J-Mail.

Two days ago I recieved a tiny thin envelope envelope with a large red stamp on the back, "This corresponsedence is forwarded from the ______ County Sheriff's Office and Correctional Center. The contents may not have been evaluated and the Sherriff's Office is not responsible for the substance or content of the enclosed material."

I am the reluctant recipient of jail mail. Aren't I special?

Who might this letter be from? Why Ol' Blue Eyes, of course.

Now, I had been informed by his mother last week that I would be recieving this letter. I didn't actually speak to her though, considering the history that I have had with her son, I try to avoid the uncomfortable telephone calls if I can. It is much easier, albeit cowardly, to trade voicemails. So I had a good four days to ponder the contents of the letter. It did not contain what I thought that it would though. I was expecting a sob story about how he got drunk and rowdy. In reality it was nothing of the sort. It was quite comical actually, because it was the classic "I told you so" scenario. The best part is that it is not my problem. I don't have to worry about getting money to bail him out or taking off work to go to court or anything of the sort. It is glorious and wonderful to be able to say, "It is not my problem."

Sad to say, this is not the first j-mail that I have recieved. I find it interesting though, because every time, he writes of these profound things that he has realized while incarcerated. However, once he is out again, all that seems to go out the window.

Maybe this time will be different.

Probably not.

I look at brown-eyed babe and I realize how right I was in leaving. She is a joyful terror of a toddler who is completely oblivious to the mess that her father is, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

For the Record.

Monday night was the first night in 18 months that I spent away from brown-eyed babe. Suprisingly, the world did not come to an end. When I picked her up on Tuesday evening, she blinked sleepily at me. No cries of joy, no clapping, no smiling. Talk about anti-climactic.

The reason for this milestone in my mamahood was an AmeriCorps Conference in Sacramento. Through AmeriCorps, I work at the library's adult literacy program. Apparently, California is the only state that has a state-funded adult literacy program. The rest of the nation's programs are working on yearly grants.

I learned more about a great program from Jumpstart called Read for the Record. You will see the button on my sidebar. I encourage all you mamas out there to participate. If you can't make a donation, volunteer with your local library or school, or at least pledge to read to your child. It will be September 20, 2007. This year's book is "The Story of Ferdinand", the bull who would rather smell flowers than participate in a bullfight. It is incredibly important. As early as the age of 3 there can be a learning gap due to economic inequalities. This event is a way to bring awareness to early childhood education for all children.

Last year, they set a record for the largest shared reading experience with 150,000 people participating. Hopefully, that record will be broken this year.

So go on and pledge....you know you want to.