Hello, there, again from me; it's been a fairly quiet month this time which is a relief. Françoise is blending in fairly well at preschool (well, at any rate, better than I ever did, not that that's saying much) and making friends; let's hope she doesn't feel beholden to marry the first Caucasian male student she sees (HA!) or anything 'cause that would be just too weird. This leaves me with plenty of time to not only be there for Jamie and but to tutor some kids on the side when Anthony gets home so I can keep my hand in until we're all at the stage where I can substitute like Grandma Carrie did. I don't want to be like Mom and act like being a temp is a vacation.
Speaking of her and her not being able to stick to things, it's pretty much a given that it helped get her where she is today: at the CMH, reacquainting herself with reality. Anthony will tell you more about that but suffice to say, it was obvious as anything to responsible authorities that she needed to be away from where she was. It was just as obvious as the realization that being John Patterson, DDS is a crueler punishment than anything the courts could hope to dish out. Dad will tell you different, of course, but, as Uncle Phil told me, the defense's case boiled down to saying that since he was a pathetic zero who didn't matter to his community any more, it would be better to let him rattle away in his big empty house thinking that he matters. This is sort of tough on the Mayes family because he still thinks he has a measure of control in their business but means next to nothing to the elected officials he thinks owes them; paying five bucks for a bumper sticker doesn't exactly make him a major player. Fortunately for everyone in town he knows as much about finances as he does about criminal law; the same mastermind that confuses a refusal to indict based on a lack of interest isn't going to realize that he no longer owns anyone's horses.
Ah, well; at least he's not harrassing Mike like everyone thought he was going to. Despite what Anthony told him about fatherhood, it's obvious that he's washed his hands of "the ungrateful loafer who B.S.ed his way into buying MY house". It's not a very good way for Big Bro to get the peace of mind he needs in his time of need but if it works out, well, that's how it's got to be. It doesn't take a genius to realize that he'll simply become local boogeyman Old Man Patterson in the Tiny Train House, the butt of humor and source of scare stories.
Anyway, that's a thing that'll happen years later; as long as I can come up with reasons to not be anywhere near him, I think things will turn out fine. I'll have to cut this short as Jamie's needs come before writing about them.
A la prochaine,
Liz.