Update on life - and more cards!

OK - so do you want the GOOD stuff first, or the BAD stuff first? I think I'll just get the crappy part over with and tell you about my day. I got a phone call at work around 9:30 a.m. this morning that Trevor had been suspended. Yes, again. For four days, for fighting. I just brought him back to school YESTERDAY after a 2-day suspension, and I had woken up yesterday feeling hot and sick and icky, so I left work early and came home. So anyway, Trevor's teacher called me and said I had to go up to the school to get him right away and I started crying and said something about letting him quit school, that I can't take it any more and I cannot go through three more years of this. She said that probably wouldn't be in Trevor's best interests, God bless her. She hasn't known me long enough yet to know that I am a bit dramatic. But I won't lie, I truly felt that way at the time. What a shitty feeling.

So I was very upset and I started packing up my laptop and stuff, and Michelle came into my office and said "You are NOT driving like this, I'm coming and I'll drive." What in the world would I do without my sister? What in the name of GOD would I do if I did not work with her, and have her there to rescue me? Man, I hope I never have to find out. When I was offered a job at another school this past Summer, and I considered it, the first question my kids asked was, "What about auntie?" Michelle and I got a kick out of it - but now I realize my kids can be smarter than me sometimes - what they really meant was "what will you do without auntie?" And I don't ever want to find out the answer to that! LOL Anyway - she drove me up there, and she calmed me down on the way.

When I got there, Trevor came walking out and I said "What happened?" He said very calmly, "Some kid asked me what I was looking at, I said nothing. He pushed me, I pushed him back. He pushed me again, I pushed him back. He told me to hit him and I said no, I don't want to fight you. He started punching me, and I punched him back." So I looked at the principal and I said "So what was he SUPPOSED to do?" And he said "Find a teacher." I said something about how he was suspended last week for telling a smelly kid that he smells, after the smelly kid stuck his stinky armpit in Trev's face (and several other kids). And the principal said to me, "That was hazing." I said "If you really consider that hazing, can I ask you if there were a lot of other kids who were suspended for that, as well?" and he snidely said "No, we only single your kid out."

Are you f***ing kidding me? OH NO HE DIDN'T! I admit it, I used a curse word at him. I said, "Do NOT be a smart ass to me." He said "You are being disrespectful." By now, I'm crying and I said "No, YOU are being disrespectful by being sarcastic to a question I asked you." My sister then made me sit down and she tried to speak calmly to him. He was arrogant and condescending and uncaring and within minutes, SHE was crying and yelling, too. She said, "Can't you tell this poor girl that you CARE about her kid, that you CARE about everything she's been through and that you can HELP THEM?" All the while, Trevor's 2 teachers, who I adore, are consoling both Trevor and myself, reassuring us both that Trevor has been doing FANTASTIC in their classes and that they are not giving up on him.

Can you even believe it? My cousin Angela said that my life is like a movie and I had to laugh - sometimes it feels like that, and I will tell you something, SOME DAY this girl is going to write a book, I assure you. Maybe I'll sign a copy for you. Tomorrow I have the already-scheduled TEAM meeting for Trev - so he is coming with me to the school and we meet with the teachers and the special ed department, etc. One of my suggestions is going to be that he be moved out of Language Arts into Social Skills, which would keep him in the classroom for one more period. The less time in the halls for him, the better. My other suggestion is going to be for him to have an escort in between classes in the halls - maybe a student who is a trusted senior or something. I don't know. I'm also going to meet with a lawyer to discuss this whole situation, because quite frankly I have had it with having to fight just to get Trevor the education that he so desperately needs and that he deserves. He is so smart, and he's missing out on learning. School has not even been in for a month and he's got 6 absences because of suspensions. It's like they just don't want to deal with him, so they suspend him, and I won't have it. I'm an educated woman, and I know that I have rights, that TREVOR has rights. I have never liked the idea of lawsuits and having to force people to do what's right, it seems so ridiculous.

Anyway, I'll let you know what happens tomorrow. My sister (my Godsend) and Trevor's counselor (well, she's really the whole family's counselor!) are both coming with me. Jeremy has school full-time this week in Boston and I don't want him missing it. He'd come if I needed him to, and I'd need him to if I didn't have Michelle. But I do. So I don't. It'll be fine, I'm already feeling better tonight, and I am trying to stay positive and remember that everything happens for a reason and something good WILL end up coming of this. I just have to believe that.

So OK - now on to the good stuff - I have been stamping like a maniac lately and I wanted to share some of my latest creations.

Halloween stuff:

These are 2 cards that I made for a card contest in a magazine:

And these are just some more I made:

OK I'm tired and I need a good night's sleep. Later!