Drowning in blue...

I left the house this evening for a quick trip to drop my RX off at Walgreens...then to get gas, pick up dinner, and go back home...
Dropped my prescription off.  Everything went bad after that...
I ran out of gas in the gas station parking lot.  If only my car had made it just a couple more feet to the pump...
So there I sat, stranded at the gas station...And of course, there must be a run on gas or something, because cars were lined up all around...and everyone was giving me dirty looks for not getting my car out of the way...
I called D, no answer.  My grandparents, no answer.  My brother, no answer.  D again, no answer.  I called home to let C know what happened, and she is, of course, online, so I couldn't get through.  Finally, I called my mom at work...there was nothing she could do, of course, being at work, but she could at least listen to me cry out of frustration. 
She told me to try to push the car.  I tried, but I couldn't get it over the hump.  She told me to go in and ask for help.  I told her that I only saw one worker in there, who was extremely busy with the hundred people who decided to get gas between 7 and 8 p.m. tonight.  She said ask a customer for help...
I couldn't possibly have done that...First, because I'm shy...Second, because they were all giving me dirty looks since I was blocking everything...and Third, because I live in a melting pot neighborhood and I swear I didn't hear anyone that could speak enough English to understand me, and my Spanish doesn't extend beyond numbers...
Finally, someone approached my window and asked if I need help.  Guess who?  Out of all the hundred MEN that came in and out of the gas station parking lot and heard me trying to start my car, after twenty minutes, it's the one and only WOMAN customer who comes and offers help...
So the two of us WOMEN were able to push my car over the hump and out of the way...
Go, girl power...who needs guys anyway?!
...
I left work early yesterday because I was SICK, and didn't go to work today...I went to the doctor and he gave me an antibiotic and told me to stay out of work until Monday.
But then I wouldn't be able to go to Midnight Madness on Friday, and I couldn't possibly miss that...so I'm going to try very hard to get all better tomorrow. 
Very hard.
...
I took my daughter out of school last week and told her she wouldn't go back if she didn't want to.  I then received opposition from all sides, including...
My mom, who kind of agreed with me, but says it was too sudden...
My grandma, who told me I was ruining my daughter's chance for a good education...
D, who told me that I should have at least made her stay in until fall break (which starts this Monday)...
The really bad part was that, on the very same day, C had her first appointment with her new therapist.  Dr. W said that homeschooling would make his job infinitely more difficult...because the last thing socially 'immature' children need is to be completely isolated...etc etc etc.
Well, I hardly think being 'isolated' for a few months would make a huge difference, but anyway...
C and I discussed it and she agreed to go back to school for one more day, so that she wouldn't have an absence on her record, while we went in and spoke with the principal about our issues.
New principal this year.  She's really nice.
The next day, C informed me she was going to stay at school after all...mean kids and all...because she wants to go on the eighth grade field trip to Washington D.C.
She's serious, too.
I had no idea a field trip could carry this much weight. 
(I should, though, because I still remember my eighth grade field trip...we went to Space Camp...so, so cool...)
So what do I do?  She's still miserable, but she actually WANTS to stay.
So I let her go back this week...the principal said she would make some changes and...she actually did...Principal called the ringleaders down to her office individually and 'talked' with them...Principal changed the rules at lunchroom and C can now sit wherever she wants...
Things have been marginally better since then.  It encourages me to see these changes being made, just for my daughter.  I was looking forward to homeschooling her, but also a little apprehensive about what it meant for my daughter getting into a good high school next year, and how effective I would be at it, seeing that I work full time.
So I guess now I'm just going to wait and see.  I hate when life gets like this, and you have no idea what is the best thing to do...
...
Did I say, 'Who needs guys anyway?'
I take it back...this weekend, D paid to get my brakes fixed...$280.  I guess I do need my guy!  :)
...
So far in the last two weeks, I've had to get the fuel pump replaced and the brakes fixed.  The brake people said I need four new tires, too.  I'm supposed to try and get those Friday before going to LEXINGTON for MIDNIGHT MADNESS.
All this for a car that is barely three years old.
(sigh)
It's a Ford Focus.  Be warned...

I had a subject...but I lost it...

I've cried a couple of times today.
Most recently, watching Animal Planet's 'Heart of a Lioness'...I can't believe I got hooked into watching it, right to its devastating end...
Dumb show...
The first time I cried was at work today, after hearing over the phone the latest terrible thing that happened at my daughter's school today...
My daughter has never had an easy time of it at school...for some reason the boys and the bullies have decided she's an easy target, and they make her life miserable, every day.  But she's been able to stand it because she's had a few friends in the past...
It seems that since school started this year, though, her friends are gone, and she now has no protection from the TERRIBLE kids that are in her class...
Every day, she comes home with worse and worse stories...
Last week, when a girl hit her and cursed at her and threatened her, seemed to be the point of no return.  When she came home with this one, I called the school but the principal was already gone...and before I could call them the next morning, C called me and left a message on my work voicemail that the principal already knew about what happened and took care of it.
Turns out that a teacher saw what happened and the girl ended up getting expelled.
But, if anything, things got worse for C, and it seems to have triggered a total disregard for human decency when it comes to how the kids are treating my daughter.  They LOCKED her out of a room?  They called her a WHAT?
She has an important eighth grade test thing at school tomorrow, and then I'm picking her up after it's over, and I'm never taking her back.
Never.
The really funny thing is that this is a private school, and so I'm actually paying them to have my daughter treated this way.  And you have to sign a form when you register that, if for any reason your child is withdrawn from the school, you still have to pay for the whole year.
I will fight to the end before they get any more of my money.
Right now, I'm looking at homeschooling her for the rest of the year, as I've already bought all the books...
But I'm just at a loss, and so sad.  She got all A's and B's on her report card last week, which is the best she's done in a year and a half.  Her teachers are wonderful.  I'm afraid that, academically, this will hurt her.
Her soul is more important to me right now, though.  NO ONE could survive in an environment like that. 
Crying again...
I guess we'll see what happens.

It's time to go back...

John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #79: Chicago!:The last time I went to Chicago, I posted an entry on it here...

I love THE LAKE...I love the Chicago River, and the way that it winds through the city...I love the Planetarium, and the dolphin show at the Shedd Aquarium...

I love learning the history of Chicago, and that there's so much of it...I love being in a city that was nearly burned to the ground but never gave up, and instead rebuilt itself a thousand times better...I love the architecture and the skyline and especially the Hancock Observatory...

I love that I can see where the Haymarket affair happened...I love that I can stand at the old Water Tower...

I REALLY love the Chicago Cubs.

And the zoo there is amazing, and FREE...

My favorite thing about Chicago is the fact that, while I've visited other big cities, it's only in Chicago that I feel like I'm at home.  More than anywhere else, it truly is America's City...

That's why the 'America Windows' couldn't possibly have been anywhere else!