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Peaces Of Me++++
++++ The miles just keep rollin as the people leave there way to say hello I've heard this life is overrated but I hope that it gets better as we go |
Nov 29/00 Nadia had her MRI at the Hospital tonight. She forgot her health card and they were upset about it. I was at The computer store when Dwayne and his girlfriend or wife (whatever) were purchasing something too. I said hi to Dwayne and he looked so uncomfortable and finally said that he didn't know who I was. His wife, just kept staring at me and didn't look too pleased. I said "Sure you do...", let it hang for a moment and then said "Dave and Marita's neighbour remember?". They both looked so relieved. She must have to watch him judging by their reaction. And boy he must drink a lot to lose his memory in just one day eh? We got April and Monica's report card and Monica was crushed when they gave her a B in gym. There is no way she deserved that because she excels at everything she tries in sports. I'll wait until the interview to complain. It is only a gym mark but I did it for Stacy when they gave her a C in gym and this is no different. Apparently Brent said Trevor was not allowed to go to that party last weekend and he went anyway. Conrad got so drunk there that Trevor was concerned about him so that he finally phoned his dad to come get Conrad. He had to go to the hospital. That was so good of his friend to look out for Conrad. I told Brent that every friend should have done that, you always look out for each other, especially when drinking is involved. I hope that Conrad has learned his lesson. Stacy has been talking about a guy on her spare that seems to be someone she is enjoying and is very comfortable with, he is funny and she really likes to laugh. He seems to be able to talk about himself a lot and they laugh at some of his misfortunes of dating. He is older sounds smart, he sounds like one guy I wouldn't mind her seeing. He is from the our elementary school area. I am not encouraging her at all though, she already has too much to contend with and hopefully they can just be friends because she sure needs a guy she could think of as a friend and not just the next guy that is interested in her. Annie at 11/30/2000 04:39:00 a.m. Took Nadia to the dentist about her headaches, the mouthpiece seems to be helping. I came into Marita's house just when Dwayne, one of Dave's friends, came in (drunk again) and picked me up by wrapping his arms around me and grabbing me by the bum. Then he said how nice my bum was and when he finally let go he made the awkward moment better by picking Marita up and grabbing her by the bum too. God, he is a disgustingly gross drunk. Jessie Black asked Stacy to go out again (I found his note in the Laundry room and kept it because if I give it back to her now, I know she will rip it up) and she replied 'Not this again' so I guess she won't be forgiving him. I wonder when Stacy actually starts to go out (you know formally) with a guy if the other guys will leave her alone? Probably. That will be nice. Stacy went to a movie tonight with Jake and his friends Chad and Sean. They met my neighbour Donna outside on the street, she used to teach them in Elementary School. Great, I am getting the blame for parents talking between themselves in regard to that party. Chrissie says that her mom wouldn't let her go because I told her that it was a bad party. Yes, parents were talking, but I never said anything to her mom about it, she was not even sitting with the group of women that was talking. Brent was very upset until I pointed out that at no time did I disallow him to go to that party. If I thought it was that bad, I wouldn't have let Brent go. I simply told him of some of the concerns I had and he chose not to go. Annie at 11/29/2000 04:38:00 a.m. Brent is finally back home, said that he told us when he would be back home, he didn't, we just presumed that he would come back for school on Monday. Silly me. They were at Deerhurst Inn. If he had of mentioned that name to me I would have remembered it because it is close to our cottage and that is where we used to go. I would have phoned and not worried. He said that on the way back Adam was sick to his stomach. I wonder if they had been drinking? Dan went with them also. Stacy went out with Jake again tonight to someone's hockey game. She is going out with him a lot. I wonder if she even realizes she is going out with him. The fact that they are not saying they are going out might be the best thing for her right now. If only he knew that they are really going out. I just wish his friends wouldn't put pressure on her. It is only supposed to be between the two of them. I have to watch April, I have been told by a number of people that April has been going to the store and the Burger Joint with Chelsea and Tara and paying for the two of them. I have questioned her and she has said that she only lends them money and they will pay her back. Yeah right. I told April that she is only allowed at the store once a week. Annie at 11/28/2000 04:37:00 a.m. We took Stacy to the Dr. about her knee, she is not doing well. She had to miss a race today. He is sending her to a specialist. She hasn't been in the best of moods lately and I think that the knee is why. I have never seen her moody before, she has always been so good natured. Sunday night and we haven't heard from Brent. I have been phoning Adam's parents because he might have just decided to stay there for the night but I guess they are still not back. I am worried about Brent, he is still not back home wherever the hell he is. I wish I had phoned the parents and gotten some information. I should know better. Brent is never one for details. Monica has not been playing that much with the neighbourhood kids these days. She is with Holly more and I have noticed that the neighbourhood kids are calling on April, even the little ones. April is more than happy to play with them. It's funny that April can hang out with kids of all ages. Like the Kegs, you see her sometimes with Josh, Jeff is with her a lot and now little Billy comes to the door and wants April. Annie at 11/27/2000 04:34:00 a.m. Indoor Track has started and we have to pay $450 for the running season. I don't like thinking about paying because I don't even know if Stace can run the season with her knee like this. What to do? Internet Relationships E-mail I think James might be right about Stacy not being ready to date. He doesn't think she should see any guys socially at all. I am starting to realize that she might not be ready, that there is too much going on around her for her to actually get to know a guy for himself. She has too many guys paying attention to her and it is hard to watch, very unsettling. She doesn't realize that guys will always be there and that most of them are only interested in her looks and body. I wish she would just hang around with her girl friends; they look like they have so much fun. But the Internet makes easy instant contact with a normally unobtainable person and therefore my shy beautiful daughter is being besieged with suitors. It seems to be hunting season on her during that spare she gets for sports. She has been exposed to many guys on this spare but one stands out as a person who wants to know her just as a friend. She talks about Rob all the time but he has never asked her out, only makes her laugh. As a parent who is watching their shy girl try to find herself, he is the one guy I wouldn't mind her going out with. There is another guy has been a support system to her ever since her old boyfriend broke up but he is very interested in her too. Jake has got to know her and like her personality, something that a lot of guys don't care about. This new guy has spent hours talking to her on the Internet and she says he was talking to her even when she was going out with the boyfriend in the summer. She was always messaging him on the Internet, would talk about him and really miss him when he was away or busy some weekends. In person however, he is as shy as she is making some of their dates awkward with silences. James said she can't go steady with him but he is still willing to be there for her. She knows he is a good guy and I think she is just scarred of losing his friendship. This new guy is busy just like her so it wouldn't be like they were always in each other's space and like I already told you how she basically dumped her girlfriends in the summer when she was with Jessie. I don't think she would do that with this guy because she has been with her friends as well as this new guy and she sees them both. Another good thing about Jake is that he has lots of friends and he has actually taken her out with them so she is meeting new people and once she gets comfortable with them she would have a great time. I don't think she would ever be bored. Now she says that some of his friends are getting upset with her for the way she is keeping him waiting. I don't know if she should date at all, just hang out with the girls. One of her friends, Amy, is not allowed to date until she is eighteen. I don’t think that kind of parent interference will make a difference. I think that if a teen wants something bad enough that they will sneak behind a parents back. I would rather know whom my daughter is seeing and supervise so that they can have fun and be safe at the same time. We might have to get her off the Internet out of the way of all those guys who are trying there luck but not face to face. We will see. If she really found out that she liked Jake, I think James could be talked into letting her go out with him. James booked the party room for his mom and dads 50th wedding anniversary. It will be in the basement and we had to put a deposit down so we paid for it all $300. Nadia is being so caring with Derrick, his girlfriend Jennifer broke up with him and he is upset and Nadia is upset because he is. Wow, now that is liking someone. She never liked the way Jennifer treated him which is weird usually girls would be happy that someone they want is being treated badly by the competition but she is so protective over him. All I can say is wow, that's my girl, Nadia. Annie at 11/26/2000 04:32:00 a.m. I talked James into putting a mousetrap in the attic even though he has never heard the mouse, the kids have been complaining too. Last night just as we were nodding off, we heard the snap of the trap. I had been complaining to James that it has taken so long to go up and put a trap that the mouse would be huge (I named it Bob). Right after it snapped you could hear the mouse dragging the trap away, and after my comments about how big it must be by now, it as only fitting and so funny to hear the trap being dragged away by Bob. April is really impressing me with her schoolwork. I thought that we would have to be on her case to do her homework, since she really didn't have any the last few years. However, April is coming home and cracking those books without any influence or encouragement and we are so happy with her. April has shown a lot of maturity in grade seven. Stacy went to a party with Jake. I don't really think that she has ever gone to a good party yet she has been to all of 2 parties ever! I told her that you have to go to some that aren't so good and then every now and then you come across one really good party and that makes it all worthwhile. I am worried about Nadia going to the hockey game with Derrick. She is so excited about it and I don't want her to have a let down because Derrick has a girlfriend. I know that Nadia thinks Jennifer is all wrong for him and she gets so upset by the way the girl treats Derrick. I think it is a mutual friend, Nadir that is telling Nadia and the other girls what Jennifer really thinks of him and Nadia thinks of him as real quality so she hates him being made to look like a pest. I wish I could share Nadia's excitement of what she feels about him but I want to protect her from any rejection she might get (because he has a girlfriend) so I know that Nadia gets dejected when I am not so enthusiastic. I can feel her pulling away from me when we talk about him but I don't want to put her hopes up. Nadia went to a hockey game tonight. Annie at 11/25/2000 04:29:00 a.m. I had to go back to the dentist again for the same tooth, it just doesn't feel right. Nadia told me that Mark M. was trying to tie Stacy down for a date. He wants Stacy to ask him to take him out for Student council promotion or something. Nadia said Stacy would just smile at him and shake her head. Brent is going somewhere with Adam and his parents this weekend and as usual, the details are sketchy. All I know is that it is up north somewhere. He slept over at Adam's to make it easier. He took his computer which we don't approve but he pointed out it is his. I don't understand why they need they computer. I wish Brent would tell me more. The new school that is being housed at our school has a band and they have already started practising but our school hasn't. It is not fair to the kids, April wants a head start learning an instrument too. She is really trying with the clarinet and even is showing her piano teacher how she is doing. April sounds pretty good to me. Annie at 11/24/2000 04:27:00 a.m. All of a sudden Kara has been very friendly to Stacy and has been telling tales to her. Kara told her that Jessie was sad when he found out Stacy liked someone else. Why would she tell her that? Even if it is true it was between Kara and Jessie. Did she say it to try to make Stacy feel again? Her feelings about Jessie are extremely confusing to her even before she found out that he was sad about her liking someone else. There is too much action around Stacy and it seems to me like she is sinking in it. Jessie and Jake becoming close at this point is hard on her too, I think that sometimes she feels that Jessie is actually giving her to Jake. In Jessie's icq details Jessie even states the 'Jake has his ex and he is making her blind.' It basically shows possession transferred. She has to try and separate the fact they are now close friends and if she can't handle that she should run like hell from both of them. It could be a no win situation with them not liking her or them not liking each other. I heard that when they didn't like each other in elementary school it was initially over a girl. Stacy and I went out to buy her a semi dress. We were at the mall and 2 guys started following her around even though she was with me. They would come right up to her and try to talk to her so I would go up close to Stacy and they would back off. Later when 2 other guys tried the same thing I must have looked annoyed because she apologized to me. I don't care about that part. I just want her to learn how to accept or reject attention, she is so shy, not as shy as I was thank god, but I really have tried all her life to help her with her shyness. She didn't know what she wanted in a dress and most of the sizes are too big for her but we finally found a short silvery black dress she seems satisfied with. She asked Jake to go to the dance, at first they weren't going, he had hockey and then she was going with her girlfriends but now they will go as a couple. Stacy went to Amy's hockey game. I am so glad she is going out more with her friends. Jake drove her to the game, she actually asked him - big step. At pitching clinic for Monica I heard some gossip about the rep division and the house league for baseball. From what I could understand some people are trying to get them affiliated with each other as it should be but they all don't have the same agenda. Some people are trying to get extra time on the diamonds to take away from the other ball clubs. That is what I gathered from the conversation anyway but I am staying right out of this little war. Annie at 11/23/2000 04:24:00 a.m. Hepatitis B shots for April's grade. It sure doesn't take long since there is only one class. April had the makings of being a chicken but she finally took it well. There were a lot of frightened boys as usual. They have changed the doses so that they only have to have two shots now. Miss Busy Bee, gurrrr, is trying to look in charge for this too, and she knows nothing about it. I can't wait till she is leaves with her kids to their own new school. Other parents had the right idea though; it looked like they were trying to keep as far away from her as possible. After a week Nadia's eye hasn't improved so the Dr. doesn't want Nadia wearing her contacts for a couple of months. She even confiscated all her contacts to make sure she doesn't sneak them. Nadia and her questionnaire for sports. Nadia had to hand out questions for her survey for sports and violence. The teacher even said to her "good luck getting your data." It involves sex violence and coaching intimidation, something that usually isn't talked about. She had to word everything delicately, considering the subject matter (why does she always pick subjects so hard?) She gave the survey to the Junour hockey players and guys she knew were in sports. Apparently when she asked the hockey guys if they would do the survey she wasn't prepared to hand them out so quickly. She had to put down her books, get down on the floor on her knees, in front of the generals and handed it up to them. At that moment she realized what a subservient position she was in, that they could see down her top and that she was on level with all their crotches. She was very uncomfortable and they found it very amusing. Later on in our car Nadia was telling me about the survey and Stacy asks if Jessie filled one out. Nadia said yes. Stacy wanted to see them and I was surprised that she could recognize his handwriting given the fact that most communication among teenagers is done on the Internet. She was sad when she read that he lost his virginity at 16. It's hard but I am glad my girls feels so strongly for the guys they care about, but I know Stacy is thinking "why Kara?" I really don't think she regrets not being the one, just that it was Kara with a guy she really liked and cared a lot about. Annie at 11/22/2000 04:19:00 a.m. My imagination went wild today. If Stacy lied about who was on the phone, then she is probably lying about other things too. I have never experienced her lying before, this is new and it feels awful. I even thought that she wasn't going to the semi with Jake but Dezzie because that is the only one I ever hear phoning her. I pressed call display but no guy's number was on it from last night. I went to the school and took Stacy right out of class. She said it was Dezzie who kept telling her to phone him and I said prove it and prove that it is Jake she is going to the semi with. I guess I wanted to hear it from Jake at that point. I told her that I could press last number redial to find out who it was. She wanted to go home to prove that she was going to the semi with Jake and that Dezzie had told her to phone so we went home. She showed me on ICQ about both concerns. I asked her if she could see how I could think that way because I caught her in a lie and she said that she did it because she knew that I wouldn't like her talking to Dezzie. Well, yeah, not when she is trying to go out with someone else, his friend. I told her not to accept phone calls from any other guys except Jake because this is all getting a little too much. Annie at 11/21/2000 04:08:00 a.m. We had to buy Nadia new glasses because her vision has drastically changed because of the eye infection. I hope there will be no further change. I don't understand what happened that her eyes got so infected. Was she not taking care of her eyes, was she wearing them too much? We went to Mark and Carrie's and came home late. When we got home I think I caught her off guard because Stacy was on the phone and said it was Jake when I asked. I told her to go down stairs as she was in my bedroom and I would hang up our phone. I heard him talk and realized that I do not know Jake's voice because he hardly ever phones, but I do know Dezzie because he phones so much and that was Dezzie's voice. I could barely sleep all night because I knew that she lied. Annie at 11/20/2000 04:06:00 a.m. Stacy says that Jake doesn't think he can go to the semiformal because he has a hockey game. I think that she should ask him to go anyway, even if she told her friends that she was going with them. They will all be at the same place so she can hang with her girlfriends too. Monica's soccer team is so good. They are always on the move, even at half time. There are some excellent players on the team and they (the kids) are helping Monica to learn. Because she doesn't have the skill that they do her job right now is to try and catch up to the ball and run in front of it, That ties up the opponents but she is learning from them very fast. Nadia has been using walking as a means of transportation and it is really paying off. I credit Louise for motivating her to walk in the past but Nadia thinks nothing of going across town to see her friends. She drinks a lot of water and you can really notice in her face that she has lost weight. She looks so beautiful, flawless skin, big eyes and she doesn't even need makeup. I like her to wear a little colour on her lips to brighten up her face, which is all she needs to look fantastic. Annie at 11/19/2000 04:01:00 a.m. We got the full amount back for the repair of the Lap top computer today. $1067.58. Good work James! Hot dog day. Marita donated the buns and one woman who was helping started to put them in the microwave where they became wet shrivelled limps things. I objected to her putting them in and she got angry and said they felt stale. Marita told her that they donated them and got them fresh but she didn't agree with us. I got my back up when she said that to Marita and I think I bulldozed my way through the rest of the lunch. She had no right to criticize the free hot dogs and just because she freezes her buns and microwaves them doesn't mean she has to make the school kids suffer too! She just stared daggers at me. Big deal! I am so sick of the smell of a couple hundred boiled hot dogs and the gross yeasty buns they use. I won't be able to eat them for a couple weeks at least! I got a phone call from the aquatics leader saying that Stacy can't volunteer for swimming until she gets her Bronze, which is different from what they said earlier. Oh gee that's too bad. I guess that she won't be able to see Mark anymore awwwwwwwwww. Brent had a chiropractor apt. His back is driving us all crazy. The Dr. said we are not allowed to stand on his back now, but Brent is begging everyone to do it. The Dr. says it is just a bad habit. Brent has been going to the chiropractors on his own, without us even knowing. I am glad he is getting more independent. He has been going with the Doobie Brothers which surprised me because I didn't know they still hung out. Nadia went to see The Grinch with Nichol. Annie at 11/18/2000 04:59:00 a.m. James had a chiropractors appt. He doesn't think that it is doing him any good so he is going to stop going to the Chiropractor. James & I had a big debate over Stacy dating. He doesn't even want her to date at all, he told her until March but she has to sort this out. So many people are interested in her and it is not just going to go away. She has to learn how to handle it. It was ok with her going out with different guys until we found out that 2 of them were friends. That just don't work. I want her to play the field to see what kind of guys suits her. I guess that I can't count on James to help this out because I am not giving her an ultimatum. This guy drove into a parking lot at school, I was backed in. He started to talk to me, which was awkward as it was hard to look back at him because of the position of the cars. Also I wish I had asked who he was. He exchanged pleasantries and then asked some questions about Stacy. I told him she couldn't really date guys from older grades (I was making this up as I was going because he put me on the spot and he looked older) He said that Stacy should be allowed to go out with older guys and any one she wants to and then pulled through and away. This is the second time this has happened, last time it was one of Brent's acquaintances but I think he was asking for someone else. I never mentioned it to Brent because he gets bothered by that stuff when it comes to Stacy. When Stacy got into the van she told me that Jessie and Kara broke up. She is happy about it because of what Kara has done to her, and I don't think that she will try for him at all. She doesn't think that way (I think) I was talking to Caroline Alexio at Volleyball and she is worried about a situation that is really raising eyebrows and concern. A boy who goes to another highschool, has an Aunt who lives near our high school and she is offering her home for parties to her nephew. This is Brent's age group. The problem is that kids from both schools are going and people think it is an accident waiting to happen. I asked Brent about it and he said that he might go, he wasn't sure. I told Brent to be careful and I alerted him to problems that can happen at that type of party, the drinking, the vacant bedrooms, and the 2 schools fighting with each other. Why would the Aunt offer an unsupervised party to 16 year olds? Duhhh. Annie at 11/17/2000 04:51:00 a.m. I pointed Jake out to James in the school parking lot, I think it was his first good look at him, and he freaked when he noticed Jake had sideburns. "How old is this guy?" I guess it made Jake look older in James's eyes and Stacy is his little girl. All the volunteer work, Mondays and Wednesdays at the rec centre is really getting hard for Stacy but she loves working there, it is something she wants to do when she is an adult. Stacy had to do her swimming volunteer lessons with Mark M. today. It was hard to watch. The parents upstairs in the viewing area were wondering why all of a sudden he is not wearing his glasses in the water anymore, hmmmm. Nadia says that it is ironic how you can have a guy in your class for years and all of a sudden he is real friendly with her because of her younger sister. Annie at 11/16/2000 04:49:00 a.m. Nadia's eye has gone beet red and so we had to take her to the eye Dr. She didn't think it looked too good, an infection or a bad scratch, so she can't wear her contacts for a week. After a week if her eye hasn't improves to the Dr. doesn't want Nadia wearing her contacts for a couple of months. Stacy went to see NSYNC at the Skydome with her friends. Her friends had bought he the ticket a while ago for her birthday. Stacy and Jake trying to go out is so complicated. She decided between Jake and Derrick - Jake - but please, someone tell Dezzie that, because he keeps phoning her, even though he has a girlfriend now. She told Jake that there was to be no drugs and when she thought he was, boy did she blow up in the van. I think I can see the end of their relationship the moment he does any drugs. I have seen him at McD's on a break outside and he was smoking a cigarette but I didn't tell Stacy cos she hates that as much as drugs. Had a hot tub at Mark and Carrie's, it feels so good when you work your muscles swimming so hard in the mornings. Annie at 11/15/2000 04:48:00 a.m. Monday swims always get me down Monday mornings swims.... Ewww!!! The pool water is extra cold on Mondays. I would like to think that if you swim extra fast on these cold Mondays you would sweat until you are warm but it just doesn't work that way. So I jump in as fast as I can to get the frigid shock over with! I baby pool is still warm so I just lounge in there longer than most mornings! I did talk to Jake outside our house about drugs. I explained that I didn't think less of him for trying it, considering my own son has tried it. It only took till today for that information to get back to Brent at school. And Stacy didn't know Brent ever did it. I wonder if I had said to Jake "please don't tell anyone" if it would have made a difference. Brent said he heard about me talking to Jake at school from Jake's friends and please don't think that he is doing it because he isn't anymore. Maybe this is a good thing to get it out in the open. I hope Stace doesn't think less of Brent. I have been hearing the scratching of a mouse up in our attic late at night and James doesn't seem to believe me. By the time I wake him up I guess I have made enough noise so that the mouse quiets right down. James bought new pants for work - $354. He is so tough on his good pants. I think most guys change into the casual clothes when they come home for work. I wish Mike would, it would save on wear and tear on his good clothes. I have been hearing the scratching of a mouse up in our attic late at night. James doesn't seem to believe me, he sleeps through everything! By the time I wake him up I guess I have made enough noise so that the mouse quiets right down. Annie at 11/13/2000 11:46:00 p.m. Letter to Stacy, A lot has been going on around you lately and sometimes you must feel that you can't handle everything that's going on but looking at you, I can see that you are able to. It must be terribly confusing. I don't know if you remember but a couple of years ago you were complaining to me that you were too skinny and everyone had there period except you. I told you at the time that if you lined up teenagers and other people in their twenties thirties and forties, and actually judged everyone in your class and everyone you knew, that all the older people would pick your body frame and getting your period late. You are a very attractive girl, always have been, but you never accepted it because you didn't like the attention. Now you have to learn to accept the attention. It's harder to look like you do and be shy but you have come a very long way to overcome your shyness. Your shyness is a part of you always and to some people is an attractive attribute. I can't believe how far you have come because a lot of people who are shy don't do things like sports because they don't like getting noticed. I am so proud of you in everything that you have accomplished and especially when I have given you your weekly goals in elementary school and you'd do it. Remember? "This week Stacy I want you to go and talk to an older boy." Or "I want you to be the first one to do your presentation." You always tried so hard. This year you experienced something that most girl's dream of all their teenage years, you met a great guy, good looking, nice and you guys really looked good together. But like I told you before, its too bad you didn't meet him when you were both older because mistakes were made on both your parts, it's only natural to make these mistakes and whether you two realize it, you will both learn from them. The fact that you two are both still friends is a major achievement. As you now must have figured out when you are as pretty as you are and have a great body guys are going to try to get your attention in almost any way they can. They might try to flatter you, act real stupid around you, try to treat you real mean, say very suggestive sexual remarks that are totally inappropriate. They might try to touch you, tell people that they have been with you, pretend that they have a friend that likes you when it is really them, it can be endless Then there are the girls. They can be your best friends, they can be casual friends or they can be totally unknown to you but they often feel that you can be a threat to them in so many ways. Because you are good looking and they feel that you are popular they might want to hang around you because that's where the guys are. Maybe they want you to hook up with a guy, not because you like him, but they want to hang around with his friends. Also they might like a guy but because he talks to you or he is around you a lot they consider you a boyfriend stealer, even if the boy doesn't even like the girl, the girl claims her 'man' and you are now competition. (I can't find the rest of the letter!) Annie at 11/12/2000 11:39:00 p.m. Remembrance day should be filled with memories of another time, a time that we hope we will never have to relive. A neighbour reminisced the other day of how her father came upon a dead Italian Soldier in WW2 war. What bothered him about this dead soldier was that he looked more human than the other fallen soldiers. He had a trumpet strapped to his belt. He despaired over the soldier and in an impulse move grabbed the trumpet for himself along with a picture of the dead man's family. After the war he learned to play the trumpet and told the tale of the Italian soldier as if he was a personal friend, even showed the pictures. He handed his trumpet down to his grandson and his grandchild proudly plays it in a marching band. She told me this tale because she just lost her father and that memory is so dear to her on Remembrance Day of how he brought alive the story of a soldier he never knew. James & I went out with Steven & Lana to the Outback. It was really crowded so we stood by the bar until we saw some parents from cross country. We stood by them and watched them eat until our table was ready. HA. When we had sat down to eat there was this guy that was about 4 tables away and he kept staring over at our table. I asked James if he knew him and the guy would look away. Then I realized that he was interested in me, really interested. He signalled to me to meet him somewhere up front and since James and I were finished I took James with me. The guy took off so fast when James came around the corner with me. It was funny. Brent had his friends over for once, just after Stacy had her friends over- they had a bit to drink but I don't mind if it is just a little. I gave the girls some wine cooler. One cooler split between a bunch of girls is only going to give them all a little taste. They thought that was so cool! I was beginning to think fixing the basement was a waste. At least Nadia uses it a lot. I do wish that Stacy and her friends would learn how to hang out with guys too because now that Jake is around there friends should learn how to mingle. I just don't think she knows how to make those kind of arrangements yet. Nadia baby sat for Mark and Carrie. Annie at 11/11/2000 11:24:00 p.m. This morning we were approached by a rep organization and asked to put Monica and Stacy into Rep swimming at the Rec Centre. They commented on the strength of the girls especially Monica. Monica feels the need to do as many lengths as she can so she can post them on the wall. It is like competition to her. I don't have any sore muscles anymore and I know it is from swimming. We don't have any time to do the Rep swimming but it is nice to know they are doing so well. I wish April would come more often. Years ago I looked into the swimming club here but it was too much time and money. I just wish there was some other type of organization, not swimming lessons, that they could find that had swimming contests, I would like that. They used to have a program that was sponsored by Esso but that is not around anymore. Too bad. James had a chiropractors appt. Stacy is going out with Jake again, I think they went to Tim Hortons. She is nervous with him, I think it is because they know each other better on the Internet rather than in person so he really doesn't know how shy she is. She said he is quiet and nervous with her too. Now it seems fast. She is uncomfortable having the guy pay for everything, they will have to work that out themselves. Interim report cards Nadia - great, Stacy great, Brent----oh well two out of three ain't bad! It is just that he is a Brainer. I just wish he would try even a little. Annie at 11/10/2000 11:22:00 p.m. I went to the dentist again got a back tooth filled and it doesn't feel like I can close my mouth properly. Brent says that Jennifer mom is being kind of hard on her. Her mom doesn't trust her and Brent says that she is a good straight kid so her mom should be careful about it. Her mom did mention to me that she is leery of the kids that Jennifer is hanging with because she doesn't know them. It is easier when you know the parents of the kids that your kids are hanging with but that is part of the kids growing up, meeting new people. Monica is really getting fed up with her volleyball team - especially Britt. The girl is blaming everyone for mistakes and really bringing the team down so that they are all close to tears. It is a negative situation and they are losing because of it. I told Monica to go back in the next game and comment on all the good plays, whenever anyone does something even remotely good. I probably did not have to say anything to her because she knows how to motive people herself and she did an amazing job. She high 5'd everyone and soon there were smiles and they even won. The power of positive thinking! Brent really hates his blonde hair and doesn't want to wait for it to grow in so I bought him some hair dye. After I got it home he says that maybe he will let it grow in, oh well, I don't care either way. Annie at 11/09/2000 06:15:00 p.m. April is hanging out more with Chelsea and Laura, who is in the grade above her. At least she is seeing kids more her own age. I never encouraged her to hang out with Chelsea but since this new school has been announced she has to hang around kids in this neighbourhood. I have to give Chelsea a chance, hopefully she has more boundaries than she did when she was younger but I doubt it. April needs to choose her own friends from now on and hopefully she will make good choices. I am not sure about April hanging around with a girl a year older, Laura. You see as a parent, I can vacillate between wanting her to hang out with people her own age and complaining about the kids she does hang out with! All kidding aside, there has got to be more out there that April can choose from. Stacy is volunteering to help with swimming lessons. I am trying to make her as busy as possible to keep the guys away but it backfired. Carrie told me after I had the volunteering job arranged that he was lifegaurding. I went upstairs to watch and there was Mark M. I was mad at myself because he is one of the guys I was trying to keep her away from. You could see from the viewing area that he was giving the other life guards little nods and motioning with little gestures towards Stacy and wouldn't you know it, she was suddenly paired with him. She is not interested in him, but he is another distraction as far as I am concerned. He asked to drive her home but I had arranged for Carrie to take her home. I just heard that the president got voted out of the house league baseball. The guy that was in charge of the Umps is now president. There has never been a love loss between them and a couple years ago they were against each other in the voting but the president won that time. Apparently people with kids on the rep team who also have kids on the house league attended the meeting in masse and there was no contest. They seem to think that with the president gone they can get the rep league and the house league back together but I think there is still bad blood. I feel bad for the past president; she did so much for the league and for the select program. I hope she stays on in some capacity Brad chased Jake with a golf club down the hall at school. I guess he must maintain his image as the crazy kid when it comes to Stacy. Jake said, "Brent, your sister...ehhhh" and gave him the thumbs up and Brent just went for him. Brent said it is better than the look Dezzie gives him, he says that Dezzie is after everyone's sister. Annie at 11/08/2000 11:50:00 p.m. Stacy went to a movie with Jake- Legend of Bagger Vance. It is just so different not having to be involved in the transportation part of it. She says he is a good driver. I am still nervous though. Brent and Adam phoned Stacy asking for Jake's number late on the weekend. I already know that they don't socialize with each other and I wasn't born yesterday, so when Brent came home I told him I knew it had to do something about drugs or alcohol. He told me that it wasn't for him. So now I know that Jake is involved with drugs - and some of Brent friends still and maybe even Brent. I have to give Brent the benefit of the doubt because he already told me he didn't intend on doing it again, but I am not holding my breath. I told him that I smelled it on him last month and he said yes he did it but that was it, not anymore. I mentioned it to Stacy and she told me that Jake already said he would not do it again too. What to do? Apparently it is pot. I really don't hold it against him. If I did, I'd have a problem with probably 50% of teens that age. It is how they conduct themselves - do they lose control when they drink or take pot - do they become assholes? That would really bother me. I would rather they didn't smoke but I think most teens try it. Annie at 11/07/2000 11:52:00 p.m. It is hard dragging everyone out of bed for swimming especially after the weekends. The sunrise is beautiful at this time of year at the pool, we can actually watch it rise through the huge expanse of glass wall. Everyone else in the world is missing the most beautiful part of the morning. Mind you if I had the chance, well I would have my eyes closed too! I was in a dream state when someone came in my room last night and said Brent had bleached his hair. In the morning I to woke him up and was shocked into remembering the nighttime visit. He really doesn't like it, I guess when your hair is so black, yellow is as good a blond as you will get. His eyebrows are too dark for it to look any good, but what a shock! Nadia went to see the Neurologist (the same one I saw a couple of years ago). She has to have an MIR but he thinks that Nadia's jaw is probably what is causing the headaches. Mark prescribed some anti-inflammatory for Stacy. We took her over to his house and he checked her knee out for us. Nice to have a doctor in the family! It looks like it will take a long time recovering from this and we have to look into Physio too. Stacy went out with Jake tonight to a hockey game. Jake C., Nadia knows his sister, Nicky. It is the first time she has gone on a car date and it is a strange feeling for me. I am relinquishing my responsibility for my child's saftey over to someone else who is a little more than a child himself. Well...that is what it feels like! I wonder how long he has had his license? He has to be an old 16 to already have it, older than Brent so that makes him over 1 and a half years older than her at least. But Donna my neighbour says that he was one of her most favourite students, bright and athletic so I trust her judgment and the way Stacy talks about him he sounds nice. I wish Brent would look like he is doing homework or studying but I don't see him doing any work at all, some things never change. He is so smart, I can't even imagine what how high his marks could be if Brent studied even a little but he is just doing what he needs to do in order to pass. If only he had established good work habits at the elementary school he might have a chance but I don't even know if Brent knows how to study. Annie at 11/06/2000 11:47:00 p.m. Etobicoke Cross County Meet Monica was the third runner in her club to cross the line so she got a team Medal! That was one of Monica's personal goals for this running season! Stacy's knee hurts so much that she is using crutches. She is really dejected and I feel so sorry for her. Every sit up, every stroke she swam, every step she trod is all for nothing. Her dreams are squashed. Her entire course in school, the high performance athlete program was based on her running. She is wondering where to go from here. She just has to heal it properly this time and time is what she needs. She does have pressure to perform being in the elite athlete program from her teachers and her running coaches. She does have to take time off and it will be a struggle to keep her down enough to recover. I hope this is just a minor setback. As much as we are telling her we don't really want her to go out with one person, I think Stacy is afraid to go steady with one guy too. There are just too many people trying for her. A guy in OAC apparently is talking about her to people all the time. He calls her "illegal". I guess because she is so much younger than him. Mark M. Her friends call him her "Loverboy" as he stares at her all the time in the cafe. Guys are with her on her study period constantly, which makes it hard to study. One older guy keeps following her around, trying to find out her name and she won't tell, she says he scares her. Stacy was unnerved by her old best friend, not by her punk dress but by her threats. If that hadn't of happened then the story might have a different ending. This guy has a patterned contact is his eyes and she say she can't see him because she can't stop looking at his eyes. When she does she doesn't know where to look, so I guess his shock value is effective on my girl but the effect is to push her away. The only break she seems to have away from guys is at track and it is only because I stay with her there so I am like a barrier. A parent of one of the other girls says that when I don't stay the guys are trying to talk to her so I stay. At least she gets away from the guys there. Annie at 11/05/2000 11:31:00 p.m. The Ontario Cross Country Finals The finals were held at Heart Lake. It must be a beautiful place but it was too crowded to take in the scenery. They had the area around the lake and the remote areas reserved for the runners and out of bounds to the spectators. Any runner who was showing a logo of any sports company had to tape it so that it could not be identified because the sponsor wanted only their logo to be seen. I don't know why they placed the top school team runners ahead of the individual runners. It makes no sense to put the slower runner ahead of the faster ones. The individual runners got there on there own times, not the teams combined efforts so they would naturally be the faster runners. This put Stacy far behind the 2 school teams. While one girl was busy being pretty, fixing her hair, looking around, when the gun went off. So our area runners all got off to a bad start, as they had to push her out of the way. It was a wall of girls and she was lost to me the minute they were through the gate. Unfortunately Stacy fell going down a steep hill on a corner but pride made her get up and finish the race in 39th place. She was anguished, disillusioned with herself and very dirty. Although she is unhappy with her placing I think to place in the top 40 out of 250 competitors, is impressive even if she hadn't fallen. Oh well. Some people thought she was crying because she didn't place as well as she thought but I know her better. She has done some serious damage to her knee and after all her hard work and training, her running season is in jeopardy. Annie at 11/04/2000 11:44:00 p.m. My dilemma as I tossed and turned all night was whether I should get involved in a dispute about a sport that has finished its season. I couldn't get those kids faces out of my mind, how they pleaded with me to stand up for them. I still have two kids in this school and it is very likely that they will both have her as a teacher. Then I imagined how demeaning she could be to an entire class when there is no chance of a parent seeing how she behaves. If she could treat them as she did in front of me, then she wouldn't be holding anything back in class and that woman has a lot of fury in her. So I decided to roll up my sleeves, hoist my pants up, stiff upper lip, high chin and all that and talk to the principal. I didn't actually complain about her, I know the rest of the parents intends on doing just that. I strongly suggested to him the importance of being positive and how beneficial it would be if she enrolled in coaching lessons. I told him that I am grateful that we have someone to coach, but I am sure that she would appreciate help being positive. She is not just mean and negative to April, but the whole team and she demeans them in from of everyone. He mentioned something to the effect that since the teachers have been having labour disputes in our area they are having trouble attracting teachers so we have to take what is at the bottom of the barrel! She phoned me later about something completely different to sweetly let me know that he had already told her what I said. I might be in for a bumpy ride! Its funny with Jessie, I don't know that I have ever met someone who is more observant. He seems to have an extra sense about him. I guess that is a huge advantage in sports, to be able to notice things right away. I have seen him look in the parking lot look up or towards someone even before they see him and I don't think there has been one time that he hasn’t noticed my van or James's car-its amazing. One time James and I were there in the parking lot and he looked up when I came in and then when James drove up he looked up again like he knew that he would recognize the car. Weird, I just wish he would acknowledge me instead of pretending he doesn't know me because that makes it uncomfortable and there is no problem, I think. Commencement Nadia won a Technical award for grade 12. Communications, the same award she won last year. I sure hope she gets a job in journalism because she impresses the hell out of me! They gave her a jack-knife as a prize. WOW- something that if she took to school would get her into trouble. Grandma and Grandpa came with us. Nadia had a long skirt and a nice tight sweater. She looked very good. It is such a long sit. Annie at 11/03/2000 01:02:00 p.m. We have had the Volleyball playoffs for April this week. The other day the girls were getting a mouthful of crap from the coach. I can barely stand it and since I am one of the few mothers that stay I think I hear more of it. It made me feel sick when some of the girls came up to me after the game and said "How can you let her talk to us like this?" I never thought of it that way. I thought that they should stand up as a group and complain but they are saying that it should be me. April wasn't involved in this discussion at all, it was the other kids on her team which made more of an impression on me. I think I will talk to the Principal about it. Some parents are upset that they were pulled out of the provincial tournament but I really don't have a say in that but they are complaining to the coach about it. My complaint is that she just doesn't treat them very well so I wouldn't want them away with her for the weekend anyway. She can be pretty mean to April too. April has a lot of spirit on the bench and on the court and the kids love it but sometimes the coach gives her the look of death. I just am glad that April is so positive in volleyball. For weeks Brent and Nadia would be telling Stacy who not to talk to, who not to go out with, and it seemed that everyday they would be adding someone new to the list. She is overwhelmed. I feel sorry for her. James said that he didn't want her dating. I told her about the Juniour A hockey players and she agreed not to talk to them. Stacy received an excellent evaluation for the athlete program, almost all excellents. I am not too impressed with her track coach's coaching if I were to evaluate her. She talks a blue streak and they stand around for long periods of time. I guess she must know what she is doing but the other coaches look like they give more work outs. Stacy went to Dezzie's house to watch a movie. While she was there Brent and Nadia both objected to her being with him because of his reputation, he deals drugs. It's funny, I already knew this, it is amazing what you find out when you go to the parking lot early. Some of the gossip bothered me so much that I turn the music up loud because there are things I just don't want to know. James came home and said he didn't want her with him because of the first time, wanting to meet her at a corner so I went and got her. Stacy just figured out that Dezzie and Jake are friends. That's too bad because I was encouraging her to go out with different people to see what kind of guy she likes and then they turn out to be friends. I think Dezzie knew all along because when Stacy was at Dezzie's house and Jake dropped by, Dezzie hid Stacy behind the door so Jake wouldn't see her. Bad idea. It got Stacy thinking. Obviously Dezzie knows he is doing something wrong. That is 2 strikes on him now. First he tried to meet Stacy on a corner at night (That won't happen again). Second, he is putting her in between friends. I guess it is really three strikes, dealing drugs. Annie at 11/02/2000 11:28:00 p.m. Tonight was the last night for Cross Country practice, it is pitch dark when they finish now. He really praised Stacy and her Area results and gave her a shirt. Monica wants to go again next year but no, Monica is involved in so many sports already and it is time consuming, she is in the middle of the pack and she tries so hard. I hate seeing her discouraged. Monica came to me all upset. Apparently she overheard Brent and Stacy arguing about Dezzie and him doing drugs so she came and told me that she thought that they were involved in drugs. I wasn't really caught off guard because I had already found out about this guy on my own and not intentionally. I explained that they just knew him but they didn't hang around with the guy. Shit, I didn't want Monica to know of the exposure that High School kids can have with drugs. She is just too young, 10years old, so I had a lot of explaining to do to her. I hope that she doesn't get any slack from Brent and Stacy for telling if they know she overheard. It is funny but there was always a standing joke with Nadia and her friends liking one of the Juniour A hockey players and they would talk about them and joke about them as if they knew them. Nowadays you don't hear that kind of talk about the guys at all, they all have real guys that they are interested in and the hockey players are not part of their lives anymore even if it was only in a joking way. The good that came out of it is they have a liking for the sport. Nadia always did but as a group they enjoy hockey more. Nadia said that her worrying about the content of her ISU was for not because she didn't get in trouble for swearing in her paper or its vulgar contents. The teacher didn't take off marks for handing her assignment in late either. Nadia is amazed and grossed out at what reportedly can go on in the sports world. Annie at 11/01/2000 11:25:00 a.m.
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