Just when you think you have worked up a program to satisfy everyone, someone or some people decide to do their own thing.

After meeting with an attorney Thursday, he had advised me to have Makai contact her attorney to ask for a modification of the court order. This particular modification would not have compromised her "custody" of Addison, nor would it have affected Makai receiving child support. It would have given us (meaning Meme and Dandy) a legal position to have Addison in our home and pursue help for her from Sylvan. It would also have made the "catch up" educational efforts a priority. For everyone. It would mean that her school schedule would take precedence over any visitation.

I received a call from Scott (Makai's live in. I don't think they will ever marry because she has learned how to work the system and there are too many benefits to being a single mother) he was wanting to know if Addison's dad was giving us problems. I told him it was telephone calls and threats currently. Threats to pick her up regardless of her school schedule and threats to bring the police in if we deny him his visitation rights in the old divorce order.

I can deal with Addison's dad. If he shows up at our home and wants to pick up Addison, he will be welcome to follow me to San Angelo to pick her up from her mother. This won't ever happen because he asked the other day if we were going to give him gas money to take Addison to Sylvan if he has her on a school day.

When I finished talking with Scott, he put Makai on the phone. She told me she had all the papers ready to fax to us. I asked her if her attorney had any problem getting the modification and she told me the her attorney was with West Texas Legal Aid and while they will assist in divorce proceedings, they will not get involved in matters involving children in situations similar to what we have with Addison.

I asked Makai what she was going to fax and she told me "The court order from the divorce". Duh! What part of modification does she not understand. Of course she contends that she didn't learn of this until right before five Friday afternoon (she had nothing to do all day). All she had to do was ask for a referral, call us and we would have made financial arrangements with the lawyer she was referred to.

We called Makai's mother and step dad to ask them to stress the importance of what we were trying to do and they said they would talk with her.

In a short while Makai's step dad called back telling us that they didn't want to do anything that involved lawyers.

Here is a warning. Get ready!

I have started the wheels rolling already. Thanks to a good friend who has supplied me with legal advice in the past, he has agreed to hook me up with an attorney in San Angelo.

What I have to decided between now and Monday is exactly what I want to pursue. I could do the order modification I had asked Makai to do, or the attorney could go to the court and pursue custody of Addison, or I could seek an alliance with Addison's Dad and petition the court for the modification at his request (I figure if I make the deal to ask that his child support order be vacated, he would jump at the chance). Another attractive possibility is to request child support from Addison's mother. That might be poetic justice, at least in principle.

For everyone to have been "so on board" in the beginning, the last few days have seen a mutiny on a grand scale. That makes me think there were several who either looked at this a brief break from parenting (or grand parenting, or babysitting), but I don't think they believed Addison would stay.

Wrong! Addison is a s happy as a pea in a pod.

Last night Addison knew something was going on because I was talking with her mother and her San Angelo grandparents. She came and sat in my lap and asked me, "Dandy, am I not going to get to go to school tomorrow?" I told her, "Yes, you are." She grinned and laid her head down and we rocked for a while.

Addison was really excited because I had an e-mail from Sylvan and when I completed a survey, I received a certificate for five tokens for her to use at the reward store at Sylvan. Before she even goes in today she has 12 tokens!

I feel sorry for Addison. She wants the help, but there are so many people with their own agendas. When Addison and I talk, she has asked how long Sylvan will last. I told her as long as she wants to go to Sylvan or as long as it benefits her. I told her it could be for the summer, six months, one year, or I even told her she could stay until she graduates or gets married.

We are not doing this because it is easy, it isn't. It is quite an adjustment having a child in the house after ten years. We find ourselves thrown back into scheduling and figuring out driving schedules. But, it will be worth it when Sylvan catches Addison up.

At one point I thought about paying for Sylvan in San Angelo, but I think if whoever is responsible for taking her to and from school has nothing at risk (meaning no investment) they could be very lax in getting her there. (I guarantee you if it is costing a hundred dollars a day I will see that she is there unless she is extremely ill!).

We had to sign a contract with Sylvan. There are certain procedures and time tables for notifying them if Addison is unable to make her scheduled sessions. If it is excused, she has a certain window to make up that time. If it is unexcused, we still have to pay for it. To leave the program requires thirty days written notice.

Obviously no one in San Angelo has checked into all this, or they would be better informed.

So, I've given you a lot of information that brings me to this declaration:

Let the games begin, and may the party with the best attorney win!

Have a day.

FATHER, help and guide us as we sort through all the options. Help us to keep Addison's future and her well being at the forefront of our actions. FATHER she is a precious little girl, and has tremendous potential. Thank YOU for her, and we ask YOUR blessings on her.