Update! It's been a little while..

Hey everyone! I haven't been on in a while, but it's actually a good thing! Let me tell ya!

Thanks to those of you who commented on my last blog, "O/T: Laid Off Today". I appreciated all of the positive vibes. And they must have paid off! I am happy to say that after 3 weeks of searching, I started my new Full Time job this past Monday!!!

It pays more than my last one, includes benifits, is FULL TIME, and the environment is MUCH better than that at my previous employer. I have a really good feeling about the position. So thanks for the positive comments & feedback!

On the StepMom homefront, all has been pretty good. Since I have been working 8:30 to 5:30, DH has been helping like I never would have expected. I mean, it's not that I didn't think he would help out, but he really suprised me! The first day I went to work, I picked the skids up at daycare, got home at 6:15, and when we all walked in the door DH was cooking dinner. Then yesterday, I cooked up a quick 20 minute meal and he cleaned the dining room and kitchen afterwards. And, today, he offered to order pizza to make it easier on me, and also told me to leave out something on the counter tomorrow (since he is working at the home office) and he will cook. Amazing! It's not totally out of the ordinary for him to help out, with the skids or whatever it may be, but this week he has really made me feel amazing!

BM irritations have been few and far between. With the exception of.. well let's mini vent..

So BM and her H are getting a divorce. This is no suprise to me, since they were living together after 2 months and married after 5 months. They are still living together. (If I were him, I would kick her and her 4 kids out of my house, but I am not.) What an akward situation. But she has no means of doing anything. She doesn't work, and has no desire to. As long as she has the kids, that's her excuse not to, IMO. Anyway, I am secretly hoping that she has no choice but to give DH full custody. NOT an agreement to full custody until she moves in with a new guy in 3 months and then we go EOW again. I'm talking about legal full custody. It's a stretch, but with DH and I working Full Time and able to support and care for them, she looks pretty shitty. I can always hope.

And SD3 showed up Sunday (switch day) with jeans on that had a giant hole in the crotch. BM's response to the hole? "(laugh) Yeah, every pair of jeans I have for her at the house has a hole in that same place!" ....... Seriously? And this was not a little hole. At least 3 inches. And of course she was in a shirt for a 24M when she will be 4 in less than a month, but that's to be expected.

SS3's eye is still a concern to me. I am proud to say that he is doing GREAT wearing his glasses (at least when he is here, and he did tell me that he wears them at BM's too). He isn't looking over them anymore, and has learned to keep the lenses clean throughout the day. He's doing a wonderful job there. What concerns me is that the eye still wanders to the corner. I will say that I have noticed improvement during the day and early to mid afternoon, though. And I talked to an aquaintence of mine whos DD had the same problem, and she said it got better, but still wanders a bit when DD is tired. I think I just worry because it's natural to do so. I am just glad (and proud of SS) because he is doing such a great job wearing the glasses. AND (if you read my other blog venting about BM and the breaking of the glasses issue) DH and I bought a pair for our house and let BM keep the broken pair, so now we each have our own. (She did eventually get them fixed, 3 weeks after they broke..)

**Something that happened tonight** SS3 wanted a kiss goodnight, so I stepped up to the top bunk to kiss him. He grabs my face with both of his hands, pulls me toward him, opens his eyes really big, and plants this huge kiss on me for about 10 seconds! It was too funny. (He doesn't really "kiss", he just holds his lips to yours without puckering.) Then he just laughed and laughed. Then DH came in to say goodnight and asked him if he was trying to steal his girlfriend, and he just laughed some more.

**What We're Working on Lately** LYING! Lying about silly little things like using the bathroom, putting up shoes, etc. Just tonight SS3 tried to hide his pizza crust in his napkin and tell me that he cleaned his plate. But anyway, we have been working on correcting the little lies, and we are also working on the whole "blaming things on eachother, because I didn't do it" issue. Mostly just encouraging skids to tell the truth.

Well anyway, that's a little bit that has been going on here.. one more thing..

I read something a little while ago on here, I think it was a post in someone's blog, about StepTalk being a negative blog and all anyone does is talk about BM issues and Skid issues, blah blah blah. Well, for one, I read positive posts and forums on here regularly. And secondly, the full name of this site is StepTalk: {where stepparents come to vent}. Keyword? VENT! It's difficult when you're a StepMom (OR StepDad) and no one else knows what you're going through. You might now know anyone else with skids, and sometimes talking to others who can't relate or don't understand is hard. You can't just vent Step issues to anyone.. it's complicated! That's why I believe this site is helpful, becuse you can come VENT about bad things that only other StepMoms or StepDads go through! So vent away fellow StepTalkers!! (But if you have good things going on, I want to hear about those too!)