Free at last

haha... i've kept that 'title' in my mental notes for the post on my dad, but it could serve as two-fold today.

Our appt. re: Jonah's delinquent ways was postponed because Craig's aunt Nonie passed away and the funeral was scheduled at the same time. Fortunately, we only had to wait a day.

So yesterday we met with the T-bolt probation officer and long story short, the case is closed with no further action. However, (due to our highly efficient/effective legal systems in place, i'm sure) she couldn't guarantee that the charge would not reflect on his permanent record. so her only advice was to check Jonah's record in about 3-4 yrs. and if the charge is still on there we can proceed to either have it removed or have his record sealed so that it does not affect his future, the latter being the more realistic option. not really the greatest peice of info. but an end (of sorts) nonetheless. Another factor that i found interesting though, is that the other parents are in law enforcement with another county!!! The probation officer herself also couldn't figure out what these parents were hoping for as an outcome and was surprised that they chose not to handle the matter [through common sense methods] by speaking with us. either way, i suppose this is an acceptable conclusion. thanks to those who expressed your concern! =)

Criminal Intent VS Brilliant Mind

another story.

so my first day at the new job, Jonah starts back as ASA (after school program). the week ends unceremoniously (except for how stoked i am with my new job! =D). so the following monday Craig and I both get calls from ASA, requesting a meeting THAT day regarding an incident that took place between Jonah and a 1st grade boy at school. UGH, our minds began to wander aimlessly at what this could possibly be about! Fine. we will meet with them after school/work at 5:15. well, an hour or so later i then get a call from an officer so and so, who's on her way to the school to meet with Jonah about such and such incident that took place the previous week. okay. time to panic. because i work where i do, i was told to go! well, long story short (or as much as we can make of it)- Jonah felt he was being teased by a few boys (we'll call them the '1st graders'!). well, for reasons we're still exploring, Jonah and a boy happened to be dismissed to the bathroom together and Jonah grabbed a ball pump on his way. he peeks over the bathroom stall and (from his story) tells the boy 'you better stop or Chucky's gonna get you'. (well 'chucky' is a fictional character from some dumbarse 'scary' movie that Jonah's never seen! but he knows of it). well, according to this boy, Jonah 'pointed something at him, that looked like a gun, and said are you ready to die?' Not cool. Now we understand that Jonah continues to deal with the Cooper in our house (life really has changed significantly since Cooper's arrival, God love him!) but this is obviously not the behavior we have taught Jonah, nor will we accept from him. Well, the parents are now so distraught (or, their son rather- apparently experiencing nightmares and continued physical illness because he's so 'scared'!), that at this point (1 week later) they are pressing charges against Jonah! the crime? criminal/terrorist threat! OMG!

Jonah was read his miranda rights (in a way an 8yo might be able to understand them, though Jonah appeared to be clueless) and was 'released' to me, his parent.

we have since received a letter from Probation, requesting our presence for a 'T-bolt' referral. T-bolt= Thunderbolt= an apparent possible life-long 'strike' against his 'permanent record' (like the real one, not just for school!). Fortunately for us, we have a lawyer friend who's got our back because he's experienced a similar situation with his own son. Our instruction that we've agreed on, is to attend the meeting, present Jonah's report card and refuse any offer they present to us, regarding 'rehabilitating Jonah's behavior'. Once we request the matter be forwarded to the DA, our lawyer friend believes no one will waste their time on a bathroom exchange of words between a 6 and 8yo. Phew! but still.

so of course, i have shared my piece of mind with both ASA and Jonah's school by way of letter, how truly disappointed we are at how they chose to communicate this matter to us..... a FULL week after the fact!!! I can't help but think the only reason this situation escalated to the level it did, was because after ASA and the school principal were informed, they chose to ignore it and not inform us. we were not even given the opportunity to show our due diligence as Jonah's parents to rectify the situation- at the time i was meeting with the officer, the parents were over the idea of this!

so now we wait and see. 12/3 is our meeting date. keep us in your prayers!

in the mean time, Jonah spent his first week of grounding, finishing Harry Potter and starting the 2nd book of the series (though i suppose to some, reading would be a treat). no tv. no internet. no friends.

dare i say at this point, that Jonah scored in the 90th percentile of GATE testing!??

camping

*sigh*... i'm on a roll with this catching up stuff. so to break away, here are a few pics of our summer camping trip that i mentioned way earlier. we went to camp wishon, just above porterville. the 'sqeeters were a b!tch, but we managed to survive- what with the numerous layers of bug spray and all! we had a great time with our good friends the Kohmeschers!

WORK!

Aaacck! yes, i am working again!!!!!!!!!!!
Because i was required by EDD to search for work, i did- although only half-heartedly since i chose to focus on school. but an opportunity presented itself that i couldn't pass up. not to mention that spending 4 mos. home with the kids kinda did a number on my sanity!

a friend of mine started a job at World Wide Sires in the spring and told me about an opening that wouldn't be advertised in the paper. the more she told me about the job, the more i got excited.
a little history: well, i'll let you read for yourself if your interested. here's our website! http://www.wwsires.com/

but the bottom line: i am an order/shipper processor that exports bull semen to 70+countries! *no i don't see it, touch it or know yet how they 'harvest' it! and i absolutely love it! i think what i'm diggin' the most is the work atmosphere and i just can't stop being giddy over it. my office is 30 people strong and seem like some of the most amazing people. it's a family. my ceo wants to know about my hobbies! and we prayed before our staff/lunch meeting! all normal things, i realize. but i think i'm still experiencing culture shock, coming from a 3000+ corporation. i get to wear jeans to work. i have internet access. i can make/take personal calls at my desk. the autonomy is rewarding. but underneath that, i'm staying very busy. our business is unique in different ways. the first being that we have, what i like to view as, a world hunger kind of effort going on. we are sharing our good ol' american bull 'pedigree' with developing countries and the like, giving them the opportunity to produce their own milk and beef. we also cater our services to each country, depending on their federal requirements, etc. so you can imagine the diversity with each customer. my first week there, we had a group of Algerians come for a visit (often these international groups visit the farms from which their product is produced)! There's a girl in my office who came to the US from China, by way of Australia and speaks and writes Chinese! We've got a guy who's fluent in Russian, and another in Arabic. it truly is a blessing to have found a job that, 3 weeks into, has been so enriching and rewarding!

this obviously presented an interference with school and that is where i'm at now. i see myself at this job for a while (they pride themselves in long-term employees!). so i'm hanging on to make it through the semester with school. my 2 social work teachers are an encouragment and i don't like to let people down if i don't have to. so i'm trying to pull through and catch up on the remaining assignments of the semester. but i won't give up next semester either. maybe i'll attempt that personal finance class again! i don't know yet, but i will take something. i'm just extremely happy to have found a happy medium for now.

School

So school has been going good. i regret to mention however, that i just couldn't swing my personal finance class- the one i could have benefitted from the most. but much has been going on so i'm not beating myself up over it too much.

I love love love my social work classes. that's the good thing. the not so good thing is that i think from these classes, i'm discovering that 'social worker' may not be the best title for me. as it turns out, i'm learning that there's a lot of hand-holding involved in showing people how to help themselves. and frankly, i am just not a patient enough person i don't think. i am confident though, that the field itself is right up my alley. I'm enjoying reading about the history of social work and essentially, a little history of our country. about people helping people, making a better world, community, etc. And of course, there's always room for my keyboard savvy skills! haha... really though, i've enjoyed how expressive this field of study/work is and i've eaten up every moment i get to write a little for class. So i believe i do have something to offer this field, i just still haven't been able to put my finger on it.

Baby steps

Well here i am once again! i've been meaning to update for several weeks now, but do i even need to say this?... we are the Edwards and something exciting seems to always be going on, throwing us off ever so slightly. ah, the spice of life i suppose it's called!

So July was my last post. let me start off light with some summer pics that my sister Gayle and the boys took swimming one day.

...still breathing..

turns out i really relied on that work pc (rolling eyes innocently)! still no pc at home, so still no pics and now no camera either! boohoo. i left my camera out in what i thought was warm enough weather at camp Wishon, just above Porterville. however, i awoke to discover the digital screen is now just a black screen with a 'crack' in it. the camera itself still works so i suppose i could use it as a good ol' fashioned point n shoot, but c'mon now! needless to say though, just another kink in our chain to remind us what life in our early 20's was like! HA.

not to worry though- life is curiously enough working itself out for us. i've been enjoying, for the most part, life as a stay at home mom. some days we stay in jammies all day, some days we run errands (events which are often severely disabling with a cooper in tow (yes, i said a cooper=)), actually grocery shopping for meals vs. drive thru stops and some days we head to the big soccer/park complex for the boys to play in the interactive water fountain... while i sit and watch and soak up the domestication from the other moms!

in other positive news, craig acceped a new job as an assistant warehouse manager and will start in just over a week. not only does the new job bring new responsibilities (asst. mgr baby!! haha), but a nice pay raise as well. well timed i say!

and i'm still waiting for a clear picture of my plan. i'm waiting to hear if i'm approved for some Workforce Investment Act money to complete the Social Services certificate program at COS as well as applied for financial aid. dealing with the government takes time ya know! =) i've mapped out an academic plan though and can finish this certificate program in 12 mos. minus the intern hours required. so if all goes well, i'll take 15 units this semester and 12 in the spring. of course being home with cooper full time will be a challenge, but with craig's full support, i'm really feeling confident that i can make this time worth while!