And now I'm back.

Wow, has it really been almost two years since my last post? A lot has happened. For one, my nephew is NOT 15 months old anymore. AND he's got a sister! And she's almost 2 now! Will just turned 3 in December. He's potty trained, past his terrible two's, a darling big brother, AND he's in a preschool class instead of a nursery class! My brilliant little boy! Harleigh, his sister, will be two in June. So, she's about 19 months old. Or will be 19 months January 26th. She's just starting to talk in full sentences and calling everything "GAH!" But dangit, she's adorable. Lots of people say she looks like me. You be the judge. That's her with her big brother above. Does she look like me? Cuz I dunno.

So, I'm headed back to school. Now, those of you that have followed my blog know that my last blog states that I was going back to school. I did and I wound up taking a break and going through personal problems. So, now, I'm going back after a year off to get a job and a life. Now I'm ready to go back. I've changed my major. It's Psychology now. It'll be for social work or counseling. Probably the second one. I also got a job! I work at St. Dominic Hospital. Wild, I know. I take care of kiddies. Babies to be exact. But my schedule works out so that I can do school in the morning and work in the afternoon. It's gonna be stressful at first but I think it'll be okay. I can handle it. Other than that, my life is still the same. I still live at home and all that jazz. OH! And I have a boyfriend. But that's for another blog. Until next time, buh bye!

"School's In!"

I still can't believe it's already August and I'm already back in school. Yesterday was technically my first day. But I consider today to be my first day as well. My class schedule changed yesterday so, when I go back to my M/W classes tomorrow it'll be like first day all over again. Today was really just meant to meet the teachers. My Algebra teacher was the only one that did a lesson for the day. Everyone else didn't.

Well, I'm so close to receiving my Assosciate in Arts degree. I met with my counselor (which just happens to be the Dean of Student Affairs and I know him personally. He goes to my church. My hardest job is remembering when I see him at school, I'm suppose to refer to him as Dean Heindl (pronounced h-eye-n-dul) and not Michael, which is his first name. But I'm learning. But we sat down yesterday and had about an hour meeting looking at the classes that I would need. He managed to work around a whole bunch of red tape and made it easier on me. He had a layout of exactly how many more hours I need in order to graduate. Basically, I have to take 14 hours this semester, 12 hours next semester, and 12 hours in the next semester. Which means I'll be walking in the December graduate line. My parents are really pushing me to be the best I can be. Both them and I were hoping that I would be able to graduate in the spring but it is virtually impossible to handle that. So, that's what that is. The idea came up for me to take summer courses but one, it's too crammed, two, I won't get to walk, and three, I have a full time job during the summer. So, that was scratched out real quick. But my parents were generous enough to accept my idea to take yet another semester off when I graduate from Hinds. But because I want an apartment down in Hattiesburg and not a dorm, I have to come up with the money for a security deposit and also for month to month rent. I have a steady paycheck coming from the church because I work full time there. But what I will do is while I'm off that semester, I'm gonna look for a job and not spend any money on indulgences. It will be used for gas for my car, and my cell phone bill.

Michael also set my schedule in stone. He dropped me from Art Appreciation and added American Lit and Intro to Computer Concepts. My parents joke at me about the computer class. In fact, I was standing outside with my mom and dad and they were like "You better get an A in that class." My dad's a computer engineer. I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised going into the class. I'm excited. After tomorrow, I will have gone to every one of my classes.

Okay, I'm sleepy now. Bedtime!

"A Summer's Reflection"

Every year about this time, I do a blog about my summer. Well, I say blog but it's a journal. A written journal. But I figured since I got this thing yet I never post on it that I would do it on here. I usually do my reflection on events that have happened, either good or bad. So, shall we start? Yes, let's. We'll go by months, starting with May.

May 07 - Well, I finished school. I have to take College Algebra again (don't ask). I got a call from one of my good friends to watch her child who is six. I accepted, of course. Well, after that, I got a call from my neighbor. She has two little girls that she wanted me to watch. Of course, I accepted that. For the month of may, I was getting a weekly paycheck of about 200 dollars. Not bad, right? The kids stay with me from 7am-4pm. Pretty awesome. Things are going smoothly.

June 07 - The first part of the month was good. The paychecks were wonderful. Notice I said "were". I got a call from my neighbor. She explained that her husband is having issues with his shoulder and is not working until further notice. So, she said that the girls would stay with their father. I got a 125 dollar check from her. Now, I was only left with the paycheck I get from the little boy I watch. Which isn't bad. It's 60 dollars a week. It ain't anything to be sad about. Well, things got better. I started talking to this great guy named Keith. He is the sweetest guy ever. I never ever thought we would connect the way we did but we have. And he agrees. Him and I are fastly becoming best friends. He lives in Arkansas but he lived down here in Jackson for a while. He's such a great guy. I am attracted to him but I'm old fashioned. I'm waiting for him to make the first move. We'll see where this goes. Well, June wasn't all bad. I found out from the nursery worker at my church that I would be coming on as a full time paid worker. That check is a monthly check. Though it's monthly, the check itself is great. Roughly about 275 a month is where that stands.

July 07 - July's here already. I can't believe it. Just one more month and school starts. I've been concentrating on working. Jordan's a great little boy. I've found that since I've been saving a certain amount from my paychecks that I have a lot more money to splurge. I bought a couple of games that I've wanted for ages. I don't like asking my parents for money anymore since I get my own paycheck but there are times that I just have to. I.E. when my gas tank is touching the red and my car is sputtering. Splurging is fun and all but I need to learn to conserve enough money to maintain the gas in my car. I've found myself asking for gas money and it's no one's fault but my own. Plus it doesn't help the fact that I only have a 14 gallon tank. AND the ECG valve went out on it which sucks the gas right out of it. But it's been good for now. I'm working on it. In July, I found an old Super Nintendo system along with three classic games. All work great. I'm all excited. Not only that but according to Paul (my drum instructor) I'm doing great and he wants me to practice at church. The only problem is I'm shy when it comes to playing. So, I always put it off being too scared to do anything. I'll play the drum set in the choir room all day long but I won't play the one in the sanctuary. Not because I think I suck but I'm so scared to play it, thinking that everyone will come in and think that I suck. I've only been playing since November and I want to get better. So, I've been shy about that. My nephew came down to spend a week with us. His mom just had her second child and Will was to stay down here with me. That was good. He's so adorable. The last time he was down here, his hair was strawberry blonde. Now, it's blonde. Or, sandy blonde. But still just so adorable. He slept mostly in my room but not without me questioning why. That led to the first really big fight with my mother. Not fun. We made up but still.

August 07 - Not that much has happened yet. August 20 is when I start my classes. I'm excited to see Mary again. We have speech together. But again, I have to take college algebra again. Not fun. But Michael is the new Dean. I'm so excited. He's awesome. But August didn't come without problems. My mother and I got into another fight. And it was a stupid one too. I had an obligated family thing I had to go to. On my mom's dad's side of the family, we got some rich relatives. And my mother and I were invited to a wedding shower. I didn't mind but I had to dress up and deal with the stares from the relatives who know that I am not the richest of the family. Not only that but the person who planned the shower is a person that both my mother and I abhor. Seriously. She ain't a nice person. All throughout the shower, she was steadily edging up to get into the conversations that I was carrying on with my great Aunt Ann and my cousin Misty. When my mom came over to join our convo, the person planning the wedding saw that as an invitation and got as close as she could and started snapping pictures. I felt like a movie star because she was just like the paparazzi. So annoying! But no worries, my mother put her in her place and we continued our conversation about my grandmother, who was on the beach at the time of the shower. On the way home from the shower, we stopped by my brother Scott's house. I finally showed him how I played the drums. He had been bugging me to show off what I know or he'd know that I can't play. Well, I showed him that I could indeed play the drums. Well, once my impromtu play came and went, I was introduced to Jazzie, Scott's exgirlfriend's cat. She has caramel covered fur with some blonde in it. We found that she was fixed, house trained, and sweet natured. Mom caved and we adopted her. She lives with us now. We introduced her to the dog and the dog was scared of her. Quite amusing, actually. Jazzie went up to the door and hissed and growled at Dakota all the while, she is attempted to slice him through the plexiglass. Still in all, it's funny.

That's the summer as of this day, August 8. I bid you all farewell. MUWAH!

Courage under Pressure

I've calmed down since my last post. My mother and I have made up (as if anyone actually reads this thing lol) and we have a new respect for each other. She's being more receptive to my thoughts and ideas and I am giving her the same respect. We're communicating much better and I'm living my life as an "adult" in her eyes. Now, that being said, I have new responsibilities since I told her how I felt. I now completely pay for my own gas (which is about 10 dollars worth every week. i don't make enough money to put a full tank in it. 10 dollars usually gives me roughly 3 gallons of gas. Meaning I can go 100 miles before filling up again. During the summer, it's not that big of a deal but once school starts, I doubt 10 will get me through the entire week.) and I also am more independent when it comes to errands on the weekend. I play the drums and I have a lesson every Saturday. Before the email was fired to my mother, my father or her would take me because the drum lesson was way out on Lakeland Drive. Well, since then, I've expressed that I would be taking myself. It works out perfectly for me anyway. I can relax when I drive out there. I can get my thoughts straight and listen to music that has a good solid drum beat that I can follow. So, since my last blog, all has become well. Now, the reason for this blog.

I had to go to the bank today. I love it because I'm depositing my money that I worked for. Only bad part is I only get so much a week with babysitting. I get a good paycheck, mind you but the big paycheck I only get once a month. Then I get a paycheck from the other child I babysit which is usually what keeps my gas tank not on empty. But today was a bit different. I didn't have the seven year old. I got up early (as I always do when I have him) and unlocked the door. As I was coming back into my room, my cell phone buzzed telling me that I had a text. So, I got it out of my purse and checked it. It informed me that the seven year old would be staying with his stepdad. So, I had the day off. So, I came out of my room and into the living room. My mom's door was shut. Now, naturally since it's 7:30 in the morning, the first response is that she overslept. So, being the well behaved daughter that I am, I gently open her door and tell her it's 7:30. She informs me that she knows and she's staying home today to clean the house. Of course, that made a little light click on in my head saying that she should have some help cleaning. So, I told her I'd vacuum and dust as well as clean my bathroom and my bedroom. She told me that was fine but sent me on an errand first. I had to take both hers and my deposits to our separate banks. I purposely went to my bank last because it made more sense since my bank was right at a redlight on 49 and I could go 49 south to get back to my house. There was virtually no traffic so, I didn't have a problem. Or so I thought. As I was approaching the last Richland redlight down 49, the light turned yellow. I was about 50-100 feet away from the light when it turned yellow and I thought I could make it through. Wrong. As I was going through it, I looked up and saw that it had just turned red. I thought I'd be okay so, I scooted on along the rest of my destination. That is, until, I saw the familiar sight of red, blue, and yellow. Richland's finest was sitting at the last redlight and saw that I had ran it. Now, I was booking around 60-70 miles an hour down 49. Speed limit's 55. My natural response was that I was speeding. Nervously, I waited for him to come to my car. Sighing, I put the car in park and took off my seatbelt, anticipating him to ask me to step out of the car. My car is a mess and that is a redlight for a search for drug contraband. I had nothing to hide but that's what I was anticipating. I never turned the car off. But I took my seatbelt off. Here he comes to my window. First response was, "I'm so sorry officer." The last thing I wanted was a ticket. You see, when I got pulled over the first time (in the Flowood distrcit), my story didn't really make sense. I knew what I was trying to say but being so nervous, I couldn't get my story out right. Well, this time I was prepared. The speed honestly gets away from me on 49 because there are so many hills. And as it turns out, I was coasting down a hill on the way to the Florence limits. I hadn't made it there. He was older and the assumption was he was a Sargeant. Smart thinking. He was. How do I know? Younger police officers always went back to their car to check the license number. This man took my license and ran it at the window of my car. He had a fixed grin on his face as he listened to me appologize. He crossed his arms and said, "What do you think I pulled you over for?" This question was a bit confusing. But I answered with, "Honestly, I thought I was speeding." This prompted a chuckle from him. "Well, you were but i can look past that." He said. I looked at him rather strangly. "Then, what was I pulled over for?" I ask him, calming down a little bit. "You ran the redlight at Conoco." My heart dropped. "Really?" I asked nervously. He nodded slowly and handed me back my license. He grinned, tipped his hat, and said, "Have a good day, ma'am." I smiled and lit up and said, "I get a warning?" He grinned, turned, and said "Yep. Have a good day, kid." He winked and returned to his car. So, I got a break. Which I'm not complaining about. It's awesome when things work out like that. It was awesome.

Dude, this pisses me off.

And I don't freakin care if my mother is reading this. I'm gonna say what I feel and I can because this is my journal and I express my thoughts freely. Don't like it? Don't read it, mother.

I'm not happy. Wanna know why I'm not happy? My mother. She has a really bad habit of pulling this stupid ass petty guilt trip whenever things don't go just perfectly to her freakin liking and by damn, I'm sick and DAMN tired of this. I am 20 years old. And I'm sick of all of this crap. Let me explain.

This week, my nephew has been down from Kentucky to give his mother, my cousin a break because she just had her second child. So, little 18, almost 19 month old nephew Will has been down with us. Now, I knew he'd be down here and I don't have a problem with it. Wanna know what I have a problem with? My parents. Will's been an absolute dream. He's been perfect.

My mother won't listen to anything I have to say about any of this so, I have resorted to writing a damn blog about it just to get my freakin two cents in. Wanna know why? Because my mother thinks that she is queen of the damn world. What does that mean for me? I can't get a freakin word in edge wise! So, I have to write about it in this blog and if she chooses to read it, then by damn, read it. This is the only thing I have that she doesn't have. She followed me on myspace, she followed my on facebook and with her looking over my shoulder, I always felt that I couldn't express my thoughts and opinions myself. I will not mention her name just for her privacy sake but let me explain. Most of the time, I love her. No, all the time I love her. It's her character traits I hate. She has this really bad habit of putting a guilt trip on whomever is around her. Anyone that knows her would disagree. But guess what, folks, Mama D ain't so sweet all the time. Ask me or my brother and even my dad. We will all atest to the fact that she has one hell of a guilt trip talent. I can't stand up to her because of the whole damn respect factor. So, I have to resort to telling the world about it in my blog. Yeah, ain't that sad? Well, it's true. Okay, let me finish my story.

My nephew's down this week. The first night he was here, we were all sitting in the living room enjoying him and watching him play. Naturally, we set the play pen up in Mom's room thinking that she would want him in there. I can't remember whether or not it was me or my father who asked where Will would sleep this week. My mother looked straight at me and said, "I thought we were clear that he would sleep with you." Now, keep this in mind. I have no problem letting Will sleep in my room. In fact, I welcome it. I love him. And I would not mind one bit having him with me. I just was not told that I would have him. And I tend to studder my words when things take me by surprise. My mom thinks it's me making an excuse because it came out as, "Well, I...uh...okay. Uhm, when was this decided?" Not my best choice of words. It was suppose to come out something like, "Oh, that's cool. I didn't know this but it's cool." That would have been better, right? Yup. But me in my studdering self made her think that I didn't want him in there. Her next response was, "He'll sleep in my room, if it's too much of a deal with you. My God, April, if you don't want him to sleep in your room, then just say so." All of this said in a very mean and sarcastic way as if I was saying, "He's a hell child and I don't want to incovenience my life and have him in my room waking me up at all hours of the morning." I babysit kids for crying out loud. I get up EVERY morning at 6:30 or 7. You think I would care if he slept in my room? Hell no. But to her, it was apparently "disrespectful." Whatever. It wasn't. I didn't have a problem with it.

Well, after that last statement she said, I just turned around with a hurt look on my face and went to my room. Not fifteen minutes later, I walk back in the living room and see Will's play pen in Mom's room. So, the next day, she says to me, "April, he's gonna have to sleep in your room tonight because I get up at 5 to get ready for work." Well, this time I was a little better with my speech, anticipating that she'd come forward and ask me that. I immediately responded with, "Sure, no problem." In a very positive voice. Now, she would think that what she said got through to me and I was sorry. In a way, I wanted her to believe it. But I was never being disrespectful to her. Never.

So, he slept in my room that night and every night he's been here. Again, I don't have a problem with him sleeping in my room. He's a sweety. Well, today, I wasn't feeling as perky as usual. This happens at this time of the month. I wasn't as cheerful as I was. Welp, Will and I played tonight and at about 9 or 9:30, I came out in the living room. Will was crying and I heard him from my room. So, I came out to see him and see what I could do. He was fighting on the couch. Mom was trying to get him to calm down enough to sleep. He fought and I asked what was wrong and Mom looked up and said, "I'm trying to get in to sleep." So, I stood there for a moment and Mom stood from the couch and went to the rocking chair. Well, it was obvious that Will didn't want to go down without a fight. I looked at him and he giggled. Mom looked at me and said, "I'm trying to get him to sleep." I simply nodded and looked at the TV. Through the corner of my eye, I could see him still looking at me, smiling. I made the statement, "I'm trying so hard not to look at him." Mom sighed and said, "Well, he's gonna keep looking at you as long as you stand there." I nodded, turned around and stated, "Well, I'll fix that problem. I'll go to my room." Here's where the story builds up to what the first half of the blog states. She came to my room not five minutes later, Will down by her side. What she said to me pissed me off but I pretended that I learned a lesson. She said, "Let me tell you one damn thing. You act as if having Will down here is an inconveniece to you. You barely help take care of him during the day then, you disappear in your room at night and stay in there until someone comes in there with him already asleep and put him down" and so forth and so on. This pissed me off. I love my nephew. But I'm not the pro with the kids here. I did not ask to have him down here and I wasn't expecting me having to watch him 24/7 which I don't. They, or my mom, think that I don't want him down here. Bull. I love him. I will never EVER turn my nephew away. I love him and I play with him. She came in my room right at 10 and laid him down. She didn't even look at me. Hey, that's fine with me. She's about to get an email fired at her. And I'm not holding back. I'm sick and tired of this crap. I'm 20 years old, damnit. I am an adult and she has NO authority over me. The only reason I still live at my stupid ass home is because I go to Hinds and they don't have on campus living only the one in Raymond does and I go to the one in Rankin county. But she's about to get a nice email sent to her. I hope it reaches her because I ain't holdin back. Have a nice damn night.

The Wonder of Summer

I have a fantastic job. I babysit kids. Most people would laugh and say, "Babysitting is your job? Oh, I'm so sorry." But really, it's my favorite job in the world. Right now, I watch a little boy who is seven years old. He can talk your ear off at times. I find myself looking at him and saying, "Child, do you have an off button?" But that's normal. He's a little talker. It's just his nature. The boy never meets a stranger. Yet, we go into Walmart or to the bank, and he is like a little church mouse. He does not utter a word. And in return, the tellers at the bank give him a sucker for being so quiet and well behaved. Yet, if he talked like he normally does, he probably wouldn't get a sucker. I use to pick him up from school at the beginning of school and at Steens Creek Elementary, they do behavior logs. The most common behavior log the child had was talking when he wasn't suppose to. Up until now, I couldn't believe it. Now, I see how he gets a bahavior log for talking every single day. But he's seven. He talks. But he talks more than normal seven year olds. It amuses me to see his personality come through.

Since I got out for summer and started my job, I have gotten more and more fascinated in reality shows. My favorite one right now is "Hey Paula". It's a reality show about Paula Abdul. Shocker, right? Her life has always cracked me up and the thought a couple of weeks ago was what if she had a reality show? I would so watch it. Then, low and behold, there was the reality show on Bravo. I was so excited. In just watching the first episode, I saw how hectic her life is. Most people look at celebrities as the bright and shining faces that make us smile and laugh in movies. In the recent times, people have been bashing her for being "drunk" while doing a TV interview. See, that's why I don't pursue a career in movies. I started to show interest and thought to myself, "No way. I don't want to have to deal with the rumors." In reality sense, Paula seemed drunk on an interview she did to promote American Idol. After watching her reality show, I saw how wrong I was. Paula is the kind of woman who just goes and goes and goes and goes. She doesn't have time to have a life, much less sleep all at the same time. In the course of these interviews, she was going on no sleep for at least 48 hours (give or take a few hours) and she was very very tired and also sick. Hello, can we say incoherent? I would be if I hadn't slept for two freakin days straight. Who can function on a ten minute power nap? I can't sleep during the day because I won't sleep at night. If I went 2 days without sleeping, I do believe I'd be stumbling, falling, incoherent, and possibly hostile. I'm a cranky little buger when I don't get enough sleep. Ask anyone. Yet Paula Abdul goes without any sleep and can still put together good questions to answers. It's funny how people jump to conclusions. Rumors get started. Gossip gets started. What is this? High school? Heck, not even high school. It's more like junior high. It's so beyond stupid. But when you're on TV, you're looked at more. I feel sorry for her. She's the sweetest woman in the world and just because she doesn't get sleep doesn't mean she's drunk. Admit it. If we didn't get sleep, our sentences wouldn't make that much sense. Really. So, it floors me that people would be so stupid and spread rumors.

Other than those things, my summer is normal. My nephew is here! WOOOO! Yeah, I'm gonna go spend time with him. BUH BYE! Happy reading!

I hate frustration

I do. I hate it. It causes the tiny vein in my head to pop out. But what causes my frustration? The correct question is what DIDN'T frustrate me today? The kids were just outrageous today. Normally they aren't this bad but today, man! My dad is normally a good person to start trouble with the kids. And he was but not until the late afternoon. Corrie was extremely whiney today. Which isn't a surprise it's just it really got to me today. Jordan was good. It's days like today that I really wish I only had him to watch. It happens. But three kids is a lot, I've noticed. If it wasn't Breanna crying, it was Corrie being mean to her sister. I actually used Time Out today. Corrie got it for being mean to her sister and telling her she couldn't play a game with the two older kids. It's a fact of life. The youngest sibling will always be subjected to being left out of the older person's fun. I'm the baby in the family. I know. My brother left me out of tons of games that I wanted to play with him because I wasn't big enough to keep up with the older kids. Maybe that's why I have so much pity for the fact that Breanna can't play as many games as Corrie and Jordan. But I caught Corrie singing a very familiar tune when she was being mean to her little sister. It just reminded me of the way my own older brother acted towards me. I understand the older sibling's need to play with his or her own friends but that doesn't excuse being mean to them so, I was harsh. And I yelled. But for good reason. Corrie learned a lesson and Breanna was happy. But the frustration came later on in the afternoon with my dad. The kids had been extremely rambunctious today and by the time 3PM came around, I was ready to pull my hair out. So, what better time than the present to instigate a "be quiet and relax" game? I set them on my bed in my bedroom and told them to be quiet and watch TV. It seemed perfect. The kids asked me to turn on a game and play it for them. So, granting their wish, I turned on the PS2 that's in my room and began playing a Sonic game for them to enjoy. They seemed content for a good 20 minutes. But I got so involved in the game (because I forgot all the frustration of the day in the midst of the game) that I didn't notice that Breanna and Corrie weren't in my room anymore. Now, keep in mind I told them to stay in my room for quiet time. When I noticed they were gone and I heard my dad talking to the girls. I paused the game and literally ran to the living room where I promptly told them to come back to my room. Once there, I went to Dad. I asked him what they were doing and he informed me that he walked out of his office and they were just sitting there on the couch without the TV on so he asked them what was wrong. They told him they wanted to color. Now, I do realize that my dad is the owner of the house but those kids are MY responsibility. Not his. So, I make the rules. Not him. Which means I override his commands. Period. Especially when it comes to the well-being of the kids. I am getting paid to watch them. Not him. End of story. So, as soon as I straightened him out, I went back to my room where I promptly scolded them for bothering my dad. He works from home and apparently they think he is off work when he is at home. Wrong. He works from home. After that explanation, I set them in the living room. The girls left about 3:30 when their father got there. After they left is when the real frustration started.

I love my dad to death but my GOD he does not listen to a word. I realize I am the youngest in the family but I am 20. I am an adult. The only reason I live with my parents is because I go to Hinds and free living is a lot better than...well...bills. So, there. Still in all, my opinion sometimes makes sense. We have Comcast, recently turned from Time Warner. We have an HDTV so, naturally, we have the box to match. The HDTV Comcast box. We noticed about two weeks ago that some of the channels after being recorded were fuzzy. So, naturally, we call tech support to come out and look at our box. He informs us that it was just too hot under the Entertainment center. Now, I had all three youngins when the Comcast guy first came out. Him and I both agreed that the box needed to be put on top of the Entertainment center. There was plenty of room to do so and we thought it was the obvious choice. The only problem was we have the sub woofer to our surround sound up there. And we also have a Samurai sword up there too. My family collects swords. We have like ten in the house. I own two daggers. Anywho, me and the Comcast guy had already thought we'd put it on top of the sub woofer without a problem. We get my dad on the phone. He doesn't wanna do that. Frustration. I leave the house with the kids and my dad comes home and demands the box be put back where it was. So, when I got home, to my frustration, it was back in its spot. The first reaction was, "What the heck are you doin? We had it perfect." He chose not to do that. Whatever. As long as my box is fixed. Well, it was. For the most part. Only a couple of shows recorded fuzzy. So, he called the Comcast guy today. He said, the box is still fuzzy. The tech says, "Okay, we're gonna send an update to the box. Hang on." And he does. Now, instead of waiting to see if the box is fixed, he demands another Comcast HD box. I wouldn't have a problem with this only I have some stuff recorded on my DVR (Digital Video Recorder) that I don't want to lose. You get a new box, you lose all your shows. The shows include the original episodes of So You Think You Can Dance auditions. Those are always my favorite to watch. If a new box comes, I lose those. Now, when we switched to an HD box when we got our TV, I had the original episodes of American Idol that were the auditions. I didn't want to lose them! I don't have the box in my room. It's in our living room for a reason. But if that blasted man I call my father keeps getting new boxes when there is nothing wrong with the one we have, all of my shows will be lost. I love those episodes and I don't want to lose them. He won't even wait to see if they work. And he won't let me explain why I want them. Those episodes are classic. I go back once the show reaches the top 10 or so and see where the stars came from and all that. It's for a reason. And he keeps switching out the boxes once every three blasted months! It's stupid. And annoying and people wonder why I'm frustrated? SEE WHAT I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THEN ASK THAT QUESTION. And I can never explain myself. Why? He won't listen. He yells and throws things! I try to explain but when he pulls that CRAP, I forget what I'm saying and I can't explain it right which is what happened to me today when I tried to get him NOT to switch out my box but to show him that the box is fine and it records fine. But he won't LISTEN. Frustration. Live with my dad and you'll find a good solid definition. I'm gone. APRIL OUT!