Thank the Gods it's Friday!

It's been a bit, huh? I've meant to drop in a few times over the last couple weeks to say "what's up" but, well, I didn't. Time just seems to get away from me lately, it's actually running neck and neck with money these days. Sigh.

It's been a perfectly unpleasant few weeks in my world. I'm pushing for August to get here already because July has straight sucked.

On Tuesday the 3rd I got a call from Drew while I was standing in line at the bank, he'd been struggling with a nasty fever since Sunday and though that wasn't getting any better, it was his leg that was worrying him. As much as he detests doctors, he felt it was time to seek medical advice. Our doctor was out of town until the 11th so the Emergency Room was really our only choice. I drove back to work, shut everything down and headed off to scoop him up.

The ER was unusually quiet that evening (thank the gods) and we were registered, through triage, back in a room and conversing with a doctor in under twenty minutes. Drew's leg did look bad, the skin was mottled, swollen and badly inflamed from his ankle to just above his knee. The doctor pretty much knew right from the start that it was cellulitis but they took blood and X-rays and ran their tests. It was the diabetes (Drew's sugar was a bit over 330) that forced the doctor to admit him. So they wheeled Drew up to the 3rd floor, got him settled in a room and I sat with him until they finally kicked me out because it was past visiting hours.

We (my mom, Christie, Sarah, Cameron, Drew and myself) were supposed to spend the 4th at the beach picnicing and whatnot until it was time for fireworks. But, with Drew in the hospital, the day didn't go as planned. I couldn't (or wouldn't) let Drew sit all alone in a hospital while we were off enjoying the holiday so I sent Cameron with my mom, Christie and Sarah to beach it as planned and I headed out to spend the day with Drew. I stopped and bought him a sketch pad and some pencils, picked up his favorite magazine from the bookstore and some lunch at Baja Fresh (he hates hospital food) and we just spent the day talking and watching TV. And, since his "roommate" was released earlier in the day, we opened the curtains in his room and managed to catch some fireworks too.

They kept Drew until Friday, dosing him with tons of IV antibiotics, insulin and sugar pills. He's still on the sugar pills (the insulin will need to be discussed with his doctor, he has an appointment this morning) and oral antibiotics for his leg, which isn't completely healed but looks a LOT better. So all is as well as it can be there.

Cameron left with his grandparents (Drew's parents) on Friday the 13th to spend a few weeks in High Springs. I was going to be at work when they came to pick him up so I wouldn't be there to explain his "Behavior Program" or the "Behavior Chart" we've been doing with him. Because Cameron's psychologist explained that it was imperative he continue the program as he normally would at home I tried to explain it to Mara over the phone a couple evenings before they were to come and get him but she was completely disinterested so I asked my dad to explain it to her before they left.

And he tried, he really did, but Drew's mother cut him off with her snotty "I-know-everything" attitude and told my dad that, and I quote, "I've never had a problem when Cameron is with me, he behaves perfectly. Children will behave how they're taught to behave and if you teach them to behave well, they will. I'll take her chart but I don't know that I'll do anything with it." Needless to say, I wasn't happy with what I considered a blatant "fuck you" and decided that I'd call her myself and if she didn't listen and agree to do what I asked we'd just come and pick Cameron up. We, Drew and I, tried to reach her over the weekend because we knew she'd be in Miami visiting family until Sunday but, of course, we couldn't get ahold of her.

She called me on Monday afternoon when they reached High Springs (when, I'm figuring, she knew picking him up would be a bitch for us since it's six hours away as opposed to one) and again I tried to calmly explain it all to her. It didn't go well. AT ALL. In short, she told me I'm a bad parent, I treat Cameron like a heathen and not a human being so it's no wonder he behaves for me the way he does, I've never been smart enough to listen to her and take advantage of her vast "experience" as a parent because if I had I wouldn't be having any troule with Cameron, I'm wasting my money on this stupid psychiatrist (I didn't bother to explain it's a psychologist not a psychiatrist) because if I'd just listen to her and learn to how to parent correctly there wouldn't be any need for one. Oh, there's more but you get the point.

Well, let me tell you, I'm NOT going to take that shit from ANYONE least of all someone who doesn't deign to bother herself with Cameron until she's ready to see him which is no more than once or twice a year. I've done everything I can to make Cameron happy and to get him the help he needs and I absolutely will not tolerate having everything I've done thrown back in my face like it's nothing. So the calm I began the conversation with went straight out the window and I got unquestionably rude and more than a bit nasty with her. And when I was done, I had Drew call her and since neither of them particularly like the other that conversation wasn't pleasant for her either. I can't bring myself to care.

In the end, we didn't drive the six hours to pick Cameron up because she assured Drew that she'd do as we asked. But, seeing as every time she's had him call since it's been Niel (Drew's brother) who puts Cameron on the phone, I don't believe her and I are on speaking terms. Again, I can't bring myself to care. The really sad thing to me is, all this bullshit was over a simple piece of paper. Though that simple piece of paper has done more to help Cameron than I could possibly explain, she didn't have to agree with the concept or the program, all she really had to do was let the child put the stars on the chart at night before bed so he wouldn't lose the small sense of control that chart has helped him achieve.

Anyway, it's Friday and since Cameron's been away my mom, Christie and I have turned Friday into "Girls Night"--movies and popcorn and games and dessert. Last Friday it was "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Don't Say a Word" with ice cream and cupcakes. I'm not sure what movies we'll watch tonight but I know there'll be tacos, a game of "Clue" and brownies--yum.

I hope you all have a fun night and an equally as pleasant weekend.