Like a Good Neighbor...

When we moved recently, I realized I was packing a whole lot of things I no longer needed/wanted but didn't have time to pack them separately to take to Goodwill. So, as I was unpacking, I kept several boxes handy to load up with donations. A couple days after we moved, we got a little card in the mail saying that the local Veterans association would be in our neighborhood on September 1st to take donations and all we had to do was set our stuff by the curb, with the card attached and they would pick it up and leave a receipt for the tax deduction. Well, perfect, right?

So this morning, Lowell and I carry out several boxes and bags of stuff and sat it by the curb "no later than 8:30 am" with the card attached as instructed.

About 9:30, I looked out and noticed the stuff was gone. But there was no receipt. I thought that was kind of odd, but didn't concern myself with it..... UNTIL, I glanced out the window and noticed the neighbor wearing MY sweater. Yes that's right, MY sweater that was in one of the donation boxes. MY sweater, which I knew was clean, but did she know? Who would just take clothes out of a box on the curb and put them on?

Upon further observation, I saw my boxes in the back of her vehicle. She and the neighbor across the street were rummaging! I was flabbergasted (and I am pretty sure I have never written that word to describe my feelings!) Lowell and I watched them a bit, then I told our day staff. Well, she certainly isn't afraid of a little confrontation so she went out and explained that the stuff was for a donation and we would appreciate them putting it back. They acted a little embarrassed, apologized and said they would put it back. Then we watched them take it out of the vehicle and carry it into the garage and shut the garage door! I guess that if they need my junk badly enough to steal it, promise to bring it back, and then hide with it, then maybe they need it more than the veterans do.

When I was little, me, my mom, her best friend Juanice (I would change the name to protect the innocent but she was not innocent), and her daughter Amy, had been out shopping. On the way home, we were driving down the street and they saw some floor rugs out with somebody's trash. We stopped and they loaded up the car. My friend and I were mortified that our mothers would steal someone's trash. It has stayed with me forever!!!! But today, I realized that maybe it's not so bad to take someone's trash. They didn't see us, didn't ask for it back, weren't planning on getting any kind of tax deduction from throwing it away, etc, etc.

My mom and J took trash. They didn't steal from the veterans association. I guess my neighbors don't care. But if it were me, I would totally have to move. I would never be able to show my face around my neighbors again if I had done that. But they don't seem to care. Maybe they are just going to wear that warm sweater to cover their shame.

Where Do You Keep Your Fantasy Football Roster?

'Cause this is where we keep ours:


Not a great picture, but you may be able to tell that the rosters are hanging off the entertainment center above the television. Last night, the guys worked on the order for the draft (which is in the morning) and wanted to keep it front and center in case they change their minds. They rearranged my pictures and used them for paperweights. I guess it works for them, but frankly, I think I will be glad when this is all over!

To Watch Or Not To Watch, And Does It Really Matter?

I think I have referred to our night monitoring system. Basically there are several cameras on the guys' side of the house. At night, there is a central location where all of the homes are monitored. We have gotten calls in the middle of the night for things like "so and so is making a big mess cooking in the kitchen" - (um yeah, please don't ever wake us up for that, we'll deal with it in the morning) as well as non-client related incidents such as "the front door just blew open." (This is Kansas and that DOES happen. Crazy!) Anyway, they also call in the mornings if they don't see us and we stand in front of the camera and wave to them, so they can go home.

Even though it is only monitored at night, we have a monitor on our side of the house which also displays what the cameras are seeing. (Nice if we hear noises and don't want to go over, we can turn on the side-by-side (the official name) and check out the goings-on.) The side-by-side flashes to each camera and stays in that room for about 2 seconds. The video is great and even when it's dark, you can still see everything. I'm way impressed with that (tells a little about how technologically ignorant I am.) The only thing we don't have is sound - probably good since it flashes from room to room.

All that was said to say this. Last night Ms. Night Monitor calls to tell me that the connection to our house was down and we might have to sleep with the connecting door open. She told me to check my side-by-side to see if it was working so we could tell if it was a camera problem or a connection problem. Ours was working. So she says, "Good deal, just keep your side-by-side on while you are sleeping so you'll know if something happens and we'll get somebody out there to work on that tomorrow." I was very confused but said okay and hung up. Lowell had the same reaction as I did and if I have done any kind of job describing this system, then you, dear reader will probably feel the same.

Somebody at the central night monitoring place is paid to stay up all night and watch the monitors while we sleep. So if that person can't watch, we can just turn ours on, go to sleep, and get the same results? I dare say not. But when I think about it, I have to wonder if the people who are actually supposed to be watching may just be sleeping too, and therefore don't see the problem with asking us to watch the monitor, with no sound, while we are asleep...

Who Responds to Pop-Up Ads?

We do, we do!!!! Well, not really us, but one of the guys here. He recently got a computer and an internet connection. (Not our idea, but we really can't argue with what the guardians want and are willing to pay for.)

A month or so ago, the new computer guru comes downstairs with great news. "Guess what?" he says, "I am going to ITT Technical College!" Having MANY other things on my mind as we were in the midst of a move, hence no blogging for several weeks, I simply replied, "Well that's great. I am so happy for you." And I continued about my business. He didn't want to let it drop though. He very excitedly told me that he was on the internet and the "coolest thing happened." He was just sitting there and this little box popped up saying that he could go to ITT Tech and he could do it all online. He only had to fill out the form, enter his phone number and a representative would be in contact. Woo hoo, I couldn't wait for the phone to ring.

I didn't have to wait long at all. By the next day the phone was ringing like crazy. It wasn't just ITT Tech on the list, but apparently that little pop-up box goes to every single technical college in the country. (And I mean really, is this the best means to get a strong applicant pool? People who fill out the pop-up box MAY not be the BEST students around, but who am I to judge?) I tried telling the first few who called that this was a mistake and he was not interested in applying, but several called back. And because we reap what we sow, I put him on the phone. Probably needless to say, but after talking to several of the college representatives, he somehow got off of that list. Bye bye Technical Institute of Nebraska.

So I thought the lesson had been learned, but once again, I was wrong. The phone rang several times today. Everybody asked for "Mr. I haven't learned my lesson about filling in the pop-up boxes" so I gave him the phone. When he was out this evening, I answered the phone and asked to take a message. The guy on the other end explained that he was calling from Prepaid Legal Aid and had gotten the number from a "work from home" pop-up that had been filled out. I explained that this guy probably wouldn't be the most viable candidate for his job. He apologized and promised not to call back.

My favorite part of the day though had to be when he comes downstairs and explains that he has taken the phone off the hook because people just keep calling and he can't quite figure out why. We tried to explain that the phone off the hook really isn't fair to the other people in the house, but honestly it's been nice not to hear the incessant ring.

Would this constitute an "emergency"????

When Joshua went to swim camp in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago and called me in a panic due to having had around $50 stolen from him room. Since he was flying, I had sent him with extra "emergency" money for the flights. He had not had to use any of that, so I told him to go ahead and spend what he had during the week and that I would get some money to him for the last day and flight home.

I checked into overnighting some money, but it would have cost me around $30 to send $20 to him, so I wasn't really big on that option. I talked to some friends whose child was also at camp. They were driving to pick their daughter up and would arrive on Thursday night before camp concluded on Friday. I called my mom and had her take some cash over to them before they left and when they arrived they found Joshua and gave him the money before he left for the airport. I wasn't really worried about him needing a lot of money on his flight, but he did have a layover in Dallas and you just never know what might happen when traveling and I didn't want him left with no money and no options. So I felt better knowing that he wasn't traveling broke.

Having wiped that from my list of anxieties, I didn't even think to ask him about it when he got home. However, several days later, I asked if he spent the money in the airport or if he still had it. He responded that he had a couple of dollars left, but had an "emergency" in Dallas and had to make a purchase.

This is what he bought:



It kind of reminded me of my early college years, back before everybody had a cell phone and my mom bought me one for emergencies only. I know I used the phone quite a bit and I'm pretty sure there was never an actual emergency. But I guess when you are 13, the NFL Special Edition Fantasy Football magazine is pretty urgent!

Last Week's Quotes

From the guy with two kids - "My son is really good looking, and my daughter is, well, uh, you know, she's real smart."


Me: - "I'm sorry we can't go out, but we have to be quarantined due to Joshua having the swine flu."

One of the guys: "Ain't you guys ever heard of Halls or Vicks 44? Those'll take care of it."

The porn king: "Now see, I'm not one of those guys who looks at porn just for the fun of it. I have other reasons."
(like.... are you working with the FBI or something we don't know about??)

or how about this one: "Did you know if you shower a lot, your hair grows faster?"

And finally, after the house had been completely torn up, one of the guys pops up with, "I think he may need a few more pills." Uh, yeah, you think???

Have You Hugged Your Kid Today?

Because I guess we didn't have quite enough going on, you know, living in a group home and all, Joshua came home sick from swim camp. His plane arrived on Friday evening and he was really tired. I totally was expecting him to be tired though. He'd been away from home almost three weeks and swim camp is intensive. He also had a cough, which concerned me a bit, but I wasn't too worried.

However, on Sunday night when he said his head was banging and he was dizzy and thought he was going to pass out, I got a little worried. Lowell took him to see a doctor the next morning. Joshua called me from the doctor's office and said, "Mom they think I have swine flu." I immediately responded with, "Oh they do not! What are they really saying?" When Lowell got on the phone and confirmed that this was not some sick joke, I could hardly believe it. Really??? Swine flu?? Really??

When Joshua arrived home, he was feeling really silly wearing a mask, which he was told he had to wear if he went out in public. Needless to say, he chose to stay home rather than wear the mask out again. I do so wish I had gotten a picture when I had the chance.

So, doing what we felt was the right thing, we notified our supervisor and were quickly informed that the whole house was quarantined. This meant we couldn't go out at all, not to the grocery store, not to get the daily pop from the Quik Trip, not to go to the afternoon workshop that one of our guys lives for, etc. Not out at all. This also meant nobody came in. So we were on our own with no additional staff in a house infected with swine flu and with three guys who weren't sick and therefore did not understand why they were stuck at home. It only took about a day for us to second guess ourselves and wonder why we didn't just keep the news to ourselves and go on about business as usual. It was a rough week!!

But my favorite part of the week was when the lady from the Health Department called and asked about a zillion questions about where Joshua had been, what he had done, and then many more questions about our health and travels. I laughed out loud when I heard Lowell responding to the question of whether he has been around any animals. Lowell's response - He catches snakes a lot and apparently caught a bunch of crawdads in the creek in North Carolina.

But my favorite series of questions had to be: "Have you shared a meal at the same table as him?", "Have you had contact with his laundry?" and the best, "Have you hugged him?" I mean are there really people out there who say, "Well goodness no, he's got the swine flu, so we locked him in his room and are sliding food under the door! Haven't touched him or his laundry!"

Lowell answered "yes" to each of the crazy questions. He didn't mention that not only have we hugged Joshua, but that I've slept in the same room as him just to be sure he is breathing okay at night.

Joshua is feeling better and hopefully this week we will be able to get back to what we consider normal. But I know I will laugh any time I see one of those "Have you hugged your child today?" bumper stickers.