An Irish Song & Blessing

I get my Irish roots from my mother, who was the second youngest of 14 children born to my grandparents, who had immigrated from Ireland.  My mom loved to sing, and taught this song to me and my sisters when we were young.  This is truly an oldie but goodie.....dating back to 1927.  To me, it's ageless  :)

Hope you're all having a good day today.  Here's an Irish blessing to take with you...........

???

It's come to my attention that March is Question & Answer Month.  I gathered as much by reading the blogs, so I figure I'd best get with the program  :)  I wonder if there's a sort of handbook thingy with special events/dates available to help us newer bloggers figure these things out sooner...lol.

Anyway, if you have any questions for me or my husband, Kane, we'd be happy to answer them.

Somewhere Between Meh and Bleh

The past couple of weeks are a blur.  I haven't had time for blogging, although I did manage, here and there, to read a few posts.  I haven't had time to comment, which really bummed me out, because many of you wrote great posts that I wanted to comment on.  Oh, and I didn't even answer the comments I got on my last post.  Please forgive me, and know that I was with you in spirit.

So, for the brief update.........The battle continues.  The system continues to fight us on what we believe is best for our daughter and our family.  But there's something they're discovering in the process......... 

or you'll see a side of me you haven't seen before..........

Last week we had a meeting in a room much like this.........

The only difference is that, at our meeting, there were just three tables -- so picture it minus the one in the foreground.  The seats were filled.  We totaled 12 in number.  It was us (along with our attorney and an advocate from a parent group we belong to) against them.

Then, this past week, we were in a different kind of setting..........

We have another reprieve in that we are going forth with getting an evaluation for our daughter that the system is against.  

The main reason I had so little time for blogging is that I was working on putting together documentation and cross referencing it with information in a book that is written for mental health professionals (which I am not!).  

I was very fortunate, however, to have the help of a professional we're working with (not part of the 'system'), who was actually the one who suggested I do this.  She said it would be very important for the court to have.  Once she outlined what it was I needed to do, it was much better, and, by the grace of God, I got it done.  Time will tell if it ends up helping us achieve the desired outcome we're praying for.

In the midst of this, Kane and I had what seemed like umpteen appointments and meetings to go to for ourselves and our kiddos.  Throw in the fact that I was sick for two weeks (and needed to spend a few days in bed) and well...........it was NOT fun.  Next court date isn't for a couple of months, so I hope this means a bit of a reprieve for now.

So things should be better, right?  Well, in one way, yes.  But my hubby and I have had a rough week that started out something like this:

Usually by now, we'd have managed to work it through, find resolution, and move forward.

I did say 'usually'.

This time we're stuck at an impasse.  Different kind of impasse, too.  We tried discussing the matter last week, to no avail.  Interestingly, there hasn't been any Dd dynamic going on to speak of, with the exception of Kane reminding me once that I had not asked his permission to do something I was doing.  He told me to stop, I did, and that was the end of it.  I did say something about writing my thoughts to him, and I haven't done it yet.  I've done it before, and it's usually not hard for me to do.  I've tried a couple of times, but there's no flow.  So I'm waiting.

In the meantime, I know just the thing that I could go for right now......

I don't think I've mentioned that I love singing karaoke, have I?

Oh, and maybe while we're at it, we could have a Mary Kay party....

You know, like we used to way back when..........

Lord knows, I could use a diversion.  Care to join me?

A Little Comic Relief

One morning last week (or was it the week before?), during the early morning darkness, Kane and I had awoken and started talking.  It wasn't long before the topic of the situation with our daughter came up.  We are presently involved and dealing with a host of professionals, many of whom do not share our belief that our daughter is not safe at home and are working fervently against us. So I got a bit fired up.  As we continued talking, my anger at the system came right to the surface, and I started talking to all of 'them' as if they were there (kind of like......"Take THAT, you SO AND SO").....get the picture?  Does anyone else ever have imaginary conversations, or am I the only one?

So I got on my soapbox, while Kane listened and watched with amusement ('course, this isn't the first time he's witnessed me doing this).  I started spouting some choice expletives in my passionate rant, and my loving husband understood my need to do this. First of all, I would NEVER speak that way to him, and I also would never speak that way to anyone in a REAL conversation.  He knew this.

At one point, I shot straight up in bed, arm raised in the air, finger pointing for emphasis, and continued.

Blah blah blah blah......Take THAT, you %&!#*'s.  And if you think you're gonna take US down, well you got another thing comin' to ya.  &*%^$ you!!!

After I was done, I lay back down.  Kane quickly turned me over and started smacking my bottom.  It was still dark.  I asked him what he was doing.  He told me he likes when I am sassy and feisty when I need to be in certain situations, and then said (what he's said before), "as long as you're not sassy and feisty toward me."  The man was speaking from past experience -- not recent past experience, mind you, but past experience, nonetheless.  And to reiterate, he was speaking of my attitude, not the actual words, because we do not speak that way to each other. 



Well, I'm not being sassy and feisty toward you -- you know that.

"I know.  And this is a reminder for you not to be."

Oh, so this is a pre-emptive spanking?

Mm hmmm.

Guess there's a first time for everything.  And I felt a whole lot better -- 

1.   for having been able to vent and release some pent-up tension

and

2.  having been taken care of by my attentive and caring husband

Hope that made you laugh a bit.  We sure did  :-P

This Too Shall Pass

It's going to take quite a while to find our way out of this maze, but eventually we will.  In the meantime, we have been buoyed by the love and support of many dear family and friends, and that includes you all here in Blogland.

Not much new to report, except things are not going in the direction we'd hoped, but of this we are confident:  there will be resolution in one way or another.

Update.....More Waiting

The court date we had been awaiting has been rescheduled.  As it turns out, this is a good thing where Kane and I are concerned.  It had only just come to our attention on Thursday that additional information concerning our daughter's illness would most likely prove advantageous to our case.  This will require more research and will involve my composing and compiling several documents, and had our court date not been rescheduled, there would not have been enough time to do it the justice it requires.  In addition, I came down with a nasty head cold on Thursday and felt miserable and spent the weekend in bed.

I would have given it my best shot, of course, but now we have three weeks' time in which to get it accomplished.  God works in mysterious ways..........  To say that I am relieved would be an understatement, to say the least.

Thank you all for your continued support  :)


From Kane:

Thank you to all those who have given advice and an ear to lean on during an extremely stressful time in our lives. What a week it has been, first I get a cold and then I hand it off to Sadie. She took care of me when I was sick and I got to return the favor yesterday. Suffice it to say we have taken a hiatus for a few days from the dynamic, but we are both on the mend and I am feeling HOH-y again.

Back to our situation:  everything is on hold for now due to circumstances beyond our control. Things being delayed is a good thing because now we can regroup and get all our paperwork in order. As Sadie has so eloquently written in her latest post, the mental health care system in our country is broken. I know all those in blog land have no idea who we are, but we are good people. I love our daughter as if she were my own biological child; people have commented that we even look alike. She is mentally ill.  This is not a subjective statement; it is a fact. Some of this is biochemical, neglect in the birth home, and adolescence.  We cannot ensure her safety or ours if she were to come home now. This breaks our hearts, as we have tried so hard to get her the help she so desperately needs, but the system doesn't care about this. Their agenda is clear -- get the child back in the home and write her off their case list. This is due to the fact that there are not enough services available to meet the need.  We cannot control the system, only prepare ourselves for any eventuality. 

I can control one thing -- when Sadie gets another spanking, and I have a hankering for a spankering. I am going to work out after I write this, have to get my spanking arm in shape again. Thank you to all who have given and shown your support and kept us in your prayers; it means a lot to us.

Kane    

Waiting

I've had various ideas in my head for posts this past week -- even started one that is now in my draft folder.  They'll have to wait, however, as I find myself very preoccupied and drained of energy.

Kane and I have a situation regarding one of our children, and for now, things are in limbo.

A decision will be rendered not too long from now (this week, in fact) regarding our daughter and her future placement.  I can't go into much detail, for obvious reasons, but suffice it to say it's been a very stressful time this past year, especially the past month.

This daughter struggles with mental illness, stemming back to the time she lived with her biological mother before coming to live with me and my family and eventually being adopted.

Her illness has worsened over time (she is in her teens), and she is not safe to be at home.  She needs to be in a therapeutic treatment facility.  The problem is our mental health system is in a terrible state of disrepair, and getting the help for our daughter that she needs has been extremely difficult.  Kane and I are dealing with a system that is fighting us on this issue.

There was a segment that aired on 60 Minutes two weeks ago that highlighted this problem.  If you have a few minutes, this will shed some light on what we've been going through.  If you don't have time now, the link, for future reference, is

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mentally-ill-youth-in-crisis/

Anyway, that's where it's at for us right now.  Life seems as if it's on hold.  Kane and I are doing well, I'm glad to say........I don't know what I'd do without him.