Year End Review
31 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
2011 started in a rather dramatic fashion with me in the midst of a brutal custody battle with my ex-husband, he-who-shall-not-be-named. He played very dirty, hurting Zachary physically, mentally, and emotionally, to such a degree that Zack cannot even hear mention of his father now without going off on a tangent that no one would expect to hear from an 8 year old boy. Yet, by March, my ex-husband had gone from asking the court in Alabama for full custody of my son to requesting just one week per year with Zachary. He has not spoken to Zack since Valentine’s Day weekend 2011, so I suppose he does not want a relationship with “our” son at all. I look forward to continuing not to hear from him in 2012. My son and I are much better off without him.
After our March court date, all that was left for me to do was get Zack through the rest of his 1st grade school year in Mobile, AL. Our plan was to move to Sacramento, CA, where my mom had relocated for work. However, in talking with her, what she really wanted to do was move back to Memphis. So we thought about just moving back to TN, but because of her work she did not feel comfortable moving right away. So in the middle of June, Zack, Neely (our beloved cat), and I hit the road to move from southern Alabama to northern California. We drove through Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and then up California. It was a four day trip – the longest road trip of my life. I learned that I do not love the open road as much as I thought I did, but was so proud of Zachary for being such a big helper on our long trip.
Before our move to California, I had already started my job search in Sacramento over the internet. It took me from May until December to finally hear back from someone – a school district about 30 minutes away. I completed the interview process, paperwork, and physical needed to be hired. I am currently waiting to hear if/when I will start work as a food services sub, aka a Cafeteria Lady. Being in school online has kept me busy and distracted from the fact that I am a flat broke, 30 year old single mother. I have worked hard on finishing my Associate’s degree, and just have 5 more classes left before I complete it.
In 2011, Zachary has grown so much, and yet still remains my big baby boy. We had a difficult start to the year, but I am very proud of how much he has matured. He loves his second grade teacher, Mrs. Irby, and has made a couple of close friends. His teacher, like all of his teachers before, felt that he should take the gifted education test, so I signed him up and he will be taking it in January. This year, Zack played a team sport for the first time when we lived in Mobile – baseball. He struggled with it at first, but by the end of the season he was really starting to catch on. I look forward to him playing baseball again this coming spring. I noticed that Zack had started to enjoy taking things apart this past year, like watches and such. Maybe he has a future in electronics or even engineering. Who knows? I just plan to enjoy watching him grow and learn and develop new hobbies, such as skateboarding with the Christmas present Santa brought him.
It’s time now to say goodbye to 2011, and hello to 2012. This coming year, I will graduate from one school and start at another (choice of school not decided yet). I will finally have a college degree, even if it is just an Associate degree, at 30 years old. Zachary will finish 2nd grade, and start 3rd grade in the fall. We will move across the country again in the summer after Zack’s school year is over. Since I am not sure what school I will be attending, I am not sure where we will be moving. I only know that I am looking forward to continuing to work towards my future career as a Radiology Tech. I am through with my twenties, and as such through with indecision about what I want to do for the rest of my life. I still hold close the dream of becoming a published author, but I can do that while holding down a stable career.
I am sorry it has been so long since I posted to this blog…sometimes when I go through things or feel frustration towards life, I feel it best not to blog about it because I do not want to stir up trouble with certain people. I’ll end this post the way I end all of my posts, with some family photos to show what a great year we’ve had. Happy New Year, everyone!
New Year's Day 2011
Zack, Dad & Me
Mom & Me in San Francisco
Zack, Mom & Me 4th of July
Zack's 8th Birthday
My 30th Birthday
Zack & his Christmas Presents
Halloween Bash & Boom! My baby is growing up!
18 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
I am going to have a VERY busy rest of the week, getting ready for Zack’s birthday party on Saturday. Thursday, my guy is turning EIGHT! Omg, I cannot believe how quickly he is growing! He is so smart, funny, witty, goofy, crazy, handsome, and amazing overall. I just don’t know how I got such a great kid.
Anyhow, there’s not much more to tell for the moment. I still don’t have a job, am working on finishing school, and have been trying to decide what I am going to do next summer (whether I will stay in CA or move back to TN is the question).
Here is a picture of Zack from a pumpkin patch. Hope everyone is enjoying the Halloween season!
Just Dance!
20 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
I have been working out pretty consistently for 6 out of the past 8 days, and I have got to say…it. is. TOTALLY. AWE-SOME! I have never been an aerobics/workout kind of person. Really. Never. So this is a very new experience to me. The best part? I’m working out to a video game!!! That’s right. After a lifetime of sitting on my butt playing Nintendo, then Sega, then (a little later) Play Station, I have discovered a video game that encourages me to burn calories and, hopefully, make my butt smaller.
Last Monday, I bought Just Dance 2. I should have probably bought Just Dance 1, but I’m enjoying the one I got so it’s no biggie. Eventually I will buy the first one, as well as Just Dance Kids, Just Dance Summer Party, and Just Dance 3. I was originally going to buy Zumba Fitness for the Wii, but the store I went to did not have it in stock. That’s a pretty big seller, too, and my sister is a Zumba instructor so I thought it would be fun. However, my mother has told me that she feels Zumba is a bit difficult, so maybe I’ll hold off on that one for a while.
Zack has been playing Just Dance 2 with me some of the time, but I find myself enjoying the game less when he plays. I feel like that sounds terrible for a mother of one to say, but it is difficult to have fun playing a game with your child when said child is throwing a fit every time he loses. I try to tell him it’s just a game, but Zack does not care. He wants me to purposely dance worse just so he can win, but I tell him no. It gets so intense when he plays…I wish I knew how to make him just a *little* less competitive. Either way, I intend to keep playing the game for as long as I feel/see results.
Candy Corn Dreams and School Day Wishes
16 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Mmmmm, what is that delicious smell? Oh, it’s candy corn! I know, I know, I’m one out of maybe five people I know who *love* candy corn. I just can’t help it. They put that candy on the shelves, and I know it’s right around the corner – Halloween!!!! My favorite holiday! Most people love Christmas (and believe me, I enjoy that, too), or family time during Thanksgiving, but I just love Halloween. There’s something magical about a day when you get to dress up and be anyone – or anything – you want, even as an adult. There aren’t really any other days when a grown up can walk around in a princess dress and not be laughed at.
I also love a few other things about Fall – like Zack’s birthday and my birthday! Yep, that’s right. We are Fall babies, and proud of it. I already bought Zack’s presents, and they should be shipped to me soon. I’m so glad I had the money to do that, since I don’t have a job yet. For my birthday, I wanted to go to Disneyland, but that will definitely require me to find a job very soon. I think I have the hotel covered for that weekend, but I’m just not sure about the tickets… But hopefully my favorite season of the year coming on will also mean people are going to be hiring for the holidays soon. I have been out of work for far too long.
Anyhow, other than being excited about Fall, spending a little too much time (and money) in the Halloween aisles, and volunteering at Zack’s school once a week, I don’t have much going on at the moment. I am on a two week break from school, so I’m trying to job hunt, study for a test I want to take for a job, and relax a little.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the amazing video game I got this week: Just Dance 2! I’m using it as a form of exercise, and I must say, it’s got to be working or I wouldn’t be this sore…right? It’s so much fun!!! I am completely addicted! The only reason I didn’t do it today is because I filled my day up with other things, such as taking my boy to see The Lion King in 3D – and quoting every line/singing every song while watching it!
Now let me leave you with a picture of Zack getting in the Halloween spirit:
Panning for Gold! Opa!
03 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
So far this Labor Day weekend, we have attended two exciting events: Greek Fest & Gold Rush Days. Greek Fest was last night, and it was not the best Greek Fest I’ve ever been to…but then again, we went on the first day because it was free admission, and left before any of the cool shows started. In my opinion, it was a success anyway because we had delicious lamb gyros and yummy Greek pastries. It was also fun to look at all of the souvenirs for sale, but I was very happy to go just for the food. Zack enjoyed dancing to the music in the background, as well as performing his amateur acrobatics. My mom says we should put him in gymnastics, but I doubt we will. He enjoys doing flips and cartwheels, but never gets excited when she says he should take gymnastics.
Today we went to Gold Rush Days in Old Sacramento. I’m not sure if I’ve described Old Sacramento here before, but it is an historically preserved section of downtown that has several museums, as well as various shops and restaurants. There is even an underground portion of Old Sacramento that is modeled to look like the original downtown Sacramento. Gold Rush Days is an event held in Old Sacramento every year. It was so much fun! All day, we passed people in old timey costumes, saw covered wagons and horse-drawn buggies, watched performers, and even did a scavenger hunt of sorts. Zachary really enjoyed panning for gold & receiving his “currency.” It was a very pleasant day, just me and my boy. It was the type of day we will talk about for years, and it cost us less than $20!
It’s funny how days like this turn out. It started out so rotten, and after last night had ended rotten. Last night, Zack scrubbed his sidewalk chalk drawings off of the porch. Sounds like a good thing, right? I was impressed by it, until I realized that he had used my nice bubble bath mixed with water to scrub with…granted, it’s not like he used the whole bottle, but it still would have been nice if he had asked me first. Then this morning, I was dragging a bit because I am coming down with the cold Zack had last week. When I was finally able to start getting ready, I picked out my clothes, took a shower, and went into my room to get dressed. Before I had even showered, I told Zack to change his clothes because what he was wearing did not match at all. When I got out of the shower, he still had not done it, so I reminded him, trying to be firm. When I was fully dressed, he still had not done it so I began to yell. After a while and some protesting on his part, he finally got up and went to get dressed. What was he doing all that time, you may ask? He was playing on the computer…Harry Potter, I think. *rolls eyes* My boy is a video game addict, just like I used to be. Now I know how my mom felt. *shrug* Oh well. Like I said, the day ended well. There’s no use dwelling on the negative.
Tomorrow, we are going to an event called Chalk It Up Sacramento. It is a free event at a park set up to benefit children’s art education programs and local artists/musicians. As the title implies, kids will be able to draw on the sidewalk with chalk. It’s going to be fun! This is probably my favorite Labor Day weekend in a very long time. :D
Why do babies grow so quickly?
25 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
I’m the one who told my mom that Zack was independent, and that I have been raising him to be able to take care of himself, not be coddled (despite the opinion of some former “friends”). I told her my boy was smart, and not the average seven year old. Granted, she didn’t doubt it. My mom knows just as well as anyone close to us that Zack is a capable child. But the more I see that he can do for himself, and the less I’m needed, the more I want to keep him. MY baby. Not allowed to grow up so fast!!!
It’s so strange how I battle myself within on this issue. I remember last year, we were moving into a new place, and some friends handed him a box – like a regular sized moving box, not large, but not small, either. I started to get onto them about making Zack help, and they just shook their heads. Zack didn’t have to say anything. He just carried that box in like it was no big deal. And he carried several other boxes in, too. I was so pleased!
Ok, I’ll stop bragging about my boy now. I could go on and on about him. He’s my absolute favorite person!
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