Sorry, my mind was on vacation...

Ah, April. Yet another spring blossoms. Well, ain't nothing here blossoming...yet.

I know, it's been a while. So, here are the highlights...the good highlights.

• We picked up our camper. The one we bought (spontaneously) on New Year's Day. We go in to "look" at pop-ups and come out the owners of a brand-new 2007 30' travel trailer. It's finally home, taking up a third of our driveway. But, I'm happy about it.
• I finished my first semster of school. And I passed, too. Bonus! I think I got an A in my nursing course and a B in stats. Grades aren't out yet. Takes the college forever to send the grades out. Which would figure, since I need them to submit to my employer for tuition reimbursement. I'm back in for another semester and another 6 credits. Health assessement and an interesting course named The Management of Stress and Tension. I'm hoping it'll help me with all my stress and tension. HA!
• I'm feeling better. Not great, not 100%...but better. Better's good.
• I'm feeling a little more positive about work. Some nights I can actually go in without having to resist the urge to turn right around and go home. It probably helps that I got the week I wanted for summer vacation. Yes, I said week. That's all I got, but I can deal with that. I'm just happy that I got the week I wanted so we can go for annual family camping trip (sans the teenager). And the reservations are all made. The whole caravan is going - family and friends -- YEA!!!

Now for the bad highlights:

• Our freakin' property taxes are expected to go up 95% this year. Yeah, I said 95-fucking-percent! This after we just got raped by a 45% tax increase this past year. This will make my annual property tax payments more than my annual mortgage payments. WTF?!? You can bet that R and I will be at the town meeting next week to put our two cents in! Not that we'll have two cents left after this tax hike.
• My kid is stressing me out more than school and work combined. Tuesday night R & I got into an argument with her. About her chores. And her lying to us (about having done them). She & R start yelling at each other. Again. She storms out. Of the house. Fuck it. I have to go to work. So, on my way to work, I text my ex to see if he's heard from her. Well, apparently she did call him, but he was out-of-town (at the gf's, I assume) and told her he wasn't going to get her and she was shit out of luck (good!). But she did tell him where she was at (a friend's in town). So, I figure she can stay there for the night, so everyone could cool off. I figured she'd be back the next day, since she left with only the clothes on her back -- no school stuff, no money, nonothing. I did call the school the next morning (yesterday) to make sure she went, which she did. Waited for her to come home yesterday afternoon, figuring she'd stay and take the late bus home. 3:30 comes and goes. No kid, no call. So, I call her gf's cell. Told the gf, if she knows where the kid is, she better have her call me or I was going to call the cops. 15 minutes, I said. The kid calls back right away. But she says she's not coming home (but she did give me the address where she's staying). Gives me a whole bunch of crap. I told her, come home now or I will call the police. Go ahead, she says. OK, fine. So, I did (call the police). An officer shows up, R & I talk to him, I follow the cop to the friend's house. He talks to the kid in private, tells her she's going home, she has no choice...and if she continues to run away, she'll be arrested for disorderly conduct. She did come home with me. The cop talked to R & I some more. And that was it. Until this morning. I get a call from the school counselor. The kid went to the counselors office crying, saying she didn't want to go home. Gives her some song & dance about her home life sucking. Yeah, honey....welcome to the club. And it don't get no better from here. In the end, she came home, I didn't give her any choice. She just wants to go live with the ex where she has no chores, no expectations. She's 15 and lazy and thinks she knows it all and wants to come & go and do as she pleases. Um, no. It doesn't work like that. Life sucks. Get over it. Causing trouble in the house only makes it suck more. I swear, she's giving me more gray hair than any of the other kids..and I don't have much left that isn't gray!

Eh, I think that's about it. For now. Enjoy your spring. I know mine is fucking cold right now.