Change of Plans

We have changed the wedding date to June 6. Just glad it's not 2006. Heh.

Today was rough. Work was boring as hell, NOTHING going on, and I was sick as a dog. I had to take Mom for an appt yesterday with her pulmonologist (she got a great checkup!), and I had a check up with my doc for a follow up on my BP meds, which he changed last time. As soon as he came in, I coughed up half a lung (which he wanted to look at...ew), and immediately listened to my lungs and asked how long I had been wheezing. Wheezing? I am WHEEZING? All the way from top to bottom, he says. I told him I had had the crud for three or four weeks.. He chewed me out, then put me on antibiotics and steroids-which I will have to take for a month. I will be a fatass nutcase in a week, much less four weeks. This will be interesting..but I am breathing better already. If I am not completely clear when I have a day left on the antibiotics, I am supposed to call him for a refill. He wants this mess GONE. I like that in my doctor :) He also was glad I was not a crying, sniveling, on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown mess like I was the last time I saw him. Every time I have been to see him, I have either been on the brink of death (NOT KIDDING) or having a squalling fit. It was nice to be sane this time..hah.

Cody is officially withdrawn from school.
I guess I should start from the beginning:
Our school has a bullshit rule about cell phones. The first time a student is caught with a cell phone at school, it is taken away from the student FOR A FULL CALENDAR YEAR. The second time the same student is caught with a cell phone at school, it is taken away for a full calendar year and the student is sent to the alternative school. Cody's phone fell out of his pocket the last ten minutes of school and hit the floor and the teacher saw it. Busted. He had lost his first one the first week of school. Well, he got sent last week to the alternative school. It scared the mess out of me, but he said it wasn't bad-the environment was actually more conducive for learning due to his A.D.D. and the fact that each student has their own cubicle where all they can see is the teacher. No distractions. However, our school runs on a block schedule-full year courses are taught in a single semester, and each class lasts two class periods. Instead of 7 periods per day, they have 4, and 4th period is split in half-4A and 4B. Anyway, we knew with this schedule, even if he only stayed the 3 week minimum at the alternative school (which has the other schedule), it would put him a full semester behind. He was already short on credits, and we realized he probably would not have graduated until he was 20. The school encouraged us to consider him getting his GED so he would be able to start college this fall instead of being so far behind. He took the TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education-a GED prep test that shows what the student needs to focus on before taking the GED) last Friday, and out of a possible 12 points, he scored an 11.66! The school recommended that he test ASAP, and the next test date available is next Saturday, 2/21. However, for him to test, he is required to attend a minimum of 12 hours of test prep-free of charge-at the local community college prior to testing. To attend, we had to officially withdraw him from school. So...today, I did it. One of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life. Monday, he will start taking the prep class from 8-12 (which he loves, because he hoped 'to meet hot babes.' ) Yeah...that's the spirit, Napolean. He has to take test orientation Wednesday at 1:00, and there is something that has to be notarized, so Tim will be going to the college to attend this with him to make sure his distracted self doesn't mess this up-I have a prior work commitment that I cannot change. If he does as well on the GED test as he did on the TABE, he will get a full-tuition scholarship to our local Community College.

He hopes he can go to work immediately, but with the casino 15 minutes from here laying off 570 people last month, finding a job will be a little harder than he thinks. He also plans to start at the Vo-Tech at the college this fall, and hopes to be able to get in the band. We will be talking to the band director-who is the same band director I had at EC 20 years ago. He knows me and the Ex well, and knows our boys are excellent band students with talent. If he can get in, that's another scholarship!

I have felt so bad about all of this all week. Am I a failure as a parent because my kid didn't graduate and get a diploma? Then I realize my sister 'home-schooled' (a loose term) her last 3 kids, and all took their GED's and have great jobs now-my niece is a manager at Books a Million, and she's only 24. Not too shabby :) Found out a local doctor was a hellion in high school, so he dropped out, took his GED, then went to med school. That made me feel better , too.