SweetestChaos

[sweetestchaoz]

I don't think my children believe I am sympathetic enough to the challenges of holding a job and not owning a car.  I didn't own a car until I was 24 and got my first, professional job.  4 years of high school, 4 years of college, and 2 years of grad school.  I was pretty much employed throughout and either walked, took the bus, waited patiently for someone else's timing to allow them to come get me, took a cab, or drove my parents around so I could use their car.  It's not particularly complicated.  Perhaps I have coddled them too much. :-)

[sweetestchaoz]

Welcome 2021!!!  I decided to do a pick up from Target today, mostly because I ran out of bobbin thread again and needed to swing by JoAnns.  Seeing as I was going to be down that way and Target had Diet Pepsi available, I did a curbside order.  The gal brought my stuff out as I was driving up.  "Thanks for helping me put it in the car."  "No problem," I said.  "They tell me you're a regular."  Aw, I think, they know me (its on the way home, so I can place an order at mid-day and pick it up on the way home).  "Yeah, they say you always come with your grand-daughter."  OK -- my Mom and my Step-Mom are Grandma!  Now, I know I'm 19 days away from 48, so my having an 18 month old is rare and I know that my gray hairs just blossomed in the year that was 2020 and I know that my step-sister, who is 4 years younger than me actually is a grandmother and I'm not exactly fit and svelt -- but for heaven's sake, I'm not sure I appreciate that I'm known around Target as the regular, grandmother, customer.

[sweetestchaoz]

COVID is creeping closer.  A colleague in MI has her babe home with her for 14 days, because of a case in his pre-school class.  There was a case in our school district middle school last week and one of our elementary schools this week.  Seeing that spike happening in real life ...

[sweetestchaoz]

My couscous salad is not a substitute for the brownie that I'm craving.

[sweetestchaoz]

I'm sitting in the office and feeling desperate for the freedom that comes when I remove my bra.  And thinking, woman, YOU ARE IN THE OFFICE.  And then I thought, woman, you are in the office completely alone.  No one else will be in today and you have no more video conferences and even if you did, the camera is aimed at your neck and up.  Yup, you betcha, I'm sitting in my office bra-less.  In a year or so, when life gets back to normal, I'm going to have to reeducate myself on proper behavior when around people with whom I do not live. :-)

[sweetestchaoz]

Every month, I move more and more of my purchases to Amazon subscribe & save.  Why should I remember to buy trashbags or sponges -- I will need them every month.  Just added them to the list.

[sweetestchaoz]

There are a lot of people at that soccer field. I am staying in the car until the boys’ game is about to start - we’ll see if attendance is down in 45 mins.

[sweetestchaoz]

I'm a night owl. I inherited it from my father who inherited it from his mother. So, I'm a bit put-out when Star Baby wakes up at 4:30. Usually, I can give her a bottle and she'll go back to sleep until 7 or so. Not today. She dozed until maybe 5 am and then sat up cheerful and ready to start her day and started whacking me. I moved the box of books kept on my bed for just such an instance over to her and set up the iPad with Mickey Mouse's Playhouse and tried to get some more sleep in. I don't think I succeeded. We were downstairs very early for breakfast and as it was still very early when we finished, I took her and the dog for a walk. She napped!!! The little stinker. Then she had a snack in her chair (and pooped) while I showered. She is going to get another nap soon and I might really need one, too. :-) I forsee an early night for me tonight.

[sweetestchaoz]

Blech ... I figured out how to stop from touching my face!!! There was this faint fertilizer smell in my bedroom last night. I kept smelling the baby's butt, but it wasn't coming from there and I didn't see any gifts from the dog and as it wasn't overwhelming decided maybe it was the open window and went to sleep. This morning, I found an old bottle with formula still in it under my bed. The process of washing it opened that odor up widely in the kitchen and got all over my hands. No amount of soap seems to be able to wash it away and everytime I go to scratch my nose I get a waft of that stench. I won't be touching my face for some time.

[sweetestchaoz]

Some days I go grocery shopping, look at the pre-chopped veg, and think, “That is crazy, why would I spend money on that!” Some days I go grocery shopping, look at the pre-chopped veg, and think, “Brilliant!” It was a latter kind of night, today.

[sweetestchaoz]

Star Baby was a bit of a poop-o-matic machine yesterday.  Necessitating two outfit changes for *both* of us and two tubbies for her. :-)  

[sweetestchaoz]

For a combo Christmas and Birthday present, my Mom got me Carla Sonheim's year long class for 2020. Here are three pages of my homework.

[sweetestchaoz]

I can’t share real photos of Star Baby on my blog, but here is a quick sketch I made of her sleeping in my arms the other night.

[sweetestchaoz]

This is November, December and the extra card.

[sweetestchaoz]

I am in a FB group where we exchange fabric postcards every month.  I managed to make 13 in 2019 (one per month and one extra for a friend going through hard times).  I was a bit late with the ones from the second half of the year, after Star Baby came, but I got them all out.  Hoping for another 12 in 2020.  Above are January through October.

[sweetestchaoz]

Ah, the joys of DCF. They have not checked Star Baby out of day care yet. She has a visit with her family scheduled every Thursday. They are to pick her up at daycare and bring her home afterwards. They aren't very good at telling me when it has been canceled or changed. So, it is my habit to go and visually check. If I know the visit has been canceled, I don't work late. If the visit happens I work late. So, if the visit is canceled and I am not notified, Star Baby stays at day care longer than she needs to. None of it is the end of the world. All of it is just a wee bit frustrating.  (But, there you go, just got the notification that she has been checked out.)

[sweetestchaoz]

Okie dokie ... I have been a foster parent for 8 weeks and my frustration with DCF might now be explosive.  I guess Star Baby's visit was canceled today.  Nobody made it to pick her up.  Apparently the case transferred to the new caseworker on Friday, and I have no contact info for new caseworker.  The old caseworker is out until 1 pm today - which she told me when I texted this morning to remind everyone about where pickups should happen today and that is also when she told me there is a new case worker.  I called the office at 10:30 and just hit 0 to talk to the receptionist who transferred me to the person coordinating the visits who was going to call me back.  We'd agreed for the first couple of transfers, I'd go over and make sure daycare got my OK and a photo copy of the DCF folk's IDs.  They are having me pack a diaper bag, which is fine, but they need me there to point it out and such for the first set of visits.  So I spent an hour there -- I don't mind an hour with Star Baby, but I actually do need to earn some money and have a couple of looming deadlines (and I can't just make it up in the evenings at the moment).  And, Star Baby never left for a visit.  Pick-up on Thursday was such a fiasco that I spent an hour and 20 minutes there -- she was eventually picked up, though Mom and Dad didn't make the visit.  The new case worker and I need to have a chat ... just as soon as they tell me who she is -- which I think is a pretty clear sign of my impotence here.