My nephew Joe has been living with me for 11 weeks, now...

Here's the original post, from my LiveJournal account:

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"There is going to be a huge change in my life, as of today.....

My niece died suddenly a couple of years ago, leaving her two sons to live with my brother. But, one of the boys, Joe, hasn't been doing very well. He doesn't get the attention that he needs. He's only 10 years old but is now close to 50 pounds over weight. My brother just doesn't have the time or patience to help him learn better eating and exercise habits and he has asked to come and live with me. I agreed. It's going to be a challenge, there's no doubt about that. But, I'm hopeful that I can make a positive difference in this boy's life. Tomorrow, we go to register him for school. One thing that he does have going for him is that he has above average intelligence and last year, even with his unhappy home situation, was on the honor roll at school. I want to help him keep that up, make friends and of course, be healthy.

Wish us luck."

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Friday, he had his first doctor's appointment, since he's been here. He's already lost 8 pounds and I could see the excitement and pride in his face, when he realized it. On the way home, we stopped and splurged on a Wii with the Sports package, and he's been playing hard at it. I think the rest of the weight is going to fall right off, now!

There's only 1 more week of school before the end of 1st Quarter and Joe has all A's with a B in Gym and Music. Though I was hoping he would take after me and play an instrument, I'm so happy with the grades...how could I not be?

On top of all of that, he's out-selling me, using my Amazon sellers account! Reselling his games and movies and reusing packaging. Nothing's getting wasted!

I'm kind of excited about the holiday season, probably for the second time, in my adult life. My own sweet baby girl only had one Christmas... I expect this one to be special.