Status update

It has been awhile since I wrote anything here. Not sure in what order to update things. Guess I will just go with what comes to mind.
My girlfriend and I are going to make it official. We are getting married in a couple of weeks. I, for one, am pretty excited about it. I am also happy to report that the kids are also, mine and hers. She has three children, a girl and two boys. The girl is Tanisha’s best friend. Those two were what brought us together. No, they did not pair us up, but always having to run into each other to exchange children. This constant interaction brought us together. During my visits to El Paso, I usually had the both of them. Then it sort of graduated to friendship. Then I offered to care for her kids while she went to work. What the heck, I am here to attend court proceedings and in my free time I would rather be with the kids than doing nothing. This would also save her on child care. Well, she has great kids and that she had done this alone was very impressive to me. Very well-behaved children, shows that mom dedicated a lot of time to them, even with her day stretched so thin. Actually I have spent a greater time with the kids than with her. The opposite is also true. Most of the time when we were together the kids were with us. Most of our “DATES” were with the children. She did not mind this, which greatly relieved me. I live so far away that the little time I have in El Paso I wished to spend with my children. So there was no “competition” between not seeing her enough and not seeing my children enough. She aided me in seeing my kids as often as I could. God thank her for that. I guess it did not hurt that Tanisha and Kimberly (her daughter) were best friends. Kimberly was at the Court House when I had to take Monica and Tanisha to interview with the Judge. Anyway, that left Alex alone with two girls. Which was fine for me, because Alex and I got to do boy things. We would go shopping as a group, the girls in one direction and Alex and I in another. Everyone happy. Alex and I got to look at video games and tools, the girls got to clothes shop in peace. The best of both worlds.
Did have an incident with Kimberly, incident might be a little to strong of a word. She had went to spend the intersession with her father and his parents. She called her mother with some concerns, her mother promptly told me. I asked if it was okay if I called and talked to her. So I did. She voiced her concerns (kind of hard to drag it out of her, she is a very reserved child). Many of them were legitimate concerns. “Will I get to see my Dad if we move so far away? What if you and Mom cannot get along, I do not want to move all over again?” The rest of the questions fail me now, but we spoke for about a half an hour. I think I put her fears to rest. I did not sugar coat anything, just the truth. Her Mom told me that after we spoke her whole attitude changed and she had no more doubts. She wanted to know what I said to her. Just the simple truth. Children need to know that you respect their opinions and ideas. I think she could feel that I did in fact respect her fears. She is a great kid and I am lucky to have her.
Her brother, Alex, on the other hand cannot wait to get here. No amount of talking from anyone has deterred him. He said he has told them he wishes he was here already. When he was here during the summer, we had a great time fishing. He came to work with me each day that I worked. He enjoyed “hanging out” with me. Great job that I can bring my kids to work with me. We got a lot of male bonding time. I think he was a little disappointed when the girls came with us one night. We talked about it and he was okay. That little guy and I did a lot together. He is always out-numbered by females, so I think a little male attention was what he was looking for. On the other side of the coin, I too enjoyed doing “boy” things, being the father of two girls. Tanisha never says no to the boy things, but she is also wanting to do the girl things. So I only get half of the time.
Tanisha is ready for them to get here. She has been planning how to re-arrange everything so they are all comfortable. Thoughtful kid.
This has been a busy time with Tanisha here now. Having a child in the house, one realizes their short-comings very quickly. Even if the child is capable of doing a lot of things on her own, a lot has to be done for them. I knew it was a lot, but I never paid attention to how much. Has been a learning experience for me too. Even though it is a lot, I would do it if it were ten times as much. My days are brighter with her. I am learning things I did not think I was very capable of. Mainly cooking. I have actually surprised myself. When I was alone, I ate to survive. Now I try to do with flavor and well-rounded meals. Have had some dismal failures (HAHA), had to go out to eat those days, but I am getting better.
Tanisha said, “Dad, when Hilda comes can she cook the dinners and you cook the breakfast?”
To which I responded, “I thought I was doing really well with the dinners. I thought you liked them?”
Tanisha: “Yes Dad they are good, most of them anyway, but you are really good with breakfast foods and she is really good with dinners.”
I must say she was gentle with my feelings (HAHA). I related this story to Hilda and she was quite pleased. She hates making breakfast. Fine, because I am not so fond of dinners either. Do not mind getting the kids ready for school and making them breakfast. That is one thing I must pat myself on the back for. Since Tanisha has come to live with me, she has not gone to school without a hot breakfast at home. I thought it might be some trouble with my schedule (rotating shifts), but it worked out just fine. When I work nights, Angela stays with her. Angela is a 16 year old girl who was Monica’s best friend here. Her parents keep regular tabs on the both of them when I work nights. I think Angela likes to come as much as Tanisha like to have her there. Anyway as I was saying. When I work nights, I arrive home at about 6:30 in the morning. The girls are up and getting ready for school. I come in and fix them breakfast and take them to school. When I work days, I get up early and fix her breakfast while she showers. She gets on the bus and I go to work. It has actually been quite good. Since I work 12 hour days, I thought I might have to neglect her a bit, but that has not been the case. Has actually been a plus. It has afforded me much more free time. I get the 40 hours in a couple of days and the rest of the time free. So, it has been good. It had been work a week and off for two weeks. So a lot of time with her.
Well, I contacted my ex concerning Tanisha’s eyeglass prescription. I cannot get one until January 2011. She got the current one in El Paso in January of this year. I asked her to provide it to me so I can get Tanisha new contacts. Long story short, she declined. So I will have to take care of it in a couple of weeks when I go to El Paso.
Cannot think of anything else of note to add right now.