Word of the Day: clandestine Today is JD's 22nd birthday. Patrick and i got him this and this but with yellow lettering instead of pink. We also got him a Napoleon Dynamite birthday card that talked [I love that thing] and a tiny carrot cake. He's already gotten everything becuase I can't ever wait to give him anything. My mother is still here in Texas. I don't know of any plans she's making, but I'm pretty sure she's still thinking about it because my dad's an ass to her nonstop. As far as JD's mother, she ran away from Laura's, like I said before, but I'm really unclear as to the reason. I think it was because she didn't like living with Laura, but she said it was alternately because she didn't want to live with strays [meaning Laura's drug addict cousin's children of whom she is trying to gain custody] and because she says Laura and JD don't care about her. So she took some clothes and all her meds and drove to her mother's grave in Pflugerville [which is near Austin, I forget actual people read this sometimes]. JD says that she called him wanting to say goodbye to Patrick and that she wouldn't bother him and Laura anymore one night, and that she sounded either really drugged up or really suicidal. One of her brothers was contacted and he managed to calm her down and he wanted to settle her in Austin, away from her children. So she was in Austin as far as we knew, but she wanted to get some of her things from Laura's. When she was down again, she called JD and wanted to talk to us that evening, which was the season finale of 'Lost' because I remember saying, 'Just so long as she's gone before eight, I don't care what she does.' So she came, sat with Patrick for about fifteen minutes without talking to either of us, and then got up to leave. JD walked her out, and as soon as he closed the door, I could hear her voice through the door, over the TV, and across the house. She was saying how they never asked how she felt and that he never tried to spend time with her when we lived with her, and how she did everything for us, etc, etc. I couldn't hear all of this, just her voice, and I was so pissed off. She said that she had wanted to talk to us, but she ended up yelling at JD, outside the house, no less, disturbing our neighbors. I had to stop myself numerous times from going out there and telling her to leave because she had no right to come to our home and embarrass us like she was doing. However, JD finally told her definitely that if she left like that, she wasn't coming back to him, she wasn't going to see Patrick again, that was it. And he meant it. She left, and we haven't heard from her since. I just don't understand how someone could be like that to their children. I feel that if there are children involved, you can't be selfish, you have to be open to doing what's best for the children. And you definitely shouldn't have to live with them after they've grown up and moved out. Maybe they might live with you, but you shouldn't rely on them. JD's mom was making it sound like he owed her something becuase...I don't know...maybe because she's his mother and she took care of him until he could take care of himself. I thought that's what parents are supposed to do, albeit better than she did. I don't know, Patrick annoys the hell out of me sometimes, but I can't imagine not loving him or taking care of him because he's my beautiful son. It was just a mess for a little while. Things have settled down, I believe, for a while at least. I'm in accounting more and more now, and JD might be moved from the cabinet shop to the office doing drafting work soon, so things are getting better for both of us work-wise as well. Ta for now.