Chili and zombie movie night with Matt and Colleen was epic. I always forget how great Evil Dead 2 is. I know I had a great time chit chatting about an assortment of different nerdery, including an upcoming Cthulhu LARP.

Our Galena trip was fabulous. We got all sorts of neat things at the canning company, including pumpkin butter, pickled okra, honey mustard pretzel dip, chocolate cherry butter, and deer sausage. I have finally been to the Italian place for more than just wine and appetizers, however I was not so impressed with the ravioli. In fact, I do not recommend it. I can make much better at home in a microwave, seriously. Next time I told Brian we are going to the Irish Cottage. I also got a hippie skirt at one of the hippie stores. Everything there was super cheap, I was surprised. And like a good woman, I bought an apron to wear when I'm cooking for Thanksgiving. Emma loved the trip. She was a huge ham the entire time, trying to get everyone to look at her and tell her how cute she was. At the restaurant, she just stared at people until they looked at her, then she would give them a huge smile. She's so sneaky. Overall it was a great vacation.

I have an awesome LARP update, but I will put it in a separate post.

Dear baseball,

You are stupid. Stop disrupting my Glee schedule.

<3,
Tara


( This conversation amused me: )


THIS WEEK IS AMAZING! It totally makes up for my completely shitty week last week!

I got a Spock wig, which really, on me, is just a Vulcan wig. And I look pretty much exactly like a Vulcan so it's pretty awesome. I am wearing it next Friday. I suggest everyone else do something similar! In fact, I will suggest it on the WW boards.

We officially have a baby sitter when we need one. Chris's wife, Kori, has offered to watch Emma if we need someone during game or if we want a Saturday night to go see a movie. And Emma really liked her so it's a great deal. So guess who has two thumbs and has the next WW game and Midnight Circus baby free?? (PROTIP: This chick)

We get to watch zombie movies with Matt and Colleen here some night. Either Thursday or Friday depending. I am quite pumped about this. I love zombie movies and I love hanging out with cool people I don't see often enough.


Thank you, Chris, for this video! It is epic. (Starring Danny, Lucas, Bill, Wasta, and myself)

First of all, Matt and Colleen's party was amazing. I discovered Jager and Mt. Dew are delicious together and it also makes me hate black licorice a lot less since that is exactly what it tastes like. A big thank you to them for having everyone out. We really appreciate it. The LARP was also a bunch of fun and I look forward to any other parlor games in the future. During the party, Emma was really good. She even sat with Kori for a while and played peek-a-boo with her blanket, which she's never done before. I was amazed. Then she took a really long nap so Brian and I got to mingle and not worry about her. She also broke a glass during the game, which I felt terrible about. I was stunned she managed to do that. Next time we're totally getting a babysitter.

Speaking of babysitters, our problem seems to be that family members are always busy or live too far away and it's expensive to go hire someone we've never met. However, we may have a solution for that here soon. More on that later. :)

Tonight Brian and I are going discount Halloween shopping! I'm very excited about this. My goal is to get a few wigs or other random stuff. Then Castle and How I Met Your Mother are on tonight! W00t!

Emma was supposed to have the second part of her flu shot today, but they are out of the injectable ones for her age, so we have to wait and call back later in the week to see if they get any more in. Stupid flu scare.

Friday Brian, Emma, and I are taking a day vacation to Galena! There is so much I want to do while we are there! The shops usually all close at 5, so there isn't always a lot to do later. We will probably be back for LARP unless we are exhausted, it'll just be late.

Thank you, Omara, for this video:

Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year. I love it. I have loved it since I was teeny. I love pumpkins and witches and things that glow in the dark and horror movies and candy. It makes me happy.

Today is Halloween. I should be super happy and carving pumpkins and watching scary movies, but I am not. Today sucks. I am having a bad day. I want to go back to bed and start over.

What would I do differently? I wouldn't be watching football because I don't like football. Instead, I would have left the second I got dressed and gotten a pumpkin. I would've watched Dawn of the Dead or 30 Days of Night or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or something on my laptop while I was carving that pumpkin. Or maybe listened to my awesome scary sound effects and horror movie music CDs. I definitely would not have treated today like it was a normal Saturday.

I'm really looking forward to the Nachtrieb party later. I have a feeling it will be awesome.

Mandie sent me these videos and cheered me up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBJzZts4qZo




But then Emma got a hold of Brian's coffee and spilled it, so I'm back to being sad.

On the bright side, and I always try to find a bright side, I get to put Emma in her monkey suit later. Right now it seems like an awesome idea and I am looking forward to it. However, when the time comes and she is cranky because she hates it, I will probably not be so happy.

In better news, I TOTALLY HAVE A BABY SITTER ON NOVEMBER 7TH FOR THE IOWA CITY OPPOSITES PARTY! My costume, it is marvelous.

I also have a new coat. It is cute. And I stole two pairs of my sister's shoes. They've been sitting collecting dust in my parents' porch for as long as I've been in class, so I decided to take them. I have a giant chest full of shoes (boots take up a lot of room) and my sister still has at least twice as many as me, so I don't feel bad. She'll probably forget she owned them or go buy different ones.

I want to go to lunch with Chad today, but the game probably won't be over by then. Kinda tempted to just go by myself. On the bright side, I think I heard sushi tomorrow with Miranda?!?!?!! I sure hope this is true.

Something wakes me. A noise from beyond my bedroom. The alarm clock by my bed illuminates 2:48 in red letters. I wait for a second, my ear angled toward the door to see if I hear anything else. Nothing. I get up to go investigate, but my full bladder screams for attention. Instead I head for the bathroom. It is in the middle of the hall and my parents' shut door greets me from the other end, barely visible in the dark.

I turn on the light and do my business. While I am washing my hands, I hear another strange thud from elsewhere in the house, like something heavy being dropped. Curious, I open the bathroom door and the light floods part of the hallway, creating a bright rectangle on the tan carpet. It would be perfect, if not for a deep red stain that comes up from the stairs and disappears down the hallway. The odd coppery smell tells me that it's blood. I freeze in the doorway. There is no way this was here before I went to the bathroom, was it? As it starts seeping wider and wider, my breathing becomes shallow as I start to wonder where the blood came from. There is another thud.

At the end of the hall, the door knob to my parents' room starts to turn. In a moment of panic, I turn and run towards my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and diving into my bed. I pull the covers up to my forehead in a futile attempt to protect myself, like I used to do as a child when a shadow on the wall would scare me. I wait, my heart beating quickly in my chest. So much time passes, at first I think nothing is going to happen, but then my door slowly opens, the hinges making a soft squeak of protest. I force my breathing to come deep and even and pretend I am still asleep. Through my squinted eyes, I can see the bathroom light on my wall and a strange silhouette. It stops and I can feel it watching me. By now my heart is thudding so violently, I think the movement will give me away, but still I pretend.

The figure enters the doorway and I hear movement from the corner of my room. It drops something into my reading chair, the weight creating a soft thud as the chair legs hit my wall. I watch its shadow. The way it moves is not quite human, its actions too fluid and exaggerated, like watching a tape in fast forward. After a few seconds, I feel something heavy at the foot of my bed. I watch the silhouette move something, take a step back, reposition it, and take anoter step back like a sculptor trying to get a statue just so. I squint to see what it is the figure is moving, but then it appears in my vision, its back to me. I quickly shut my eyes. I can barely hear it as it moves. After a second, I slowly reopen them.

Its skin is a leathery grey, wrinkled like fruit left out in the sun. It has wiry black hair that reaches down past its shoulders, and its limbs are long and slender. Blood glistens from its claw like fingers and in patches along its skin. I think to myself that this must be the boogeyman. The thing that goes bump in the night, the creature from which every childhood fear stems from. And it is standing in my bedroom, writing something on the wall, deliberately dipping its finger in the blood off of its skin and dragging it slowly onto the plaster like a crude finger painting. As I struggle to see what it has written, it turns and I shut my eyes again. I can feel it watch me for another moment before it returns to the foot of my bed, and then I hear it drag itself underneath my box spring.

I feel a moment of sick irony wash over me. When I was young, I was so sure there was something there in the darkness between my floor and my bed frame, even when my mother would soothingly rub my forehead and insist I was imagining things. Slowly, I lower my blanket just below my eyes and peer out into my room. My mother is there in my reading chair, both arms resting stiffly on the arm rests. She is still wearing her nightgown, which is soaked through with blood. Her torso is torn open and I can see large chunks of purple and red organs sitting on her lap, her intestines twisted like a gruesome pile of yarn. At the end of my bed, my father is leaning against my footboard, his upper body draped over it. He is positioned so he is staring at me. His throat has been ripped away, the smallest bits of bone showing in places. Both of their faces are frozen in an expression of horror and their heads are turned to me like terrible puppets. I want to sob. I want to scream. I want to jump up and run out the door and to keep going until I am as far away from this room as possible, but part of me knows it will catch me. It is just waiting for me to wake up and do just that.

I don't want to turn to see what it has written, yet I must know. I slowly turn my head and squint, trying to read the message from the light in the bathroom. Its words hit me like a brick wall and my breathing stops.

"I know you are awake."

( So yesterday...let me tell you about yesterday. )

Glee is on tonight! I enjoy that show so much. I knew when I saw the pilot in the spring I would be hooked.

Halloween in 3 days!

( Hooray lots of t-shirts!!!! )


Shannon's LJ post, as well as seeing pictures of how skinny Kyle has gotten, has inspired me to start slimming back down. I was, at one point, down to around 155 and incredibly happy, but I'm back up again. It makes me sad. So I have started eating less and not eating a ton of things that are terrible for me. I even chose tea or water over soda and crackers over chips. On my days off of class, I'm going to start lifting weights with our bench press in the basement, as well as doing sit-ups and the likes. I wish we had a treadmill or a bike so I could do that when Emma takes naps. My starting goal is to lose around 5 pounds. Heck, even a clothing size would be acceptable. I figure start small and see where I go from there. Plus, I don't want to set an exact number to reach like ZOMG I MUST BE 130 LIKE ALL THE GIRLS IN MAGAZINES. I mainly just want to reach a point where I am comfortable with myself and feel healthy. Happiness is what is most important.

Holy crap this is long. I will stop now

( Updates to Louise's playlist )


( A playlist of 25 of my favorite songs )


I am also trying to put together a playlist of music that reminds me of the Zombie Apocalypse. So far it has been an interesting journey through music and zombies. And yes, before you ask, "Re: Your Brains" is totally on it. I will be sure to post the results so you guys can tell me it sucks :P Also, feel free to make suggestions...

( Larp larp larp )
Angie is discussing getting rid of Shady. Apparently she has also run into the situation where she is all settled, the baby finally asleep, and Shady barks loudly wanting to go outside and wakes up the baby, but when Angie gets up to let her out, Shady changes her mind. All this time we told her that her animals were annoying, she thought we were just being mean. I think she understands now. Plus, the dog is miserable. We don't let her in the living room because Emma is crawling around and Shady has snapped or snarled at her more times than I can count, so she has limited roaming space. And now with tiny baby and it being so cold out, Angie doesn't take her on walks. It would be better for her to go to a place where she doesn't have to worry about having babies around and can get the severe amount of attention she thinks she needs.

Emma doesn't babble anymore, she just yells at the top of her lungs constantly. I wish there was a way I could get her to stop. She doesn't understand no or stop or shush or be quiet yet. It's loud and lately I've been getting a lot of headaches, so when she does it, it's like someone is driving a pick axe through my skull. Plus, I am concerned because she goes straight to the yelling instead of working on learning baby talk. Maybe it's just a phase where she is realizing she has a voice and a very very healthy set of lungs.... >.>

13 more school days!

I am making tons of playlists. Another post soon to follow this.

My three wolf moon shirt showed up today. It was everything I thought it would be and more. When I put it on, I swear I heard an angelic choir singing. Once the fabric touched my flesh, an electric current pulsed through my veins, causing all of my hair to stand up on end. Something within me changed. I was not wearing the shirt, the shirt had turned me into a vessel for its awesomeness. All of the men in our neighborhood could feel it's power. Within minutes, they were crowded around our house and pawing at our windows, trying to get a glimpse of my new raging sexual aura. I was overwhelmed by the attention, terrified of what they would start doing to each other if they couldn't get inside. I took the shirt off and stuck it back into its box, to protect the power from falling into the wrong hands. From now on, the shirt will only be used in case of emergencies.

Brian bought us snuggies. I have a green one, Brian has a brown one, and Angie has a blue one. They are basically the awesome. Be jealous.

I have been up for about 36 hours, so I'm sorry if I don't make any sense. I am not really sleepy, but everything looks all wonky and I have bags under my eyes. I am expecting to crash here any minute now.

Oh god, if I have to workshop one more stupid story for my fiction class, I am going to go insane. More insane.

Emma has new tricks. She waves bye-bye, claps, and is starting to stand up on her own without holding on to something. I am overwhelmed with pride.

Castle is a good show. Nathan Fillion is fantastic. I am loving all the shows about writers that are on. (actually, I think it's just Californiacation and Castle)

I am going to go to bed now. It is probably for the best.

I am amused that my most commonly used tags are class and alcohol. I think it says a lot about who I am as a person.

I LOVE my Human Origins class. Every time I skip it, I am sad. It is so much fun and it's very interesting. It is one of the few classes I think I honestly wouldn't mind if it was a 3 hour night class because time flies by as it is. He's a great prof, too. If anyone ever wants an elective to take at UNI, I highly recommend Human Origins with O'Brien.

Emma has officially stopped eating baby food. We have spoiled her with table foods like mashed potatoes and veggies and our bread, so she won't eat her carrots, squash, or sweet potato. On the bright side, she will eat the fruits! And she will still eat her finger foods because they make her feel like a big girl since she eats them herself.

The Backstreet Boys were on Conan O'Brien. I am very confused. The 12 year-old in me is not sure whether to be overjoyed or depressed...

October for me is always horror movie month since it's Halloween and all, so I watch a ton of horror movies. Last year I did not do this and I was very sad. We are watching the Watcher right now. Next we will watch Diary of the Dead, Saw, or maybe Children of Men (FUCKING LOVE THAT MOVIE).

Brian's oldest sister Lisa is coming over for the Hawkeye game tonight. I adore her. Actually, I adore all of Brian's sisters.

I really feel like sushi right now.

We went to an Apple Orchard on Sunday. It was so much fun. We'll probably go back again around Halloween to get pumpkins and squash for carving and making delicious food (I'm thinking pumpkin bars and pumpkin pie). We got a ton of apples for apple crisp, too. Hooray fall baking! Also, there are pictures up on Facebook. She is such a ham.

I slept funny on my neck last night, I think, because it is killing me today. I have the Frankenstein head-turn going on even, where I have to turn my upper body to look at something since I can't turn my neck. Tylenol isn't helping either.

I am already excited for Friday night. The WW boards have been pretty entertaining, so thank you.

I am updating my Louise and Amie playlists. Should be fun.

I don't want to go to class tomorrow. Most of my classes aren't even that difficult, I just feel lazy. In my night class we're going to talk about flirting even, so I mean it's not like I'm taking quantum physics and dread going.

The tiny baby is so cute. She was a premie, so her lungs aren't quite the strongest. When she cries they're tiny little whimpers you can barely hear, which is a definite change from Emma who has been able to scream since she was popped out. In fact, she is screaming at the cat right now while trying to play peek-a-boo with her. Nala is not amused.

So I lied to you guys and I didn't even mean to. I made a list of 5 actors I would totally do, and the list was Viggo Mortensen, Alan Rickman, Clive Owen, Zach Braff, and Christian Bale. Well, when I added Zach Braff I was pulling at straws. I couldn't really think of another one. Sure, he's a funny guy with amazing taste in music, but I'm not sure he actually belongs on that list. Then I saw a preview for something that had Tim Roth in it and my brain went, "OH YEAH!" Hawt. He's also British, so maybe I just have a thing for voices?

Yesterday morning I made spinach, mushroom, and mozzarella omelets. They were quite possibly the most delicious omelets I have ever made. Then we had Hy-Vee gumbo for dinner. I recommend it highly. Best gumbo I've ever had. It is also super easy to make considering you just have to warm it up!

I have a stupid amount of homework. I have 2 tests, 2 workshops, and 70ish pages of stupid reading to do. I'm pretty much finished with the reading, which is what I did this weekend. The good news? My 3 hour night class? We only have to show up, take the test, then leave. This means I should only have a 30 minute class to take a 50 question multiple choice test. (I am one of those annoying people who go through the test twice to double check my answers...)

Wasta, I listened to your CD. I am very much a fan. Even Emma was dancing to some of the songs (though since it was Jace Everett's "Bad Things", it was mostly disturbing). It now has its own playlist on my iPod. Also, I do not foresee our PCs getting along.

( Bitch moment )
We have a sitter until 10 tonight! So the first half of Werewolf will be peaceful!

I am so bored, I have been doing homework to entertain myself. Well, that and making an LJ post. I managed to condense a 46 page article for War and Peace into 5 pages of highlights I copied and pasted. I figured it would be nice to have notes in case I get called on. My professor has her panties in a twist because she doesn't think any of us are reading the "reasonable" 70 pages of dry political science articles she gives us as homework (and that is from Tuesday to Thursday on top of other homework) and always looks at me when she says it. The problem is that I try to read them and I find myself stuck on one page for half an hour re-reading because I don't understand most of it since I didn't get the memo that the class was an advanced political science course. So when I get into the class, I don't say anything. I literally turn into a fucking clam. Don't get me wrong, when she explains the stuff in class in a way that isn't written out by someone who has a PhD in poli-sci and is simply trying to impress their peers, then I get it. I think the reading material is just too advanced for what I know (or don't know, rather). Maybe this new method I am using will help...

We are into the workshop portion of my fiction writing class and I am once again reminded why I sometimes hate creative writing classes: Reading other people's stuff. Guess what? A story about a woman throwing a book at your head when you worked in a book store or your regrets about sleeping with a guy you met in a bar are NOT FUCKING STORIES. It's shit you write in your own diary so you can read it later and feel good about yourself because NO ONE ELSE FUCKING CARES because you life is NOT AS INTERESTING AS YOU THINK IT IS. We are 6 stories in and if I have to read one more about some "character's" life in college, I am going to puke all over their papers, sign my name, and hand it back to them. The worst part is that Dr. O'Loughlin says things like "You have a lot of good stuff going on in this story". I wonder if it's because over the years he's faced the fact that most people in creative writing classes can't actually write and has just resigned to hope one or two will pop up who can and it's the only thing he's living for anymore. Or maybe there was at one time a professor who was like, "You all suck and will never amount to anything in the writing field, so give up now and leave my classroom" and made the students cry. But then he was fired and so all of the other creative writing professors cower in fear so the same thing doesn't happen to them. Either way, I feel oh so bad for him.

Bought the new Brand New CD. EPIC. <3

Marilyn Manson has Swine Flu.

In payment for reading, I give you this:

ZOMG, BRAND NEW'S NEW CD IS OUT TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!1!ONE! *SQUEEEEEEEE* I have been following along on their MySpace and I LOVE the new stuff. It's very familiar and in the spirit of their old stuff, but just different enough to be new. So excited.

It's cold and rainy! I LOVE FALL! WEEEE!

And even though I have spent all day doing homework, it's good homework! I'm writing a personal experience paper, working on a few short stories, doing a workshop, and some reading for my human origins class, which I love. Taking a class because I want to and not because I have to is empowering.

Lately I have been a little stressed out. School and being a mom are hard enough without combining the two. I'm just trying to be better than all of it and as strong as I need to. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Today is a good day.

( Larp larp...larp larp larp )
I don't watch MTV, especially not the VMAs because music these days is pretty bad. And the people who decide who wins? Their taste in music is even worse. However, I have seen the clip of what Kanye did to Taylor Swift and, I have said this before, but I will reaffirm it here: He just proved my theory that you can tell how big of a douche bag someone is by the amount of sunglasses they own. See: Bono.

If you would like to argue that Bono is a pretty awesome guy who doesn't afraid of anything because he saves the world one shitty U2 concert at a time, feel free. Just because he is loud about saving starving children and the rain forest doesn't mean he isn't a douche bag. If having good intentions made you a good person, then Michael Moore is a cool guy and THAT I simply refuse to believe.

One of my classes was canceled yesterday, so I had a class, a break, and then another class. I decided to use my time to stop by Rob's and pick up the first book of Buffy comics. I have the other books, but I never had the first one because I bought all the comics before it came out so I figured why bother. Well, I discovered one of my issues had disappeared, so I decided to go buy the book so I could re-read them. I forgot how good they were! I also bought Marvel Zombies 2! (shh, don't tell Brian). I should've gotten MZ: Dead Days since that is what comes in between Vs Army of Darkness and MZ 1, but it was $25 instead of $15. Of course, Rob gave me 25% off anyway, so it wouldn't have been so bad. I should've known. Next time! While I was there, I saw a comic called President Evil and the cover was just like the Army of Darkness movie poster, but with Barack and Michelle Obama. I laughed pretty hard. I am also tempted to go back and pick it up, for the lulz.

I want to start watching Dollhouse, but I am afraid. Every time I watch a Joss Whedon show I am reminded of the fact that he hates me and wants me to be miserable. And for some reason, I can never look away. (Unless it's Angel. FUCK THAT. I want to skip straight to season 5 simply for more Spike). In ways, I am sad there will never be any new Firefly, but on the other hand, I know that nothing bad can ever happen to it! :D (not that he could do much worse after killing Wash T_T )

I FOUND THIN MINTS IN OUR PANTRY! I THOUGHT THEY WERE GONE! Oh, delicious minty cookies, you make me happy!

Edit: Obama called Kanye a Jackass and is getting a bit of flack for it. I think it's HILARIOUS. But apparently it's inappropriate? Who knew?

This post is going to be about many things.

1. Last Sunday was horrifying. Emma was being super cranky due to teething and not feeling well. She screamed bloody murder every time I changed her diaper, including one time while we were out to dinner with Brian's siblings (which we promptly got to-go and left). I think it was the worst experience in a public restroom I have ever had, including throwing up at Perkins. It was made worse by the fact that she got it all over herself before hand and wouldn't hold still so I could clean her up in her fit of baby rage. She is not nearly as bad now, but I cried.

2. My War and Peace class was supposed to be called International Relations during Conflict and Peacetime, but they changed the name to make it sound more appealing to students. WELL GUESS WHAT UNI, IT FUCKING WORKED. So now I'm stuck in a class in which some of the material is over my head, but I refuse to give up. I am the only person in the class who is not a poly-sci major AND hasn't taken the introductory course to International Relations (which they didn't note was a requirement in the schedule books). Thankfully there are no tests, just a few easy papers and a ton of reading. I am going to go with my English major teachings with this one: fake it till you make it.

3. OMFG KEVIN SMITH IS MAKING A NEW MOVIE! ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1385867/ ) If you have watched some of the Evening With Kevin Smith documentaries, you will understand why having Bruce Willis play the main character is hilarious. I'm pretty pumped.

( More lists of 5 because I am bored... )

3 weeks of class done!! Only 12 more to go :(

5 women I would go gay for:
1. Natalie Portman
2. Gillian Andersen
3. Sarah Michelle Gellar
4. Maggie Gyllenhaal
5. Milla Jovovich

5 fictional characters I am in love with:
1. Severus Snape
2. Spock
3. Rupert Giles
4. The Doctor
5. Fox Mulder

5 men who, if I had a gun to my head, I would totally do:
1. Viggo Mortensen
2. Alan Rickman (From about 20 years ago)
3. Clive Owen
4. Zach Braff
5. Christian Bale

BILL!!! NEW BRAND NEW SINGLE!!!



Also check out a band called Republic of Wolves (http://www.myspace.com/therepublicofwolves)

THEY ARE MAKING A RESIDENT EVIL 4 MOVIE. It's going to be called Resident Evil: Afterlife. The tagline is: "She's back...and she's bringing a few of her friends." I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I LOVE SHITTY RESIDENT EVIL MOVIES. On the other hand, I do not like shitty Resident Evil movies.

BRB, Hawkeye/UNI game...

First things first. It is absolutely gorgeous outside. Perfect weather for yesterday's grill out. I know some people are pretty bummed about not getting the main lodge, but having the other one that looks out over the lake totally made my day. I cannot tell you how therapeutic it was walking along the shore line in an attempt to get Emma to pass out while the sun was setting. And as if that weren't enough, the lake at night was inspiring. The reflection of the moon upon the waves paired with a sky full of stars which aren't visible in the city was breathtaking. I am completely refreshed. Some time on some other weekend, how many people would be interested in a Sunday grill out/swimming time there? We don't need to rent the lodge, we can just go, eat, throw things away, then hang out on the beach and get into the water.

In other news, we have been informed that Angie is going to take on a new tactic with Mekaylah after today's behavioral issue (she hit Angie in the face and she now has a bruise) and if Mekaylah is unable to handle it, then she's going to have to go some place different to get the structure she needs with someone who is capable of giving her more of it. I am very glad that Angie recognizes that. It is giving me much more confidence in this whole situation. I'm sure in a few weeks I'll feel like nothing has changed or that any previous issues were forgotten, but for now I don't feel as though Angie is going to continue to keep a kid who's problems are beyond her capability to control and have a negative impact upon the entire household, especially the kid. Sure, she wants to help, but sometimes when you dive in head first you do more harm than good. I would also be so bold as to say that a stressed Angie is not helping Mekaylah, or any other kid like her, either. Bringing these children into your home is a choice and if you are incapable of handling it, then it makes the entire situation no good and you should let them go to someone with more experience. *sigh*

I feel like ice cream. Maybe of the peanut butter and chocolate variety.