Another Saturday, Another Pile of Laundry.

Another beautiful spring morning, too. Cool little eddies of air moving around the rooms and I'm the only one awake to enjoy them. Such bliss!

KidThree is going to her bio-mother's home today to get her hair done. The girl who does it doesn't want to come out to the town where we live, so we go to her. The hair-beautification process takes all weekend, so I will get another day and a half or so to myself after I drop KidThree off.

Goals for this weekend--finish straightening up the living room and then process all the odd bits of paper and mail that have accumulated over the past several weeks. As part of that process, I'll get our next packet ready to send to Victims' Comp, to get reimbursed for some of the necessaries that we have to buy. Victims' Comp is a program that is supposed to reimburse state residents for expenses necessitated because of a violent crime, such as the shooting of KidThree and her consequent paraplegia. It can't possibly cover all the little expenses that crop up, but it helps with a lot of them. It is about as logistically onerous as a government bureaucracy can possibly get, but eventually it is possible to pry money out of them. This next packet of paperwork can't be sent out right away, as it also needs a letter from KidThree's primary care provider and copies of the denial letters from the insurance, but at least I can get it all in order so when those letters arrive, I can send the whole thing out.

As part of clearing the living room today, I'll get the tv table set-up completed. My power drill/screwdriver died just as I finished removing the legs from another table we had, so I couldn't put the legs on the tv table. Now the drill is all charged up and ready to go. That will be a nice accomplishment, to have that in its finished state. When KidOne and I were originally setting it up, she dropped the vcr and dvd player; neither of them is now working. That is seriously annoying, as I like to watch my own movies while working. New movies on cable aren't good for that, as those need to be paid attention to, while with my own movies, I know the stories well enough that I don't have to focus so much and can work done while watching them. My birthday is Monday. Maybe someone will send me a few dollars so I can at least get a new dvd player. A new vcr can wait.

KidFour returns Sunday evening for two days. She has an appt with a healthcare provider here in town on Monday and then Tuesday has her regular appt with her Independent Study teacher, then she leaves and does not get to return. This is the first time I've ever told a kid that she had to go. Over the years, kids have come to stay for anywhere from a few days to a few months, and this is the first one I've had to evict. It has been very difficult. KidFour is the first one I've had who flat out refused to do anything to contribute to the household. I've had lazy kids before, sloppy kids, troubled kids, but never a kid with such a strong sense that the world owed her everything. Hmmm. I do hope KidFour will be okay. She is still a relation and I still love her; I just don't have the resources to continue providing her a home while she decides if she is going to straighten herself out or not. She is going to return to her father's home, as things there have supposedly been improving. Of course, a lot of that improvement was probably caused by KidFour's departure and the consequent reduction in tension; it will be interesting to see what happens when she returns and the stress levels there rise.

Wednesday this week I am not working, so that day will be spent trying to get KidThree's room cleared out. KidFour's bed and bureau will go on craigslist, as she doesn't need them at her father's. Then KidThree's own furniture can be placed so she has maximum accessibility. Everything is plotted out in my head--it is only waiting until Wednesday to be carried out. KidOne will be available that afternoon and evening to help with the actual furniture moving after I spend the morning clearing out all the smaller detritus and getting things generally cleaned up. Much easier to clean first and then move things than to move things and then try to clean.

KidOne suggested yesterday that we should have only a twin bed in the living room instead of the full-size that is there now. KidThree concurred. So, I hopped on the internet and looked up twin beds at Ikea and found one that should be just right. We will be able to afford it if I can get the Victims' Comp packet out quickly. My long-term goal for the living room is to have it completed by the end of June.

And now off to be with KidThree for a bit.

A