More Ups and Downs

After weeks of relative calm, Alex's illness remind us that it's still there. One call at work telling me that she wanted to move to her friend's apartment took me by surprise, I said let me call you back and we'll talk about it. Later in the day I got 4 or 5 text messages from Jeff saying that housing was kicking her out of the University apartments, they were at the door knocking while she was inside crying and hysterical in the phone with him, he talked to the housing people and explained that he suffers from a mental disorder, it seems that she forgot to apply for summer school. They let her stay and signed the contract. The next day she received a note from the University, there is a chance that she will be suspended, according to her version  it was "just because I took care of my friend's cats for 3 days". I explained to my 21 year old daughter about rules and how they work... again like when she was 4,  "it's not a big deal, I've seen people doing worse stuff and they don't get suspended"... "Alex, it's the principle" I said since I  knew she got in trouble before for having a rat in her room. She thinks that if she gets suspended from school her world will end and nothing else will matter. I can feel her pain because I know how much she wants to graduate, also I know how much she loves animals and how lonely she must feel being alone in that apartment and actually, the whole building. College campus are  ghost towns during the summer. I said that I could go get her this weekend and come home, she told me that she wants to stay and get a job and she actually had a job interview yesterday, she feels that it went really well.

I pray that everything will be fine and that she will have the strength to deal with whatever happens next week when she will find out about the possible suspension and the job. As per myself I plan to ride my bike the whole weekend, including memorial day with Banana. Maggie 2.0 (my bike) will be now 3.0 since she got a new set of Shimano 105 components. I picked her up yesterday from the shop and tonight I'm taking her for a ride, I know this will make things more bearable for me.

When it comes down to money

I've never been very ambitious, I like to keep things simple... just the way I was raised. I take joy with the little things. I graduated as an engineer and I've been told that I am an overachiever but the reality is that my daughters, my family, friends and everybody I love in general motivate me. I don't believe in easy money and whatever I've accomplished so far I've worked hard to obtain it. This week was different, I thought that I needed to win the lotto and I even thought of how much I needed :) Rocky's health is down again, it might be his spine, my mom has an hernia, Alex is staying in College during the summer and needs some cash, Maggie 2.0 (my bike) needs a mayor repair. I want to give Jeff (my honey) his beautiful backyard since he spends so much time there and Harley (my big dog) almost destroyed the door and needs to be repaired. I'd like to have the money to do all of the above. I even think that the reason I can't get over my dad's death and keep dreaming that he is cold, hungry, confused or wet is because I thought some day I will get him a house just for them, nothing fancy just something comfortable and at the end I was unable to even provide him with proper healthcare... his death was a mistake that it shouldn't happened. I feel that I failed but I am working to recover. On a brighter note, I got a great deal on a "new used bike". I usually ride 3 to 4 times a week so it will be good to have her in case my current bike is at the shop and that only means that I can keep peddling and stay sane. Cheers.