Why am I so gosh dang tired? I wake up each mornin’ fixin’ to do a lot in the day but I start out feeling SOOOO tired. Of course, I’ve been eating kids’ junk food all day long, not drinking enough water, and haven’t been to the gym in a week! SHEESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top 3 expressions in Texas:

1) I’m fixin to… [INSERT VERB]

2) Ya’ll doin alright?

3) DANG!!!!!!!!!!

That last one I love because it reminds me of Napolean Dynamite–people really say that, dude!

Anyway, my sister’s problem child, someone that even tests MY patience and sensibilities, is leaving for California. She has MAJOR mental health issues, throws tantrums, breaks glass, starts fights, hits my mom (HER GRANDMOTHER), screams profanities, spits loogies (and has hit everyone in the family at least twice while spitting outdoors)… I could go on… ANYWAYS, she leaves tomorrow and I think it will be a HUGE burden lifted off of the family and my sister especially.

We’ll go to Austin tomorrow to take her for an early flight and then we’ll enjoy the day, I think. Museums, strolling the neighborhoods, sightseeing, hit the capital again, maybe even paddleboating on the river!! WOO HOO!!!!!!

He’s the coolest. He introduced me to Youtube. Jackie to O. Darth to Obi. Well, anyway…

I was bored and depressed and he totally cheered me up on IM. Once we went to see a fringe fest show @ Malcolm X Park and we couldn’t find it. He thought I was trying to hit on him at the park. This other time, I met up with him and his friends at  Ben’s Chili Bowl and his friend kept hitting on me, but she was cute, so it was all good (hahahah!)

I remember how happy I was to see him at this event that my organization put on, "Rockin for the Cure" at the 9:30 club. He was hilarious and all dressed up in a suit, looking like he was going to first communion or something. But he’s a quaker, so no communion there, just a lot of shedding light on people or something!

um. what else? He likes Modest Mouse and stuff, but I forgive him for his musical taste. Oh shit, one morning, he tortured me by showing me a 30 minute video of Mr. T singing and dancing with children in a very extended PSA music video or something. That’s when I new he was one of my peeps!

What a dork.

Thursday PM- Stayed at work until midnight. Chris joined me at 10pm when I freaked out about being all alone there. He was going to come anyway to pick me up, and ended up being a big help with my work. He was SUCH a lifesaver, driving me home, staying up with me while I packed (until 3:30am) and all the while moving heavy boxes downstairs to store it @ Roz’s pad. He even offered to pack my kitchen stuff so we could go to bed (he planned on driving me to BWI at 6:30am to catch my flight to Texas–is that AMAZING or what?) Incredible.

Friday morning, we were hit by a truck not 1 minute after leaving my house at 7am. The truck didn’t even stop or try to turn to run away, it kept going down 16th street as if nothing had happened and it was going on its merry way! THe driver must have figured that he or she couldn’t get caught because the plate was so dirty and the numbers on the "How am I driving?" sticker was cut off! what an asshole.

So I take a cab to the airport after chatting with the cops (see Chris wearing the PHA shirt–ahhahah! awesome)                           

Here’s me and my mom at lunch in Austin.

My sister, mom and I went on a bat cruise of the Santiago River (is that the river name? it’s not anything romantic like the Seine or Thames… or silly like the Potomac or Nile, so who can remember?)

We’re at the State Capital Building.

My mom and me loving each other (I’m her favorite, seriously.)

My mom really hated when I took this picture. You should have seen the other picture of when I put the GBush Sr. bronze head at the capital building in between my boobs!

Here is a picture of the bats that are famous in the city. Millions live under the bridge and come out in waves at least 3-4 times at dusk.  Austin is liberal, fun, funky, with great bars, monuments and museums. The history is pretty cool too. Did you know that Texas was its own country for 10 years before joining the Union? The great nation of Texas. Oi vey! Craziness!

My mom got over my boob meet bigger boob (Bush, that is) and here we are enjoying the cruise, our company, and a sprite and diet coke. Oh yeah, and my sis Alex’s company too I guess.

Saturday night we celebrated Carlena’s birthday with a subway dinner and Harry Potter Goblet’s o’ Fire Slumber Party with her friend Victoria. Aundrea and I snuck out of the festivities to webcam chat with my friend who likes me (she told me I could do much better, but I reminded her that he’s only my friend and that I hearty-heart Chris!) Later, I slept on the floor of the living room with Aundrea and Luzy.

The morning after (not pill) I gave Carlena, Luzy and my sister Alex MP3 players and set them up with music for their b-day.  Then we went to the beach at Corpus Christi. It was totally fun. I got stung by jelly fish four times. I swear they like Mexican meat. I used to complain about the water in my eyes and salty water, but with my nieces, sis and mom, it was totally fun. Carlena had a temper tantrum on the way back, but she calmed down and all is good.

Tomorrow my sister goes to work, kids go to school and my mom and I will either clean up my sister’s house or shoot the shit and make fun of each other. AWESOME!

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning-after pill to be available without prescription

Buyers must prove they’re 18 or older

Thursday, August 24, 2006; Posted: 9:39 a.m. EDT (13:39 GMT

Yesterday morning I didn’t have any good leads for an apt in Silver Spring but had a subleter on the verge of committing.

Then I find a great apt and the subleter backs down.

This morning a subleter commits and I walk into the Silver Spring apt and they’ve already given the apt to someone else.

GOD DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What should I do? Sublet it without a place to stay? Wait to sublet until I have a place? My move in date might be late september? I gotta get a place before Sep 7, because that’s when I apply to the school district for Maryland residency and proof of guardianship of Angela… FUCK!

This isn’t really a blog, but my checklist of things done and left to do:

Secure Maryland Residency and Housing in General:

• Posted sublet on craigslist
• Showed sublet via photos online (check out "house" album on this page to see my sweet pad!)
• Showed sublet to 2 interested folks
• Check to see if I can move my necessities to b/f Roz’s pad downstairs in  the interim (SHE SAID YES! )
• Saw 14 apartments in Silver Spring yesterday
• Had a heart attack because none of them were just right (one was cheap but bug-infested, another moderately priced but ghetto, the rest over-the-top expensive or no availability)
• On a whim, saw another place today and it seemed great!
• Grab 2 of my most recent pay stubs, checkbook and fill out and turn in form (appointment tomorrow @ 1:30!!!)
• Look into  furniture rental prices, this ideal place has some deals!
• Get boxes to pack
• Pack necessities and move downstairs to friend’s house in the interim

Secure Guardianship

Get copies of the following

• military order (can’t explain, but those who know, know why!)
• letter from Angela’s mom’s doc stating she cannot raise her (ditto the above paranthetical reference)
• notorized letter of permission for my consent
• notorized letter from me of my intent to act as guardian and petition court order for full custody

School crap

1. birth certificate
2. immunizations
3. transcripts
4. counselor paperwork

Life and Kid Fun

Maybe I can stop stressing now!? Naw!

You’ll never believe what I accomplished with the help of two guys:
Chris and Craig. Well, one guy really. Yesterday I posted an advert on
Craigs list to sublet my place and within LESS THAN 24 HOURS found a
subleter who seems to be able to work out perfectly!!!!!!

What a world!

School options:

1) stay where I am and have Angela go to one of two horrendously bad and dangerous schools

2) sublet condo and move to Maryland, use lease to get her into better middle school

3) pay $$$ to go to charter school. can’t do it! CAN’T AFFORD IT!

4) pay tuition for Maryland school and stay put in DC. Too much $$$

I have no choice but to move to Maryland. There’s no time to switch my address on my paystub for Angela to attend a school in a better Ward in DC and I can’t transfer her or apply for "out of boundary" student status because the application deadline is long past.

I posted a sublet description for my place on craigslist and already received 3 responses! There are also plenty of affordable options in Silver Spring and I might even save money moving. If I live in Silver Spring, my commute to work will be nil and I can walk Angela to school. I’ll be readily accessible in case she or the school needs me while I’m away at work. I hope I can sublet safely and find a good place in Silver Spring with short term lease. Chris is going to drive me around Silver Spring on Monday morning and offered to help with his mom’s advice and experience on getting Angela to a better DC school. Unfortunately, Maryland is a much better alternative because of work, it will just mean a shift in my living arrangements. We’ll see…

I leave for Texas on Friday and when I get back, Angela will be coming with me!

so this means that I have to secure a place in Silver SPring, MD, find a subleter for my place, and secure Angela’s enrollment in a good schools in Silver Spring BY THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my friend’s daughter, let’s call her Angela, is going to stay with me from Labor Day to Christmas! I was very excited about it until I started looking at Middle School options for her.

I have to sum up the DC Public School system in 2 words: sucks ass. And I say this not in the best of fun salad tossing ways.

I started looking at class sizes, scoring, and the history of the middle schools in the area, and I must say SLIM PICKIN’S. If I want her to fail in life, to really lose hope and to struggle to read english, I have great choices in the District of Columbia. Am I becoming a republican? Vouchers are starting to look good right about now. Well of course they are! I can’t change public schools quickly enough to accomodate for my kid now! I support a long term improvement of public schools if we could fix them retroactively so ghetto-ass Garnet-Patterson on 10th and V would have better achievement scores. So that Lincoln Middle School on Irving and 16th would not burn through 6 principals in the last 5 years!

There are only 2 public middle schools in my Ward, and BOY do they suck. On one web page describing the school, it refers to a history of violence that is on the decline (well that’s a relief!) I checked out the official school website for the other school AND IT WAS HACKED INTO! There’s a stick figure drawing of one guy getting bent over another and it’s SO lame. So what I need to do is apply for an out-of-boundaries transfer to get Angela into a better middle school. In addition, there are caps to each school for out-of-boundary enrollment which vary by year and some schools don’t even accept them or have reached their max.

OH LINCOLN! Why can’t your middle school be as mighty and magnificant as your memorial?

I remember each morning on the bus in to work seeing the British School of Washington, where the kids in their uniforms would empty off the bus.. So I look it up and it costs 19,000 dollars a year for day school, not including the 1,000 deposit, 1,000 fee for something else and 150 dollar application fee. The student teacher ration is 6 to 1.

I checked out public schools in Montgomery County Maryland, near my work, and they are MUCH better. Only problem is I have to show proof of residency. Perhaps I should sublet my place and rent in Silver Spring for the time being? That’s my goal for tomorrow–look into housing in Silver Spring and fix this mess of Middle School mediocrity. Maybe I could HOMESCHOOL!!!!!!!!! Angela would learn from my work in the non-profit.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ideas? Apartment recommendations in Silver Spring?

I can sublet my place EASILY… alright I’ll sleep on this.

I might be a mom! To a pre-teen! A best friend of mine has a kid who might need a place to stay while things calm down in her home. My friend says it’s okay for her to stay with me as long as I can transfer her to a junior high in the area and can raise her for the next couple of months. There’s a chance that my friend’s husband will not agree to the plan, but if he does, I’m bracing myself for mother hood! imagine me a mom?

I am more paranoid than I appear on this blog (unless I don’t realize how transparant my fears are) and I’m afraid that i will be stressed out unless I know where my adopted daughter is at all times.  How will my life change (and hers?):

1. I will have to get up early to take her to school
2. I will have to leave work early to pick her up
3. I will have to get her a membership to my gym
4. I will have to get her a metro smart trip card
5. I will have to get her a family cell phone so we can know where we are at all times
6. I will have to postpone my vacation to California (which I hadn’t blogged about, but was planning to take mid September)
7. I will have to either sign up my adopted daughter to yoga or quit it (it’s actually been a pain to make it to classes each week)
8. on the encouragement of my friend (real-mom), I will have to take her to church on Sundays  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAERRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I can take her to a gay-loving unitarian church??? ahhaha

She will have to:

1. Get used to living in the city
2. Make new friends and be "the new kid"
3. spend time bored @ my work after school
4. deal with paranoid me wanting to know where she is all the time
5. be forced to work out every day
6. give up on some old hobbies possibly (I don’t know what they are, but she might not be able to keep them up in the city)
7. share a studio with me!

We will both be able to do the following fun things:

1. Trips to the museum
2. swimming together
3. dance parties in my apartment
4. coffee at dupont circle and sunbathing
5. road trips to Baltimore and NC to see Paul
6. walking Wendy’s dog
7. hiking in Roosevelt Island
8. SHOPPING
9. cooking at home together!
10. homework (I LOVED homework when I was young, hopefully, I won’t do hers for her!)

Well, it’s going to be hard on $$$, but I would just have to learn not to spend so much because I’m sure I could afford the extra expenses… hmmmm..

By the way, her staying with me is like 5% likely  to 95% unlikely, but I just wanted to go through the what if’s with you! If she stays it might be for a month or two or 4…