Next Up in the Houseguest Parade

When I got home Tuesday evening from a quick run to Mom's, The Man was fueling the tractor to get it ready for cutting the Sudan field under the watchful eye of thatdonkey. Even though The Girl had named him Jasper, The Man had also befriended the animal and was calling him Festus. Every evening when The Man gets home from work, he makes the dogs sit to get a dog biscuit. He gave one to the donkey as well. The donkey ate it, then followed The Man all around the yard, I'm assuming in hopes for more treats -just like a dog. It was funny. Jasper/Festus was gone when I got home yesterday afternoon, but I figured out how he got so fat. I think when he gets bored he escapes from wherever he normally lives and goes around mooching treats off the neighbors.

Yesterday was interesting. I was on the road at 6am to meet Suz, the new hubby & his mom to ride with them to the custody hearing 100 miles away. As these things tend to go in Texas, the actual participants didn't see the judge. Instead, the attorneys pow-wowed with the judge at the bench, then came back to give everyone their marching orders. Although the hearing was postponed and Suz was really upset that she didn't get to see the judge, some good things actually happened. First, CPS is not going to pursue the report that her ex filed against her (asshole). Second, even though the boy isn't yet 12, since he's so close the judge is going to consider him 12 and interview both him and his sister in chambers - alone, without the influence of mom, dad, or the attorneys. Next, there is an injunction prohibiting everyone from talking to the kids about the case, which is good because they don't need to hear it. Suz has already been not talking about it, but her ex hasn't. Maybe it's because he doesn't have any friends to talk to, I don't know. We had an hour and a half long, detailed conversation with her attorney about her ex's behavior and why the boy would be better off with her. Since school starts in a couple of weeks, she is going to file an affidavit in a couple of days to try to get him in the school district where Suz lives, which will be better for him in part because the school district he's been in has never been a good fit for him socially or academically. Suz would love for her daughter to come along as well, but she has grown accustomed to no rules or boundaries under her dad for over the last year, and even though she doesn't fit in either and her dad and her so-called "friends" all treat her like shit, she isn't interested in moving even though it would be better for her overall as well. They're going to try to get another hearing next Wednesday. It didn't have to be this way, but her ex did the exact opposite of everything he said he was going to do last year and had caused her nothing but trouble and grief in the interim. Send much positive energy her way...

Afterwards, we went to Herrerra's for lunch since we were already on I-35. Yum. I do love me some good Mexican food! As we were arriving at the restaurant, I received an email from a dear friend in St. Louis informing me that she and her kids (11 and 19) are coming to visit today. Yippee! She and her husband are both from St. Louis but lived in Fort Worth for a long time and we became friends back when she was a radio producer and had me as a guest on a show when I had my personal shopping business (Damn that seems like lifetimes ago!). She's one of those friends whom I don't often get to talk to, but when we do get to visit we don't seem to run out of things to talk about. Maybe it's because she's so intelligent and well-read, but it would be difficult for anyone else to get a word in edgewise.

Her daughter is about to begin her second year in college, studying religion and philosophy and just finished an internship at Nauvoo. For an interesting living museum of pioneer life, I highly recommend a visit there, even with the religious component included for perspective. The last time I saw her, she was about 13 and wikkid smahht like her mom. I'm looking forward to visiting with her now that she's a young adult.

Her son, the 11-year-old, was actually born in Fort Worth but they moved back to St. Louis within weeks after he was born. Interestingly, he has always felt himself a Texan, has always said that he misses Texas even though he was only here as a newborn, and used to ask his mom things like why she didn't "type all Texas-y," in her emails to me. Sooo, this is his big Texas weekend road trip. The Man is going to get him in the tractor and we're going to probably not ride the horses since it's so damned hot (finally over 100 degrees - but with a vengeance), but at least go over and commiserate with them. We're going to take him to a scrimmage football game at The Girl's high school (yep, that's right Texas high school football - what else?). I'm going to cook that boy a huge steak in the fire pit and we're going to sit up late and tell lies under the stars. I bet he picks up our accent within a couple of hours.