Updates and Thankfulness

One week....In one week from today, Matthew will graduate from basic training. He entered as a boy but will graduate as a Marine. I'm so proud of him and miss him so much. The weird thing is, since he entered boot camp, his step mom and I have bonded a bit. It is strange that we've disliked each other for the past sixteen years, and now that the boys are both adults, we are getting along. She even said that since I can't afford to go to San Diego for Matthew's graduation, she's going to have him call me as soon as they're off the base after the ceremony. I've been praying for years that she and I could get along. I guess it was finally time for my prayers to be answered.

Another prayer that has been answered is that Benjamin has moved back home. I guess partying with his friends all the time has gotten old, and he's finally decided he is readdy to get serious and find a job. He won't be able to live at his dad's house if he's doing drugs or drinking, so I'm hoping and praying that is motivation enough for him to stay clean and sober.

Thanksgiving yesterday was great. Beth, Cass, and Viki all helped with the food, and everything was delicious. We ate, laughed, and played board games. It was a really fun day. I now wish I could just take a nap and wake up after Christmas. Things at work aren't going well at all, so my paychecks are small with the stress level going up daily. My boss says that, at this rate, we won't be in business two months from now. I know God is in charge, so I just stop myself every time I start to worry and pray.

Today is going to be a fun day. After kind of a lazy morning, Beth's half brother Richard is driving down fr
om Portland to surprise her. They haven't seen each other in about seven years, but they keep in touch through facebook and texting. He has the weekend off, so he is going to drive down today then back tomorrow. I've also invited Benjamin over, so we're all going to eat nachos, play games and have a fun night. I'm really looking forward to it.

Back on the Thanksgiving subject... I need to figure out how to talk to my dad about the way he picks on the girls, all of the girls. He knows Viki has issues with her weight and eating, yet he still started picking on her, telling her that she was going to be hugely fat by the time she goes back to her country. He said that she is going to turn into a typical Oregonian with a huge butt and unshaved legs. I wanted to hit him. I kept asking him to quit saying those things, but he wouldn't stop. Why would anyone say that to a teenage girl. Also, I've talked to him before about the way he jokes around with the girls. They are teenagers now and aren't little girls. You can't wrestle with them and pick on them the way you used to. Some things just aren't appropriate anymore. He just doesn't seem to be able to get that through his head. I feel like I have to babysit every time he's around. It is not fun. What he doesn't realize is that, that is the reason he doesn't get invited over very much.

Speaking of Viki, things are going well with her for the most part except she thinks I don't know anything. Last weekend she said that she is going to start eating healthier and bought herself some things she wanted to keep in the house just for her to eat. I didn't pay attention to what she was buying until she pulled out a big tub of potato salad to eat for breakfast the other day. I made a comment to her, asking her if she was still wanting to eat healthier. She said, "yes, this is a salad." I told her that potato salad isn't really something that is considered healthy. She proceeded to argue with me about it because potatoes are vegetables, and it says right on it that it is a salad. When she wouldn't listen to my reasoning, I finally told her to check the fat content on the container. She looked at it, her eyes got really wide, and she hasn't taken a bite of potato salad since. I've really tried talking to her about how to eat healthy and things to do if she is really serious about being in shape, but she doesn't think I know what I'm talking about. Just because I'm chubby, it doesn't mean I don't know how to be thin. I'm just content where I am right now.

Another area in which I'm having problems with Viki is in obedience. We have a house rule that no one eats near the computers, even me. Well, she keeps choosing to eat cereal and other things while on the computers. She tries to be sneaky about it then argues with me when I tell her that she needs to eat her cereal at the dining room table. The other day, I had to ask her several times then finally I got angry and demanded that she go to the dining room table immediatelyt. She mumbled about hating to eat in there then dumped her whole bowl of cereal into the sink. I hate that I've had to do it, but I've had to enlist the help of Beth and Cassidy Rose because she has been eating by the computers after school before I get home. I told the girls to remind her of the rule one time if she does it when I'm not home then the next time to tell me because I've already told her that the next time she is caught eating by the computers, she will no longer be allowed on the computers before school or before I'm home from work each evening. It drives me crazy when kids won't follow the rules. Actually, it drives me crazy when adults don't follow rules either.