Sister brought her new son to visit and meet us. We all like him very much.

Sister has been a foster parent/adoptive parent for a long time.  She adopted her first child from Korea 18 years ago,  she is a lovely girl our Girlie, she was officially adopted on mine and Poppie's 13th anniversary.  She is a loved and vital part of Sister and Brothers family, as well as the whole extended family.  Sister and Brother have had a couple of foster children placed with them over the years, they were therapeutic foster care so the children were in need of extra attention.  Due to different circumstances both of the placements eventually did not work out.  One was very long term, the child had been in and out of Sisters home for around 10 years and has now gone on to a new home, I pray the placement is a good fit for the child.  They had a second child that eventually was placed back with the child's mother, good or bad it was the decision of the system.  Each time Sister and Brother were heartbroken but knew that God had had the control in the path of either lives.  I always told Sister that God would send them the right child for their family, in his time, and that maybe they were only called to be inspirational in the children lives that had come and had had to leave. 

Sister and Brother are just getting a new child this week, he is not therapeutic, as Sister is no longer able to have therapeutic children with her health issues.  He is a child that needs a forever home, he is the age where that is the least likely to happen, a teenager.  Sister and Brother are so excited to have him in their homes and lives.  Girlie is happy to have him, as is Niecy and Nephew, and their families. He is happy to come and live in a new town, or is trying to make it his new life, and all seems to be going wonderfully. 

Sister brought him down to meet us yesterday.  He is so eager to be included in the family, he was very gentle and nice to all the little ones that were here, Cubbie, Boy, Curious and Cartoons, they all loved him.  He was good with all the dogs that needed petted from him.  He just seemed to want to be a part of us all, he seemed to be looking at us as his new family, which was never the case with the other kids that Sister had.   He just seems to fit and wants to so badly.  I think for now I will call him, Family, I hope to always.  He is perfect for Sister and Brothers family, he may just be the one to complete them. 

Poppie is to be taking him to school so was excited to get to meet him. The girls weren't home so they will meet him on Monday, but I am sure like every one else they will like him.  I am not unaware that there will be growing pains along the way, all families have to have them but with such good intent and eagerness for acceptance, on both sides, at the beginning of the experience, I have such hope for the love to come and the family and life building they will have in all of their futures..... tomorrow.

CAKLS and my blog have given me an adult voice that I don't often get, Love Poppie but there is only so much he wants to talk about.

I am a bit of a reclusive person, I am not sure it is my nature as much as my nurture.  My mother, as she got older, became a recluse; I watched the process and it distressed me then and now.  I am not sure I am a recluse in the same way.  I do know of us three siblings that live in my neighborhood I am probably the most out going.  I am not sure exactly why my mother became reclusive, if it was due to the stress of life, lack of her two mothers or just a need to only spend time with family.  I do know that it had a great effect on all of her children.  We are not all good at socializing.  I would say that most people would say we are nice and open when we meet people but the building of meaningful relationships comes hard.  I think sometimes, at least for me, it is hard to take the time to do it. I usually have things I have to do and taking the time to visit is hard to plan.  I think that is a mind set that I got from the childhood family.  I do remember a time when it wasn't so, but I am not sure some of my younger siblings remember that time in their lives, it wasn't even there is some of the younger ones lives.  I would say my mother started becoming a recluse in about 1972 the year we moved to Plains.  I don't really know why there were so many wonderful people there but she didn't always click with them and became less and less out going.  The funny thing is that Plains is probably the place of my mom's fondest memories.  I would say that that is an oxymoron. 

I am one of those people that you either like or you don't.  I am to out spoken for some people, but you never have to wonder where you stand with me.  I am a person that rarely changes my likes, people and things I like stay with me the whole of my life.  I don't have time for silliness or games and have learned to just walk away because they are a waste of time.  I am a loyal person and try to give to those in need.  I am usually a good judge of character when I meet people.  I do know that I make mistakes so when I meet someone, and don't particularly like them at first, I make sure to give them a chance until they proof or disprove my first impression, generally it turns out my impression was correct but not always.  I have few friends but the ones I have understand me and love me anyway. 

I have family and friends that I invite to my house, and some feel comfortable enough to drop by.  I am private in who I invite to my house. I rarely am invited to other peoples home, I do have a couple of dear friends who love me and enjoy having me in their homes.  I am a messy house keeper, it is not that I am a pig it is just that there is only so much time to do things in one day and as an at home artist I have to make choices of which is the more important use of my time.  I don't always choose to have the spotlessly clean house, if I did it would consume my time and I would never get anything else done.  I make the choice and I know that some people don't agree with me on that but I also don't make my children do all the cleaning that I won't or don't do, I can't say that about all of the people I know.  I am the cleaner of my house and my ladies assist me but are not my slaves. 

I love to talk to adults, and miss that, now that I no longer work at the 911 dispatch here in town.  I did like the adult conversations that I got to have there.  I miss the people I helped doing the job, I don't miss the politics and underplay of the job.  I miss the HelpLine for the same reason but for about 5 years after I quit both I could not answer the phone because of the anxiety it caused me.  I have been answering the phone for about 2 years know and am more comfortable with it.  I still don't like talking on the phone for long periods of time with most people but I am getting better.  Goofy understands and knows I will only talk a few minutes or so before I get one of the girls to talk with her.  I almost never call my mom or friends it is still hard for me to do.  I think in the long run it was just a matter of the combined calls from both of the jobs at once that lead to me aversion to the phone. 

I do love to go to CAKLS, I have meant some really nice woman and have come to consider them my friends.  They are a different sort of friends.  Most of them have no interest in my personal life and don't know or want to know where I live.  We get to talk about any subject we want and enjoy the sharing.  Poppie is glad that I go to CAKLS as he talks to me, maybe alot more than some husbands, as we are almost always in each others company. We talk openly and honestly and have no secrets.  Poppie also like for me to get to talk to others so he doesn't have to have that particular conversation.  He loves me but sometimes just wants to talk about animals, how to build what building or what to plant in the garden, all much more conversations that complete Poppie.  I sometimes just need my Sister or a friend to talk to, not all of my friends can long term take my drivel or intensity, or maybe it is that I more needy than they have time for and I understand that too well...... tomorrow.

The second graders had a great time I think, I know we here did.

The second graders arrived with excitement and smiles on their faces.  The got to pet the little goat and the fiber goat. They got to experience the differences of their coats, one rough and bristly and the other soft and a little oily.  Lovey/Dexter, his name is actually Yogie's little Lovey but as Cubbie's Dexter was sold and she doesn't quite understand she calls him Dexter.  Poppie calls him a her, and as he is a wither it doesn't really matter, but Poppie thinks he is to cute to be a boy.  The little troop of kids then got to go see Mokie's, red and white or pink, piggies; The got to see the large momma, and the great big daddy pig.  The kids had so many questions, their teacher Mrs. Cooper tried to channel the question asking. I am think future stories and papers will be written for their learning experience. We continued on to mine big goat pen, all of Mokie's and my goats are currently together, but for the two little ones.  They are being breed, Poppie before the children arrived tied Caesar up to a post as he is in rut, we just did it as a precaution for the kids protection.  He was a doll and was curious about the kids. They got to smell him in his musk, still not nearly as stinky as a diary goat.  He smelled the air at the scent of all the children, they got their picture taken in front of him.  The does mosey around and found the children of little interest.  We then went to our momma and baby pig pen. They got to see all of the black and white or pink spotty babies.  Poppie picked one up but the little guy wouldn't stop squealing which made momma upset and the kids did not get to pet him.  They did get to see the momma telling her babies to take cover.  We let her calm down and then all the babies were shooed out to the children.  They got to go around and see them from the wooden wall of their inside pen as well.  They were a chattering happy little bunch of kids.  I then went to the turkey pen to bring out Thanksgiving.  I had made sure to capture his wings so he didn't flap them.  All the kids, that wanted to, got to pet him and look in his mouth and check out how his eyes blinked.  I then gave all the visitors a little bar of soap and a peacock feather.  The kids had gotten to see the peacocks, the geese and duck from afar as they are all free roaming.  They saw the chickens through the chicken fence.  They had gone at such a fast second grader pace, the hour and a half visit had only taken around forty five minutes and the bus was not to be back for another forty five minute.  Mrs. Cooper called him to come and we took the kids back to Mokie's pen,  She picked up a piglet to pet, and they managed to pet him a little before he squealed enough to upset his momma.  Some of the kids did get to touch the babies through the fence.  They were patient enough and the little piggies came over to their finger tips.  Shortly there after the bus returned to take them across the valley to Lady Knitters little farm to further their afternoon of fun filled farm visiting. 

Poppie went to the Doctor, his one arm said he had high blood pressure and the other arm was fine, so they are going to see why that would be.  He had blood tests, because of his long term pain med use.  He had a metabolic test, vitamin D and testosterone test.  They will have to send some of the tests out for the results so he won't know the results until Friday.  Maybe the Doctor will be able to adjust Poppie a bit and get him more on kilter.  Poppie was encouraged by his visit.  The girls had gone with him as he had picked them up from school on the way.  They got to watch him get his blood drawn.  Booboo said the kids didn't get their peacock feathers, which I had given Mrs. Cooper, they were so excited they didn't calm down.  She is holding them until they have a nice calm school day, smart lady.  I managed to get to go to CAKLS, had a nice visit with Teacher, and a new member,   The interim minister's wife for the Assembly of God Church, she knows my brother Red and his family and we had both attended his wedding, it always amazes me how small this world really is...... tomorrow.