Excerpts from a letter to my Sailor

Todd has been away at sea for a week now, but luckily they can connect to the internet via satellite, so we are able to e-mail each other almost every day. So, I thought I'd share some of the last one I sent (just a little while ago, actually), since it summarizes the goings-on here. Rest assured, I will edit out any potential naughty bits! This is some of what I had to say:

Here I am writing my nightly note after having snuck away from my tiny, but effective, chaperone :) She is way too good at noticing my absence! Anyway, if I'm lucky, I'll get through this e-mail without interruption.
We had a gorgeous day today - warm and sunny. So this evening, Jamie and I took the girls and the dog up to the ball field, and just let Lily and Caitlyn run wild. Poor Raina could only sit trapped in her stroller, watching all the fun :) And, it was fun! We threw a tennis ball for Lily, but she got so excited that she kept running right past it. Caitlyn had fun too, running after Lily, after the ball, or away from me. I actually got a tiny bit of exercise! So, we'll probably try to do that at least once a week, if not more often, weather permitting of course.
Eric got his fist pay cheque today, and it's a nice tidy sum. He says he can't start paying me back yet, 'cause he has already found somewhere to live, and he needs $350 right away. He's planning on moving on Saturday, so I have to try and corner him before then, and get him to clean up the computer room before he leaves. Wish me luck! Anyway, he'll be boarding at a friend's house whose mother has rented out rooms before. Apparently she'll be cooking meals and everything! I told him not to push his luck, treat her with some respect, and remember that it is not his house... of course, he says "I know! I'm not an idiot!" Um... yeah... :)

Ok, that was actually a bit shorter than I realized... it seemed much longer when I was writing it! But anyway, that's the news for today :)

Just trying to help my Mom

Rumour has it that there is a shortage of hickory sticks in Pictou County, so I have decided to gather up as many hickory sticks as I can find, and send them to my Mommy :) I had no trouble at all finding hickory sticks... I guess the shortage does not extend to Newfoundland. Anyway, here you go, Mom:

Whoops! I don't think those are the right kind! How about these:

No, that's not right either... Maybe these?

Still not it. Hey, this is harder than I thought it would be! Let's try another:

I am sure I'll get it sooner or later. I mean, how many kinds of hickory sticks can there be in the world? Let's see...

Boy, wouldn't want to find that one in my bed! Ok, I suppose that'll do for now - I do have the real thing here somewhere. Here we go - Hickory Sticks for Mom!

I love you, Mom :)

All that work!

We finally have the bathroom all put back together, after hours of washing, plastering, sanding, taping, painting, cleaning and reassembling... and the only difference is that the walls are a different colour! Well, the toilet also has a new seal and a couple new bolts. You know the rule - if you take something out to clean behind it, you won't be able to get it back in without two trips to Canadian Tire for unexpected replacement parts. The bathroom does look better, though - all fresh and clean. At least, until the boys get back in there to do their worst.
Todd is off to sea as of yesterday morning. He'll be gone for two weeks or so. Caitlyn went to visit with her Nan and Pop for a few days, so I only have 4 babies here :) Eric is finishing up his first week of work; he seems to like it so far, he says his boss is amusing, and he gets to have smoke breaks whenever he wants. Yay! *rolling eyes* He should be getting his first pay cheque next Thursday - I hope he remembers that he owes me a few dollars. They must be working him pretty hard, though - he's been going to bed by 10:30, which is extremely early for him :)
So Caitlyn had her evaluation Wednesday morning, by a M.Ed. specializing in developmental psych. She was really pleasant, and had to say repeatedly that both Caitlyn and Raina are adorable. I didn't need an expert to tell me that! :) Anyway, she said that Caitlyn qualifies for an in-home program offered by Eastern Health, where a therapist comes in once a week to work with language and social skills. Also, she is going to try and push Caitlyn's appointment with the specialist, because without an actual diagnosis, there is a long waiting list for the therapy program. So, it's more waiting around, really.
Anyway, Raina is waking up, so it's back to work for me. A la prochaine :)

Bathroom Reno - Yay!

Such fun - we have begun the work on the bathroom. Todd and Travis replaced the fan while I removed all the fixtures from the walls (towel racks, paper dispenser, etc). Tomorrow we sand the ceiling and walls, clean up the dust and hopefully apply coat #1 of mildewcide paint. We picked a new, slightly lighter colour of paint - I hope it looks o.k. Anyway, I may be left with the finishing up work, because Todd will be going to sea on Wednesday afternoon - he'll be gone for two weeks. If I were the ambitious type, I would slap a new coat of paint on the kitchen while he's away... sadly, I am better at thinking up new jobs than I am at actually doing them :) The kitchen would look so nice with a nice new coat of yellow/cream... *sigh*
Oh, a bit of news: Eric has got himself a job, starting Tuesday. He will be washing tons of dishes, 40 hours/wk, for a party rental place. It's only minimum wage, but it's full time, no nights or weekends. I hope he takes it seriously and does some decent work. He has been a little more cheerful since he was hired, but he still took off for the weekend before he did his required chores. Ah well, I guess you can't have it all.
Caitlyn will be having some kind of in-home evaluation this Wednesday, to see how she behaves in her own environment, and to measure her level of communication, I guess. I am not really sure exactly what it's for - we're still waiting for an appointment date with hearing specialists and developmental specialists, but I guess this is just part of the process. She still hasn't said a single word, which is funny considering how much noise she can make! She is still the most beautiful little girl in the world, though, in my considered opinion :)
So, a busy week ahead. With any luck, I'll be able to blog again with updates, while they're still news :)

R D F

The forecast for Spring in St. John's: R(ain) D(rizzle) and F(og). That makes going for walks, working in the garden, even just stepping outside, less than appealing. So, we are staying in and trying to get some inside Spring chores done. Since Eric is home all the time these days, I have made him my personal assistant, and have lots of make-work projects to keep him busy. Oddly enough, he is not thrilled. Nevertheless, he will be changing hard-to-reach light bulbs, washing dishes, vaccuuming, and so on, until he finds a job. I just hope my arm doesn't get tired from all this whip-cracking. We have some necessary renovations to do too - the fan in the bathroom is not working, and the ceiling is peeling paint and getting moldy; probably have to paint the walls in there too. So, there really is lots to do inside, but I am really yearning for some sunny warmth - I think cabin fever is making us all crankier than usual, and yard work actually sounds appealing. Well, maybe not to all of us (Eric does not find yard work appealing)...

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

It seems that every day is becoming a struggle, and things are getting tense. Eric is stomping and slamming around all the time - it's very hard to put on a smile and play with babies when there's a gigantic 18-year-old having temper tantrums all over the place. It started like this:
After Eric moved out in December, he decided that his place of work was too hard to get to, so he just stopped going. Need cash? No prob - mooch off of your friends. His roommate was paying his rent for him. He lost a nice bit of weight too, 'cause what little cash he could scrounge went for cigarettes and booze. A great life, if you don't care that you're sleeping on the floor and bumming off your friends.
So, we go to visit Grandma for a couple weeks, during which time his roommate gets arrested for theft and fraud, and the apartment is essentially abandoned. Eric is homeless. I told him he could come back, with some conditions. This is where the cruel and unusual punishment comes in, as far as Eric is concerned... Because he has dropped out of school, he will need to start working as soon as we get back from our Easter vacation, and he will pay room and board. He knows if he goes back to school he can live here for free. So, he agrees - as soon as we are back home, he will find work. That was a month ago. Guess what? He's not working, he's not looking, he's not in school, and he's not helping around the house. He wants to sleep all day, while the others go off to school and work, and I am here with two small babies.
As if that wouldn't cause enough tension, he has to be forced to do the smallest things. He's punching walls and furniture bacause I want him to rake the front yard. He's slamming doors and stomping because I force him off the computer and into the shower - you can't get a job if you aren't even clean. He's printed off a ton of resumes, with a phone number he can't even answer (his cell phone charger is in another town somewhere) - not that it matters, since they've just been sitting on my desk for weeks anyway. Todd even did some research for him through the Job Bank and youth employment initiatives, but Eric is not interested in anything that might teach him how to be employable.
I am going crazy. Todd and I are trying really hard not to let Eric become our latest battleground. The tension is almost unbearable. I am angry and disappointed and frustrated with this selfish kid, and I don't know how to change that. If you ask me, his presence here has become cruel and unusual punishment. And that makes me sad.