G’s Place

If you have been following my anguish on twitter, this post is designed to provide some context.

Saturday my brother got arrested. I won’t go into too much detail, but I will say I don’t understand why you would put someone in jail for 30 days for not paying a bill if they don’t have the money to pay it. It’s a long story that hit right on the nerve of the economics of poverty, and I just can’t get started on it right now.

Of course I couldn’t let my brother sit in jail for 30 days. So I sent him what he needed (which in the grand scheme of things was really not alot at all). I mean, if he stayed in jail he would lose his job, and he would learn how to be a real scam artist in the meantime.

I had to Western Union the money because I found out about 5 PM Sat, and everything else was closed. I figured I’d do a cash advance on one of my cards. I went to the Western Union site, and tried to get the transfer to go through on one of my cards, and it failed. I called and found out my cash advance amount wasn’t very high (I never thought of using it before!). So I tried a different card on the Western Union site, which also failed. I called that bank and they just increased my limit. Problem solved. Right?

Not really. The Western Union site sucks. Horrible lack of feedback to the user. After trying a few more times to make the transfer work I decided just to call Western Union. They told me my account had been suspended for suspected fraud because I had so many failed attempts on the website. I asked how to resolve it, and was told it would take a few weeks.

This is when I lost it, and basically barricaded myself in the bathroom. Which freaked everyone out, especially my aspie daughter (who told me later that I am not supposed to freak out. Yes I am allowed to freak out!!).

I pulled it together, and I decided I would just go to an ATM, pull out the money, and take the cash to a Western Union office. But I needed my pin. Of course I look on the website for info, and there was a place to reset my pin. Which I did. Off we went, in the middle of the snow storm, to take care of getting my brother out of jail.

The craziness continues. I tried to pull the money out of the ATM, and it wouldn’t give it to me. We thought maybe it was something to do with the access the machine had since it was in a grocery store. We went to the bank across the street. Same problem. By this time Brian had come up with a different solution, and we went to the Western Union office. But the combination of Western Union reporting suspected fraud on my account, me using a cash advance for the first time since I had the card, and me changing my pin caused the bank to put a hold on my card for fraud. sigh. I cleared it up after 2 phone call….

We had to go to 2 Western Union offices before we found one who could do the transfer for us. Money sent to my dad. Problem solved — right?

Well, no. When my dad went to pick up the money at Winn Dixie, they would only let him have $1000, and told he had to come back in the morning for the balance. WHA??? Oh HELL no!! We paid some ungodly fee to Western Union to get my brother out of jail *tonight*. After a phone call telling off the people at Winn Dixie, we called Western Union who told us that my dad *should have been told* that he could get a check for the balance and take that to a different Western Union office.

Which is what he did. And got my brother out of jail. And my brother didn’t lose his job. whew.

One big crazy issue solved.

Yesterday, my son was driving my car and some girl on a cell phone veered into his lane. There was someone behind her and massive snow banks on his side, so even though he did his best to get out of the way but it was pretty much a head on collision. The other driver went to the hospital in an ambulance, my son went to the ER later. They just gave him drugs, I am not sure they really checked him out. That annoys me. But he seems ok. I think my car is totaled.

This crazy issue will take longer to resolve. We have been wanting a little truck — this just isn’t the time frame we wanted to do it in.

We also noticed dripping in the basement, and inside my daughter’s bedroom wall. We have a enormous ice dam. Last night we drove all over looking for a roof rake, but no one has one. This morning I got out the push broom and pulled lots of snow off the roof. I did it because I am alot taller than Brian, so I could reach more. It’s supposed to be warm for the next few days, so we’ll see what happens…

I think that crazy issue is solved. I may need to go brush more snow off the roof later, but at least we have a plan of how to attack it.

Plus I am working today. I have 3 things to finish up before my vacation can start. It’s been a crazy week so far…………..

This semester is over in two weeks, so I have two huge papers looming. I think I can write on close to the same subject, so hopefully that will help.

My big pre-GA project at work is almost over - my last deliverables are next week. Then the fun of turning it into steady-state training happens. Since I have been managing the project from the start, I have tried to make the learning objects as reusable as I could. It’s a little difficult since the pre-GA training is only differences training, and of course some things in pre-GA may get resolved. I think the assets I created for each learning module (there are 2) are pretty reusable…so hopefully the development effort won’t be too painful. Also, there may be a trip to ATL which means I’ll get to see my bigmama.

This summer I am taking a class called “Designing Content for Online Collaborative Learning”. I am really excited for that !! In the fall I am taking the last of my core classes: “Intro to  Distance Learning” and “Intro to Systematic Instructional Design”. I actually think I have  one more intro class - an Inquiry and Measurement course. At any rate, I need 12 classes, and after this semester I will have 3 done. Turtle’s pace, but I’m getting there!

Brianna got a letter that she’s graduating with honors in May. YES!!! Now she needs to find a job. If you are in Boston and looking for a quiet, smart, hardworking research assistant, I have a great candidate for you.

Kenny is in a frat. Still not sure what I think about that. But he has to keep a 3.0 to stay in, and they make him perform community service. I like that. The two guys I met that are his “brothers” seemed very nice. It’s just weird to me.

We had our first Parents of teens and young adults with Asperger’s Syndrome meeting - didn’t get a huge turnout but we’ll keep trying.

I read a good post about how to blog, and that post recommended asking questions. So here goes - is anyone else out there in a very demanding job and in grad school at the same time? Do you feel like you are insane at the end of the semester? Do you just break down and clean because you have to let things go in order to get your work and school work done?

I just wanna be home. With every ounce of my being. I can hear a song on the radio, and I just feel like I need to be home. Sometimes I’d go give anything to go back to being dirt-ass poor to be home. To smell the gulf. To eat crawfish and drink beer on Saturday afternoon at AJ’s. To go back to having all my beach gear in the back of my car. To sit on the beach when the sun is coming up, or going down…depending on what my schedule is. To be able to be near my nieces.

I’d give anything to be that girl still. It sucked being poor….but I feel like I am missing something now. Like being home.

I like my life to be going along in circles. I can have lots going at the same time, as long as it all flows, like a circle.

Both kids are back in school. All 3 tuitions are paid (theirs and mine), everyone has books. I know what I am supposed to be doing at work (well, sort of. But I have enough info to have a circle with dotted lines).

Everything is great EXCEPT I need to clean my house and I can’t find my friggin cell phone. If I don’t find it when I clean (tomorrow?), then I will have to get a new one before I go to TX.

sigh. feeling better already.

The kids go back to school this weekend, so things should start getting back on track. I’ve  neglected some emails, it’s just because the kids are home, I started back to classes when they were home, and now I am swamped at work.

But the kids being back in school fixes one circle.

I promise if I need to get back to you, you should see something in the next couple of weeks.

And that is making me feel very old.

How does it make YOU feel mom?

My second semester starts on Monday. Thankfully, I can get into one of the classes. I have problems every semester….they have had problems merging former students who also worked for the University into a new system (I would guess the ever popular PeopleSoft), and it means that I am dropped from classes.

UGGG

So, I can log into one class, but not the other one yet. And I am traveling next week to a conference. So I am a little stressed out to say the least.

Plus, Brianna is taking the GRE tomorrow. She’s wigging out a little, and I can’t tell her exactly what is going to happen because I don’t really remember. I hope she does well. She’s making me a bit nuts today. If she doesn’t do well, I may urge her to try again, but to request accommodations for writing that stupid paragraph at least.

So, I will either stop blogging altogether, or I’ll be on here all the time because I need to vent.  Which will it be???

Since this is the first day of a shiny new year, I think I will publicly post my goals. Here we go:

1. Complete 6 grad school classes (and maintain my 4.0 GPA!)
2. Be available to help Brianna transition to Grad school (as much as she wants me to be there anyways)
3. Try and find tools that Kenny will actually use to get organized so he does better in school.
4. Get the Metro-West AANE support group for parents of teens with Asperger’s  off the ground
5. Get the FSU Native Alumni association off the ground
6. Get up-to-speed on SMARTS
7. Make it to the gym 3 days a week
8. Get to my next goal weight by April 1 (this date may change if I have to keep traveling…the overall goal is to maintain my weight while I travel)
9. Go to one of the seminars that train how to work with people on the spectrum
10. Write a paper and deliver it at a conference. OK I have no clue how to do that, but I want to, and I figure if I don’t write it down and really try to do it, it will never happen.

I’m going to try and remember to review these goals every three months. That way, I can see where I am with these goals, and set new goals if that is needed. Look for a follow-up post on March 1st.

Martha Washington Turner Standridge Woodall and Mr. Woodall

Originally uploaded by gminks

I am going to start moving all the old pictures I have to my flickr account.
I’m linking them to this post, maybe I need to just make a new page.

Ok, to go with the pictures, here’s stuff I know:

Susie Wilson Standridge (Bigmama) Born 1920

Daughter of:

Jolly Robertson Standridge Born August 1896 in GA

Son of:

Andrew Ramsey Robert Lee Standridge Born June 5, 1870 in Oconee CO SC

Son of:

???? Blackwell or Woodall ??????

Martha Washington Turner born February 22, 1845

Emma Sparks Born December 13, 1877

They were married on April 3, 1893

Annie Lee Walraven Born April 1, 1896

Daughter of:

John W. Walraven born December 12, 1872, Oak Grove, Fulton CO GA

Son of:

Mitchell Walraven born 1839, Gordon CO, GA

Son of: (this needs to be verified)

Jonathan Walraven born 1807

Milly Wilson born 1829

Mary Catherine Starnes born 1836, SC

Lillian Pitts Born December 13, 187o (this is the name on the 1900 census, I think people called her Linnie)

Daughter of:

???

Mary J. Pitts, born 1832

They were married May 16, 1895

They were married in May 1918 in Milton County GA