Julian goes for a ride.

I couldn't upload the whole video, but this is of Julian getting a ride on our neighbors friends dirt bike in the field behind our house.... no activity in the first few seconds of the video but keep watching. We're so lucky to be able to do stuff like this right behind our house.

Cute kid and summer fun.

So yesterday Julian made a point to explain to us all (myself, Hunt, and our friends Leslie and Jerry) where we rank on the "awesome scale" compared to his dad. Earlier in the day, Hunt was at the top, I was a little below, and his dad was way down at the bottom. After our friends got here, all four of us were at the top and his dad was still at the bottom.

His reason?    

Because we all play with him and have fun with him. And his dad doesn't. Plus Hunt grills like all the time and his dad like never does.

When asked if he wanted to call his dad yesterday, because he hadn't talked to him in a few days, he said "No, cuz we don't really talk about anything anyway."

So we spent yesterday afternoon playing with the dogs (including our friends' new puppy), playing horseshoes, watching Julian dig holes and play in his pool.

Today is supposed to be a high of 90 degrees. It's 9:30am and already almost to 80. The next couple days are supposed to be 90 too, then 80 later this week. So I think we may be heading to the creek today. Water may be cold but I'm sure it'll feel great. Let Julian swim while we enjoy a cold drink and hot sun.

Little bit more of southern life!

Lynyrd Skynyrd played here. Supposedly this image is on one of their album covers. Haven't found it yet, but this track is just a couple miles from my house, and they have names and initials carved in trees near the track!

My wonderful fiance and I

Cooper, the crazy pup and...

Shug, the big baby... Julian loves to play with them so much!

My honey and his best buddy... and our awesome bonfire, which we do like every weekend!

Hunt teaching Julian how to ride last summer 

How can you resist a country boy as sexy as this?!

I had more pix I wanted to post, of the creek where we hang out alot, a near by lake, etc... but for some reason they won't upload. Sorry. Hope you enjoyed!

Finally.... Pictures!

Julian found a corn snake under the porch. Gotta love a kid that's not scared!

This is the view from our front porch here in Alabama.

This is the view from our back porch.

Julian was treated to a day at the fair by his Nanna and Poppy (Hunt's parents)

Hunt took Julian fishing at Shoal Creek back in March.

Julian had "Dress as an old person" day at school!

Buffy is our wandering dog. We'd found her when we lived in Tennessee, brought her down with us, and she just wanders around to people's homes, getting love and food. But she is always happy to come back to see Julian.

Note the phone on the chair.... yea this is how Julian talks to his dad when he calls.

Julian playing with Mady Rose and Payton (Hunt's niece and nephew).

 

Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek at our lovely life here in the south.

I'll post more tomorrow. I promise!

So confused!

So June 1st, we're taking my son half way to Milwaukee (Seymour, IN - a 6 hr drive!) to meet his dad so he can spend the summer in Milwaukee. If I haven't mentioned this yet, I hate my ex. And lately, my son's not been too fond of him either. Normally he'd spend 2 months up there, but he recently decided that he didn't want to go at all. Well, of course his father gave him a guilt trip, so he'll be going for just a month instead.

Julian has just gotten so used to being here at home with myself and my fiancé, Hunt. He has friends down here. We take him to the creek to swim. He can go fishing. He can go canoeing. He can play outside all day in the fresh, clean air with me, or Hunt, or both the dogs.

And if you're thinking, well he can do that in Milwaukee too, can't he? You're right, he COULD, but he WON'T. When he's with his father, he stays inside all day, watching TV, playing video games. No one takes the time to play with him, to take him places. His dad gets home from work, sleeps for a while, then just sits on the couch watching TV with Julian. Sure he gets spoiled with a trip to Six Flags or ice skating, but that's about it.

I thought it was pretty entertaining to hear how upset my ex was when he heard that Julian didn't want to come up at all. But that was his own fault. He hardly calls to talk to Julian all year. He starts calling almost regularly just a month before he's going to see him. He's constantly falling behind on child support because he's saving money for his wedding to his new girl. Can we say "priorities!"?

Anyway. I know Julian misses his dad. But not like he used to. And he's only 6 and already deciding that he wants to spend more time down here. The next few years are only going to be harder. But I figure, if his dad's getting married, well they're bound to have a kid soon after, and maybe he can just forget all about Julian. Lord knows Hunt is doing an amazing job as stepping up as Julian's father figure.

I am blessed to have such a lovely family here in Alabama. I'm just so tired of the mess with his dad. And I'm sure, it's nowhere near over. Ick!

New job!

So I finally got a new job. After being unemployed for almost 3 months, I've been going a little stir crazy. Even with homework, house work, and the beautiful weather, it's nice to get out of the house and do something for once. Even my relationship with my fiancé had been getting a little tense.

So far I like the job, just the hours and pay could be a little better. I'm back to doing title loans, as well as payday loans now. I'm catching on pretty quick but there's a lot more work to do than there was at the title loan company I was with back in Jan/Feb. I usually work 3 days a week, 9a-6p, for $8.50/hr. I was making $10 at the last company doing less work. But at least it's something, right?

I was really hoping to get a job at one of the eye centers in town. Hours would have been 8a-5p, right near my son's day care. But a girl I knew got it instead. Which really ticked me off because as I've said before, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And this girl didn't know squat! She was fired in 2 weeks.... missed 3 days of work, and couldn't type for shit. On top of that, she's a pill head, hasn't had a job in over a year. And the day after she was fired, she totaled her husbands truck because she took too many of the wrong thing. Apparently the accident wasn't technically her fault, but she would have been able to avoid the total if she'd been able to react better. Anyway, I know this pill/drug/lazy stuff goes on in Milwaukee too.... but when jobs are limited as much as they are down here, how is it that people like this even get a chance over people like me?!

I like my new job, but if the eye center calls, I'll probably go there instead. Better hours, better benefits, better location. But anyways.... I appreciate what I have. I worked alone all day yesterday for the first time. Manager had a meeting. Hope I didn't screw anything up! Next week I'll be working M-F all alone. Manager has training. Eeek!

Out of touch

I'm sorry! I knew I was going to suck at keeping up with this blog. Anyways, not much as happened since my last post.

Still unemployed and searching like crazy. Unfortunately my fiancé went from "I like having you home to cook and clean" to "You need a job soon because I'm tired of you just sitting around while I work my butt off". I've had some promising interviews. But it's definitely about "who you know", not "what you know" down here. The thing that sucks the most is that I know this is a very low educated area, and I see the kind of people that are working in the places I apply to. Yet I still can't get in!

My son is doing so well in school. I think we've really got this ADHD thing figured out. We don't medicate him on the weekend. We just make sure to keep him extra active. Which, well, is a whole lot easier now that it's getting nice out. This past week has been between 70 and 85! He's only got a little over a month left of school, which I'm sure is different from the elementary schools up there!

The only reason I'm dreading the end of school is because that means he'll he headed to Milwaukee to visit his dad for 2 months. One, I don't like being without him for that long. But two, I just don't trust his dad to keep up all the good habits he's developed down here. Not counting the fact that he doesn't have friends up there, and he wont play outside near as much as he does here.

I hope everyone had a great Easter and Spring Break. We got to spend much time with my fiancé's family. And we took my son to church for the first time ever. He did very well. I'm not very religious, but being here in the south, you kinda have to be. And my fiancé's family definitely is. So I'm trying to get into it. Just hard after not being raised that way for 27 years!

Well I guess that's it for now. I've been sitting in this chair for over 4 hours catching up on my MATC assignments for this and 3 other classes. I think it's time for a break!