I got a call yesterday from the college where I’m doing my GED through, they are changing my testing dates. I won’t be able to test until May. I am disappointed that they are putting it off. I have a lot of run-around from them lately with the whole GED thing. I was supposed to take the Pre-GED tests on a certain day in March and when I show up at the place that THEY designated months before, at the time that THEY designated months before- no one was there!!!! I was sent all over creation, from building to building (my feet were sore after that night!) and no one could give me a straight answer. Turns out the instructor couldn’t make it but they didn’t do anything about it. It was extremely frustrating. And now they are postponing the evening tests for a month. Grrrrr. I want to just take the tests and get them over with. I want to be able to weigh my options for school in the fall, which actually starts in the middle of August. But they are making it a tight window of decision time by waiting until the middle of May to allow a test. Did I mention that this frustrates me? I could take an earlier test, during the day, but I’d have to arrange day care for Elaina for 2 days running and I’m not sure I could do it. Which actually doesn’t bode well for me come August when I’d need care nearly full time for her. This will be a wait and see situation I think.
Another on the list of my frustrations is my son. I really don’t like this pre-teen age (he’ll be 13 in Sept.) and I hear it only gets worse for a few years. That is heartening!! He is so intelligent and yet he brings home a report card with D’s on it. Grades that went from a B to a D in the course of 4.5 weeks!!! And every day we ask him where his homework is, and remind him every day to do his homework. He tells us one of two things: ‘I don’t have any.’ or ‘I did it.’ Both of these statement tick me off. The ‘I don’t have any.’ is the worst because he’s lying, flat-out, each day. He has homework, just doesn’t bother to bring it home. And the ‘I did it.’ wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that after he does it, he doesn’t turn it in!!! I don’t understand him. I really don’t. He could get straight A’s with minimal effort. I’m talking- doing the absolute least possible (like turning in assignments) could get him an A. He’s just naturally intelligent. But he’s gotten an F this year already and 3 D’s!!! So- we have to kill him. Or ground him. Whichever. We’ve taken away the Wii, PS2 and computer until the end of the school year. Told him he can’t try out for drums in band (he’s on flute now) because that is a privilege that he needs to earn and he obviously hasn’t done that. He can not accept any invitations to associate w/ friends in their homes until the final report card comes in w/ improved grades. Friends of ours host an end of school party each year on the last day of school. If he doesn’t bring his grades up significantly, he will stay home. So, basically all the fun has been sucked out of his life for the next 9 weeks. Potentially longer if he chooses to continue on his present course. We’ll see if this makes any difference for him. Our big issue is that consequences seem to mean so little to him anymore. It’s hard to think of a punishment that will have enough of an impact on his pre-teen-boy-brain to make a difference. Or sink in. Do boys in his age group have a special brain armor that repels logical reasoning? Are they hard-wired to learn the hard way??? It must be, because he’s so insistent on learning the hard way!!
But some good news, news that cheers me to no end- my eBay auctions are doing awesome!! I have 12 currently running (w/ tons more to come) and several have bids already and all but 2 or 3 are being watched already. !!!! This thrills me more than I can say. LOL I listed a 3 yard piece of pure cashmere last night. I’m very curious to see how it does because pure cashmere goes for almost $200 on the auctions I’ve found. It’s rare on eBay, only a couple of people sell it at all. I have tons of silks to go through and several pieces of dupioni silk to list. I love dupioni silk, it’s a favorite fabric of mine. It’s hard to let it go and not toss it in my 50-pound stash pile. I bought a plastic 3-drawer cart from Wal*Mart to store all the fabric I bought last week. I loaded it up and it all fit except 3 pieces. Pretty good, I thought! Until I tried to move it and it basically fell apart under the weight of the fabric. LOL Even with wheels on, it can’t handle the stress! Umm, yah. That’s a lot of fabric. LOL I really don’t need more. But when I come across a piece that I love the feel of or love how it drapes or is just beautiful to look at, it’s so hard to resist. I call it my crack addiction. LOL Is there a ‘fabricaholic’s anonymous’??? Do they have a 12-step program for fabric hoarders?? I’m sure I’d qualify. heh Now I just need to start making things with all of this fabulous stuff. I’ve been so busy/preoccupied with dental issues (had a tooth pulled 2 weeks ago), having company and now listing all this stuff on eBay, I haven’t done even one thing towards sewing for nearly 3 weeks. And I owe my daughter and sister a dress. I think I’ll have to take a break from eBay for a week and just sew, sew, sew. This is where my obsessive tendencies kick in. I get a very ‘one-track’ mind set and focus all my attention to one thing and most other things get pushed to the back burner for a while. I don’t have the ability to multi-task- do some sewing, some eBay-selling, some cleaning, some this and some that- all at the same time. It seems to be all or nothing with me. That is a trait that I HATE about myself. But I am what I am. And right now I am obsessed with fabric and eBay. And as with all good obsessions, this too shall pass. 
