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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 |
April 29/02 Went to a nice Italian Restaurant with Nadia for lunch. I love their specials, $6.00 for a supper size delicious meal. Nadia loves the pasta and we had a great time together. April had an outdoor practice, it is too cold for that so I didn't stay. James went out to the chicken place with Joe after Monica's practice. Nadia is off school for the summer. Stacy really wants the turtle neck sweater that Jake gave her back from Crystal. Crystal didn't ask to borrow any clothes but she has Stacy's and mine. She asked Crystal for it when Crystal came for some of her clothes. I told her she might have to go to Crystal's herself because Brent really can't ask her for it. Annie at 4/30/2002 04:59:00 a.m. I was worried about Brent last night because he didn't call home or phone. I saw him with the doobie brothers playing Lacrosse earlier in the evening but Adam wasn't with him and when he stays out he is usually with Adam. I finally phoned around 11 and he had been at Adam's. We went to Gramma's house for dinner. James brother brought their little dog down for Steven and Lana. Adam picked me this time for attention. Brent worked on Jenny's computer but couldn't get the internet on it so he brought it home to work on. We watched Sarah play a baseball game in town. It's a little too cold for me right now but we saw Sammy, beautiful Sam, able to talk a little more, still in a wheel chair but more strength to hold up her neck and she recognized James and I. I think it has been a couple of years. Annie at 4/29/2002 03:24:00 a.m. After Brent came home from work he immediately tried to phone Crystal. He told us how she was with another guy and that he wanted to talk to her. He had been confiding in Nadia and she kept repeating to Brent that he doesn't owe her any apologies for what happened tonight. He needed Nadia at that time so even though I wanted to stay downstairs and make things better as mommies always try to do, this was a time that I knew he needed his sister Nadia. I heard Nadia say that Crystal was trying to turn it around so that Brent looked like the bad guy and that Crystal was manipulating Brent by acting so angry. Nadia warned Brent not to buy into it and that he had every right to be angry with her. I spent my day just so disillusioned with Crystal. She set Brent up so bad, and he ended up hitting a guy, trying to protect himself. The guy was kicked out, but Crystal strung Brent along, saying that she wanted a break but intended to get back together and that she was coming to the nightclub with friends and that she was with a guy but would be dancing and friendly with the guys. Brent said that as long as that she didn't do stuff in front of him that he could deal with it. Then she went on the dance floor and started to grid the guy and make out. Brent went in between them and asked what she was doing, why she was rubbing his face in this. When Brent told the guy that they had only broken up 3 days earlier he apologized. His friend though had different ideas and pushed Brent around. Brent was going upstairs with a load of glasses and the guy pushed him from behind up the stairs. Brent turned around, threw the stuff out of his hand and when the guy went to hit Brent, Brent hit him. The bouncers had already been told that these guys were causing trouble and kicked them out. They waited for Brent outside to beat him up until Crystal told them what time Brent got out. James, in his father-son advise talk, told Brent to jump back on the old horse and start dating right away, not the advise I would give, but Brent looked at James and smiled and showed James a girls phone number from last night. James was like, "Alright, that's my boy" but his mouth dropped when Brent said that she was 26!!! Her name is Brie. I guess he does take after his old man eh? We had baseball practices and afterward we bought some baseball supplies. Annie at 4/28/2002 04:50:00 a.m. Nadia had Natasha and Jon over to watch the hockey game. Natasha is all finished school, starts working at the Animal Clinic on Monday,. We went to lunch with the Keg's but unfortunately I fell asleep at their house twice and then went to sleep at home. I kept asking if Stacy was home in my sleep. I had an extremely upset stomach so we had to pass on Mark and Carrie's for the hockey. We let April use Nadia's old cell phone and she is so pleased. I told her that I already know all the ways to try and trick your mom about where you are when you have a cell phone. Been there, done that. I told her that when she phoned from somewhere new she had to give me the parents phone number and there last name so that I could look it up in the phone book and be prepared for me to phone. Brent went to work and Crystal still intends to bring a date there. I am disappointed that she would even think of doing that. She came over after work for a few minutes and April, who misses her so much, gave her a huge hug. April does not usually hug anyone so I hope this display of affection that April has shown has not been wasted on someone who really doesn't care about her. What I mean is I hope that their friendship wasn't based on the fact that Brent was April's brother. I would like to think that it was a genuine friendship. Stacy went the Paul's with Melissa for the evening after work. Monica was exhausted after the dance tonight. She went with the guys. I am sitting up so worried about my Brent waiting for him to come home from work. I hope he is all right and Crystal doesn't hurt him anymore. Annie at 4/27/2002 04:44:00 a.m. Monica's class went to plant trees down in the riverbed. Her teacher is extremely concerned when all the kids told him that Mat intended on visiting him and said that he would have to talk with the Principal and they might have to call the police, for trespassing I guess. Some of the senior select softball players are phoning Nadia, trying to get a new team together because she don't want to play for either coaches. Crystal phoned and said that she is going to the nightclub with a date on Friday when Brent is working. That is low, I didn't expect that of her. There are a lot of other places to go and that is shoving it in his face. She changed her mind about still going to the prom with Brent too. Things have really changed fast with her lately. This is the same kid that told me she was very serious with Brent and expected to be with him a long time. I am glad we didn't let her move in. It was really the right choice because this would have been even more difficult. Annie at 4/26/2002 03:35:00 a.m. My Birthday Annual face inspection. My face has added weight to it but hey, the lines are there too so I guess time is now weighing my face down. I can't complain, I have always looked younger than my years so I am thankful for that. I do notice the line drawn around my mouth and I can now recognize my dad in my face. I don't mind looking like him at all, he was a handsome man so does that put me in a new category of being a handsome woman? Ewww, that sounds old! I spent the day at wrestling finals. Monica was awesome. She had 4 matches and not one person scored a single point against her. She won them 10- 2, 3-0, 10-0 and 12-0. She was in the 44.9 kg division, Holly got first in the 43.5kg so it really paid off for Holly to spar with Monica. The Novice and Junior girls took third in total team points! Not bad for a little school with not many wrestlers! When Monica came home in the evening after being with all her friends she mentioned that some older guys were playing basketball with them. When she said that one of them had a line around their chin (a chin strap beard) I realized that the boys had to be a lot older than them so I asked more questions. The guy said that he knew Stacy. Nadia was concerned at how old they were and got upset with Monica so I left the room after Monica because I wanted to ask her more about it and if I act mad, then she wouldn't tell me anymore. We looked through the yearbook and she found Mat. Mat told them that he had to quit school because he got in trouble selling drugs and had to serve community work. I told her that he didn't have to quit school, he made that decision and that the law would not make him quit school. She said that he wasn't bad, that he was very nice and we pointed out that you don't have to look bad to be bad. Then she said that, "He isn't selling drugs, he is not bad, he is only dealing them" Our mouths all dropped to the floor. Stacy couldn't believe that Monica didn't know that it was the same thing, that she is not street proofed as we thought she was. We realized that Monica had been completely taken in by this guy. Stacy went to school with him and hasn't even talked to him all high school. He trivialized everything he had done wrong and blamed society for his misfortunes. We had a lot of talking to do to Monica and I hope now she understands. Than guy had no right to be talking with her. Annie at 4/25/2002 04:27:00 a.m. April came home tonight very frightened. Someone had approached April and Laura as they cut across the dark field to come over here. They were asked if they had money and if they wanted to buy some pot. It scarred them so much that instead of parting to their separate ways they ran over here. I really didn’t address it as well as I should have. We should have phoned the police. Sorry April, sometimes with everything going on I get too distracted. I should have listened better. Annie at 4/24/2002 03:19:00 a.m. I drive Stacy and Amy to school this week because Coral is away to some place warm. Monica was uneasy about going to school and even though I let her go in late I still had to circle the school because she was nervous and upset. We waited until recess and then I went into class with her and she was right, the kids didn't get all the blood off her chair so I wiped it clean and she was ok after that. Brent got me a hard drive, motherboard and processor all for about the same price we were going to buy the huge hard drive for. April wrote a letter to someone and its contents were very upsetting. She left it on my hard drive in plain sight! eg ......cause everyone hated him for cheating on her with me, but he was still my friend. And then I talked to Brittany the next morning and she was happy that it happened!!! She wanted an excuse to dump him!!! She never got mad at me at ALL! If it happened the other way around I would have kicked her ass! ! And I'm not stiff I'll pretty much let him do anything, AND HE WANTS TO! He wont treat me 4 who i am( he's using me 4 my tits)lol So we have to have a talk with her and Stacy and Nadia were there to talk too. It was interesting that some of the things that they told April about guys and what happened to them, they had a true perspective on them eg I hate these kinds of talks because I remember my parents' talks and they didn't quite have the proper lingo of the day and I remember laughing to myself at how little they knew about what was actually going on. So at the risk of sounding the same way my parents did I had to speak my mind. At least I know a lot of what is going on from my older kids and by the fat that I have been a permenent fixture of the high school parking lot for a number of years adn have heard many stories there. Some of the things we talked to her about were: Player is a guy that goes from girl to girl getting sex and telling the stories of how he got the girl. He goes from one girl to another, sees girls as just objects. What is different these days is when a guy has earned this reputation and a lot of girls wouldn't be caught dead with him because they don't want it to ruin their reputation. When he actually finds a girl he really likes, the girl usually won't have anything to do with him because being seen with him, people will believe that they are like the other girls that he goes out with. If she does date him, he could actually spread lies about her and people might believe it unless the girl has a good reputation. Even then he could spread stories. Girls sometimes think that they have to do things with or to guys to make them popular but all it does is get people to talk about them. Unfortunately, then other guys can say anything they want about the girl and people will believe it. Being 14 is hard, and what you see and hear on tv and movies might make you think that this is the way to behave but it is not. I know a family that has a lot of kids in it but some of them have different names because they have different fathers. Two of them work in the place but people didn't know that they were raised as brother and sister. The girl has a bad reputation already and she is only 16. Unfortunately the boy has come home many times very upset about the stories that he has heard about his stepsister from work. What the girl doesn't realize that is the people are all laughing at her for being so stupid and now the boy is getting teased about what a stupid slut his sister is. It is affecting his whole family. A couple of years ago there was two sisters in the elementary school and they went to the same party. The younger girl went into a room at the party with a boy and they say she had oral sex with him. The older sister should have protected her and gone into that room and dragged her sister out. Instead they both had a reputation. The younger girl was so teased at school by all same the boys (they would look at her and stick their finger down their throat) that she left our school for another school. She kept doing things that made people think that she was a bad girl and when she went to High School she kept going to different ones because the kids were so mean to her. Her sister got pregnant at the age of 17 and now stays at home babysitting ALL THE TIME because she is responsible for her own child when all her friends are out having fun. People will try to ruin your reputation without you even doing anything. If you already have a bad reputation people tend to believe it but if you don't you can defend yourself. When you finally find someone you want to spend a lot of time with, if you have a bad reputation he might not want to go out with you. Even worse he will go out with you only for the sex that he heard that he can get from you and then tell everyone. Guys and girls mature differently. Guys get a huge sex drive and it really doesn't matter to a lot of guys whom they get the sex from. Other guys tease them if they consider the girls a slut and the guy will dump you but no until he has told everyone what you are doing sexually. April you should be having a lot of fun in the next couple of years and you don't need the worry of what people think of you. Having fun with a group of friends whether they are all girls or girls and guys can be so much fun you can laugh till you cry, tears of being happy. Or you can regret doing so many things and have people judge you rightly or wrongly about what you have done and who you have done it with. Having a bad reputation is something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It shuts all sort of doors of opportunity and gives you tears of sadness. When I got home from driving Stacy to baseball practice, Crystal was here talking with Brent on the couch. They broke up. I feel so sad, they used to look good together and I was hoping that they would last for a long time. They were together for almost 10 months and I will really miss her. She hasn't been coming regularly to our house lately like she has the whole time they have been going out. Because we all know that Crystal can not be alone she has to be going somewhere or with someone. She is just making new friends but I can't see them taking up all her time like we do. She is usually with me all the time or wanting Brent to be just with her. I hope Brent is ok with this but he was sad. We had a late drink together while he worked on my computer and Adam came over very late. Annie at 4/23/2002 04:14:00 a.m. I am on a third computer trying to write in my journal and I don't know if I can get my diaries off the hard drives of the other one. I am very disillusioned with computers right now. Nadia's computer messed up when we had a severe thunder and Lightning storm early Friday morning. We have to transfer the data on my hard drive to another new hard drive. E-mail to Crystal Crystal, thank you for sharing that part of your life with me. No can ever say that they know exactly how you feel, or what you went through. It is strange but it took a couple of days to really think about everything that was written in that report and I went through so many emotions that are still confusing me. It is all alot to comprehend on paper but you actually lived it. I already told you that I felt many mixed up feelings about your mother, so you must have had a lot of strong emotions toward her over the years. In my mind you protected her even as a child because if you had of been passive about what was happening it would have gotten worse for your whole family. You were the strength the whole time, and I am very proud of you. You made alot of mature choices when you were very young. You have turned out to be quite a wonderful person. It is strange and risky revealing how you feel to other people. Our talking about the past, something that we both have done in the last couple of months, well, it is just nice to have that kind of friend. Please let me know when your next day off is and we should go out to lunch. I can't go Wednesday (wrestling tournament) but James and I found a good restaurant, so we should give it another try. Let me know when you can. See you soon Love Annie April had her last Select Tryout today and she made Big Al's team. It kind of looks like he had picked alot of the girls from last year's team that they called the leftover team. He might have picked from his heart, rather than his head. April is happy to be on that team. Annie at 4/22/2002 04:00:00 a.m. Lana told me that there was a horrific car accident in her neighborhood that involved 5 teenagers in a red sports car and that one had died. I was at April's try out this morning and I felt so uneasy about this news that I felt sick to my stomach about it. I realized that last night was one of the few nights that I fell asleep before all my kids checked in. Adam has a red car and I knew Brent was with him last night so I ran to my car phone to see if my Brent was in bed. Thank god. But the odds of us knowing someone in that car are pretty high. My relief will mean someone else's grief. Later I found out that Joe was on the scene and all five kids had to go to the hospital. The car had hit a tree and completely split in two. Fortunately no one lost their lives. The driver and passenger picked up another group of kids, who weren't aware of his drinking. Everyone knows someone that was in the car. Stacy went out with Ryan to the mall to buy a one-year anniversary gift for Jessie. Ryan bartered with the guy and got about 25 dollars off of a white gold chain necklace. Ryan came over for a while to our house and he stayed until his parents picked him up a couple of hours later. They get along very well, I like seeing her make friends and he is in three of her classes so she knows him pretty good. Annie at 4/21/2002 04:55:00 a.m. There was a huge clap of Thunder that woke us all up about 5 this morning - even Brent! It looks like it has knocked out Nadia's computer. James and I went out to Breakfast with Gramma. Brent phoned this morning to find out when his exam at Humber was. I couldn't believe that he left that to the last minute. Fortunately it was at 2pm. The traffic was bad for them and they got lost at the airport and they were both in rotten-frustrated moods when they got home. Crystal dropped by and before she got back in her car said that she had decided that she didn't like Adam. Before she said that she didn't know what to think about him. She looks mad, she came back later and I told her about the traffic jam but it didn't seem to impress her. Monica had an experience that she will remember for the rest of her life. She will never wear white on certain days of the month again. Brandy came to her rescue when she noticed the spot on Monica's shorts. She went to the teacher and said that she had to take Monica to the office and then ran and got shorts and Monica's tear away pants and took Monica out of the portable. Just by chance I was in the hallway and drove Monica home to change. She was mortified and didn't go back to school. One of the boys phoned her after school and told her that it was nobodys business. Her group was pretty protective off he because they tried to keep it from the rest of the class but Krissy found out about it and told people. Kate and Adam and Sam actually tried to clean it up. She is so lucky to have people that try to help and protect her. Monica felt better about growing up when she was able to look after April's babysitting kids while April was at the music festival. To her it is an honour, a symbol that people trust her with their loved ones, the money is just a side bar. I drove April and the band to the Kiwanis Music Festival. Her teacher had some miscommunication problem with bringing our own drums, so we had to borrow a snare drum. She was very upset and she went off to the side, it looked like to cry and apparently stopped the second piece, which I didn't notice but others told me. Nadia had her party for the Sports Administration but unfortunately she had it during a hockey game. Even though only about 15 people came, she had a lot of fun. Monica went to a sleepover at Sam's, April was at Jeff's and Stacy went out with Brent and his friends. Crystal went home but phoned later and told me that she didn't feel like going anywhere so she went home. I still l think her feelings are hurt about not sleeping here all the time but Brent and her had started to spend more time apart in our house so it wasn't good that she be here all the time. They both need some space. She seems to resent any time Brent spends away from her but he needs to do homework and have friends. Annie at 4/20/2002 04:51:00 a.m. Monica had her first practice outside today. Her cousin came over to visit her at the park. We had to cancel piano lessons because we got the times overlapping with baseball. Crystal was over and she stared to yell for me. She was play fighting with Brent in the basement. When I answered her calls for help she was teasing Brent saying that he wasn't as big and strong as the guys from work. I didn't like that kind of talk even in play so I told her so. Earlier she had been sitting with me and said that she wasn't all that nice, that she was very moody person and that her and Brent always fight. If she calls not always getting her way and stomping off or sulking, fighting, then yes, I guess they are, but nothing is accomplished unless you talk about what is bothering you. Looking at their relationship from my viewpoint, they don't fight that much but she does get her way if she pouts and leaves the room. Brent seems very sympathetic towards her all the time. Four Canadian Soldiers were killed yesterday in Afghanistan from friendly fire. An American plane attacked them by mistake. Eight other soldiers were injured. The Flags are flying at half mask again, third time in the school year. Annie at 4/19/2002 03:56:00 a.m. This was a much needed quiet day and the weather is fantastic- about 15 degrees warmer than is should be! Nadia and Derrick did a terrific job cleaning the basement for her Sports Admin party. Stacy and I went shopping for dresses and skirts. Yeah, she finally wants to wear them! But the only place she could get any clothes to fit properly was the junior stores for kids. She bought some denim shoes for herself. Monica's strong will is getting the best of her these last couple of days. She is grounded the next time we hear the 'F' word. On of the teachers described Monica as stronger than 99% of the kids participating in school sports. He is looking forward to her hurdling and realizes that she will be bugging him about playing on the schools intermediate baseball team since she helped them out last year when they were down a couple of players. Baseball in school is for the grade seven and eights but she managed to get on it last hear in grade 5! Caesar's new harness broke and he bolted when Monica was caught in the middle of a quick downpour. He ran away, almost got hit and ran out on the main road. The only way Monica could get him to come back was to turn her back on him and run home. He happily followed her home but she came in with tears. Brent and Crystal bought some clothes for Brent at 2 stores that I don't really go to so it was a good thing Crystal went with him. They only spent about $90. so I got lucky there. Annie at 4/17/2002 05:38:00 p.m.
Went to Lorna's in the afternoon. She is probably the only person who can truly relate with me because she has five teenagers too. We haven't got together in a couple of years. She describes Ryan as a Player Amanda as a bad girl who Andrew would hear stories about at work, until people realized they lived in the same house. Andrew is still the same, but is playing Rugby so is getting some definition. Chris and his girlfriend of about 5 years broke up and he is now going out with a normal girl and is really enjoying it. He is in College for large construction equipment. That brings to mind the hours he spent on my back yard fence watching the construction when the main road was being expanded. Katy is down to earth and not interested in any guy she has met so far but likes guys. James came with me to watch Monica wrestling. We were talking to parents about school, how parents stick up for their kids, minimizing the part that their kids play in turmoil's at school. It must be frustrating as a principal. Monica won every match and a kid who had about 35 pounds on her wanted to wrestle her but James stepped in and stopped it. Monica did get hurt but it got aggravated when she jerked a backpack at home. I don't see how she could have scaled the apparatus in the gym if she had gotten the injury by wrestling. James doesn't want her wrestling, he says she has too much to lose if she gets injured, but she loves it so much. Nadia found her wallet that has been missing since August under the basement couch! Now she can finally prove that she is drinking age!!!! Everyone met for a family meeting for our Hockey pool! Brent was there but left??? Crystal, Jessie, and Derrick all joined our pool but Crystal picked all the weird names. Derrick was looking for a dark horse while Nadia and Dad were secretive about who was about to come of the injury list. HMMMM. Brent seems to be putting a distance between him and Crystal. Annie at 4/17/2002 04:30:00 a.m. Monica's period started and a couple hours later mine did to after almost 4 months. Crystal came over and wanted me to read the Children Aid report that she was given when she turned 18. Crystal Born weighing about 4lbs. There was initial apprehension about how capable her mom was to take care of her. Twice they were concerned about failure to thrive and were going to take Crystal away. Crystal had temper tantrums at 20 months. Her mom was described as passive, quiet and attracted abusive partners. Her environment had a lot of turmoil but Crystal would talk about any abuse openly, even when her mom would ask her to recant what she had said. She was in the care of Children's aid for extended lengths of time but was made full ward in 1991. The next placement ended up with her sexually abused which Crystal successively had the man put behind bars. The following placement was better but when they decided to adopt Crystal and her sister, Crystal refused and it grew tense in the home. She was very loyal to her natural mother and parented her sister Amber. The next placement was where she watched 3 young children be born and raised and although she wanted a strong attachment with the kids, it wasn't encouraged by the mother. The foster father and Crystal bonded quite well but was often caught in the middle of marital problems of the foster parents leading to resentment on the step mothers part. Crystal's sister Amber sliced her wrists and burned her arms so was taken out of there. The parents separated and Crystal went to live with the foster father. A couple months later the man's girlfriend moved in with her children and ithe environment became quite strained. A few months after that the foster father and his children were in a car accident where one of the children were killed. It was devastating to the family and unfortunately the family rallied around each other but excluded Crystal. She felt like an outsider. The foster father was released from the hospital a month later but never acted the same towards her. His initial intentions to take responsibility toward Crystal changed from being a part of her life always to only till she was eighteen. When he moved to another house there was no room set aside for Crystal. She tired to make amends with the foster mother and finally moved in with her. The foster father became incensed on a visit with Crystal about his ex wife and severed all ties with Crystal. Crystal lives with her still but doesn't feel included in family life. The report also noted that Crystal never bonds with the head female in any family, which I thought was so strange because we certainly have. I have had more hugs from Crystal than any of my kids put together in the last couple of months. We talked it over for a while but unfortunately I have to leave for basketball. I asked her to please give us her work schedule so we could makes plans with her. Brent could sure use a schedule because he doesn't seem to know when Crystal is going to be home. Monica's basketball playoffs are over. The team looked intimidating but there was actually only one good player and she could shoot from any position. The funny thing is that they weren't doing lay-ups, there parents even thought we were traveling and Monica was called once for traveling until a parent said "it's called a Lay-up" Turns out the officials were from the other school which wasn't fair. The coach said if he could pour his water bottle over Monica's head he would let them colour his hair so she let him. Nadia said that Crystal is trying to manipulate me, that when she shows the Children's Aid report it is her Ace up her sleeve. Nadia has no sympathy for her at all anymore. Am glad that Crystal showed it to me, but it is not like Crystal and I haven't talked about it, we have. I know that Crystal has tried to inflict her will on me but Crystal already knows that she can't, and I won't let her live here, it just can't work. Annie at 4/15/2002 05:19:00 p.m. Nadia is volunteering at a NHL street hockey event. They are closing down one the busiest streets in Toronto for a game of street hockey. The Street Hockey Jamboree brings out thousands of spectators and more than one thousand street hockey players. Breakfast with the Kegs's. James picked an argument with every little thing. I guess I'll have to get him fixed again. As we were walking down the grocery aisle we noticed Jessie on top of the shelf and nodded to Jessie. We startled him so that he dropped some boxes on me as James! Gramma came over for a while and Stacy dressed Caesar up in his leathers, it was so funny. Actually it is a costume from our tickle trunk. Crystal came over and went for a walk with Stacy and Caesar to show off his tough guy image. Stacy said that Crystal was acting very distant towards her walking away from Stacy and the dog. That is strange because it was Crystal who asked to come along for the walk. Crystal and I had a late night chat in my bed again. Brent and Crystal had some wobbly pops earlier in the evening, and the words flowed easily from her lips. Crystal said that she needed the space away for herself lately. That morning last week when she came to our house at 5 in the morning was because she felt scared, that something was wrong and that she just had to see Brent. When we all got up that morning, I went to wake Brent up and there she was. It was confusing because we knew that she had left in the evening for home. Anyway, after a while Brent came up to check on Crystal, jumped on my bed and talked with us for a while. To manage a quick exit and totally gross us out he pumped his hips into the bed at which time Crystal threw him out of the bed and we all jumped out. Annie at 4/14/2002 05:08:00 p.m. Crystal phoned to say her car wasn't working so Brent and I tried unsuccessfully to start it with cables. It doesn't like to start in the rain these days and this time it looked like it was stalling for her convenience. We purchased some WD40, Brent sprayed in where the wires had been sparking until it finally started. I don't know what to think of Brent and Crystal's relationship right now. I watched as she stretched out her arms to him and they hugged in the rain for quite some time while I kept dry in the car and looked on. Brent seems to want to be with his friends more and it is hard when she has been at our house so much. When he tries to do his homework you can hear her stomp up to his room to argue with him but he is holding his ground and is starting to do his homework even though she doesn't want him to. Stacy went to a party at tonight. I lie to see her go out as much as possible but it is never as much as other kids her age. I sometimes I feel like I am pushing out my little Nadia stayed in because Derrick's mom wanted him to stay at home and take it easy, April babysat with Chelsea who fell asleep at 10. Monica went out with the boys until 9:30. Annie at 4/13/2002 05:55:00 p.m. We took Caesar in to be fixed this morning. It was hard leaving him when he wanted to be with us. Sorry buddy! After, James wanted to go for early morning breakfast and I found it hard to because it was when I am usually getting everyone up for school. After I went to Crystal's and talked privately with her. I hate seeing her feelings hurt and I like her so much I don't want her to feel like we don't want her, we do. Brent and Crystal just have to get back in the proper dating order and have a little bit of personal space, or it can't work. She really means a lot to me. I told her that I would like to know her always and one day see her walking down the isle regardless of who it was she would be marrying. I think I made it clear that it probably wouldn't be Brent and if it was it was all right too. It was hot dog lunch today and the principal invited me to come back for the half pint basketball for bullying. It was extremely well done and entertaining. I talked to Monica's basketball coach afterwards about Monica's basketball skills and he is very happy about how the team has learned to play with and around her. While we were there Marita was by my side. She had an attack of whatever is bothering her and she should have taken her nitro. She has to learn when to take it and not just wait it out. Brent didn't go to his afternoon classes again. April had a sleep over at Chelsea and Monica went to the preteen dance with Adam and Brandy. A nice surprise was Richard, a neighbour from long ago, who dropped by tonight, he is looking very good especially considering how overweight he was as a child. He plays rugby now and it has been good to him At 6 foot 5 inches 245 pounds he is slim and trim. Crystal came over and even when I explained that Richard was a long lost friend, she looked indifferent, hard done by and mad that she didn't have Brent all to herself and sulked away after a while. We went to Mark and Carrie's to play cards. I didn't touch the demon alcohol! Annie at 4/12/2002 05:53:00 p.m. I couldn't sleep last night, I have a hang over today. I don't even know why I am trying to drink this stuff but I know it is making James happy and when we go to Mark and Carrie's they only have to open one thing so I am trying to be accommodating. It has the same type of ingredient that is in caffeine, that I am sensitive to, so why I am trying to be one of them? I can't drink red wine and I don't like white wine. Brent's Cisco teacher phoned to say he had been late twice this week and he was holding up important classes. I told her to start the classes without him but she says that he is the reason she teaches that class. Brent has been studying very hard lately to try to improve his marks. Marita had to go to the Hospital for some emergency tests on her heart. She had to go for a stress test, which is so weird because we were talking about that very thing yesterday and how she felt that she could not do it feeling the way she is. She has to take Nitro-glycerine. Something is wrong with my computer still. If I turn it off I have so much trouble turning it on, unless of course Brent tries and then it magically obeys! Nadia has signed up for driving lessons with no prompting form me! She is going with Derrick's sister Angela. Stacy went to Jessie's for the evening. I didn’t have to drive! Annie at 4/11/2002 03:47:00 p.m. I went to complain about April's teacher and I am sure she got in a lot of trouble. She kept denying some things and would say, "Who are you going to believe, the 13 and 14 year olds or me?" She said that also when I mentioned the OAC student. I choose to believe the kids. When the principal asked if that meant that I was calling her a liar I said that I didn't intend on it but I did believe the children as a whole majority. She told the principal that, the woman who April baby-sits for, was abusive to her on the phone yesterday. I said that I doubted that because everything I had heard about the woman was that she was kind, considerate and the special needs teacher at a high school. The principal agreed with me and said that the woman was also a personal friend of his! He questioned the teacher for her motives at hounding April. April is not required to have her homework agenda signed, proof that she consistently gets her homework done, and the school recommended April for the babysitting job over every other student. I couldn't have imagined it turning any better for April than that. When I was in the office I remembered that I didn't wake some of my kids up. When I got home Brent had slept in. When he got home he apologized for making me worry about him and said he knows it is my responsibility to wake himself up. What a nice surprise! We were at basketball and I went outside to the car for a moment and there was a mother outside running around screaming at her kids at how they didn't take care of their brother. I asked one of the kids how old the little guy was and what he was wearing and went in to check and found him immediately. I bent down to pick him up to bring to his mother and at that moment I realized that I could get myself in a lot of trouble by taking him anywhere. I kept asking him to find his mother but he couldn't. I went outside and finally found his frantic mother and she snubbed me with a dirty look. Caesar humped Stacy today. I told her this morning that if she played like this on her hands and knees, he might do that and she had trouble getting away from him. His huge paws kept scooping her back to the position for his convenience! He is too big for that and it was hard for her to get away. I phoned about getting him fixed because he is too big for us to have this problem. They will take him in immediately. Monica basketball team went to the regionals! The first game was so close but we lost it in the final seconds. The coach said that he should have had them throw it down the court but they got it away from us and got a basket. We won the next game and the coach was so happy. Brent worked on my computer it kept shutting off by itself. It has been overheating so bought Brent a better fan. We went to Mark and Carrie's and had way too much wine - the room was spinning so bad that I had to put my foot out of bed to stabilize myself. Annie at 4/10/2002 05:38:00 p.m.
Crystal's car wouldn't start today so I drove her. I guess it doesn't like the wetness. Crystal looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders these days. April's babysitting mother had words with April's teacher today and it didn't work out too well. The woman phoned me after her confrontation and said that she regretting phoning the teacher as she fears she might have made it worse for April. I went to talk to the principal about her but he wasn't there. I was relieved because I really don't want to talk to her and I was too angry for words. Monica's basketball team won their games by huge amounts. April and Monica had their volleyball playoff tonight too. Annie at 4/10/2002 01:47:00 a.m. Monica woke in the night and she was so sick that we phoned Mark in the morning and he gave her an injection to help her. She looked horrible and was lying still all day- no TV, nothing. April was away too and I gave her Gravol so that she wouldn't throw up but I forgot to phone her baby-sitting job. She slept all day and the school phoned to say that her baby sitting kids were at the school. I got April up and we rushed to pick them up. I phoned and apologized to her and she is concerned about April being late for her job. I told her about the problems we have been having with her teacher and she said that she was concerned and she already had a call in to the principal. Caesar loves to dig. He dug a deep hole in the middle of our yard and sat in it. We gave him a bath and someone let him out and he came back in so filthy that we cornered him at the fridge level and let him sleep there. Nadia went to an NHL game last night and met with some hockey players . They autographed a card for Nadia and Derrick and one player remarked that he remembered her interviewing him last year. Annie at 4/08/2002 05:51:00 p.m. Went to see Jason hockey game, it is playoff games for everyone but there was a huge crowd and the different pads were delayed, sometimes by an hour and I couldn't find them. Monica did find Cory's game and he had told her that it was out of town. His mom said that he lied because he gets so nervous. His team won. Jessie's team won too and it was pretty entertaining when you are sitting with the other teams parents. I like seeing Stacy getting all caught up among the cheering fans, she is actually becoming somewhat vocal herself, so nice to see! We went to the Sports Bar for some beers and then back to Hannah and Mario's. I picked James up and brought back some beer. Their dog Taz was entertaining. Mario got a huge speeding ticket and that ticket popped up over most of the conversation - he is funny. Annie at 4/07/2002 05:16:00 p.m. April's party and she had about 4 girls sleep over. Some of the girls refused to come if Ronda. came but April stood firm, it is her party to invite who she wants. Ronda was very happy to be invited and I doubt if any one missed the drama queens. Monica's basketball tourney was televised. The kids in the crowd made paper posters reading 'go Monica go!' Instead of 'go team go!' They came in first in the B division. One of our parents was yelling at the coordinator of the tournament about the condition of the floors and exits to the point that it was embarrassing to our school. It upset everyone. The coach said he doubted if we will ever get invited back. Jessie's hockey playoff game but no Stacy, so I came alone, she went shopping a bought a denim dress. Amy has a new puppy. Annie at 4/06/2002 03:52:00 p.m. Hot Dog day went well except one teacher complaining about how tired she was of the grade 8 kids, sweet-mouthed April's teacher of course. I didn't say a thing to her. Monica was in the change room with some grade 5 girls when they told her that they heard that she wore very padded bras and stuffed them. Monica wiggled out of her bra and took it off under her top. Then she shook her bra in the air and asked them if it looked padded or if any stuffing was coming out. That is a way to stop gossip. I don't see how they can talk about it again! We spent the evening at a basketball tournament. The team is playing a lot better around Monica. One of the parents told us that she has been complaining to the principal about playing time and then made a comment like "I'm sorry you have to here this because it is about your daughter." She doesn't even paid attention to what our coach has done with this team. She hasn't noticed that we could be busy winning every game but he is putting the girls out there with Monica and Monica is passing the ball even when she has a clear shot. The girls are learning by being around her. At one time girls would impatiently called Monica's name for her to pass it and Monica would whip the ball over to them and it would hit them and take them right out because their hands wouldn't be up in the ready position. It used to look as if Monica was systematically picking them off! Through time and repeatedly hitting the girls with the ball, some of them have learned how to accept a pass and continue the play. They get more court time. He is using Monica to better the team and it is slowly working. Next year the juniors will be better because of that without Monica. Brent got accessories to upgrade his computer. He collected his computer parts from everyone's computer and I didn't have a keyboard until James bought another. Brent was called into the nightclub to work and a couple hours later he returned home. I think that he is tired of working there. April said that her teacher called her aside and said that she better get her hormones under control because she is scarring the grade 7's. These are April's friends, she hangs around with them regularly and it really upset her. Annie at 4/05/2002 03:52:00 p.m. Nadia stayed up most of the night trying to make the computer work properly but it wasn't happening. Derrick and Nadia were in my bedroom until 3:30 and then James and Nadia and me got a bad case of the giggles - overtired. Derrick was horrified when he heard a greeting from the interior and believed it was me because he thought you couldn't do it in your sleep. On cue James proved him wrong. It was funny even if it was the middle of the night! And no there is no such thing as privacy for James and I, that is why we normally have our door locked! Nadia was so lucky. Her teacher asked if they could do the visual presentation next week. All that worry and everything turned out. Nadia keeps thanking me for helping her. Monica saw this guy Shawn drive his bike up to our house run up to our mailbox and slip a letter in to April. When April got in we gave it to her. It was so cute. It said: Maybe Its Just a Crush My feelings for you are kept inside, Cause I don't wanna lose my pride. I wish I could let you know how I feel So you could see that my luv is real. I don't know if you feel the same way too, And I don’t know what to do. I liked you for so very long, That its seems you could do no wrong. You did your thing and gave me hope, But I should've known it wasn't gonna develop. I wish someday you will open your eyes, And it will make you realize How much you mean to me. ......Baby, I like you a lot, You've captured my heart, It's yours now forever. It all will work out if its mean to be And someday it will be just you and me. Love: Your Secret Admirer Annie at 4/04/2002 02:40:00 p.m. April's birthday, number 14. April had trouble with her teacher and I have had it with her head games. April didn't have her homework with her; she had left it at home. She made her write it out again, which is her prerogative but then said it had to be marked and she was marking it when she was good and ready so they might have a detention until it was marked. April reminded her that she has the baby-sitting job after school and the teacher said that we had signed a contract with her in the agenda so April had to serve detentions after school. At that point (this was at lunch time) I told her that I would be in the school after 3:15 and if she had a problem to come get me but she had a responsibility to baby-sit. It seems that she is trying to thwart April's baby-sitting job. Last time April got out of the baby sitting job for a detention, only to be told the detention could not be served that night, so her point about having a contract doesn't really hold water. It works both ways. Monica got her contacts and she had no trouble using them. One got knocked out when she was steam rolled over in basketball so she picked them up on the court and put it back in without using a mirror- still on the court with the ref watching her in amazement! The refs were kids and Monica actually told one to start calling the fouls and he apologized. Crystal bought me a planter to re-pot the plant that used to be my dad's. She seems happy at work and I am trying to encourage her to make new friends there. Crystal needs them because she is getting very attached to me. I love the hugs but we are spending a lot of time together and I know that teens should spend a lot of time with kids' there own age. Monica told me that in chess club April reported to the teacher that Monica won a match, when April actually did so that Monica would have enough wins to earn a spot on the team. It is nice to see them sister bond, look out for each other, but Monica and April have to learn that Monica can't always be in the winners seat. She needs to learn how to lose too. It was hard getting across that point while I couldn't help but be proud of them sticking up for each other. Went to Don Cherry's. Crystal came with the family but Brent said he was too tired. Brent is distancing himself from Crystal, ditching her on us. That is not very fair to say because she is invading his privacy that being his own home. Nadia is on the computer constantly again taking all her frustrations on my room, it's a mess. Whatever she wants the computer to do, its not doing on her computers or Derricks. Annie at 4/03/2002 03:12:00 p.m. Monica was only teased by a couple people about her glasses. Our ever so good neighbour Jason thinks she looks really nice. She had a basketball game and James came to see but even though she was making the plays, she wasn't sinking them like she normally does. It is awesome how the other teams know her by reputation though. Stacy and Jessie went to a movie. They still can't make up their minds what they want to do, sitting they're tying to make the other one tell them what to do. Nadia has used this computer most of the day for her Sports Administration assignment. Crystal went home tonight looking as if loneliness is her only friend. Annie at 4/02/2002 01:13:00 p.m. Last night the girls waited in the line up for hours at the nightclub, finally gave up and came home. What they didn't know that Brent was the line counter/ bouncer and if they had told him or if Crystal had gone in the 19 and over line he could have let them in! While people watching in the line up I think that they got their eyes open about how weird people can be. I took Monica to finally get her glasses! We also picked up Easter Candy, I didn't buy any for the Easter egg hunt because Caesar would have gobbled it all so I might as well take advantage of the half price sales! The Internet was down tonight for the evening, which doesn't happen too often here anymore. We have been spoiled by our recent good service and Brent has maintained them pretty well. I revamped my diary; Brent says that I shouldn't have it all in one document so I am separating them by month. Derrick and Nadia having been hanging out in my room, proof is in the pictures. Derrick has been taken very potent medicine to clean up his complexions and it is drying his skin out and cracking his lips. Nadia is constantly putting lotions on him. This medicine can even effect your disposition but it is helping poor skin problems. Annie at 4/01/2002 04:05:00 p.m.
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