My middle brother gets in a car accident.

I call my middle brother the day before yesterday to touch base with him. Every since he got this bright idea to quiet his perm job at Home Depot Supply where he had benefits, vacation time and a regular salary and decided he was going go off and substitute teach to try to get his "foot in the door", I have been trying to check on his at least once or twice a week to make sure he is ok and see if he needs anything. My brother has told me that he does not have health insurance for his kids. He tells me the Dentist that his wife works for writes prescriptions for his kids if they need meds from the Pharmacy. My dad is retired and has this car that is like 14 years old. It is paid off. He has had quite a few problems with it; but, while he was working as a High School teacher before he decided to retire, he had put his car in the shop. My father tells me his car just needs a new radiator. I found one off eBay we can buy and is $80. I figured myself and my 2 brothers can all go in with $30 and buy this radiator so my dad's can drive his car. When I called my middle brother, he immediately tells me, "Ahh, I have to go. I just got in an accident and think I just totaled my car." My brother had a Ford Ranger that was paid off and he gets this bright idea that he is going to go buy this little Suzuki car that is a little more reliable that his truck. He has only had this thing for a few months.

My brother calls me back that same night and tells me he was in IH35 in San Antonio near the Pepsi bottling plant. He was coming over the bridge when traffic had come to a complete stop. He slammed on his brakes and was not able to stop in time. He rear ended a Ford F150 truck with his kids in the car. My brother not knowing where to get his car towed, tells the tow truck driver to take it to the Police Impound lot. I had asked him what kind of insurance cover ages he had. He tells me he does not know. I asked if he had rental car reimbursement and he tells me he does not know. The only thing he knows is that he has Progressive. My brother had called Progressive and the adjuster wanted him to bring the car into one of their adjustment shops. He tells the guy that the car is not drivable. The guy asks if he can tow it there and my brother tells him it is at the Police Impound lot. The adjuster is going to go to the lot to look at the car and contact my brother with regards to his claim. I suggested he contact Progressive to find out what body shops are their preferred shops and have the car towed there. That way if the car can be fixed, they can start work on it immediately.

The good thing is that his kids were shaken up but were ok and no one was hurt. I am amazed that my brother has no clue about his insurance overages, if he has GAP insurance on his car, or if he has rental car reimbursement. From what I understand, Progressive does not do a 100% pay off of his car if they total it. More than likely, my brother financed the whole car. If Progressive does total his car, he will be lucky to get full value. The good thing is that my brother has his old truck he can drive. It has high millage; but, I told him that I would be happy to help him keep that beast on the road. I am surprised that my brother's wife has not put her foot down to make him get health insurance for his kids. I realize that he and his wife do not make very much money; but, there are insurance programs through the State of Texas that would allow him to get insurance for his kids at a reduced price if he needed to.

I am going continue to keep checking on him to make sure he does not need anything and help point him in the right direction. He is currently subbing at East Central High School until the end of the school year and working part time at Walmart to bring in extra money. He is hopeful that East Central will offer him a job next year. The big problem with that is my brother has not passed the Exit test yet and schools are not going to just offer him a job if he is not already certified unless they have some sort of emergency certification.

My brother sends me his kid's Christmas list.

I email my brother to send me his kid's Christmas list. I have this tradition of giving him and his wife gift cards for Christmas because I got tired of thinking of the perfect gift, only to have my brother John try to return it after Christmas. I have gone as far as removing the shrink wrap and cutting out the UPC code so he could not return it when I was giving gifts. It is usually a Target or Best Buy Gift card.

Here is the response my brother sends me with regards to what to buy his kids:

Amber is into board games, or games for the DS.
Travis loves playing games for the Gamecube, he likes
shooting games.  

Amber is the oldest and I am all for buying her board games. Josh loves board games as well. Travis who is 6 years old wants a "shooting game"? For his birthday, my brother told me he wanted Call of Duty. That is not an age appropriate game for a child that young. My son who will be 10 does not get to play first person shooter games like that. I will probably end up giving them both Game Stop gift cards. I am amazed my brother would let his youngest son play "T" for Teen and "M" for Mature games. What is even more surprising? His wife allows it. But then again, his wife's sister has 6 kids all with different dad's and my brother's mother in law takes care of most of them.

My great aunt from Monroe, LA

My great aunt finally moved in with my parents. She has been talking about doing that for years. I never thought she would move. She was living in my grandmother's house in Monroe, LA where my dad grew up. The whole neighborhood has gone downhill for years. My dad had mentioned the house was in dire need of repair. He ended up selling the land for like $5000 with the house and then paid $1100 to get it knocked down. My great aunt is in her 80s. My dad lived with her while she was in college. She is a sweet lady.

During her move, she told my parents she was bringing her 3 dogs with her. She never had children, so the dogs are like her kids. She had a couple who was coming to San Antonio anyway bring her. She was only able to get 2 dogs in the car with her because the other one was too scared to get in the car. A few days later, I find out that my dad, who has medical problems as is, is driving her to Monroe, LA which is a 9 hour drive, getting the dog and driving back.

I called my father to check on him and he was fine. When they got to Monroe, they were trying to get the 3rd dog and the dog bit my dad. They eventually got the dog in the car and they drove back to San Antonio. My dad ended up going to the hospital because of the dog bite.

My mother is biting her to tongue with regards to my great aunt and her dogs. She was like, "I can't say anything about those dogs. Those are her kids." I responded, "Mom, its YOUR house. You should have laid down the law and said that you can only bring 1 dog or 2 dogs tops." My mom was telling me she is worried about my Dad because with his medical problems she is worried that he is going to have another heart attack from trying to get the house ready for my great aunt and having to go back and forth to Monroe.

What is even more ironic, my great aunt has a room with a bed in it. The first night she was at my parents house, she slept on the porch to make sure the dogs were ok. My mom came home that day and found she had cleaned the porch completely. My dad then went out and bought her one of those Aero Beds so she can sleep on the porch and be with those dogs. On one hand, I think it is good that my great aunt cames to live with my parents. My parents are pack rats. This is forcing them to purge much of their clutter. I have even offered to come in and do painting and lay new tile to help them improve their house. My great aunt is also going to pay them money every month since she is going to be living there which will help with the added grocery expense. On the other hand, my dad has a lot of medical problems already. He does not need to add to them with street from my great aunt's move and her 3 dogs.

I already do call my parents once a week to check in on them. I will definitely have to start calling them more frequently and make sure my father takes care of himself.

Updates from my middle brother

I have started to make a habit of calling my middle brother at least once a week. He and I had never been real close. He is the one that thinks since he is the middle child, everything should be handed to him. My mother bought the land that his trailer is sitting on. He told my mother that he would pay her back. My mother saw about $200 from him and nothing more. I laugh because my mother complains, "We do not have any money." I usually tell her, "Yeah you do, John's trailer is sitting on top of it." His wife is my age and were in the same graduating class. I knew of her, but did know her personally. She always has this "sour puss" look on her face at family get togethers and sits there with her arms crossed like she is upset about something. She hardly ever speaks to me. She has a short leash on my brother. Every time I see his kids, I try to visit with them. Recently, his wife has started getting a little better in the "being social" department.

My brother got his bachelors degree about a year and a half ago. He was working for a Radiological Office but got fired from that job. He worked at a hotel for like the third or forth time just to bring some money in. My son's mom got a job at Home Depot supply in New Braunfels. I had made mention that he should apply. He did and got hired on. He works in the credit department in a big call center. During the summer, he was trying to get a teaching job and was offered a few jobs outside of the San Antonio area. Of course, his wife would not let him relocate his family outside the San Antonio area. She is too close to her own family. My brother has the dreams of being a coach, which I think is a great dream to strive for. In his mind, he wants a coaching job his first year teaching. My suggestion to him is to get his foot in the door of a school district and then worry about getting a coaching job. He has taken the Exit test a few times. It is never mentioned how many times he has taken it. The last time I had asked him about it, he told me it was going to a review session in San Marcos for that test. He is like my mother that never does well on tests. The other big problem is that he does not have teacher's certification. He has had schools tell him they will not even look at his resume without that.

He tells me in an email that he wants to quit his Home Depot job and go substitute at East Central. I asked him if he would make what he was making at Home Depot subbing and he tells me he would have to get a part time job at a hotel to make up the difference. I try to explain to him that would cut into his family time and he needs to be working during the day so he can be home with his kids. I told him to just hang loose with his Home Depot gig until another teaching job opens up. I also tell him he needs to start looking at other school districts. I will say he has been trying to get his foot in the door. I think he needs to step up his search in trying to get a teaching job and stop thinking he is going to be a coach his first year out as a teacher.

I think God wants me to be the older, wiser brother to help direct my brothers, to help point them in the direction they need to be. I am happy to help my brother out in any way I can. I just would hate to see him make choices to where his family would never see him because he is always working to makes ends meet.

My Brother and his crazy family

This past weekend was my nephew's 5th birthday. My brother did not send out invitations. He proceeded to email me that we were meeting a Chuck E Cheese at 6pm followed up with a phone call. I asked why soo late and he told me that his wife did not get off till late and his mother in law and just got in from Florida. As I drove into the party, I called my mother and asked her what she was getting Travis for his birthday. She proceeds to tell me, "Call of Duty 2 for the Gamecube." I respond, "You do know thats not an age appropriate game for a 5 year old. It is a T for Teen game." My mom tells me that she things my brother is asking for it for his son because he really wants it. My brother then calls me and I tell him, "Call of Duty 2? You know 5 year olds are not supposed to be playing that." He proceeds to tell me that he lets his 5 year old play Grand Theft Auto and True Crime. He tries to justify it by saying he makes him turn the sound off so he can not hear the curse words. My son is almost 10 and I will now allow him to play either game.

I end up at Walmart and get Travis a Sponge Bob Ants in the pants game and another card game. I am sure my brother will try to figure out some way he can try to return both so he can get the money and buy another Gamecube game.

As I am getting close to Chuck E Cheese, my mom tells me that it is a "nightmare" there and they are going over to Mr. Gatti's. The funny thing about this whole thing is that he did not reserve a party room and everyone had to pay for themselves. My brother did not even order his son a cake of his choosing, stating "I will just get cupcakes. They are easier." He did get all the kids Powercards to play video games. Josh comes by back like 15 minutes later telling me he has no more credit on his card.

First of all, I am amazed that my cheapo brother has not reserved anyplace. At least when I have had Josh's parties, we always had food for everyone. Secondly, I alway purchase my son the cake he wants. If he wants cupcakes, thats fine too. I am amazed that my brother would wait until the last minute to buy cupcakes for his party. Given, at 5 year old you really do not care what kind of cake you get.

Of course, my brother's sister in law was at the party. I recently found out she is pregnant with baby number 6. She has 6 babies with 4 different fathers. The funny thing is she can not even take care of the kids she has. Her mom takes care of most of them. She did marry the father of her last son and new baby on the way. My question is when does the State come in and make this woman tie her tubes because she is becoming a welfare case? My tax dollars are paying for her and her kids. Just because she is too lazy to use protection does not mean that I and the other tax payers should have to pay for her making bad decisions. You would have thought she would have learned her lession the first 2 kids she had. What kind of example is she showing to her own kids that its ok to have a ton of kids and not take care of them?