Well, the garage sale is over. Finally! I've spent every spare minute this past week preparing for and then sitting for hours at our garage sale. About $300 later and with a garage still too full to park 2 cars in I'm ready to officially say that I will not be having another garage sale. I can't really complain about the $300 but man has it been alot of work and it's so disappointing when you think about what you paid for something then barely used just to practically give it away for 50 cents because the garage sale pros told you it's not worth the $2 you had on the sticker. UGH!
On top of preparing for this last official garage sale I've had an emotionally draining week to say the least. The past year has been an emotional roller coaster when it comes to my husband's family with way more lows than highs. My SIL has an incredible addiction to alcohol that has consumed her life completely over the past year. She's been taking off for 3-5 days at a time on drinking binges, driving drunk but NEVER getting caught somehow and basically sleeping her life away on the days when she IS home. I've been so tempted to call social services at many times throughout the past year but I've been afraid that the children would be taken from my in-laws and possibly given to their dad (which is an even worse situation since he hasn't seen them in over 5 years). Well, apparently on Wednesday my FIL called and they started the process of getting temporary custody of the kids so that Wendy couldn't take them anywhere. She'd been gone since Monday with no word and without her even knowing that they were starting that process she had apparently been planning to move with her boyfriend to Georgia where his daughter lives. On Thursday my MIL came home to a letter on the table saying they were gone and would be back for the kids when they got settled. No goodbyes to her children, not even a phone call from the road. It just breaks my heart to think what this has to be doing to those precious kids. They're sweetness so far is beyond explanation when you look at their situation in life. Personally I am glad that Wendy is gone. I've gone through all the things you 'SHOULD' do in response to the problems she's been having. I've been a friend, I've given tough love and I'd been used and abused and became fed up and basically given up. I've stayed involved with the kids on a weekly basis (not because I should but because I truly LOVE spending time with them) but I've pretty much cut off any involvement with the rest of his family up until this weekend. I've been sucked back in and my only hope is that my MIL stays strong and does not just allow her to come back and welcome her with open arms to disrupt their lives yet again. I just don't think I can take that happening again. I've felt like everyone else has been so consumed with helping WENDY and I'm somehow the only one who sees how destructive they're allowing her to be to her kids.
I guess I'm writing all this for 2 reasons. One, to record my feelings about things at this point but more importantly to ask anyone who happens to read this to please say a prayer for Andrew & Celena. The letter that Wendy left happened to be what made the difference in my in-laws getting temporary custody of the kids which was an important step. I think it was the first answer to countless prayers over the past year so I really hope the events of this past week (although incredibly difficult for the kids) is at least a step towards a better life for them. I know all kids need their parents but in this case I truly believe for the time being they're better off without her. I know that sounds harsh but what kind of mother leaves for what clearly would be weeks if not months without even saying goodbye to her children?!
All of this makes me unbelievably thankful for the family I've been raised in. It feels so unfair. And as difficult as this week has been for me I have to remind myself that it has been MUCH harder on my niece & nephew and Scott's parents. When it's all said and done, I spend my Sunday with my family and get to see my nieces and nephews celebrate another birthday (Happy birthday Braelynn!) and I come home to my cozy little corner of the world where my garage is now clean and the spare bedroom bed that Andrew & Celena slept in this weekend is now laundered and remade. I wonder if they're sound asleep in their beds right now or laying awake wondering when their mom will come home. Will they tell their friends at school tomorrow or keep it to themselves? What will the next few weeks bring?
Another departure from the things I love about my house unless you bought that line yesterday about the location of it being so great that I could include the beach as one of the things I love. LOL Along the same lines though I got to go to one of my favorite nearby cities and eat at my all time favorite restaurant for dinner tonight. Saugatuck, MI is one of those 'on the water' type towns with all the neat shops and great restaurants and a-buzz with people. 'Interesting' people at that. It's one of those great people-watching places. I love places like that where you can look at the different people and try to figure out what their all about without ever even talking to them. Wierd, I know. But Saugatuck is a great place to do that in. All the fancy people with their fancy yachts and their fancy drinks with their fancy clothes and their fancy friends. Most of them having had a few too many of those fancy drinks which tends to make them that much more interesting to observe. LOL 
