This time three months ago…

Category: Personal
Words: 995

I wish I could go back in time. Specifically, at this moment, I wish I could go back in time by exactly three months. Three months ago it was Sunday, December 18th, 2022, and my mom asked if I had any plans to go out. I did – for groceries. She asked if we could stop at Walmart. I declined to go shopping with her, but I offered to drop her off.

Regrets, regrets, regrets. I wish I had never taken her out of the house. You see, I wouldn’t go into the store with her because my mom had been shoplifting – a lot of merchandise, a lot of the time. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said she hoarded her 1-bedroom apartment to the tune of enough belongings to fill a 2-bedroom apartment “sized” storage unit to the ceiling.

In any case, I agreed to drop her off at Walmart, and I did. I then went to a grocery store a few miles away (I wasn’t kidding when I said I wouldn’t go into the store with her. Guilt By Association is a thing, and it nearly caught me up with her when she had previously been busted for shoplifting – at Target. The only “saving grace” that day is me repeatedly and rightfully pointing out that my only association with what transpired in the store that day was I came in to bring her a plastic bag, and I used the restroom before I left. That was it. I didn’t accompany her throughout the store, and I sure as hell had no part in attempting to steal anything.), bought a few items for a dinner, and went home.

Tick, tock. Before I knew it three hours had gone by, and she was still in the store. Shoplifting 101: get in, get out. Don’t spend hours browsing and stealing at a leisurely pace. You especially do not want to do this if it’s a quiet Sunday night, Christmas is a week away, and you stand out because your hair is hot pink and you’re using a mobility scooter.

At one point my mother called, asking if either I or my brother, A, would come to the store and “help her with putting bottled water into the basket”. Translation: she was getting nervous and wanted a distraction at the check-out. Nope. Hell fucking no. That was the response from both my brother and myself.

Over an hour went by after that phone call. I messaged her a few times and called a few times, but she didn’t answer. I was baffled by this, because her Facebook status was Active, indicating the phone was on and with her. At this point I half-jokingly suggested to my other brother that she just may have gotten caught and was being arrested. This would explain why her phone was on and “active”, yet no reply from her.

Not 10 minutes after I made the joke, my phone rings. [Local township] Police Department displayed on the Caller ID. Fuck me. I knew before answering what this signified.

So, that was three months ago – December 18th, 2022. My mom has been incarcerated, though technically not in incarcerated on bail or a sentence, ever since. It’s my mom’s probation officer issuing a detainer that is keeping her in jail, despite both of my mother’s charges (there is also one from the fall of 2022) bails being set to unsecure. Typically detainers are lifted once the pre-liminary hearing has been held, but because of continuances, the existence of not one but two retail theft charges, the two of them being not quite two months apart, my mother’s probation officer is understandably pissed, and so she is doing the one thing to my mom that she can do to ensure there is some jail time served: she is holding my mom on a detainer that won’t be lifted until my mom goes to plead to her charges.

As it stands, she is scheduled to plead to the first charge on March 21, 2023. The most recent charge, from December, doesn’t even have a plea date. The first charge has sentencing guidelines indicating 3-6 months jail time. The second charge’s subsequent guidelines are 6-9 months. Yikes. Even with a lenient judge, and my mother’s health issues, I really don’t think she’s going to walk away from this unscathed. I really think she’ll end up facing a 6-month jail sentence. Fortunately she now has half of that under her belt.

As for my mother, she has seemingly no regrets for what she did – only regrets for being caught. And she is acting ridiculously entitled concerning commissary and phone account money. She goes through hundreds every month, and demands hundreds more. I have no fucking idea what she is spending all the money on – I’ve been in that jail and trust me, the commissary list is not that good. I can see spending maybe $50 for a 3-month supply of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, and lotion; and I can even understand another $100 or $200 for food. But my mom is spending $300+ a month, every month, and still asking for more. If I didn’t know better I’d assume she was being extorted (she isn’t). And her jail experience isn’t nearly as bad as mine was – when I was “in”, we were on lockdown in our cells for a minimum of 19 hours a day. My mother is in units that are out all morning, afternoon, and night!

The whole situation is incredibly frustrating to me because it’s so unnecessary. Furthermore, my mom knew what she was risking by having heard so much about what I went through. Why would she chance it? And for hundreds of dollars of non-essentials? It isn’t like my mom stole a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. She filled shopping carts, her purse, and her pockets with anything that appealed to her.

I’m doing my best to be supportive, but I can’t say I’m very sympathetic.

♥ Jenn
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I’m still here.

Category: Personal
Words: 293

As the title states, I’m still here. I’m online every day, but the majority of my time is spent doing class work (I’m halfway through the spring semester!), streaming guilty pleasures (My 600 Lb. Life, My 600 Lb. Life: Where Are They Now?, 1000 Lb. Best Friends, 1000 Lb. Sisters, and all sorts of documentaries and docuseries), and being active on social media.

New for spring is a job! I started out doing assigned housekeeping/cleaning for a cleaning business owner, but when that turned sour (my weekly paychecks were routinely 3-6 days late), I jumped ship and ended up getting hired directly by a large (and by “large” I mean ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS: 200,000-square feet spread out over four floors!) factory. It came about with the simultaneous revelations that the cleaning business owner was committing fraud by billing for hours not actually worked, my desire for more work sans wage theft, and the company really liking how well and thoroughly I clean. I absolutely embrace and am proud of being the company’s sole cleaning lady – it’s honest, mindless work, the hours are great (15 a week spread over five early-morning shifts, and I have off on weekends), I feel like I’m actually making a difference and improving the work environment for all of the employees there, and I can enjoy podcasts and various YouTube channels while I work. Also? I get plenty of exercise: I’m averaging 3.5 miles worth of walking during each shift!

The only downside is I’m only five weeks in, and juggling school and work and family and cats and getting enough rest is a bit of a challenge. But I’m always up for a challenge!

For anyone reading this, how are you? Tell me something interesting that’s going on in your life these days!

♥ Jenn
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More of the same

Category: Personal
Words: 126

I’m taking four classes this semester: two web design, and two computer systems classes. The web design classes are easy and I’m flying through the material; but in contrast, the two computer systems classes are actually challenging me with new information, so I have to pay attention, study, and study some more.

I’m embarrassed to admit that studying is hard for me, because I never learned how to. I was always in gifted classes and still buzzed right through all of my subjects. This, in contrast, is not nearly as easy. It has been two lessons: humility and learning how to study in order to learn.

I didn’t mean to go a month without blogging, but that’s how involved I’ve been with these two harder classes!

♥ Jenn
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The kayakaccidents continue

Category: Personal
Words: 71

Alyssa is zero for three with this kayak.

First, the very day she went to get it, she locked her keys in the car, There went $150 to a locksmith.

That night, the infamous kayakcident that required police rescue.

Then, a few days ago, this happened. As I type this, I’m waiting for a new windshield, to the tune of $386 (the bigger the vehicle, the bigger the repair bill :/ ), to be installed.

♥ Jenn
3 Comments


Another thing to worry about

Category: Private
Words: 869

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Members Only posts are semi-private, viewable only to people I am comfortable sharing more private details of my life with. While registration on my blog will always be open, not all registrations will be approved for Members Only. Please contact me at x@jenn.love if you’d like to be considered for Members Only posts.

♥ Jenn
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That is the sound of my brain melting down

Category: Personal
Words: 77

One of my classes, CIS 222, is all about learning Windows Server 2019. Prior to this class, how much did I know about Windows Server 2019? This much:

Still, I’m determined to learn, and learn as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I’m a week in, and most of my notes are a mess of headlines and screenshots that look like this:

I’m proud to say I’m three chapters in, I still don’t know shit about fuck, but I’m making progress!

♥ Jenn
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Is this thing on?

Category: Personal
Words: 34

Are people even blogging nowadays? Hello? *taps mic*

Do me a favor and drop links in the comments – links to your blogs, and blogs you read. I’m looking to follow personal bloggers! Thanks. 🙂

♥ Jenn
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Confession: I am a terrible student

Category: Personal
Words: 207

I am a terrible student in that I do not know how to study. Learning always came easily to me, and I was always in honors-level classes, and even then, learning came easily. I never had to study. I just…readily absorbed.

Fast forward to now: I’m tackling subjects that aren’t rocket science, by any stretch of the imagination. But they are new. And so they require studying in order for me to retain and grasp the material. And since I never had to study, I never learned how to study, and so I’m terrible at studying.

I’ve got a system that is working well, so far, but I’m open to advice. What I’m doing is not only reading assigned material, but re-writing it in OneNote, re-reading those notes, and then reviewing the material in both optional and mandatory assignments…twice. I’ll do it once with notes, and then the second time without notes.

It sucks to be struggling, to be perfectly honest with you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my grades are great (4.0 GPA last semester, and I hope for the same this semester; my goal is a 95% or better in each class), but it sucks to have to actually work at it. It’s…foreign.

♥ Jenn
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My get up and go got up and got sick.

Category: Personal
Words: 461

First and foremost, Happy September! Daniel and I have been playing Happy [Month]! with each other for almost the entire duration of our relationship (now 22 years and 16 days), and Alyssa and Ryan joined in once they were old enough to understand. We’ve had some pretty creative endeavors and attempts over the years, most notably when Dan recently attempted to place executables on our computers that, unfortunately, did not deploy at midnight like they were supposed to. Still, A for effort.

Ryan and I got each other at the same time last night. Right as I crept around the corner of my bedroom I heard his typing cease, and then both of us shouted, “Happy September!” at the same time. I think I said it slightly sooner, and Dan does, too, but whatever. It’s not that serious, so we called it a tie and both claimed the win. My best win ever, however, was lying on a hospital gurney, suffering from horrifically painful sepsis from a perforated duodenal (small intestine) ulcer, about to be rushed into emergency life-saving surgery, and I managed to whisper to Dan, “One…last…thing…Happy August!” as they were wheeling me through the doors to the operating room. I’m nothing if not committed.

So, COVID. We’re over it and feeling much better, except we’re all just so tired. Ryan didn’t make it to school yesterday because he couldn’t rouse himself, he took a nap in the afternoon which he never does, and I’m conking out at 8:00pm, sleeping through the night, struggling to get up in the morning, and I’m still tired throughout the day. We all also have scratchy throats and persistent coughs left over, but otherwise, the rest of the symptoms (fever, headaches, body aches, chills) have abated, thank goodness. Last week sucked. COVID sucks. This COVID fatigue is no joke, and everyone is telling me to expect it to hang around for a couple of weeks. Ugh. I just want to be over it and better and back to my normal energy levels! I’m well enough that I can’t sleep all the time, but I don’t have nearly enough energy to do all the things I need to do and the things I want to do. House. Cats. School. That’s all that’s getting done, and I’m feel like I’m run completely ragged just doing those routine things. Thank god we only have a few fosters right now, and no exceptional cases that require specialized care. I’m just so tired. It’s all I can do to stay awake until bedtime. I’m actually blogging right now to avoid falling asleep. *yawn*

Get your vaccines, guys. Get the boosters. Wear masks. Wash your hands. Limit where you go and what you touch. Protect yourselves and each other.

♥ Jenn
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