September: The Month of Change

Not only the month of change in terms of season, but also the month of change in terms of lives. If people are going to relocate, this is usally the month in which to do it. Jobs, hairstyles/haircolors, frames of mind, mates, emotions, all seem to do the most changing during this month. For years (and I haven't checked to see if this is still true) but September was also the month in which most divorces occurred. Crazy, huh?

You can either use your karmic powers to make those changes positive or drown in the abyss of the crazy and make yourself miserable. I choose the first option. So far, September has been pretty good. The babe has started the first grade and is enjoying it (keeping the hope that I won't get lots of phone calls and drama, this year), the baby is sleeping through the night, sitting up by herself, crawling backwards, sporting four new teeth and eating some solids. She's even started trying to clap. It's cute, but not nearly as cute as when she starts dancing.

It's also time to start thinking about the up and coming holidays. Oh, I how I love them! The babe is unclear as to what she wants to be for Halloween. Initially, she'd wanted to be a funky sort of witch (think "The Worst Witch" movie and series from forever ago), then she wanted to be a cat. When I reminded her that only two years ago, she was a cat, she decided being Daphne from Scooby Doo might be cool. So, I'll keep my eBay finger on the pulse and we'll see what comes up first. Then there's the homebaked wonderfullness that is my mother's cooking during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Oh! Please hips, lie, lie!

On the homefront, we'll be doing some winter cleaning this weekend. My house is a wreck and there are excuses and good ones, but we still gotta clean it. Hubby is working overttime again and, although it's making me just as crazy as ever not having him around, the extra money to pay off bills is nice so, I hold my complaining and screaming down to a dull roar. I'm also putting in some OT of my own, which I've never had the luxury of doing here before (they're so funny about that). Anyway, with our new systems and email snafus galore, we've become so backlogged that the extra hours a week are really aiding in keeping us a float. We're also a man short so, that doesn't help matters either.

It's so nuts that I just got back from vacation a few weeks ago and I feel like I need one. My coworker is going to Vegas next week and I couldn't be more thrilled (and jealous). I think a nice long weekend away from everything would do me good. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be getting that anytime soon.

Finally, my neigborhood feels like a soap opera recently. Here's some background: my next door neighbors are a cute couple and their two little girls. One is five, almost six and the other is four. They are a mixed couple from very different backgrounds (the husband is latino, raised in California by a very strict family but also a traditional family in which the husband's word is law and the men rule the roost). The wife, a caucasian stay-at-home-mom, is from a broken family here in Utah. Her father raised she and her sisters, primarily due to her mother's drug abuse. So, the husband is military and works out of state a lot. He had a one-night-stand in Ohio with a woman and a child resulted (his only son). She, the adultress, sued for child support and wanted so much that his girls and wife would have been without anything. The court decided on a fair amount and the couple went into counseling together. Mom/Wifey was glad that they were working things out, but she told him that one more incident and they were finished.

A couple of months ago, she was telling me that their oldest daughter told her that daddy was kissing mommy's sister. Well, that did it. The couple separated and the father (who was now working in Arizona), began establishing residency there. He has the girls and they've started school. We've noticed all sorts of strange vehicles next door, late nights of furniture moving in and out, people we've never seen before (and never see again, for that matter) and wifey has dropped a significant amount of weight. Being that my neighbor across the street and my hubby are both cops, they've put two and two together. Now, there is a for sale sign in their lawn. She claims he won't let her see her kids. I asked her if she's looking for work (since she's living off her family) and she says she's trying. Personally, I'd be mopping floors at McDonald's, if it came to supporting myself and/or my children. You do what you have to, right? She also says he sent child and family services after her because he believed she was smoking meth in front of their kids. In front, behind, outside? Wherever it's happening, this is not a good thing. She's supposed to get them this weekend for a week's long visit. The oldest doesn't want to see her at all because she believes mommy will take her from daddy. The youngest is too young to really understand all the drama. We'll see what happens...