Anyone who knows my husband, knows that the man loves his Diet Coke. He also is a fan of beer. That makes for a lot of cans. We have a recycle bin in the kitchen. Not the most attractive set up. I tried dainty little recycle containers, but they just weren't practical, so now we use a big cardboard box. When it gets full, we move the stuff to bags in the garage. When I can no longer get to my laundry room because the garage is so full of recycling, then I'll pile it all in my car and head off to the recycle center. That is an adventure in itself. Nick, my 4 year old, and I, put on our rubber gloves, navigate though the homeless folks who congregate there, wait in a long line, then separate the plastic and cans and get the job done. The man who works there loves that Nick helps me. He is very kind to us, and always helps us to get through quickly. There is one particular woman, an old homeless woman, who has taken a serious dislike to me, and she hisses and curses at me, it's lovely. A long time ago, I tried to make conversation with her, and offered her my bag of recycling hoping it might help her out. Bad idea. She is so nasty, I've had to tell the kids to act like they can't hear her talking, because any eye contact or words of kindness send her into a rage. But on the up side, Nick has a ball throwing cans, I clean out my garage, and clear a sweet $12 (whoo Hoo, off to McDonald's play place!) .... now that is a good thing as Martha would say.
I enter this new week a little tired, but smiling. Why? No drama this weekend. We had sunshine, and sports, and cuddle time--- less the drama. Most families don't experience the intense level of emotions that the Rhodes clan does. Sure, they have the hectic life of families, perhaps some fighting, the normal mess--- perhaps a little teen hormone induced drama....but we have drama of a different kind in our house. The kind of drama caused by a brain that is shooting off crazy chemicals induced by years of trauma. When our son Victor is home, the whole world is a great big land mine. Saying the wrong thing, calling him out on behavior, or even suggesting that he not eat a 4th serving of ice cream can cause the the peace to recede, and for chaos to ensue. He is now in a boarding school for kids with emotional issues. As sad as it is that our family isn't all together--- I must admit that the peace in our household is a welcome blessing. We are learning more and more
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