Well, my ship is about to sail! Mom and I are leaving early Saturday morning.

This week has been hectic at work and hectic at home. Even so, I have been enjoying my evenings with all 3 kiddos. I am sad that this time is coming to a close once again.

I have picked up a few new articles of clothing for my trip, but not very many because I have had an unexpected expense arise (more below). I bought a lined rain jacket (from the clearance rack), a pair of long jeans (I mostly wear capris), a nightgown, two shirts, and some underthings. Altogether, I spent $92 on clothing for myself.

Last week when we went to the theme park, the house was empty of people. When we returned home, J discovered that his Xbox, a stack of games, and two controllers were gone. He had played one of his games the night before and all items were accounted for. Nothing else in the house had been disturbed, and there was no sign of a break-in. The dogs were both inside the house and fine.

During the last week of school, J reported to me that he had misplaced his house key. He had been playing ball in a park that day, and thought he had lost it there. I got him a new house key, but was not worried about changing the locks as there is no identifying info on his keyring. Well, I think that key must have been used. Nala (nephew's yellow lab) is an excellent watchdog. Therefore, I further think the key was used by someone Nala knows well.

During the last two months of school, J made a new friend, L. L started coming to our house nearly every day, both after school and on weekends. L seemed to never want to go home. I asked him point blank if there was something going on at home. He replied not really, but that usually it was just he and his foster brother (L is in a foster home), they don't get along, and so L prefers to hang out with friends. L was a pleasant enough boy, but I did catch him lying to me once. Another time, he asked me to please lie to a third boy's mother, so that this third boy would be allowed to go someplace. Of course I refused. Both times I explained to L that I do not tolerate lying.

As it happens, L was with J on the afternoon the house key went missing. We have learned that on the day after the theft, another boy D who is a good friend of L, sold a stack of games at Game Stop, identical to J's stolen games. J does not know D well, he has met him a time or two at school, but J has never been anyplace with D, nor has D ever been to our house.

J did confront L, but L denies any knowledge of the theft. Nonetheless, L is no longer welcome at our house. J feels very used and is very upset with L.

I had the locks changed, the cost was $84.66. J found a used console, hard drive, controller, and cables on eBay for $95 plus tax and shipping. I bought that for him. J had borrowed a game from another friend K which was in the stolen stack. I offered to replace that game, but K said he would be happy with $20, so I gave him $20. All told, I am out $230. I told J that I am done, it is up to him to use his own money to replace his games.

In chippy news, I did a wallet sweep today and sent $8 off to E Fund. The $50 credit card reward I redeemed last month has now been applied to my mortgage. And wouldn't you know, I redeemed another $25 just a few days ago. That won't show up until around July 20th.

In family news, last Sunday mom and I drove nephew up to my brother's house. Brother lives in northern California (the REAL northern California, not just north of Orange county ), it is 4 hours each way. Add in visiting time and it makes for a long day. One niece popped in with her husband and their 3 babies (3yo, 2yo, and 1yo). Mom and I briefly stopped by the workplace of another niece. It was a wonderful day, and we'll have a repeat in a few weeks when we go back to retrieve nephew.