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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 29/02 Brent woke me up twice last night, once by the sound of a glass shatering, which is happening a lot lately. Later Brent swallowed a sliver of glass from another cracked glass. I hope he will be ok, that really bothered me and I couldn't get back to sleep. Adam has been having trouble with the boys, saying that they all took advantage of Robin. The way they see it, she came on to Steve and Brandon and they responded when they thought that Robin and Adam were through. Or else they did it to really piss Adam off. He says he is getting new friends. Important rule, never be tempted by your friends ex's. Boys Nite out was a success. James felt great in the morning, paraded in with a Trophy for the Go Carting events. It is good to know that it isn't completely about drinking anymore. James went to the Dr. today and we got fantastic news. Last visit James the doctor told him that he was in denial about Crohn's, the doctor said once you have it, then it is life long. James argued with the doctor until the doctor admitted that there is a slim chance that it was an infection treatable with antibiotics but in order to make any assumptions he would have to do the scope again. James said that he would go the course even though the doctor said it would be very rare. Today he said there was no sign, no evidence of crohn's even in the biopsies he took. His intestines are all clear!!! We went to dinner with James's mom at Swiss Chalet to celebrate the good news. He doesn't even have to watch what he eats. Nadia had people over. Tracey and Jason with Derrick, maybe for overnight. Stacy didn't go out after work, her friends were no where to be found. Lack of funds prevented April from bowling with her friends and since we were out so she couldn't get money from us. April told one of Cory's friends that she doesn't want to go out with him. He never talks to her and she likes someone else now. Stacy got 85% on her report card, April, 61%. She has pulled her Science mark up to 50% but she has to be passing French 49% to be able to go out go out during the week. Stacy made the school volleyball team. There are 9 people on the team all but two are Rep players so she feels she will probably be a bench warmer. Still, I am glad she made it. Annie at 11/30/2002 04:50:00 a.m. Brent came home in the middle of the night. He had fallen asleep at Brandon Alexio's and then walked home in brutal cold. I had a very nice day with Monica today. In the morning we went to Ajax to watch the OFSSA AAAA senior girls basketball. There were many girls who had coached her for the last three years playing and they advanced with a 78- 24 lead. We tried to get April's photo entry and the permission to use them from the school but we got the run around and it ended up me having to go through the school during the class change, which I hate!!!! By Monica I went to the mall today with mommy after school. We looked all over the mall for something Cory would like for our one-year anniversary (which was yesterday). I finally found a silver superman pendent that would have ended up being $69.00, but I sweet-talked her into $35.00 total! -------------- Stacy went to the mall and later to a Play put of by the high school. After today she doesn't think she will make the school volleyball team. She did great until today and then she says nothing was going right for her. Nadia missed her subway ride and took a ride with a guy names Adam home from the NHL but it meant that I had to drive her to the next connection, College for group work. She is still not home. Brent had about 7 friends in when I got home from Pitching clinic, and they all came in unexpectedly. James is doing his companies annual boys night out, this time his brother Steven is driving them everywhere for about $350.00 I think. They plan to Go cart some of the time so that should cut down on some of the drinking time I hope. Those guys can drink like I have never seen. Its not normal I tell ya! Annie at 11/29/2002 04:37:00 a.m. Brent is sad that the Doobie brothers parents are talking about a divorce. They have gone through a living hell lately, with the gay announcement and with the youngest son too. He is heavy into pot, been caught a couple of times. He is stealing his dad's pot and his dad can't do anything about it. What is he going to say? "Who is stealing my pot?" I guess The Doobie brothers must be thinking, "Why didn't we think of that?" No they wouldn't do that, just kidding. 3 kids wanted people over in the basement for the weekend, I guess I wasn't paying attention and triple booked. My bad! April is reluctantly going out with the guy that asked her out in another note. Erin said that she should so she did. She really didn't know what to do. Monica and Cory's one-year anniversary is today. He bought her a bracelet inscribed with 'MONICA' on the front and 'LOVE CORY' on the back. Monica loves it and wore it to Volleyball practice to show it off to her friends. I had to keep it safe for her! Stacy and Jessie were supposed to see each other after school or at suppertime or something but they argued about what they were going to do since Jessie never likes to pick. He said that she wasn't acting like Stacy these days, basically what James and I have been noticing too so I hope she figures out what is wrong and fixes it soon. I like it when she is so happy that it is contagious. Jessie has to learn how to plan when it is just the two of them, which is a rare occurrence. Jess C. and Jake got their heads shaved at school for some charity event. April likes it longer but says Jess is still gorgeous. Annie at 11/28/2002 04:28:00 a.m. Email form Laurie Hi Annie, Tks for sending the pictures of your kids. I don't have a scanner yet but when I get one you'll have to teach me how to do the text picture thing. It sounds like u have your hands full with different parties, but like u say, its best that you know where they are and all their friends sound and look like pretty decent kids that u don't have to worry about getting into any trouble. Good thing u have a big rec room. Oh my god!! I laughed my head when I was reading about our trip out west. And the pictures are hilarious too!! Right out of That 70's Show. I let Meagan read it and she got a big kick out of it. I printed it so I could read it at my leisure and I'm going to start a binder and put some of the things you send me in there. I had forgotten that u had a dog named Clint! Whatever did happen to him? And Barry? I don't remember him at all - he must have been your boyfriend at the time. It brought back good memories. We had a quite a few good adventures. Yeah!! And what a scumbag Marshall was!!! To this day, I still don't know what Joanie saw in him. But I guess I was the same - I was blind when it came to Don too!! Yuck!! We live and learn. I think Marshall was jealous the whole time we were out there cos Joanie has such a good time and didn't cowtow to him the whole time. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed reading about our trip - it was memorable - I used to have pictures but they have gone astray when my marriage split up. (He probably threw them all away) Oh - I guess I must be sending u too much mail , I had something retd to me today saying you had exceeded your storage allocation. Let me know if u get this. Tks Talk to u later Laurie ------------ Monica was at Chapters for a music concert. She sang this somewhat sexy 'Hey Santa' song with some other grade 7 and 8 girls and had to bend over and shake it, but she was the only one with a low top on. Oh boy. It is strange that the school would promote this production featuring all the more mature looking girls. Yet they strictly enforce an ancient dress code for clothes that you can’t even find in clothing stores. Nadia stayed up all night with Derrick doing projects, they got about 8 all due at the same time. April took my camera to school today for the photo contest and was thrilled to have so many people want to have their picture taken. She felt a sense of responsibility when the high school 'hottie' agreed to have his picture taken and then asked that she didn't give it to certain girls. Annie at 11/27/2002 04:30:00 a.m. Linda thinks that April is trying too hard to make friends and that Chelsea is using April. I think that Chelsea does use April but I don't know about trying too hard. April can be a lot like me, I always want to make people happy and maybe she sees that in me and is doing the same thing only she doesn't do things for people, she pays for things. I know that is wrong but April just saw me stop in the middle of the street to hand out pizza slices to about four of her friends so maybe she can't see the difference. Linda says that her daughter Erin thinks April was used for a place to party but I think that April honestly wanted to throw party for Amanda in the same way I like my kids having a party. What I think is that April would have a happier time if she was away from Chelsea and that she would make more friends because some people just don't like Chelsea. If she is with April then April doesn't get invited places. A change of friends would be nice for April. James had a talk with Stacy and she said that I am getting upset with her because she wants to go back to school next year and retake some of her courses. Why does she always think I will be mad? And when was I upset? If that is what is the best for her then that is what she should do but I think it is short sighted. She should cover all her options by applying to the colleges and Universities to see if they will accept her first and then she can make her decision. A boy has asked April out to a movie. His note he says he likes her 'because you are really good looking and very cool.' She doesn't know what she is going to say to him, she is suddenly nervous of a boy that she liked from her Quebec trip. I believe that she prefers to be the one pursuing the guy! Monica brought my camera to school today and took some excellent pictures for a photo contest. The contest is the day in the life of school and she took some real cute pictures. The deadline is Friday so I am bugging the school for the names of the kids and permission to publish, they gave me permission but not the names so I go back to school tomorrow! Monica babysat after school today which rubs her school basketball coach the wrong way. He wants 100% commitment and even though we told her that once a month she would be babysitting he thinks it is too much. Monica was telling me how a guy at school hurt himself by kneeing himself in the head and then decided to show me and hurt herself so that she had to ice her knee, it hurt so much! Nadia worked all evening on projects, she had to present something early this morning too. Brent, Adam and Brandon have been working on their web page for their company. James is worried that they don't have everything covered and they are going to be saddled with a huge debt that they hadn't considered. Annie at 11/26/2002 04:18:00 a.m. James and I went to Billy and lil Brandon's hockey game at 8:30 in the morning. It was pretty exciting to see the little kids skate their little hearts out and fun to just be with our neighbours. I sat with Olivia. James and Stacy and I went grocery shopping, Jessie came up to us and talked with us for a while. He was very friendly and talkative. He moved to a new apartment building yesterday so we were teasing that Stacy doesn't even know where her boyfriend lives. Showdown April is failing two out of four of her courses in school. She is indignant that I am serious when I say that I don't want her out on school nights until the marks are up. All along every kid in my family knows that if they don't follow the simple rules that if you are not doing well you don't socialize during the week. She wanted to go out to Tara's and both James and I said no. She went anyway so I phoned Tara's mom and she sent her out. April didn't come home for over an hour, just roamed the streets while James and I looked for her. During our search James noticed a group of kids lurking at the side of the school. They were concealed by the night but noisy enough for us to figure out they were smoking up. He nonchalantly drove past the school and then turned sharply to a screeching halt and blazed the high beam headlights on the startled pot heads. The kids scattered in every direction trying to disappear into the darkness. James and I laughed uncontrollably despite the fact that our stomachs were in knots over April. We chased them down to the portables, why? Because it was a flash of momentary fun. We didn't see April but she saw us roaring after the potheads, couldn't make sense of what she was witnessing. Her friends finally found her and told her to go home. She says that her friends (Chelsea and Tara) think we are too strict, I have never been accused of that! The older kids laughed out loud at her calling us strict. She wants to know what strict is eh??? Stacy is all of a sudden acting very glum and depressed. She is suddenly very quiet without a smile on her face and I really don't know why. James and I have both asked her about it and she just shrugs it off. Brent tried to stay awake all day to get back on schedule. He is complaining that Adam has been talking about him, telling the guys that he used to pick on Brent and beat him up when they were in Elementary School. I don't think so. I remember Adam spazzing out on a kid from a younger grade but that is all I ever remember about Adam being psychical. We sent Brent over to the Keg's to get some bread but he didn't return for about 6 hours without the bread. He is not aware that we know he feel asleep at the Keg's for about 5 hours! Annie at 11/25/2002 04:56:00 a.m. Monica had her first rep Volleyball tournament, it was nice that it was so close by. Their team did well, better than I expected considering they are a year younger than most teams. Monica was bewildered about how she fits in - at one point doubted that she was good enough for a rep team. She is wrong, parents have commented on how strong she is with the ball. She just isn't used to the girls she plays with because she misses half of a practice every week. She hasn't bonded with them yet. James and I had a talk with to Nadia about her weight, I guess she listened this time because she took the dog for over and hour walk which made me oh so happy. Stacy went shopping at Pickering Centre with Amy and then later to Partners, a Pool Hall with some of Amy's friends. She didn't know where Jessie was, tried many times to find him. I wish he would give her advance notice of what his intentions are. Monica went to see the new Harry Potter movie, she enjoyed it but it also scarred her. Cory was at the movies upset that she was there when he planned to go out with some guys. I guess he wanted her to stay home? But she was with Kate and they didn't even go to the same movie. What is the big deal? Nadia has people from her course at College over tonight to work on a project. April went out after sort of cleaning her room, wanted to sleep over at Chelsea's but we won't let her. We have to be able to trust what she is doing and I don't really trust that she is being safe after she got separated for Erin last week and drank the booze. It is not so much that I am upset that she actually drank but that she is the only girl who drank. April tidied her room today, not much to ask considering the shape it is in and how long it has been that way. We didn't want April and Monica in the same place cleaning because that is when they fight. She had Tara and Chelsea in that mess, they even got into my makeup, which means they were in my room too. April was out to play the old Nintendo and asked again to sleep over at Chelsea. I said no and said that I needed to learn to trust her again after last weekend, No, and she hung up. April phoned later and I asked if this was the person who hung up on me and when she said yes I hung up, she phoned back asked again and I hung up again. Then she phoned James and he said no and hung up. This tactic won’t work on us, April watches Chelsea hound her mom until she gives into her but we won't cave in. Brent spent the evening with Josh and then to Adam's to work on his web page for his company, they sell electronic stuff. It looks like Adam is finally contributing to their business, but he doesn't have the cheque singing privileges that Brandon Alexio and Brent do so his interests are limited. Dave came over for some grogs. Annie at 11/24/2002 04:48:00 a.m. Nadia went out to Derrick's house. They are together all the time these days. James worked on the closet door in the workout room. Stacy went to watch Jessie's game with Coral and then went to the Sports Bar with Jessie's parents. I am not expected to attend his games now since Stacy has a friend at the game. However I really enjoyed going and I miss their company. April went to the Arena with Erin, was suppose to go sleep over at her house, but they kept changing their plans and wanted to sleep here instead. They thought that they could stay out till 1:30, I said 12 at the latest. I told them that if they stayed here it had to be with Erin's mom knowing their intentions. Her mom said no. Erin got upset that everyone was still planning the evening without her even though April said that she wouldn't go if Erin didn't want her to. She should have said that she would stay with Erin no matter what. We have always insisted that you start an evening with someone, you keep your plans and stay with them. Big rule. April said that Erin wasn't completely innocent, that she had changed her plans to include her boyfriend. Erin wanted to go to Max's house where her boyfriend was so she wasn't happy when Stacy refused to drive them there. I think that Erin's mom sees the entire night as April letting her friend down but we usually only get one side to the story don't we? Brent was the first one home tonight! He was with Carlie and Dan. He warned me in advance that if he came home smelling of pot, not to think it was him, that he was with people that were going to smoke. But when he came home he didn't smell, he decided to go in a different car so I was happy. Annie at 11/23/2002 04:03:00 a.m. I had an 8 am dentist appointment that sent everyone scrambling to find rides to school. Jessie saved their day when he offered to come over and drive all the girls to school. Go ahead...make my day! The dental hygienist was surprised that I have so many children at my 'young' age, she flipped when I said my oldest was 20! I can handle those type of statements whether they are true or not, but she honestly looked shocked at my age. After 3 weeks of tearing the house apart, Stacy found my visa card. As soon as I had that magic card in my hands we rushed to the mall to shop. But it wasn't meant to be, someone doesn't want me to start my Christmas shopping because they told me my card was no good. After many uncomfortable glares from people who don't even know me but nevertheless thought I was delinquent in my payments, I finally talked to the Visa people. They had put my card on hold saying that the 407 were trying to submit more charges on it so they were cancelling. All his sounds like Greek to me. When James phoned later they didn't have a clue what they had said to me, told him that my card is fine. Stacy bought 2 really cute dresses with her own money for the semi formal. She is going without Jessie, he didn't/ wouldn't get the time off. I wonder if they are going to argue about that because he sure had something to say when she was going to go to Prom with her brother and freinds? Note on my computer Monica is going out with Cory, She'll be back around 7:45 and she already took Caesar on a Walk! Love Monica Stacy ended up going to the mall 3 times tonight. Nadia told her there was a huge discount for College kids so Nadia and Derrick went too. Hi Laurie, I am sorry I didn't write back but I guess I got a tea bag that wasn't decafe and I have been buzzing for three days now! I just can't keep on track of anything when I feel this way but I am getting better. I am in the process of trying to get together with Ann (from High School days), hopefully very soon but her days off and mine don't seem very compatible. Nadia just earned a scholarship from Durham College for top marks, so we are pretty proud of her. Last weekend was pretty wild here. April had a party here on Friday night, about 20 people, all new high school friends and then a sleep over. At grade nine, the girls still are mostly taller than the guys so it looks so darn cute. The next night Stacy had a party and her parties get huge. She didn't even invite people until suppertime but kids seem to flock to her parties. We are recovering, but apparently Brent and Nadia are both planning one each too. I do like them being at my house rather than anywhere else to keep tabs on them. Anyway I will try to get this going and I will keep in contact. I'll sent 'the diaries' but remember they are weird and my little world of things might not have looked the same as other people's point of view!!! Bye for now! Annie at 11/22/2002 04:44:00 a.m. I took Brent to the doctors today to get some warts removed from his hands. The doctor was surprised by his appearance, said he didn't look good and he was too pale. He has ordered some blood test. He didn't go to school again. I asked why Adam isn't around very much- he is being kind of anti social and is also spending a lot of time with Robin. I went to watch high school basketball, our girls won in an up hill battle that was won in overtime. The other school had busloads of kids, they had a payout so the fans were lopsided so our school was sure the underdogs. Monica was basically a bench warmer all season and in the final minutes of play the coach put Chelsea out and she actually shot a foul shot in so the coach let her take the trophy home for the night. Unfortunately Chelsea told everyone that she won the game and got the final point- not true. Annie at 11/21/2002 04:20:00 a.m. Brent didn't go to school again, this time it was because Adam has the flu, he was throwing up while he was holding the phone. He doesn't think being away will influence his mark at all. They have missed a lot of school this month but the teachers have been emailling them cancelling classes so it not all them. Took Gramma and Brent to dinner by the Waterfront for dinner $175.00. Brent wanted to be with us when we took Gramma out because he missed her birthday lunch with the Edwards's. This was our gift for Gramma's birthday. We were the only ones there for most of the evening. Road construction is killing their business. Gramma is concerned about Brent's appearance; she says he looks too pale. A lot of people mention his pasty complexion. Brent is like the undead - or a zombie! Yes, Brent is white, but I think it is because he sleeping most of the daylight hours and awake during the night. He is nocturnal. I have tried to tell him that he is the one member of the family who gets sick the most and he even brings in most of the colds and flu's. Brent isn't getting enough sunlight and his immune system is always vulnerable. Bedsides the fact that life is passing him by, he misses out on family, friends, work and school. His friends come to the door sometimes and look so miffed when Brent can't or won't get up, even when he has plans with them. Or I find out they did something during the day and they don't even bother with Brent because they know he will be sleeping. I wish he would try to get his life back in the proper order, he would be a lot happier. I would be happier for him. Stacy went to baseball practice, she was the only one signed so far. One fo the mothers was surprised that I was her age, thought that she was a lot older than me because she had a 30 year old but she started a lot earlier than me! The mothers are all talking about hot flashes and going through the changes but I haven't felt anything yet. April phoned home after 11. I thought she was home, but she had spent the evening at Chelsea. She wanted a ride home but James and I were both in bed so we made her walk. I was worried about her until she got home. Annie at 11/20/2002 04:16:00 a.m. James had his colon examined today and they phoned for me to pick him up after the procedure. He insisted on lunch at 3:30 and I kept telling him it was a bad idea, that he should go home and sleep it off but he insisted he wanted lunch. So after he placed his order at his head started nodding. He fell asleep at home for hours and when he woke up he didn't remember going for lunch at all. Stacy had her first aid course tonight, and I let her go herself, which I hate because I don't like the thought of her in parking lots alone. I sat with Colleen at Soccer tonight and she said that the boys are "feeling up" our daughters. I told her that I didn't believe that at all based on what I already know about their relationships. Monica told me a couple weeks ago that after Cody and Holly kissed on the lips that it just didn't feel the same anymore so they broke up. She wouldn't be that uncomfortable about kissing and then let a guy feel her up. Colleen said that she read Holly's diary but I think she read it wrong or misinterpreted what she wrote. She then admitted that she read it in a hurry because Holly was in the next room. I told her that reading her diary could be a huge mistake, ruin the trust Holly has in her mom. Last year when I was driving a neighbourhood kid named Caroline home from school, she was very upset with her mother for that very reason. I told Caroline to try to tell her mom little harmless stuff that happens in a day and then gradually introduce more stuff in and see how her mom takes it but she was pretty mad at her mom. Colleen should concentrate on starting up conversation instead of snooping in her daughters private affairs. Rep Volleyball and all these school stars learning to play together is hard to watch. Hopefully they will come together for the tournament. Monica slept with the items that are important to her right now. She was asleep in her new uniform with the phone in her bed and Cory's picture beside her! Awww, so cute! Annie at 11/19/2002 04:47:00 a.m. I talked to Erin on the phone this morning, I asked her if she went home because of the drinking or another reason and she said that that was part of the reason. All kids are put in the position of having to chose what they will do in front of kids that are already doing wrong. I didn't like April's choice. Also April didn't come home with whom she left with which I don't like one little bit. Stacy is talking about going back to High School to better her chemistry mark. Nadia mentions taking it at summer school and she said no. I told her that if she doesn't get in to where she wants she might want to take a couple years of College first. She doesn't know what to do right now but she has to make some decisions soon. I talked to Stacy about Jessie. While we are trying hard to be part of his life it doesn't feel that he is reciprocating. He should be able to talk to some of us. April says that he is nice to her at school now so at least he is talking to her. Nadia went to see The Ring, kind of late tonight, said it really scared her too. She went with Derrick, Natasha and Sarah who screamed so hard it made them all laugh. Annie at 11/18/2002 04:56:00 a.m. Stacy's party, a last minute effort that looked like it was a success again. It started after ten. Stacy had to leave the party to pick up Jessie had his hockey game only he had forgot his clothes at home so Stacy had to wait for him to change. She wasn't too pleased with him. April wanted to watch a movie in our family room but didn't want James and I to be there. We have to be in the family room so that the kids can see that we are home for the party. April went out at 10 with Erin to Alex's, drank enough that we were able to recognize that she had been drinking. April is not the spirited funny girl she usually is tonight so I guess that is how alcohol affects her. I was very disappointed that she gave in to peer pressure. I give my kids a lot of freedom, allow them to have fun with parties. They always can decide who to hang around with and how to handle peer pressure. It is different these days where a group of kids can hang around together and not necessarily do the pot or the drugs or the drinking the other kids do, they can all make up there minds. When I was in high school, the pot heads hung around with the pothead the drinkers stuck together ect. These days they can choose what they do and I want to trust my kids. Erin did not drink, it was just April and Alex and his buddies who drank, if fact Erin went home because April drank. It was a snowy night and some of the kids couldn't drive. Derrick didn't want to drive because of the weather and Nadia couldn't understand that perhaps she should just leave it at that, I even mentioned that it might be better to just stay at home. She asked if I could drive her there and I finally said yes but he wanted to just hang around with his family. I wish I hadn't caved in, then she would have just been upset with me and not had any hurt feelings. A lot of kids came up and talked with us, with the exception of Jessie again. By now he should feel comfortable enough and connected with us. He should be able to come up and talk with us too. It has been bothering me a lot lately. As much as we have tried we really don't have much of a relationship with him. Jess C. and Jake always talked to me, both keep in touch with me on the Internet. They talked to me at the party qquite a bit too. Brent for some reason was outside with the guys a lot tonight. When April was accusing him of smoking outside, he said smell my fingers and shoved his hand in my face. Why the hell would he want me to do that in front of April because they sure did smell of cigarette's. I like him being honest but she wants to do everything Brent does, I tried to explain it to him before, that he is her idol. Annie at 11/17/2002 04:54:00 a.m. It was a PA day for the High school so the kids help clean up the house to prepare for some parties- bonus eh? April got herself grounded from the Internet for one month, she was caught on MSN the messenger service, it messes up our computer that are networked. She got another week added on to the grounding because she had her name listed as loving Ryan F and I have always hated that. Paul came over and laid our carpet when we were out at the lumber store, we hadn't even asked him to do it yet, Dave arranged it for us that was very nice of him. We bought Paul a case of beer. Monica has a painless migraine. Last week while looking after the kindergarten class, the bright lights of the kindergarten was really bothering her eyes. I guess the aura that Stacy and I sometimes see and the sensitivity to bright light has been passed onto Monica too. At least the migraines are painless! We went to a restaurant with Dave and Marita, a place where Dwayne has been banned for life for dropping his pants at bars, seems that it has become a regular occurrence! Last time he tried to come in the owners asked all the people in the restaurant if they wanted him in or out and everyone voted "out" so he is banned from there. The police stopped him at gunpoint one evening but he had a driver with him. They are stopping Bread Trucks because they are trying to catch him driving without his licence. He is an accident waiting to happen. He doesn't even know that he has hit rock bottom. April had a birthday party for one of her friends tonight and it looked like they had a lot of fun. I made a video for Amanda and they had fun with it, taking crazy pictures. We only smelled cigarettes on one kid and there was no in and out so there was no pot smoking, so I am glad. Ryan F's mom apparently didn't want him coming over to this party because she doesn't know if there will be smoking and drinking. It is ironical that a couple of years ago it was her older son assuring my daughter Stacy that he didn't do drugs and that his friend Jake wouldn't do it anymore if she only would go out with him. Stacy went over to Jessie's after working at the rec, where they watched a movie. She sounded dejected when she came home, saying that they didn't talk again as usual. Even though she has him and he seems very interested in her, she seems extremely lonely to me sometimes. Annie at 11/16/2002 04:34:00 a.m. Stacy signed with the new softball team, she was to first to sign, the coach came right over as soon as he got the registration papers. Dave Kegs came over for some drinks and will help with the carpet in the workroom tomorrow. I appreciate our neighbours, we are all here for each other in ways I can't even imagine. April did finishing touches on cleaning the basement, her motivation - a party. We just have to lay the carpet. Brent didn't go to school, took over an hour shower, and then left with Brandon of the Doobie Brothers. I asked where Adam has been lately; he said that Adam has been hanging around a lot with his girlfriend Robin. It is just strange not seeing him with Brent. April did very well in pitching clinic. All I want from the clinic is to boost her faith in herself. So far so good! Nadia is wondering why Stacy isn't even opening her University mail, says she not acting interested in it at all. I have noticed that it is taking her sometimes even a couple weeks to open something from the Universities. I think that the thought of her life changing might be overwhelming to her. Annie at 11/15/2002 04:18:00 a.m. I got hurt on our dog walk by Fayden. I held his leash as he made a mad dash for freedom, my fingers and shoulders are killing me. I had to go back to the dentist today for one of 2 cleanings. Took April and her friends to the arena for Ryan F's practice, but a family from our neighbourhood was good enough to drive her home without her friends. Does that mean that they ditched her again? Ryan talked to her on the phone for 2 hours tonight. Stacy was playing badminton with one of the grade 11 boys when he hit her on the hip hard enough to leave a huge mark. She says she owns him until the bruise is gone. This is a relationship Jessie has encouraged, the guy is a hockey buddy, so it is all right. Nadia's Sports Admin top came in, she doesn't like the lettering so they told her that they would make them bigger for her. Holly has been emailing Monica about trying to go out with Jeff. Jeff is the guy who hounded Monica last summer and now he is after Holly. Poor Cory is trying to figure out why this happened when Holly had told him she didn't want to go out with anyone. It looks like everyone is trying to get Monica in the middle of it but I cautioned her not to get involved. Monica can't understand it at all; Brittany can't figure it out either. Annie at 11/14/2002 04:25:00 a.m. My head is still buzzing so somewhere I must have had caffeine. April is getting the basement ready for her party on the weekend, took everything in the basement into the garage, piled it sky high. Some of it toppled over and broke, we couldn't even get the recycling out. GURRRR. Monica spilt her lunch all over her lap, screamed and just had a fit about it. Lunch was eggs, over easy, over Monica! She wanted me to get a change of pants for her, I might have if they were in her drawer, but I knew they weren't. She finally changed, sat right back down in the egg chair and then realized that she sat right back in the eggs. She looked at me, I thought she was going to blow up again and then she started to laugh hard. I'm glad she made the best of it. Sometimes when you get too frustrated you just need some relese adn laughing at yourself is the best way of handling it. I went to the dentist today and found out that I had not been there in 2 years. I was so worried that I would have lots of cavities but I only have one small one in the back right. Stacy tried to get one of her gym buddies to skip gym since the gym room was not available, it was cancelled for a volleyball tournament. They were to go to another room adn she didn't want to just sit through a lecture so she tried to manhandle some guy out through the doors. They were laughing so much, just to watch a girl try to push around a jock must have looked hysterical. Sounds like a lot of fun. She felt strange at being a grade 12 in a grade 11 class but she is getting to know a lot of the guys from her grade 11-gym classes. James and I went to Stacy's softball practice with the new team. The other coach was livid about Stacy trying for the other team, said that they stole her from them and that they are trying to recruit other girls. It is not true, they only tried to recruit Stacy! The board of directors took care of Stacy's problem with the old coach. He was extremely upset about Stacy, bombarded everyone with emails and they finally said, "Enough is enough, let it go." Why would they want a kid who doesn't want to be on their team? April was at the hockey arena for the evening but when I went to pick her up I couldn't find her anywhere. Acrowd had formed around a downed player on the ice on pad 1 so I walked through, and asked if anyone had seen April. Over above the players bench was April and her friends. I went over to that side and April yelled, "mom come over here and smell these guys! You won't believe how bad they smell!" I couldn't believe she said that. Some guy that April has been stalking told Erin that he likes April and told her to tell April. All of a sudden April is quiet about the whole romance stuff, now she is on the defensive! I always thought she was all talk. Annie at 11/13/2002 04:13:00 a.m. Monica didn't have her homework done, even though I told her too yesterday before she started her phone marathon. She was late again today and oh did she ever stomp and slam the door when I refused to drive her. I took April to the eye doctor to get contacts, he is giving her an expensive pair so hopefully she will follow instructions this time. Stacy has upset me, she said today that she didn't want to run at with the XL's. She said that it is too hard on her, that it hurts her chest. It upset me, not that she doesn't want to run, rather that she pretended to me that she did and then said it was because I would be mad at her. That hurt a lot, blaming me. She used that excuse last week when she told me that she didn't want to go to the States for a scholarship, she wanted to stay here but she thought I would be mad. I don't care, well...I do, I DON'T want her to go to the States either. I just wanted her to get the best of everything, no matter how it might affect me. She told me she wanted to run again and now she is making me the scapegoat for her changing her mind. That really hurts. I think she just got afraid when the coaches paid her so much attention. Brent was in a very bad mood bullied April and then went to bed early with a headache. Nadia and Stacy also have headaches. Annie at 11/12/2002 03:49:00 a.m. We were all out when April came home from babysitting last night so she left this note. WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!?!?! ARE YOU OKAY??? YOU HAVE ME TOTALLY FREAKED OUT PLEASE WHEN YOU GET HOME CALL CHELSEA'S HOUSE UNLESS IT'S PAST 12:30 I REALLY HAVE TO NO YOUR SAFE! THANKS A LOT! I love you guys very much and need to be sure that your safe so ByE! The wine didn't agree with me from last night, uhhhh, I felt pretty rough today. I don't want to drink wine anymore. But maybe it wasn't the wine, maybe it is caffeine I might have used the wrong tea bag. I just know my brain is buzzing. All the Edwards's got together today to surprised Gramma for her birthday at the Swiss Chalet - she was so delighted. We were very disappointed that Brent wouldn't get out of bed to join us. Derrick came with us to the celebration and because of a misunderstanding about what time the lunch was, he had no dinner with his parents, they plan there meals ahead. So Nadia and him made supper here and they looked like they had a lot of fun doing it. Nadia came up stairs with a bad case of the hiccups. Hmmm, they must have had some drinks. Hiccup!! When Brent's friends phoned at 5:30 he bounced out of bed and went right out with them. They went to see the movie The Ring, the movie that terrified April so much. Brent said it was very scary too. Jessie came over after work for Stacy, they used the family room for a couple of hours. Stacy has told James that I am pressuring her into running for the XL's. What???? I can't believe that she even said that, that is completely not true. I have gone over everything that has happened in the last while about running and it was her interest that got her back to running not mine. I only wanted her to have a running partner (Jess C.) so she would be safe, which was the only thing about running that I insisted on. The fact that the XL's wanted her, came out of the blue, it wasn't part of the game plan and she looked happy about it. Why didn't she talk to me about it at all? James feels that Stacy and I have had a falling out but we have never even talked about it. She mentioned that she was afraid of getting the pain she had last June and I thought that running on her own with a partner would probably make that feeling go away. I didn't want her runs to always be the intense club run. That is the only time we approached the subject. I don't understand what she is even thinking right now about that or school. She has it in her head to go back to High School, for what, just because her friend wants to? I have told her to leave all her options open but she is being close minded, shutting my opinions out. She will have had all her credits and she has been a honuor student for the most part. I have told her not to close doors on herself, that she could change her mind and then she would be stuck with only one option. The only pressure I have inflicted on her is that I insist is that she apply to courses that she has an interest in for both University and College. She is keen on Kinesciology, unfortunately the most popular course around right now. If the majority of double co-hort wants the same course, the marks you need to get in are going to be ridiculously high. I want her to apply to collage too. I am not interfering with her life, as she would have James believe. I will not attempt to push her into any choice, she is on her own in that regard, but keep those doors of opportunity open right now until the decision is made- please!!! Monica has been on the phone with Cory for absolutely hours tonight even after she went out with Cory for about an hour. She and Cory are the only couple from last year still going strong. They spend almost all their time together. Monica says they aren't kissing but I am sure that is for James's benefit. Cory says that James scares the heck out of him, but that is James job. They are too young for this, and I never expected it to last this long. It have been going out for almost a year now- they are both 12! Annie at 11/11/2002 03:41:00 a.m. Brent got home around 3am, he had been over partying at the Doobie brothers. Brent Steve and Brandon have been hanging around quite a bit lately but Adam doesn't seem to be much in the picture. Strange considering Brent and Adam have been best freinds since grade 6. I bought Monica two pairs of running shoes, the And1, she wanted so badly and a regular pair. April is Baby-sitting tonight. She wants to go to Chelsea for a sleepover after- darn. I thought they were on the outs. April is too forgiving. Stacy said that April was out on the street, not at Chelsea house so I will have to talk to her about that. Stacy went out with Amy to a movie. Monica is at Melissa's birthday sleepover, she gave her 2 tops. James and I went to Mark and Carrie's for a game of cards and a hot tub. Mom has fianlly apologized to Kathy and to her dad, Dave wouldn't let her in his house until she made the apology. I guess she finally realized that she did something wrong. I imagine we will be talking about the details tonight, whatever that might be. I just as soon stay right out of Grammie's fights. Annie at 11/10/2002 04:12:00 a.m. I talked to April about being so hyper yesterday how much it can bother people, she looked hard at me in the car and said "oh, oh, do you have any sanitary napkin's because usually when I get hyper I come on the next day." Sure enough she did. She doesn't get PMS she gets HMS. Monica was warned to cover up even though he liked what she was wearing because the Creature might say something to her. Lately the school has found some Ajax kids spraying graffiti on their walls. You would have to wonder why they would even bother to take a trip to another town just to spray paint the school walls. Today after school there was a confrontation at school involving some kids from Ajax and Kyle's friends. A parent saw the altercation and phoned the police. He said that one of them was getting beaten so bad it looked like they were killing him. It turned out to be Broody who received the beating. They were clobbering him with a broken hockey stick. Just as Stacy and April were leaving, the police were coming. Chelsea pretended she didn't have any plans when some girls asked her to come to the arena with them. April was right there when she backstabbed her. Here we go again. I drove April, there and back while Chelsea got a ride from 'her new friends' That ticks me right off considering I am the one who always drive Chelsea everywhere. It wouldn't bother me if April was angry enough to end the friendship but I hate seeing April hurt. But did enjoy herself with Ryan F. James and I went to I Spy and then to Don Cherry's for a brewski. It was fun, we haven't gone to a movie in a long time. Stacy went out with the girls to cruise the town in Coral's Thunderbird. Nadia spent the evening at home with Derrick. Annie at 11/09/2002 04:04:00 a.m. Brent was up again all night, went to bed at 8 o'clock. The work out room is going to be all white, I think that is the only way to go since it is such a small room. Today while I painted the exposed pipes, I put the paintbrush on the stairs to get some painting pants on. When I got back the brush was gone. I went all over the house looking for it ranting at the dog to give it back. Finally I put his nose on the step where the brush had been and told Caesar to go find it and he did! After all that looking that is all I have to do! Monica's school volleyball team was knocked out of the play downs. We almost won the first game, we were ahead of them until the end. Monica didn't handle losing too well, went and lay down on the ground. I hope I don't see that side of her sportsmanship again. I can see her being frustrated if they had a chance but there was no talent on her team so she can't expect to win. Nadia had her Scholarship presentation today, I am so proud of her. We had a hard time keeping Grammie away from the little sandwiches my little bag lady stashed her pockets full of them! Grammie phoned me to ask if she could use chocolate in a Triffle she planned to make for us. I said "absolutely not." Well she put it in anyway and Nadia and I freaked out. Last time Nadia had chocolate I had to rush her to the hospital. This is the 2nd time this week she hasn't listened to me, unfortunately everyone believes it was done on purpose to be spiteful. Stacy went to Jessie's hockey game while we went to pitching clinic. She didn't want to go to the cross country practice to run outside because she has a cold. I can understand that completely so she put in a message into the XL's coach to let us know when he begins his inside practices. April was very high strung today, not a natural high either but the demon caffeine. Even though she knows she is sensitive to caffeine she can't help but sneak a chocolate bar or pop. I can't blame her, it is hard to discipline yourself to abstaining when everyone around you is able to handle it. When I see what she is like on caffeine I can't help but wonder, if caffeine makes her hyper enough to bounce off the walls, what would she be like on illegal drugs? Annie at 11/08/2002 04:40:00 a.m. James came home early from Ottawa! Jessie came over for part of the evening until his hockey practise and even had supper at our table. That was a first. Nadia used the computer for most of the day doing a survey for the Toronto Rock Lacrosse. We really need to get all our computers in order, there is only 2 working right now. It is a hardship when the computers hold such an important place in our lifestyle. I am still keeping Monica in because of her attitude with me last week but it is not too much of a hardship since she has sports almost every night of the week. James and Brent went to get the panelling for the basement and came back with different panelling and they thought I wouldn't notice. It is nicer than the first boards. We will line the closet with the cheaper panels. The house league basketball is really getting rough but Monica loves it. We didn't have to rush off to volleyball so that was nice break. Our lives are so busy! Annie at 11/07/2002 04:25:00 a.m. James went to Ottawa for the week. Brent was at Brandon Alexio's overnight. Brent is trying to surprise or help James by working on the basement. He didn't go to school because of it but he is really working hard. He put up an entire wall! I am very grateful. Stacy, April and I went to Pickering to Golden Griddle for breakfast with Grammie. Grammie took the girls to the dentist, the deal was that she would bring them back after she had them over for lunch. This way we could mix business with pleasure, her pleasure, to see her grandchildren and have breakfast and lunch with them. I went about my business all over town expecting the kids to be returned to school after lunch but when the school phone to say they never came back after lunch I became anxious. I finally got through to Grammie at 4 in the afternoon. After we had words she brought them back but left crying because I was so upset with her. She knew exactly what was expected of her and she didn't listen again. I thought that she would have stopped this type of behaviour years ago, after the arguments we used to have when she would suddenly take one of my kids without permission. How can I trust her when she won't follow simple instructions? But I know she does this for attention, she will now feel hard done by. I hate her head games. To think I tried hard to arrange this whole day to include her, not to make my life easier, but as a way to get her involved in our lives a little more. I will not ask for a favour again I had to decline an invitation to lunch with Nadia and Derrick as I had to drive the volleyball team, but that was nice of them to try to include me. Volleyball play downs, we surprisingly advance to Thursday. We have not much skill but a lot of luck. They keep Monica on all the time and she is all over the court. I told Stacy's baseball coach that Stacy was trying out for both teams and he got very upset. He phoned the league president about it and she phoned back, yea he is livid, so upset that we decided to not go to practice tonight. The president said that the coaches reaction would determine where Stacy wants to play. Why does things like this always happen when James is out of town? We went to the Sports Garden for supper, half price appetizer night. Later we went to Jessie's hockey game, he played very well, got 2 goals, not bad for a defenseman. Annie at 11/06/2002 04:49:00 a.m. Kyle received a 3 days suspension for being involved in trying to break up the fight the other day; I guess he earned it from his reputation as having a bad temper. The guy who keyed his face guy got 20 days and will no doubt be charged too. Kyle's face doesn't look too bad considering the amount of stitches he needed. April wasn't feeling well, sick with cold so she came home at lunch. She wanted to go out with her friends later in the evening but the rule is you have to stay in all day if you miss school. Stacy thinks that I will be disappointed in her if she doesn't go to a University in the States or run with the XL's outside. She wants to run with them but inside at the dome. I don't have a problem with any of it, I just don't want her injuring herself by running too hard when she is with the XL's, If she is training with other people, like she did with Monica last night and with Jess C. tonight, she is less likely to get injured. It is hard to get girls to run with her and Jessie has only ever run with her once. Monica took a volleyball shot too the head by the 6 foot bullet girl. She wasn't involved in that particular play so she didn't even see the volleyball coming. Her glasses ended up in a tangled mess on the floor. I don't think she is all that comfortable with the girls from that team. It is hard to get to know them when you only go to the last half of a practice. I received an email from classmates.com Hi Annie, I'm using a friend's id to email you, because I'm not a member at classmates.com. I'd love to catch up with you sometime. I have some great memories of hanging around with you, Cindy and Laurie. Are you still in touch with them? I have 4 kids, 3 boys, 1 girl. They're all close in age like your kids.....26, 24, 22, & 20. Please email me Take care...talk soon. Ann --------------------------------- I don't usually open emails when I don't recognize their name. It was a friend from High school, that I haven't seen in 30 years. OMG I can actually say that, I feel old all of a sudden. I emailed her right away. Hi Ann, Its Annie! I was wondering about an email from a Patrick part, because I didn't remember anyone named Patrick, but you know the 70's, anything was possible. Now to enter the twilight zone, I have been finding bits and pieces of old diaries from junk that my mom has saved for me all these years and so I have been trying to compile them on the computer. Last night I was reading my 1972 diary and your name popped up too - and then I hear from you! I remember I didn't realize that your 4 kids were so close in age like mine were. Every 19 - 22 months a new baby. I have 4 girls and 1 boy. I bet you were as good at toilet training as I was! I am off to a Volleyball Tourney for my youngest so I will send this along now, I was really happy to hear from you and I will send you another email later. You have to let me know how you are doing to. I have tried to look you up on ICQ before but no luck. Where do you live? I see Cindy and Laurie and Stella, mostly Laurie about once a year. I hope to get some people together in the near future for a reunion of some type. We have done that from time to time. Got to go, I am looking forward to hearing from you! Annie Edwards (Gibson) --------------------------------- Email RE: Hi Ann, Its Annie! I'm living in the city...in the Beaches. I have to make this quick because I'm at work and I got in late. Why don't you give me a call sometime and we can catch up. I'd love to get together with you guys sometime. Ann Annie at 11/05/2002 04:27:00 a.m. Jessie was drinking last night, Stacy, the designated driver, took everyone home in Jessie's car arrived home exhausted around 2am. She was bewildered that he left her alone, went upstairs for a couple hours while she had no idea where he was or who he was with. She spent a lot of time entertaining herself. She feels trapped by the thoughts of how jealous he feels when she talks to other guys at parties and that the general idea that other guys get too is that she can not be approached for fear that people think the wrong thing. Same old stuff but it is making her even more lonely if that is possible. Gramma went to breakfast with James, Monica and April and I. After, Monica and I went directly to Cory's hockey game to cheer him on for his 1 goal and 2 assists. Stacy cleaned while we were at the hockey game. We tried to drop Jessie's car off at work and then his home but they weren't home, she just left it in the garage and gave his sister the keys. They need to communicate more. She didn't even know when he works, yesterday she only found out at the last minute that he wanted her to go to his dad's with him. It is always last minute planning and it seems that it is only when his buddies figure out what they want to do. She just tags along. It just doesn't look like there relationship is passionate. He never phones for no reason, never drops in, no spontaneity at all but neither does she. Maybe they just conveniently need each other, I don't know. They used to talk a lot on icq but Stacy doesn't seem to need that anymore. James is still working on the basement work out room. He made a closet and we are installing a sliding door around the furnace. April went out, to dinner at Amy Welsh, a flambeed gourmet dinner. She was very impressed with her father as he ws with her. Monica came home very hurt and angry, said no supper she was going to bed at 6! She didn't want to talk to anyone but when one of the twins phoned she was her sweet self. This infuriated me and I am not going to take it anymore from her. She treats me like her own personal whipping boy. Nadia and I got in a squabble. She wanted to use my computer all evening but I wanted her to use the basement one so that other people could use mine, including me. She has to print out something anyway so in the end she would have had to use James's too, so what is the big deal? She stayed up all night studying I guess. Annie at 11/04/2002 04:54:00 a.m. Cleaned house for most of the day or at least we tried to. Nadia cut out early, didn't even try. Some of our kids are naturals at cleaning up, other just don't know where to start. I imagine they inherited the lazy cleaning gene that James and I appear to have too. Two of our kids can tidy up a room with superman moves, can make you dizzy just trying to keep up with them! Stacy’s baseball was cancelled which gave her unexpected free time. She went to Loblaws to buy her Gramma a rose, for no reason. Gramma was very touched and appreciated our impromptu tea party. Stacy went to Jessie's dad house, a rare event. His life has been divided by divorce; he has two lives, one that doesn't usually include Stacy. She was supposed to go out for a run but Jessie phoned at the last minute to see if she could come to his dad's house. A little advance planning would be nice. She wants to get to know all aspects of Jessie so she cancelled her plans for running. Later in the evening they partied at Magoo's. April and Monica stayed in tonight- unbelievable! Brent is at a party at Doobers. We gave him a Mickey of Rye so I hope he is ok. We felt that if he was honest enough to ask instead of just taking what he needed, we would trust him. We haven't had too much problem with alcohol as it is under lock and key but there is usually one bottle high up in the kitchen cupboard. He wants Stacy to come over when she gets home from Jessie's. It is funny that Doober never used to have people over to his house, that I ever noticed. I wonder what is different about their house now? Annie at 11/03/2002 04:42:00 a.m. Lunch at some Firkin Restaurant with James for Wings and Beer and downtown to Trappers where we met Nadia at the Subway. It was nice for the three of us but it was too small for the Christmas party so James said that the quest for the Christmas party restaurant is over, we will go to Splenditos. James dropped me off at Jessie's Hockey game, but Stacy wasn't there yet. April had been at the arena since 5:30 with Chelsea. I have always told Chelsea that if she went some where with my daughter I expected them to come home together. Simple and logical request. I am pretty sure Monica was going to ditch April at the area there for a party, she had already exited the building when she noticed me coming she went right back into the building. Neither April nor Chelsea had any money so they must have been starving. They have to learn to think about things like that. Stacy ended up buying them hot chocolate which was good of her. Shane's mom was not having a good day, Shane and his older brother are living at his dad's now, a couple blocks away from his mom. His mom is heartbroken about this because it is separating her four kids. She wants them all to live in the same house. Kyle got keyed in his beautiful face at school, had to go for stitches. During the scuffle everyone near them became covered in blood which made way for panic. For once he tried to be a diplomat, he tried to break up a fight between an older guy and a grade nine. Brent should have gone to commencement tonight, but I guess he hated high school that much. Annie at 11/02/2002 04:18:00 a.m. Brent woke up early and we went to Golden Griddle with Grammie for breakfast and then she took him to the dentist for me. Halloween was ruined for me. Monica. She knows it all and the whole family paid for it. She wanted to go out in a tank top and hardly anything on. It is almost freezing out with drizzling rain. When I insisted on the rest of the devils costume she didn't want to wear anything on her legs or arms or anything underneath it. She was stubborn and horrible about it. Any other day I would have grounded her, I hate grounding kids. She went out with Kate and I had to go looking for her at 9 because she was the only one that didn’t check in. James and I had a long talk with her about respect and her temper so I hope some of it sank in. Stacy's friends came over raided our tickle trunk for costumes. They mixed and mashed them, so attractive. There wasn't that many kids out tonight, I guess because of the weather. Annie at 11/01/2002 04:27:00 a.m.
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