DH and DS got home about 9:30 last night.  Said it was cold but really pretty up in Kansas.  The leaves were brilliant.  They haven’t really started changing yet around here.

I enjoyed the brief rest but I was glad to have them home again.  Safe and sound. 

I blogged with a passion yesterday.  All day long…like I used to.  Just kept the computer up and running and updated several times.  I’m really trying to get things back under some kind of control and I’m just now realizing how much stress I was under and how much it was consuming me.  I was so angry at having to put on an act all the time.  If I’m mad, I want to be able to show it.  If I’m angry wih someone, I want to be able to let them know.  It was really difficult to be so furious with DIL and have to put on a front all the time for the kids and the caseworkers and everyone else.  It was infuriating to have to be “supportive and flexible” when I felt used and manipulated.

I actually had to think (just for a fleeting moment) about whether or not it was a good idea to leave my phone off today.  Like I said, it was just for a moment.  I started thinking about what the repercussions would be and then I had to reassure myself that it’s not my problem.  NO ONE has the right to come back on me and say, “You should have worked with Stacy to make sure the kids were cared for on Monday and Tuesday.”  She has to step up to the plate and behave like any other mother.  I do wish DS’s attorney would have called him, however.  Just to make sure that they’re supposed to communicate with each other.

So I’m off…to think about and deal with other things.  I keep thinking about that barrel chair in the RV.  Like the entire chair is deteriorating as we speak.   My favorite fabric store, Baer Fabrics, closed their doors after 103 years and three generations of owners.  A fantastic old building located downtown with three floors of goodies.  My second favorite, Thrifty Fabrics, also closed.  Where am I supposed to go for fabric?  I know it probably seems crazy to most people but I love wandering around in big fabric stores.  Many times, I’ve bought fabric just because it was beautiful and I couldn’t resist the price.  Even when I didn’t have any particular use for it.  The thing is…it’s inspirational.  The colors and patterns and textures.  I love them.  My bedroom was designed around a piece of fabric I fell in love with and used for the bedspread.  Everything else was chosen to go with that particular piece of fabric and all the colors in it.  Same thing for the family room.  That’s the way I decorate.  By finding one thing (usually fabric) that I love and building around it.  Somehow, I don’t think the fabric section at Walmart is going to inspire me.  There’s a wonderful fabric outlet in Valdosta, Georgia that I visit when we go to Florida.  Maybe I’ll have to just cool it until we go down there for Thanksgiving but I want to get that chair in he RV taken care of NOW.  Gotta give this some more thought….

 –9:00 A.M. NEWSFLASH!!! –

Just found this amazing discovery in the Sunday paper!  Our problems are solved!!!!!

4:00 p.m. update - Well alrighty then…here we go.  Sunday afternoon - 4:00 p.m. - My phone rang and it was Stacy.  Didn’t answer.  4:01 - my phone rang and it was Stacy.  Didn’t answer.  4:02 - Got a voice mail message, “Patty, ummm, this is Stacy.  The boys are off school tomorrow and Tuesday and I need to know if Dave’s going to watch them.  If he isn’t….ummmm…you need to call me right away and let me know.  Bye.”

Love the way she dumped it on me.  “If he can’t watch them…YOU need to call me RIGHT AWAY.”  Like it’s my fault if she winds up without a babysitter.  Gotta think about this a few minutes.  Whether to ignore it or call and say, “Stacy, I got your message but I don’t have any idea if David is planning on watching them.  This is something that you two need to decide.  I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of this anymore.”