A few thoughts, and a little news.

I really think Em would prefer not to be around Bub at all, at least not without me present. And that if he were to ever just fade away, she'd probably be perfectly fine with it (I know I sure would!!) Now that the novelty of fun daddy has worn off and she realizes that he is essentially still the same asshole he always was, she really doesn't want to have much to do with him anymore (really though, who could blame her?). She doesn't want to spend any time at his house, preferring instead to have him visit her here (oh goody, yay for me!), and she hasn't wanted to spend the night with him at all lately. Well, I take that back, she thought she did once after we got back from CA, but she changed her mind at about 11:30 that night and called me to come take her home saying she was homesick and missed me. And she hasn't wanted to again since. She was supposed to spend the day with him Saturday (giving me a much needed mommy break) but she chickened out at the last minute and begged me to allow her to change the plans so that we could all do something together rather than her having to spend the day alone with him. *Just a quick note here, none of this is under the quise of her trying to get us to reconcile. She has made it abundantly clear that she much prefers our new life now that she doesn't have to deal with him on a daily basis. She simply doesn't want to be alone with him and feels much better when I'm there to protect and comfort her when he's being himself. So instead, we all ended up going to the dollar theater together to see The Wild, (cute, but YAAAAAWN) then we went over to the mall where Em got a mini Bub lecture on her behavior, but nothing we couldn't handle. Then we stopped in at one of the stores that we always like to go to where they have this big hermit crab collection for sale. Em has always been fascinated by these creepy crawly things in brightly colored painted shells, wishing she, herself could take one home for her own. Knowing this, I had previously (secretly) purchased a hermit crab tank with all the fixins (rocks, food, etc.) at a yard sale with the intention on getting her a hermit crab when the time was right. Well... Bub apparently thought that time was now because he asked what I thought about him getting her one. I told him that I already had the stuff and had been planning on getting her one myself. Ohhh, but you took the fish tank, he whined. You know I want her to have a pet a my house too, and it's not fair if you get both (blah blah blah, whaaaaa!) OMG, whatever! Sure, fine, you get it for her. All that matters is that she has one, not who buys it for her (ya big freakin' baby!). Then he starts acting all concerned (bullshit) saying are you sure you're okay with it? Well no, I'm disappointed, but oh well. Guess that was sufficient enough cause he got her not one, but two creepy little monsters. Now, this was all with the understanding that they would be kept at Bub's house, her pets, but they would reside with him. Yeah, well that didn't even last through the ride home. Once Em started reading the care instructions and he realized just how big of a responsibility they were going to be, he changed his tune real quick. Oh, maybe you should keep them at your house, I just don't think I would remember to feed them when I'm supposed to, I wouldn't want them to die or anything. Good lord, is it really so much trouble to feed them and bathe them and make sure their needs are met? Apparently so. Really though, what did I expect? He never could manage to do those things with any of the pets we've ever had, or even our own daughter for that matter, so why would it be any different now? Anyway, Hermie and Sunshine now reside here, and the fish tank will soon be making it's way to Bub's house, in an effort to be fair. (rolls eyes)

My SIL came to town with my niece and nephews in tow on Friday to help me with getting my car worked on. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but she accidentaly backed her van into mine during our 4th. of July BBQ at their house. We weren't in the car, and no one was hurt, but it did leave a (small) dent, and she was completely mortified. Poor thing, she's still kicking herself for that one. Anyway, I thought the incident was more humorous than anything, telling her not to even worry about it as the dent was absolutely no big deal and certainly didn't need repair. But she wouldn't hear of it, and neither would my brother. They insisted on getting it fixed no matter how much fuss I put up about it. Okay fine! So I begrudgingly went and got an estimate for, get this... $786.54! Oh come on already! There was no way I was gonna let them take care of almost 800 bucks worth of repair, insurance or not! But at least the shop I took it to was able to refer me to someone who specializes in these kind of little dings and dents for a mere fraction of the cost. So my SIL met me at the shop and we got it all taken care of in just a few hours for the much more reasonable price of $85.00. Now that's what I'm talkin bout! Anyway, while they were working out the kinks, SIL wanted to go shopping. Apparently just paying for the repairs wasn't enough to clear her guilty conscience. Oh nooooo, she thought a little retail therapy was highly in order, so she decided to buy Em some new clothes. Oy vey! I protested, of course, but yet again, she wouldn't hear of it, so I relented and allowed her to pick up a few things that Em liked from the clearance racks at WalMart. I think that finally made her happy... but we'll see! Gee, what if she had done some real damage? I could've got all of Em's back to school supplies taken care of, DAMN! ;D

And now, some news. Looks like I've got myself a second job. That telephone work I mentioned has come through, and I'm supposed to start training for it Monday at 9:00 am. I'm having major butterflies and second thoughts. I'm not completely certain I can handle the extra hours, especially now while Em's out for Summer break. But I'm gonna give it my best shot and hope that it works out. I really need the money, but... well, it's change dammit! And we all know how much I adore change. Plus, I have sooooo much freedom with my current job. Pretty much, as long as I make sure the church ladies are happy and taken care of, I can come and go and do as I please. But this second job requires a commitment of so many hours of phone time a day, to be completed at my discretion as long as it's during normal working hours. Luckily, my current job is so laid back that I can take on this type of commitment, but it's the loss of my free time that has me so worried. I mean, as it stands right now, Em pretty much has my attention most of the time. She understands that I do work, and that she has to be quiet while I'm on the phone, but for the most part, we can do what we please throughout the day. Now... I dunno? I'm worried that it won't be fair to her that she has to be stuck here being extra quiet for so much more of the day. I'm worried that I should have waited until school starts before pursuing additional income. But since the opportunity arose, I couldn't justify passing it up. I'm worried about finding the time for exercise and personal interests (like my blog and those of others). And I'm worried that I'll end up not performing up to my own expectations as well as those of my bosses while trying to juggle two separate jobs. Basically, I'm just worried... about everything. But what else is new, right? Anyway, this should be interesting to say the least. So wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!