woke Y and Bill up, but I still had to drive Y to school before going to work. He missed the bus by about 2 minutes. Luckily the doors to the school were open at 6:15am, so I dropped him off with a breakfast from McD's and rushed to work. Imagine my surprise when I returned home at 4pm to find Bill's truck in the driveway. He called in to work and told them he couldn't come in because he didn't have any electricity. I had already called our old electric company and paid the deposit to get the electricity started there again. It would be worth the deposit money to keep Bill from showing up unexpectedly and overstaying his welcome. Bill left quickly after I got home, and called to tell me the electric was back on at the old house.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty uneventful, other than the fact that I couldn't watch the Steelers on TV or the computer again. At least they won.

Tomorrow Y is off from school due to Columbus Day. We will be meeting a potential teensitter (can't call her a babysitter - Y would howl at that - he's not a baby!) tomorrow at 1pm. Hopefully she can start on Tuesday. She's about my age, with teens of her own, and she used to train dogs at a local kennel. She's been a nanny/babysitter for a local family for ten years, the kids just outgrew needing her around. Y's reaction was just as I expected when I told him about her today. "No, Mama! I no baby!" Then I told him she would be cooking dinner for him both evenings. "Oh, okay." We'll see. She says she'll make sure he does all of his chores each day before going on the computer. He's gonna love her!

Natalie

TX