It has been way too long ago since my last posting. Lots has happened.
In my last posting I wrote about Girl2 moving in with us in September. Well, that didn't happen as planned. The witch decided it was in her own best interest to sue against the decision of CPS. (So typical, her interest has been more important than the interest of her children, allthough she swears she is the Perfect Mother. Weird, since her oldest child - Girl1 - was decided by CPS to be safe in our care and the custody of her youngest two children by her latest ex-partner was awared to her latest ex-partner. But anyway.) So we (well the Mr.) went to court in September, where the witch convinced the judge to hear Girl2. She also crowed the Mr. could see Girl2 anytime when she (the witch) got custody, since he was now paying so many things for Girl2.
In my country a judge can only hear a child in a custody case when it's 12 years or older. Girl2 is 11. The judge heard Girl2 in October, who ofcourse said she didn't want to live with daddy, because daddy lives in another town so many miles away. But judge also saw a girl behaving in a weird way.
In October the Mr. went to court again, thinking the judge would rule. Well, she didn't that day and said the ruling could take another month. The Mr. ofcourse didn't like this, but couldn't do anything against it. Then, a day later we got a call from our lawyer. The ruling would be sent to her office on Friday! That Friday we were so nervous! We called our lawyer but heard the judge had sent the ruling by snailmail and it would be delivered on a Monday! We were so disappointed and called CPS to see if they could reach the judge. No one could do something for us, we were told. So we were a bit lost. School was out for a week and Girl2 would spent the week with us. We were hoping for a positive ruling so Girl2 could move in that week and start at the new school.
We were so done with it all and the Mr. was ready to go away for a few days. The Mr. lost his job in August, but found a new one that started at the end of October. We needed a few days with the four of us, just relaxing! So we booked a weekend away at a holiday park.
That afternoon, I went to pick up Girl1 from school. As I told her teacher it was a nerve wrecking day because of the ruling, my telephone went off. It was the Mr. who told me to start celebrating, the ruling got in and it was positive!! I was so relieved I alsmost cried! I hugged Girl1 who didn't understand what was happening. It literally felt like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders! Chills everywhere!
We couldn't celebrate too much that day, because CPS had told us they would tell Girl2 the news. She was told the following Wednesday. She wasn't that sad, but she did start to cry when she was told she would be placed in a lower year (say from year 5 she was put back to year 4). We did this, because she was in her last year of primary education and her school results were bad. The witch didn't want this to happen but the judge ruled for it.
So that weekend we went to a holiday park with the four of us. It was heaven! We were in the indoor swimming pool all day long and had lots of fun! The Monday Girl2 went to her old school to tell them the news and on Tuesday her new school started! The Mr. was still at home, his job would start a week later so this gave us some time to get her used to all of it.
After the first week the Mr. started his new job and my new life began. I work closer to home than he does, so I'm the one responsible to get Girl2 to school in time!
Two months later I can say it has been a lot easier than I feared! So far we haven't had too much negative attitude. I do notice Girl2 is crunching her teeth so bad after she has spent time with the witch (2 days a month). But she listens to us, helps around, works hard at school (and is progressing!!) and is a sweet girl. We are still careful around her (she has been the witches spy for a while, we don't know whether she still is), but life is better now!
This posting is just the tip of the iceberg of what has happened to me and my family for the past year and a half. Lots of negativity took a lot of energy away from stitching. I'm slowly picking it up but don't think I will be stitching like I used to (every spare moment of the day).
This being said, here's what I did on the Permin Sampler!
A beautiful flower and equally beautiful peacock!
I'm not going to promise anything about posting more ;-) but I hope to come on here soon!