This is the yard of the house we are moving into, along with a picture of Jonah, Joel, and myself

This IS NOT the first Monday that I have tried NOT ME MONDAY. I am not racking my brain hoping to find something in my life that others will find interesting.

Last week, with all the rain and storms we have had in the afternoons, I did not enjoy being lazy in the bed instead of exercising in the pool. I was not secretly thankful for the rain in the afternoons so that i did not have to go walk.

I did not pick up the little kitty and put her on the floor because she was trying to sleep on my neck and face at night.

I did not enjoy my baking class last week when we made donuts and bagels. I did not eat too many of them, so I know that I did not practice poor nutrition.

I did not bake and decorate my son a birthday cake to take to the residential facility and we did not have a small party for him.

I did not buy 6 DVD's at the McKamey's concert so that I could send 3 apiece to my mother-in-law and to my father-in-law. I did not offer my two extra tickets to my sister and brother-in-law so they could go with me. I did not take pictures of my son with Peg and Sheryl.
I did not wish that I could be a professional singer like them.

I did not receive my certification in Human Resources Management and Supervision from the National Restaurant Association.

Jonah got to come home for an overnight visit. I had plans to take him to Dollywood as it is Sevier County Week, which means when you take your I.D. along with proof of residence, such as a light bill, you pay only $5.00 per person. I have been looking forward to this all week, even praying that the weather would be nice. It has rained on and off here everyday for about 2 weeks, usually starting after lunch. I thought we would get up early so that we could ride all the fun rides that Jonah wanted to go on, then when the rain started, we could find something inside to do.
Well, rats!
It rained all night and drizzled on and off up until after lunch. Even when it finally stopped, the sun never came out and was chilly. So, we stayed at home! But, although he was disappointed, Jonah wasn't too upset. He seemed to take it in stride. The apartments have a couple of grills down by the office, so we grilled hot dogs, and played pool. Today is also my daughter's 23rd birthday, so Jonah and I decorated her cake. When she came home from work, we had cake and ice cream and sang Happy Birthday. So we had a wonderful visit, even without Dollywood, laid back and easy. He was so sweet and loving. Here's my handsome man, taken last Sunday, on the way to my sister's.


Around 5:30, we started back to the RTF, and don't you know, the sun finally started to shine. I told Jonah that evidently the Lord just didn't intend on us going to Dollywood today. He agreed and said that we could go another time.
We had a family session yesterday, Jonah and I, and the therapist gave us another discharge day of Aug 27. My baby will be in RTF all summer. God love his little heart. I have said before, and I will say again, that God DOES NOT make mistakes. This I know, that I know, that I know. That is how firmly I believe. I have no doubt that His ways are above mine, and beyond my understanding.

I'm not sure at how this blog will develop. i have found several blogs, some locally written, that i really enjoy and am following-one is a friend i follow on Twitter-so i've seen several different styles. i hope that i will find a really good way to organize it so that it at least has the appearance of being tidy.

i got to spend the day with my son today, and since he had told me earlier in the week that he wanted to go to my sister's house, that is where we went. on the way, we stopped at mcdonalds (chicken mcnuggets for him) and burger king (whopper w/cheese for me) and had our picnic at norris dam. then, i drove into the parking lot of the marina to snap a couple of pictures with my phone. the one of the spillover, i snagged from a local television website. the other one i took on the lake side immediately behind the dam. this area is very rarely underwater. it has been several years, so it is exciting to see.

we had a pretty relaxing afternoon at my sister's. jonah played with 2 of my nephews, david and eli, while i sat and talked with my sister and brother-in-law. my oldest nephew just graduated from high school, and was returning from a week in fla. he is such a handsome boy and was as brown as a biscuit!

jonah had to be back by 6 pm, and we stopped at mcdonalds for chicken mcnuggets,-YES AGAIN. i think they are gross, but he LOVES them. he's at the age where he could live on those.
his therapist was back from vacation, and after checking him in, i got to speak with her a few minutes. she repeated that she thought it would be a good idea for me to seek individual therapy.

i have had therapy on two different occasions, the last being immediately before i moved to sevierville. my therapist is absolutely wonderful-she said if i ever needed her, just to give her a call. so....after leaving the RTF, i called her up. she cheerfully agreed to take me this thursday.
we go w-a-y back. in 1993, i had just started taking my daughter to her when i had to have open-heart surgery. after going back to work 8 weeks later, i ended up having a delayed reaction to it all-the surgery, anesthesia, and a divorce 2 years before. my daughter and i saw her for about a year. having remarried a few years later, i went back to her when it was drawing close to the time i would almost literally run for my life from an emotionally abusive husband. i saw her for almost 4 years until i moved here.

the therapist is probably right, so im not offended at all. jonah's dad is probably bipolar as well, although its undiagnosed, and he can certainly dish out some serious drama. he seems to be totally oblivious and/or uncaring of how his actions and words affect his son. i personally will be glad to get through the summer and out of school myself so we can move to north carolina with
the wonderful man i married august 2008.

jonah is crazy about joel, and i know that joel will be a good step-dad for him. joel is a wonderful man, and i am so very thankful that we found each other. i wish that i had found him years ago. we share so many traits-the way we were raised, with strong values and ethics. its just the right thing to do the right thing. i have never been able to understand how some people work harder at telling lies/being dishonest/back-stabbing, etc., than they would if they would just DO THE RIGHT THING. so i feel really good about marrying joel and sharing my life with him.