Certainly...A Rocky Start

I cannot believe that it is the middle of March and that this is my first post of the new year, but I am excited to get back in the saddle.
How did my year start off? Why the rocky start? Well, how do I put this? I hate negativity.  Recently, a friend said to me that "only crazy people put negative personal stuff on the internet", I am about to show you how crazy I can be, I am writing about life and let's face it, it's not all peaches and cream.  Please be prepared for an honest and real post.

I found out that being a mom of a teenage boy (or teenagers in general, I suspect) is A LOT. A LOT of rejection, A LOT of anxiety, A LOT of fear, A LOT of frustration & the list goes on and on.  All of a sudden EVERYTHING changes. 

As most of you know, Bryan started his college career this past September, while he was there he proved Bloomsburg's reputation of being a party school to be completely accurate and during his stay had a couple of bumps with the law; because of this, he lost financial aid for the following semester and he had to make the decision to withdraw and end his time at Bloomsburg University. 

I was besides myself. I now loved my privacy, enjoyed my freedom and here comes my only son, my pride & joy, putting an end to everything that I had learned to relish.  However, this was not my only concern. I wasn't receiving child support anymore, Bryan had turned 18 and payments ended a month before his birthday in September. I couldn't afford for Bryan to live with me without a job and a way to contribute.

I had made a list of rules that Bryan would have to abide by if he was going to live with me. I would have loved if he would've gone to community college, but he decided to put college on pause. I was heart-broken. I also required Bryan to get a job, not a surprise, obviously he wasn't a student, this had to be a no-brainer.  I gave him a month to find a job or he'd have to move out.

The  hardest thing I had to do was ask him to leave. He had gotten in more trouble and as much as I love him, I couldn't support this or the way he was choosing to live. I miss him, its been 2 months, but I tell him all time that I love him. When he drops by to visit it lifts my heart to levels I didn't know existed because he is visiting by choice, not because he lives here.

That was a rocky start to 2013...but everything was out of my control, so I "gave it to God" and I refused to let what was going on with my son get me down. I still believe 2013 is new, with lots of fun, blessed & probably more trying times ahead. (but we'll give them to God too.)

I have started planning The Miles for Myeloma 5k walk/run , you remember my team, The Bee's Knees?  It's that time of year again and fundraising is my middle name.  My goal of $4000 is staying the same even though I don't have Bryan's funding raising graduation project to bring in the big bucks, so I applied for a grant through my 2nd job and found out last week that we, The Bee's Knees have been awarded $2500.  I feel continuously blessed working with the Philadelphia Multiple Myeloma Networking Group and The Miles for Myeloma 5k.  We are helping so many patients and families find hope.

In my very last post of 2012, I wrote about my unwanted guest, the mouse in my house. This past weekend, I finally was able to say good riddance to him. Here's hoping his friends & family are sealed off and their long stay is over. 

So, as you can see, things are already starting to look up and become brighter. 

There but for the grace of God, I go.

The Uninvited Stranger

A few weeks ago an uninvited stranger moved into my home.  Leo, my dog, & I saw him at the same time.  It caught us both off-guard.

This stranger that I speak of is of the furry variety, a field mouse has takes residence in "the attic" (that's what I call my home),  as I said this mouse is of course, unwanted, at least by me. Leo, however, has made friends with the vermin.  At first I went out and bought a trap that gets loaded with bait and it is supposed to trap the critter; seemed perfect.  I set it that night, the trap was empty in the morning, when I returned from work the trap was gone.  What the heck happened?  I searched all over only to find it in our bathroom?!?  The dog moved the trap; that's right, the dog moved the trap in hopes to save his new furry best friend.

It is now two against one & totally unfair, so I bought more traps.  The last thing that I want to do is see a gross mouse smushed to it death, but I can't handle a live mouth on a glue trap either.  Crap!! 

Why is this happening to me??  I picked up a fancy glue trap devise that said it traps the mouse on the glue and I wouldn't be able to see it once trapped.  This was just up my ally.  Only, the mouse ignored the traps.

I have finally moved on to the good ol' fashioned "snap" mouse trap.  I set it up with peanut butter, careful to keep it out of the way from Leo (if he tried moving these traps it would certainly be bad, painful business for him).  Again...FAIL.  What does a girl have to do to evict a rodent?  NUTELLA.

How could I have forgotten that along with everyone one who lives in this house, he must think he is fancy?  I switched up the peanut butter with Nutella and went to bed.  It was as I was reading when I heard the snap.  This is the moment that I had been waiting for & dreaded at the same time.  I stalled getting out of bed to see what exactly had happened.  I got a broom and bravely went to the trap, flipped it over and NOTHING!  NOTHING.  That little bastard had escaped my efforts once again.

I am not a murderer but I do want this rodent dead.  I won't get a cat, trust me everyone has suggested it. (I am terribly allergic!)  This mouse has worn out his welcome.

So the saga continues...One thing I do know is that unwanted visitors seem to love it at The Attic.