It's really been a crazy month. At the end of December, one of my dearest and oldest girlfriends announced her engagement. But, instead of doing it how most girls plan their dream wedding to be, she told us she was headed to Vegas. I was very happy about this because she had told me a while back that if she got pregnant, they would just run off to Vegas and get married. So I am half thinking baby, but the smarter side of me said no baby just wedding. Wedding is just fine with me anyway. We were also told that we couldn't go. This was to be private, just for the two of them, but we would get to watch the wedding on the web by a camera in the church at the Chapel. On the one hand I was very upset, but on the other hand I was relieved of wedding duties, such as being a bridesmaid. I have done this Three times and it wasn't all I thought is was cracked up to be. It is so much easier to be a guest.
I remember the first wedding I was in. It was my husband's brothers wedding. I was never in a wedding before and thought it would be a lot of fun. So when Pat's brother Sean told me the girl he was dating,Erin, was the one, I started working on Erin to make sure I would have a spot in the wedding. This was going to be tough because Erin had about a zillion sisters. Not to mention that Patra, Pat's sister, was a definate shoe in because she was the only sister Pat and Sean had. I was going to have to work for my spot. Work I did. I would make little comments to Erin in a Joking but serious way "You know if you and Sean decide to get married I will be available to be a bridesmaid" She always thought it was funny. I continued to make my comments for about a year. Guess what? I got a spot! I was the last one in the line-up, but I didn't really care. I did it. I deserved it after all the effort I put into it.
The next wedding I was in was my brother Patrick's wedding. I didn't have to work hard at that one because I was the only sister. Thank God because I don't think I would have had the same energy to needle Devon about being a bridesmaid as I did for Erin. Why am I saying thank God? Its a lot of work being a bridesmaid. Quite frankly, I don't think I am the bridesmaid type. At this point too, I am getting older and it just looks stupid. After it was over, I was happy to have been given the honor to be in the wedding. I was also happy it was over.
The last wedding I was in was my youngest Brother Michael's wedding. Again, I am the only sister. Now that I'm thinking about it, I am glad I only have two brothers because this could have gone on forever! Michael and Michelle had a beautiful wedding also. Regan was in this wedding too. I remember Michelle told Regan she could wear whatever bridesmaid dress she wanted, but the only stipulation was the color had to match her dress. Regan went nuts. She tryed on at least 10 dresses. The one she really wanted, I said no to. Not only was the price very high, it was fancier than the brides dress. Michelle is very simple. Regan is not. The more hoochy and glamarous and sparkly, the better the outfit in Regan's eyes. It's funny because Regan is more about comfort and active wear, but when it comes to dressing up, she is all about the hooch. Needless to say, we got the simple dress for Regan.
My 3 sister-in-laws had these fancy weddings and receptions and my girlfriend Missy had a very simple wedding. You know what? I think I lean toward the simple myself. My wedding should have been an indication of that. Although I didn't really have a choice. Pat and I did everything sort of backwards. We lived in sin for quite a while before both families put the pressure on to get married. I was too busy to plan a wedding. I was in school for Radiology and my schedule was horrible. I didn't have time to plan a wedding. I was immune to the parental pressure. Pat wasn't. He kept pushing me to plan this big wedding. I really wanted no part of it. Honestly, I wasn't even really sure if we should get married. This went on for a few months and finally Pat came home and said "If you don't plan it, I'm going to." I thought to myself "Yeah, right." Of course, planning a wedding was the last thing on my mind. A few weeks later, Pat walked through the door and said "We are getting married on Thursday at the courthouse. If your not there, it's over." It went something like that. I guess I was in a little bit of shock. Now I have to get a damn dress withing 3 days. (To be cont..........)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Speaking of Dogs......
About two years ago our beloved family dog passed away. He was a black lab named Sullivan. We called him Sully for short. He was just like the lab you may have watched in the movie "Marley and Me". From the start, Sully was a good dog. He was easily trainable and very good with Connor. We got Sully a few months before Connor was born, so they would grow up together. And grow up together they did. Everywhere Connor went, Sully would go. We lived on a small street with a cul-de-sac while Connor was growing up. I knew exactly what house Connor was at because Sully would be laying on the front porch waiting for him to come out so he could follow him to the next place. When Regan came along, Sully did the same thing with her. Lucky for Sully that Regan's friend's was the sister of the boy Connor hung out with. Otherwise, I don't think he would know what to do if they were in seperate places. Then Ian came along. I was curious to see the dilema that Sullivan would be in when Ian started going over a friends house. Ian's Buddy lived across the street from the house Connor and Regan would hang out at.
At first Sully was unsure what to do, but after 10 minutes of confusion and pacing back and forth from house to house, Sully decided to lay in the middle. I figured out at that moment we not only had a smart dog, he was a great dog. He was the only dog on our street for a while and considered everyones dog. He watched out over the whole neighborhood. He enjoyed doing it too. The neighbors make him dog biscuits. I think when we moved, the neighbors were more upset about the dog leaving than us. Sully seemed to like our new house. We moved on the water. What's not to like about that? This was a Lab's paradise. When the kids were away at school, Sully was at my side all day long as I landscaped and did things around the new house. We sort of got into a routine. Everyday we did the same things. It could be so annoying at times that he wouldn't leave my side. I would do anything now to have him back annoying me all over again.
I didn't get over his passing for about a year and still to this day haven't really gotten over it. Pat wanted to get a dog right away. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I AM NOT READY AND IT WILL HAVE TO BE ON MY TERMS!" Everyone was angry with me, but I didn't really give a damn. I was going to be the one to feed the dog, take it for walks, take it to the vet, brush it, give it medicine if it needed it, and replace and clean up anything the puppy decided to tear up. I wasn't emotionally ready for that. About a year later I started to look around. Pat and the kids wanted another black lab. I said abosouletly not. My biggest fear is that we would get the same dog and all you would do was compare it to Sully. That dog would have some big shoes to fill. I'm not so sure it would be possible. So, the same dog was out of the question.
I finally settled on a dog. We got an English Bulldog. I always wanted either an English Bulldog or a French Bulldog. One day during football practice, I happened to be reading the penny saver and came across an add for English bulldog puppies. I called the lady right away and she said she only had one left. She was practically giving it away. I told her I would be right over to look. When I got to the house, the puppy was out in the driveway with her mother and brother. She was so cute! Up until know, I didn't think any puppy was cute. I bought her right away. She was the last one and she was 180 out from Sully. Thats for sure. I had never had a female dog, let alone a full breed of any sort. We named her Fiona. She was ugly in a cute sort of way like shreks girlfriend. So we named Fiona after her.
For the most part, everyone has been helpful when it comes to Fiona and all the attention we have to give her. Everyone has to chip in and walk and feed her. Our schedules are very busy. If the family didn't chip in and help, she would live in her crate most of the time. I decided that I am not doing it all alone with this dog. Everyone is going to bear the responsibility. Everything has been going great up until about a day ago. "FIONA GOT HER PERIOD?! THAT'S GROSS!" Nobody was really thrilled about that event. Ian was very curious about the whole thing. Pat wasn't to thrilled about the whole thing either. He has a very weak stomach. He dry heaves at just about anything. When Fiona dragged her puffy puss across his theatre room carpet and left a skid mark, I thought he was going to lose it.
I called the vet and told her what was going on and she said she started her heat cycle. I really thought I had more time to make my decision on whether to get her fixed or not. Then I asked the Vet "HOW LONG WILL SHE BE IN HEAT? ABOUT A WEEK?" The vet just laughed and said "TRY ABOUT 4-6 WEEKS" Why didn't anyone tell me this before? THIS SUCKS! I ran out to Pet Smart and had to buy a doggie diaper. The lady at Pet Smart gave me the low down on dogs in Heat. YIKES!!!!!!! Why me? Why is this happening to me? Fiona would barely wear her lobster halloween costume. How is she going to keep this dumb ass diaper on. Great! Next stop, Safeway. Now I had to buy maxi-pads. Do you believe this? The lady at Pet Smart said to put a maxi-pad in the diaper so you don't have to keep cleaning the diaper. Plus it will keep the smell down. SMELL?????? She told me that her boyfriend will buy pads for his dogs but not her if she needed them. I'm thinking"DO I REALLY LOOK LIKE A THERAPIST LADY? I GOT MY OWN PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW!" Sorry to hear that, but I really have to get going. My dog is dripping all over the damn place. I finally get home and rig up this doggie diaper. It worked. Lucky for me Fiona can't reach her butt to pull off the diaper. Bulldogs can't do that because of their build. You could tell she was embarrassed. She hid most of the time she had it on. I told her to join the club. I was wondering how Regan was going to take it when she got home. Fiona is her buddy. When Regan walked through the door Fiona didn't greet her as she normally does. She was sulking in her crate. She was being a moody Bitch. Well, I guess I can see her point. Anyway, Regan says where is Fiona? I said, "Fiona is embarrassed because she has to wear a diaper." Regan say's "Why?" "Well, Fiona got her period." Regan got wide-eyed and stomped her foot and said. "Oh my god. She got her period before me. Thats not fair!" Oh great, I have another moody bitch to deal with. I said get over it. You want to put off what Fiona got for as long as you can.
At first Sully was unsure what to do, but after 10 minutes of confusion and pacing back and forth from house to house, Sully decided to lay in the middle. I figured out at that moment we not only had a smart dog, he was a great dog. He was the only dog on our street for a while and considered everyones dog. He watched out over the whole neighborhood. He enjoyed doing it too. The neighbors make him dog biscuits. I think when we moved, the neighbors were more upset about the dog leaving than us. Sully seemed to like our new house. We moved on the water. What's not to like about that? This was a Lab's paradise. When the kids were away at school, Sully was at my side all day long as I landscaped and did things around the new house. We sort of got into a routine. Everyday we did the same things. It could be so annoying at times that he wouldn't leave my side. I would do anything now to have him back annoying me all over again.
I didn't get over his passing for about a year and still to this day haven't really gotten over it. Pat wanted to get a dog right away. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I AM NOT READY AND IT WILL HAVE TO BE ON MY TERMS!" Everyone was angry with me, but I didn't really give a damn. I was going to be the one to feed the dog, take it for walks, take it to the vet, brush it, give it medicine if it needed it, and replace and clean up anything the puppy decided to tear up. I wasn't emotionally ready for that. About a year later I started to look around. Pat and the kids wanted another black lab. I said abosouletly not. My biggest fear is that we would get the same dog and all you would do was compare it to Sully. That dog would have some big shoes to fill. I'm not so sure it would be possible. So, the same dog was out of the question.
I finally settled on a dog. We got an English Bulldog. I always wanted either an English Bulldog or a French Bulldog. One day during football practice, I happened to be reading the penny saver and came across an add for English bulldog puppies. I called the lady right away and she said she only had one left. She was practically giving it away. I told her I would be right over to look. When I got to the house, the puppy was out in the driveway with her mother and brother. She was so cute! Up until know, I didn't think any puppy was cute. I bought her right away. She was the last one and she was 180 out from Sully. Thats for sure. I had never had a female dog, let alone a full breed of any sort. We named her Fiona. She was ugly in a cute sort of way like shreks girlfriend. So we named Fiona after her.
For the most part, everyone has been helpful when it comes to Fiona and all the attention we have to give her. Everyone has to chip in and walk and feed her. Our schedules are very busy. If the family didn't chip in and help, she would live in her crate most of the time. I decided that I am not doing it all alone with this dog. Everyone is going to bear the responsibility. Everything has been going great up until about a day ago. "FIONA GOT HER PERIOD?! THAT'S GROSS!" Nobody was really thrilled about that event. Ian was very curious about the whole thing. Pat wasn't to thrilled about the whole thing either. He has a very weak stomach. He dry heaves at just about anything. When Fiona dragged her puffy puss across his theatre room carpet and left a skid mark, I thought he was going to lose it.
I called the vet and told her what was going on and she said she started her heat cycle. I really thought I had more time to make my decision on whether to get her fixed or not. Then I asked the Vet "HOW LONG WILL SHE BE IN HEAT? ABOUT A WEEK?" The vet just laughed and said "TRY ABOUT 4-6 WEEKS" Why didn't anyone tell me this before? THIS SUCKS! I ran out to Pet Smart and had to buy a doggie diaper. The lady at Pet Smart gave me the low down on dogs in Heat. YIKES!!!!!!! Why me? Why is this happening to me? Fiona would barely wear her lobster halloween costume. How is she going to keep this dumb ass diaper on. Great! Next stop, Safeway. Now I had to buy maxi-pads. Do you believe this? The lady at Pet Smart said to put a maxi-pad in the diaper so you don't have to keep cleaning the diaper. Plus it will keep the smell down. SMELL?????? She told me that her boyfriend will buy pads for his dogs but not her if she needed them. I'm thinking"DO I REALLY LOOK LIKE A THERAPIST LADY? I GOT MY OWN PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW!" Sorry to hear that, but I really have to get going. My dog is dripping all over the damn place. I finally get home and rig up this doggie diaper. It worked. Lucky for me Fiona can't reach her butt to pull off the diaper. Bulldogs can't do that because of their build. You could tell she was embarrassed. She hid most of the time she had it on. I told her to join the club. I was wondering how Regan was going to take it when she got home. Fiona is her buddy. When Regan walked through the door Fiona didn't greet her as she normally does. She was sulking in her crate. She was being a moody Bitch. Well, I guess I can see her point. Anyway, Regan says where is Fiona? I said, "Fiona is embarrassed because she has to wear a diaper." Regan say's "Why?" "Well, Fiona got her period." Regan got wide-eyed and stomped her foot and said. "Oh my god. She got her period before me. Thats not fair!" Oh great, I have another moody bitch to deal with. I said get over it. You want to put off what Fiona got for as long as you can.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Dog Days of Vacation
Months ago when this getaway was getting planned, My girlfriend Shannon came across this place in Deep Creek that would take you dogsledding. We both thought that would be a cool thing for the kids to experience. When we went to make reservations, the only day they had available was Monday. That was the only hang-up. Monday was the day to travel back home. Well, no big deal. The reservation was for 10a.m. How long could it possible take. There were 9 of us and two people at a time got to go on the sled. Really it went by weight. Two people on a sled up to a certain weight.
We woke up Monday morning and really didn't have that much to do. We packed most of our things the night before since we had to leave early the next morning to get to the dogsledding place. The place wasn't that far from the cabin. It was actually right down the road from the ski resort but as you know from my previous tale, it took about 40 minutes to get to the ski resort because of our road. Shannon and I both agreed that we would leave together in case one of us got stuck in the driveway. The day before we both got stuck. For Breakfast, we let the kids eat and drink up anything they could find or wanted to eat. It made it less to pack.
We packed up both cars and got ready to head out. Shannon and Lenny were the first to leave the driveway. They made it out with no problem. After they made it out, I was thinking, "Oh my god, Its our turn." Pat put the car in gear and started to move. We came to the sharp turn in the drive on to the road and barely made the turn. My face must have been beet red from holding my breath, but we made the turn. We started to go up the icy hill and I noticed Shannon and Lenny were stopped. "WHO STOPS ON AN ICY HILL?" So Pat stops. Lenny gets out of the car smiling because everyone made it out of the drive. I'm thinking to myself "Smile as your moving up the road mister. You two cavemen can pat each other on the back when we are out safely". Well, we made it out.
We finally get to the dogsledding place and get greeted by the owner. Very nice man, but sort of one of those finatics about his dogs. I guess he should be since its his business but sometimes it was a little much for me. We go into his compound and he hands us off to his wife. When we walk up onto this covered porch area, there is another family there. So now the total is up to 15. Well, no big deal. It still shouldn't take that long. The woman goes on and on about the dogs and where they came from. It was interesting. Ok, it was interesting for about 15 minutes. Thirty five minutes later, I am ready to go sledding. Not to mention, IT IS FREEZING OUTSIDE! "Can we please just have our cool dog sledding experience and go already?" Another 35 minutes go by and we are still talking. Now I feel just like I'm one of the kids. I'm here but I don't really hear you. Maybe because my eardrum is frozen. The guide then points out all the dogs in the enclosure. They had about 18 dogs I guess. She said"The dogs are getting really excited, they know what your here for. Watch them for a second. Maybe we can catch them doing the dance. I watched and all I saw was the doggy style dirty dance. Nothing like to male dogs going at it. I kept thinking maybe the moutain we were on was called brokeback. The guide then asked "Can anyone think of a name we could call the dance they do?" Without even a thought, I said "Dirty". Oh my god! Did I really just say that out loud. YES! Well, thank god the woman laughed. It was now time to get the dogs hitched up. Again, very interesting, but very intense. We had very precise instructions for safety while the guides did this. We did nothing but watch but had to stay aware of what was going on. The dogs are very strong and get excited on the way to get hitched up. The dogs are made to walk on their two hind legs to the hitch. This gives the handler more control over them. Well, my girlfriend Shannon gets a cell phone call during this and decides to answer it. Well she got in huge trouble. She wasn't paying attention and had her back turned to the handler and the dog and she was sort of in the way. She got yelled at pretty good and made to look careless and uncaring for the handlers situation. I am so glad my "Dirty" comment went over well. The funny thing about Shannon is about a month ago, you couldn't even get her to carry her cell phone let alone answer it. She gets a new droid and she's texting, emailing, and taking pictures. Shannon's jaw was on the ground. She is such a goody two shoes, I had to laugh at the whole incident. " I whispered in her ear, "Hey thanks for putting all our lives in danger Puss" We walked away and started to laugh. It's almost 12 oclock now. Can we please get this show on the road! I am starving! I didn't eat any breakfast before we left.
We all went on our rides. It was very fun. It was really cool to see how the dogs worked together and how disciplined they were. We got to yell the commands out too. We all got done with the ride and the guides were putting the dogs away. Of course the kids all wanted to pet the dogs and the owner said we are going to meet all the dogs later. I'm thinking "Later?! How much later? Aren't we done? We have a 4 hour drive home Lady! I'm starving! Unless your getting ready to cook up one of those huskies, I am leaving!" Just then I looked over at Pat. Remember when I told you about how wide his eyes got when he found out Garrett County was a dry county on Sunday. Well his eyes were pretty wide after he heard the guide say later. So the guide talks for about 15 minutes more and then we get led into the dog pen. I actually whispered to the kids not to ask any more questions. The guide would just go on and on. When we walked into the pen, I looked around. There were to many dogs to count. Are we actually going to meet every single one of these dogs? We did. That took about 30 minutes. We got led out of the pen and I was so happy to be done. Little did I know we were about to learn about all the types of sleds. While we were meeting each Husky, the other guides were pulling out all the different types of dogsleds. Oh my god. I think I may cry. Oh, wait a minute, my tear ducts are frozen!
It finally ended. Thank god. The Gilligan island tour was shorter than this tour. The kids really enjoyed themselves and I guess that is what counts in the end. NOT!
We woke up Monday morning and really didn't have that much to do. We packed most of our things the night before since we had to leave early the next morning to get to the dogsledding place. The place wasn't that far from the cabin. It was actually right down the road from the ski resort but as you know from my previous tale, it took about 40 minutes to get to the ski resort because of our road. Shannon and I both agreed that we would leave together in case one of us got stuck in the driveway. The day before we both got stuck. For Breakfast, we let the kids eat and drink up anything they could find or wanted to eat. It made it less to pack.
We packed up both cars and got ready to head out. Shannon and Lenny were the first to leave the driveway. They made it out with no problem. After they made it out, I was thinking, "Oh my god, Its our turn." Pat put the car in gear and started to move. We came to the sharp turn in the drive on to the road and barely made the turn. My face must have been beet red from holding my breath, but we made the turn. We started to go up the icy hill and I noticed Shannon and Lenny were stopped. "WHO STOPS ON AN ICY HILL?" So Pat stops. Lenny gets out of the car smiling because everyone made it out of the drive. I'm thinking to myself "Smile as your moving up the road mister. You two cavemen can pat each other on the back when we are out safely". Well, we made it out.
We finally get to the dogsledding place and get greeted by the owner. Very nice man, but sort of one of those finatics about his dogs. I guess he should be since its his business but sometimes it was a little much for me. We go into his compound and he hands us off to his wife. When we walk up onto this covered porch area, there is another family there. So now the total is up to 15. Well, no big deal. It still shouldn't take that long. The woman goes on and on about the dogs and where they came from. It was interesting. Ok, it was interesting for about 15 minutes. Thirty five minutes later, I am ready to go sledding. Not to mention, IT IS FREEZING OUTSIDE! "Can we please just have our cool dog sledding experience and go already?" Another 35 minutes go by and we are still talking. Now I feel just like I'm one of the kids. I'm here but I don't really hear you. Maybe because my eardrum is frozen. The guide then points out all the dogs in the enclosure. They had about 18 dogs I guess. She said"The dogs are getting really excited, they know what your here for. Watch them for a second. Maybe we can catch them doing the dance. I watched and all I saw was the doggy style dirty dance. Nothing like to male dogs going at it. I kept thinking maybe the moutain we were on was called brokeback. The guide then asked "Can anyone think of a name we could call the dance they do?" Without even a thought, I said "Dirty". Oh my god! Did I really just say that out loud. YES! Well, thank god the woman laughed. It was now time to get the dogs hitched up. Again, very interesting, but very intense. We had very precise instructions for safety while the guides did this. We did nothing but watch but had to stay aware of what was going on. The dogs are very strong and get excited on the way to get hitched up. The dogs are made to walk on their two hind legs to the hitch. This gives the handler more control over them. Well, my girlfriend Shannon gets a cell phone call during this and decides to answer it. Well she got in huge trouble. She wasn't paying attention and had her back turned to the handler and the dog and she was sort of in the way. She got yelled at pretty good and made to look careless and uncaring for the handlers situation. I am so glad my "Dirty" comment went over well. The funny thing about Shannon is about a month ago, you couldn't even get her to carry her cell phone let alone answer it. She gets a new droid and she's texting, emailing, and taking pictures. Shannon's jaw was on the ground. She is such a goody two shoes, I had to laugh at the whole incident. " I whispered in her ear, "Hey thanks for putting all our lives in danger Puss" We walked away and started to laugh. It's almost 12 oclock now. Can we please get this show on the road! I am starving! I didn't eat any breakfast before we left.
We all went on our rides. It was very fun. It was really cool to see how the dogs worked together and how disciplined they were. We got to yell the commands out too. We all got done with the ride and the guides were putting the dogs away. Of course the kids all wanted to pet the dogs and the owner said we are going to meet all the dogs later. I'm thinking "Later?! How much later? Aren't we done? We have a 4 hour drive home Lady! I'm starving! Unless your getting ready to cook up one of those huskies, I am leaving!" Just then I looked over at Pat. Remember when I told you about how wide his eyes got when he found out Garrett County was a dry county on Sunday. Well his eyes were pretty wide after he heard the guide say later. So the guide talks for about 15 minutes more and then we get led into the dog pen. I actually whispered to the kids not to ask any more questions. The guide would just go on and on. When we walked into the pen, I looked around. There were to many dogs to count. Are we actually going to meet every single one of these dogs? We did. That took about 30 minutes. We got led out of the pen and I was so happy to be done. Little did I know we were about to learn about all the types of sleds. While we were meeting each Husky, the other guides were pulling out all the different types of dogsleds. Oh my god. I think I may cry. Oh, wait a minute, my tear ducts are frozen!
It finally ended. Thank god. The Gilligan island tour was shorter than this tour. The kids really enjoyed themselves and I guess that is what counts in the end. NOT!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday Fun Day
What was suppose to be a fun day may not be so fun. When I woke up Sunday morning, it was raining. I could hear it loudly as I laid in the cabins full size bed made of just springs and no padding. I wanted to get up and look outside but my back was saying, if you move, I will hurt you even more. I took a few minutes and then got up slowly. Thank God I am still semi-young and in half way decent shape. My mother would have been crippled up all day if she had to sleep in the bed I was sleeping in. When I looked out the window, it was just as I thought, we had rain all night long. Freezing temperatures and Rain don't mix very well. It wasn't just misting out, it was in a full downpour. The road in front of our cabin was very glassy looking. Not good at all. We have to go uphill to get out. That's not good at all when down hill from the driveway about 30 yards was a cliff. I made some tea and thought I would let everyone sleep in a little. I was certainly in no rush to get back out on our road after the whole bridge incident the day before.
After a while, everyone was up and we were eating a great breakfast, even though the cabin's nonstick pans made everything stick. Working in this little kitchen made me miss my kitchen even more. The cabins stove was electric. It's hard to regulate the heat on an electric stove. Especially hard when the coils that plug in to make the heat are sitting on a severe angle. The burner sloped in the direction of the hill in front of our cabin. Oh my God, was this place sliding slowly toward the cliff. Hopefully it can hold out for another day until we leave. That is, if we can get out of here alive or better yet out of the driveway. Oh that's right, the real estate Co. dropped off some complimentary gravel. Wasn't that so thoughtful of those rat bastards. By the way, I am having a good time. It was just these few things that really chapped my ass. For Goodness sake, shovel out a decent walk way to the door for us and plow out our damn driveway. I can live with crooked burners on the stove, a bed not fit for humans, a fireplace that was the heat pump(you turn the heat up and the fireplace would come on), a dishwasher that could barely fit a place setting for four in a house that slept 8-10 people, cookie sheets that wouldn't fit in the oven, and a hot tub with the wrong key(that is a whole other story). We could make all this work, but we couldn't fix the outside problem, a driveway with about a foot of unplowed icy snow on it and a road in front that was hanging on for dear life. In the meantime, the kids thought this was the greatest thing. Oh to be to carefree and unworried about things in life. The kids ran and got dressed and grabbed their sleds and took off for the icy hill in front of the cabin. We hadn't seen any traffic on the road in front of us the whole time. GO FIGURE!!! The kids probably sled for about an hour. They had a great time. The whole time I was out there watching, I was just thinking about getting out. I could not and did not want to be cooped up in the cabin all day. It was still raining pretty good outside. Snowboarding and Skiing would really be yucky today. Oh well, Pat and I would give them a few choices.
We asked the kids if they wanted to go to the slopes and they didn't look too enthused. Who could blame them. It was pouring! Then Shannon said something and they realized they could go bowling at home, or play x-box, but they couldn't snowboard or ski. As they got ready to ski, I made some sandwiches and packed tons of snacks and drinks. This would be our last night here and we still had tons of food to eat up so we didn't have to pack it up to bring it home. Everyone was ready and we got in the suburban and started to back up. We moved to the top of the driveway seemingly easy but stopped at the top. I yelled at Pat to KEEP GOING! He said "I AM! WE ARE SPINNING!" So Pat pulled forward to try again. This time we slid into a rut on the side of the driveway. Now we were going nowhere. I got out of the car to look. As I watched Pat spinning and spinning, I looked back behind me. The big ugly pile of black complimentary gravel. This isn't going to look good on my white ski bunny outfit. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! As I grabbed our half cracked snow shovel to scoop out some gravel, I was thinking "you leave us gravel, but no real shovel to scoop it with. Rat bastards." It took about a half an hour, but we finally got the Hoopty out. Although, we had to drive out of our road backwards for about 200 yards. Once we got going, we were afraid to stop. The road in front of the cabin was to narrow to turn the Hoopty bus around. The ride out to the main road was a little hair raising but we made it.
When we got to the ski resort, we outfitted the kids in there equipment and they were off. I watched them for a long while and then headed into the bar to hang out with Pat. He wanted to watch the football games. When I walked into the bar, I was pretty pissed to see Pat had ordered some chicken wings. He said "These are for you." and I said"WHAT?, I just packed all that food to bring and you buy chicken wings. Not to mentioned it felt like breakfast was still sitting in my throat!" He leans over and whispers in my ear, "I had to order something" He then pointed to a huge piece of paper on the bar that basically said that Garrett County was dry on Sundays and the restaurant/bartender had to use their discretion in serving alcohol. Unless you order food when you are in a restaurant, you can't drink alcohol. I could care less because I don't really drink, but Pat's eyes were as wide a saucers when he showed it to me. I thought it was hysterical. The kids finished skiing and we headed home. Pat of course was feeling no pain. I wish the bartender would have used better discretion when serving him. We drove back to the cabin at about 85 miles and hour(way to fast considering the roads were freezing), and when we got to the entrance of our community and Pat hit the four wheel drive and started fishtailing, I was about at a mental breakdown. "SLOW DOWN!!!!" He didn't like my comment one bit. He slammed on the breaks and we went at it. The kids went silent for the rest of the roller coaster ride back to the cabin. I was white-knuckling it all the way. Pat thought he was the best driver in the world that night. I thought he was a wreckless, arrogant, jerk. I wonder if he thought he was a total idiot the next day. I wonder if he realized he could have killed his whole family. I wonder if he had any regrets of how he treated me. After all, I was still traumatized from a near death experience the day before when we almost went off the bridge into the rushing river. Tomorrow we would be going home, but we would be taking the kids on one last adventure. It was going to be a surprise for them. TO BE CONT...............
After a while, everyone was up and we were eating a great breakfast, even though the cabin's nonstick pans made everything stick. Working in this little kitchen made me miss my kitchen even more. The cabins stove was electric. It's hard to regulate the heat on an electric stove. Especially hard when the coils that plug in to make the heat are sitting on a severe angle. The burner sloped in the direction of the hill in front of our cabin. Oh my God, was this place sliding slowly toward the cliff. Hopefully it can hold out for another day until we leave. That is, if we can get out of here alive or better yet out of the driveway. Oh that's right, the real estate Co. dropped off some complimentary gravel. Wasn't that so thoughtful of those rat bastards. By the way, I am having a good time. It was just these few things that really chapped my ass. For Goodness sake, shovel out a decent walk way to the door for us and plow out our damn driveway. I can live with crooked burners on the stove, a bed not fit for humans, a fireplace that was the heat pump(you turn the heat up and the fireplace would come on), a dishwasher that could barely fit a place setting for four in a house that slept 8-10 people, cookie sheets that wouldn't fit in the oven, and a hot tub with the wrong key(that is a whole other story). We could make all this work, but we couldn't fix the outside problem, a driveway with about a foot of unplowed icy snow on it and a road in front that was hanging on for dear life. In the meantime, the kids thought this was the greatest thing. Oh to be to carefree and unworried about things in life. The kids ran and got dressed and grabbed their sleds and took off for the icy hill in front of the cabin. We hadn't seen any traffic on the road in front of us the whole time. GO FIGURE!!! The kids probably sled for about an hour. They had a great time. The whole time I was out there watching, I was just thinking about getting out. I could not and did not want to be cooped up in the cabin all day. It was still raining pretty good outside. Snowboarding and Skiing would really be yucky today. Oh well, Pat and I would give them a few choices.
We asked the kids if they wanted to go to the slopes and they didn't look too enthused. Who could blame them. It was pouring! Then Shannon said something and they realized they could go bowling at home, or play x-box, but they couldn't snowboard or ski. As they got ready to ski, I made some sandwiches and packed tons of snacks and drinks. This would be our last night here and we still had tons of food to eat up so we didn't have to pack it up to bring it home. Everyone was ready and we got in the suburban and started to back up. We moved to the top of the driveway seemingly easy but stopped at the top. I yelled at Pat to KEEP GOING! He said "I AM! WE ARE SPINNING!" So Pat pulled forward to try again. This time we slid into a rut on the side of the driveway. Now we were going nowhere. I got out of the car to look. As I watched Pat spinning and spinning, I looked back behind me. The big ugly pile of black complimentary gravel. This isn't going to look good on my white ski bunny outfit. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! As I grabbed our half cracked snow shovel to scoop out some gravel, I was thinking "you leave us gravel, but no real shovel to scoop it with. Rat bastards." It took about a half an hour, but we finally got the Hoopty out. Although, we had to drive out of our road backwards for about 200 yards. Once we got going, we were afraid to stop. The road in front of the cabin was to narrow to turn the Hoopty bus around. The ride out to the main road was a little hair raising but we made it.
When we got to the ski resort, we outfitted the kids in there equipment and they were off. I watched them for a long while and then headed into the bar to hang out with Pat. He wanted to watch the football games. When I walked into the bar, I was pretty pissed to see Pat had ordered some chicken wings. He said "These are for you." and I said"WHAT?, I just packed all that food to bring and you buy chicken wings. Not to mentioned it felt like breakfast was still sitting in my throat!" He leans over and whispers in my ear, "I had to order something" He then pointed to a huge piece of paper on the bar that basically said that Garrett County was dry on Sundays and the restaurant/bartender had to use their discretion in serving alcohol. Unless you order food when you are in a restaurant, you can't drink alcohol. I could care less because I don't really drink, but Pat's eyes were as wide a saucers when he showed it to me. I thought it was hysterical. The kids finished skiing and we headed home. Pat of course was feeling no pain. I wish the bartender would have used better discretion when serving him. We drove back to the cabin at about 85 miles and hour(way to fast considering the roads were freezing), and when we got to the entrance of our community and Pat hit the four wheel drive and started fishtailing, I was about at a mental breakdown. "SLOW DOWN!!!!" He didn't like my comment one bit. He slammed on the breaks and we went at it. The kids went silent for the rest of the roller coaster ride back to the cabin. I was white-knuckling it all the way. Pat thought he was the best driver in the world that night. I thought he was a wreckless, arrogant, jerk. I wonder if he thought he was a total idiot the next day. I wonder if he realized he could have killed his whole family. I wonder if he had any regrets of how he treated me. After all, I was still traumatized from a near death experience the day before when we almost went off the bridge into the rushing river. Tomorrow we would be going home, but we would be taking the kids on one last adventure. It was going to be a surprise for them. TO BE CONT...............
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Lessons Learned
I love to get away for a long weekend when the kids are off. Things I don't love about getting away for a long weekend is the long road trip with the kids in the car, packing, packing things you have to pack to stay in a house v.s a hotel, the dreded unpacking when you get there, and then starting the routine all over again a few days later when you have to go home. I have argued this point with my husband over and over again. He finally agrees with me. No more house rental! Give me a hotel where someone brings me dinner, makes my bed, cleans my room, cleans my dishes, brings me nice fresh towels, cleans the refridge out(I barely do this at home), and empties my garbage. This may sound like I am high maintenence to you, but to me it sounds like a vacation. Isn't that what I am suppose to be on? You may want to be a slave when you get away, but I sure don't. Why go away and spend money to do that when I can stay home and do all that crap for free.
Well, here I am doing it again, renting a house with some friends in Deep Creek Lake. I learned a lot of lessons when we did this over Thanksgiving with Pat's family. Don't pack sheets for the kids. Make them sleep in there sleeping bags on the bed. Each family member pick a night to do dinner. Makes it easier to shop. Don't over do it on the groceries! Packing that stuff up at the end of the week sucks!
Only a couple of lessons stuck obviously because at the end of the trip we were cleaning the fridge out. A lesson I learned on this trip was know the type of road your house is located on. We were in the boondocks on ice and snow covered roads. The ski resort was aproximately 16 miles from our cabin but it took about 40 minutes to get there because the road to our house was worse than trecherous! Another lesson I learned was demand better service from the real estate company you are renting through. We drove 4 hours to get to Deep Creek Lake. When we show up at the Real Estate Co. to get the key, I asked a few questions and flood gates opened up. The agent says, matter-of-factly, that the directions have changed on the sheet(well I'm glad we asked tootsie). Also, when you ask someone how far and they say just down the road, I take it to mean less than a mile. In Deep Creek it means about 15-20 miles. We finally get to our cabin and the driveway is barely cleared off. It wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't on a hill. Shannon slid right passed the driveway. Now it finally hit me why the complimentary gravel the real estated agent mentioned back at the agency was probably going to be important. We have to spread it for traction in case we get stuck. WAIT A MINUTE. WE HAVE TO SPREAD IT? We finally get in the driveway and walk to the front door to get in and there is a lock box holding the key. If you have ever worked with a lock box, you know its a fairly simple thing. Well, not here because you could barely get the screen door open to access the box. The real estate Co. cleared a little tiny path on the porch so we could walk foot in front of foot to get to the door and then cleared out an area in front of the door so the screen door could open about 12 inches. When you quit smoking you eat in place of smoking. Luckily I had only quit for 3 days before the trip, otherwise my ass may have been to big to get through that door. Our bags barely fit through the door unless you shoved them through. All this while you are trying to keep from falling. I would have just shoveled more out if it wasn't 6 inch thick ice in front of the door. Oh, thats why the agent said there was Ice Melt in a bag by the door. How nice of her. We wouldn't want her to break a nail calling the person to clear an area for the paying renters! I NEED A SMOKE!! Lucky for me, I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with a girlfriend who didn't smoke. These were lessons learned that won't be forgotten.
Once we were all settled into the cabin, it was great! We had a good time. That is until it was time to go to sleep. The first night was fine because the boys weren't there yet. They stayed back for a wrestling tournament. The problem was going to be that Pat and I would have to share a full size bed. Pat and I aren't very good about sharing anything. Well Pat sort of is but me, not so much. What's his is mine and what's mine is mine. You know how it goes. When I got in bed it was like laying on a bunch of springs that didn't have much spring to them. Oh God is Shannon's bed like this too? I was thinking that it wouldn't suck so bad if all the beds were like this, but if I got the only shity bed, that would suck! In the morning I found out hers sucked too. Yay!!! I know that sounds bad, but this means I don't have a black cloud over my head.
Saturday we took Regan to the Ski Resort for some snowboarding lessons. She wanted to snowboard with the boys when they got to the cabin. Shannon and her daughter Mia came too. Well she had to because she drove us up to Deep Creek. Pat and her husband Lenny and the boys were coming up later that night and Pat was driving our car. So Shannon and Mia were stuck with me while Regan took her lesson for 4 hours. Mia was fine for a while and then you could tell she was getting bored. She started to throw ice balls at me. I gave her a few face plants in the snow to show her whose boss but that didn't work. She wanted more. Time for Hot Chocolate. Mia was all about that. I think Shannon was too. Regan's lesson was finally over and we headed back to the Cabin. We get to our community and pull in. I know I took a deep breath when Shannon pushed in the four wheel drive button. Up and down the mountain we went for quite a while. Our Cabin was 2 miles into the boondocks. Two miles takes about twenty minutes when you have to drive on ice and snow up and down a mountain. I really would have loved to been smoking at this point. Shannon kept me strong. We came to a point in the road where you go down a pretty steep part and have to cross a bridge of rushing water that comes from a waterfall not to far away. As we aproach the bridge, I notice that my feet are pressed against the floor so hard that they are about to go through the floor board. Before I can even think it out load, Shannon says OH MY GOD!! WE ARE SLIDING! Of course we would be sliding into the rushing river on my side of the car. Regan starting getting louder. I was still pressing hard on the floor getting ready to brace for impact and the rush of freezing cold water, with my finger on the electric window to roll down to get out, when the car griped something on the road at the last possible second and turned away from going off the bridge. I'm thinking give me a smoke right now. Oh wait, we are in the middle of nowhere! We finally made it home.
The boys finally showed up to the cabin. When Pat walked in, he asked where our room was. I showed him and he gave me a look. He said,"You and I have to share this?" We both just sort of laughed. Everyone was settled in. We ate and drank and watched T.V. in front of the fireplace. It was suppose to rain that evening creating more ice on the roads. That won't be good. We are suppose to leave in the morning to go skiing all day. TO BE CONTINUED......
Well, here I am doing it again, renting a house with some friends in Deep Creek Lake. I learned a lot of lessons when we did this over Thanksgiving with Pat's family. Don't pack sheets for the kids. Make them sleep in there sleeping bags on the bed. Each family member pick a night to do dinner. Makes it easier to shop. Don't over do it on the groceries! Packing that stuff up at the end of the week sucks!
Only a couple of lessons stuck obviously because at the end of the trip we were cleaning the fridge out. A lesson I learned on this trip was know the type of road your house is located on. We were in the boondocks on ice and snow covered roads. The ski resort was aproximately 16 miles from our cabin but it took about 40 minutes to get there because the road to our house was worse than trecherous! Another lesson I learned was demand better service from the real estate company you are renting through. We drove 4 hours to get to Deep Creek Lake. When we show up at the Real Estate Co. to get the key, I asked a few questions and flood gates opened up. The agent says, matter-of-factly, that the directions have changed on the sheet(well I'm glad we asked tootsie). Also, when you ask someone how far and they say just down the road, I take it to mean less than a mile. In Deep Creek it means about 15-20 miles. We finally get to our cabin and the driveway is barely cleared off. It wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't on a hill. Shannon slid right passed the driveway. Now it finally hit me why the complimentary gravel the real estated agent mentioned back at the agency was probably going to be important. We have to spread it for traction in case we get stuck. WAIT A MINUTE. WE HAVE TO SPREAD IT? We finally get in the driveway and walk to the front door to get in and there is a lock box holding the key. If you have ever worked with a lock box, you know its a fairly simple thing. Well, not here because you could barely get the screen door open to access the box. The real estate Co. cleared a little tiny path on the porch so we could walk foot in front of foot to get to the door and then cleared out an area in front of the door so the screen door could open about 12 inches. When you quit smoking you eat in place of smoking. Luckily I had only quit for 3 days before the trip, otherwise my ass may have been to big to get through that door. Our bags barely fit through the door unless you shoved them through. All this while you are trying to keep from falling. I would have just shoveled more out if it wasn't 6 inch thick ice in front of the door. Oh, thats why the agent said there was Ice Melt in a bag by the door. How nice of her. We wouldn't want her to break a nail calling the person to clear an area for the paying renters! I NEED A SMOKE!! Lucky for me, I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with a girlfriend who didn't smoke. These were lessons learned that won't be forgotten.
Once we were all settled into the cabin, it was great! We had a good time. That is until it was time to go to sleep. The first night was fine because the boys weren't there yet. They stayed back for a wrestling tournament. The problem was going to be that Pat and I would have to share a full size bed. Pat and I aren't very good about sharing anything. Well Pat sort of is but me, not so much. What's his is mine and what's mine is mine. You know how it goes. When I got in bed it was like laying on a bunch of springs that didn't have much spring to them. Oh God is Shannon's bed like this too? I was thinking that it wouldn't suck so bad if all the beds were like this, but if I got the only shity bed, that would suck! In the morning I found out hers sucked too. Yay!!! I know that sounds bad, but this means I don't have a black cloud over my head.
Saturday we took Regan to the Ski Resort for some snowboarding lessons. She wanted to snowboard with the boys when they got to the cabin. Shannon and her daughter Mia came too. Well she had to because she drove us up to Deep Creek. Pat and her husband Lenny and the boys were coming up later that night and Pat was driving our car. So Shannon and Mia were stuck with me while Regan took her lesson for 4 hours. Mia was fine for a while and then you could tell she was getting bored. She started to throw ice balls at me. I gave her a few face plants in the snow to show her whose boss but that didn't work. She wanted more. Time for Hot Chocolate. Mia was all about that. I think Shannon was too. Regan's lesson was finally over and we headed back to the Cabin. We get to our community and pull in. I know I took a deep breath when Shannon pushed in the four wheel drive button. Up and down the mountain we went for quite a while. Our Cabin was 2 miles into the boondocks. Two miles takes about twenty minutes when you have to drive on ice and snow up and down a mountain. I really would have loved to been smoking at this point. Shannon kept me strong. We came to a point in the road where you go down a pretty steep part and have to cross a bridge of rushing water that comes from a waterfall not to far away. As we aproach the bridge, I notice that my feet are pressed against the floor so hard that they are about to go through the floor board. Before I can even think it out load, Shannon says OH MY GOD!! WE ARE SLIDING! Of course we would be sliding into the rushing river on my side of the car. Regan starting getting louder. I was still pressing hard on the floor getting ready to brace for impact and the rush of freezing cold water, with my finger on the electric window to roll down to get out, when the car griped something on the road at the last possible second and turned away from going off the bridge. I'm thinking give me a smoke right now. Oh wait, we are in the middle of nowhere! We finally made it home.
The boys finally showed up to the cabin. When Pat walked in, he asked where our room was. I showed him and he gave me a look. He said,"You and I have to share this?" We both just sort of laughed. Everyone was settled in. We ate and drank and watched T.V. in front of the fireplace. It was suppose to rain that evening creating more ice on the roads. That won't be good. We are suppose to leave in the morning to go skiing all day. TO BE CONTINUED......
Breathing New Life
Addiction is no fun! I have been smoking for many years now. The only time I quit was when I was pregnant. So technically I can subtract 3 years. This has been one of the biggest challenges of my life lately. When you have 3 kids that stress you out to no end, not smoking isn't easy. Smoking is my stress reliever and what I like to do when I sneak away for some quiet time or a break. I really enjoyed it. What I didn't enjoy was being out of breath at every spin class or freaking out if Pat was smoking cigs out of my pack, or being yelled at for taking Pat's lighter, or paying between $8-10 for a stupid pack of cancer sticks. Why am I paying for lung cancer, emphyzema, or COPD! I WANT TO LIVE! This has been no easy challenge for me, but I am up for a challenge. It really hasn't been long. It's only been about a week.
I was at a friends house for New Years Eve and one of the guest was sucking on an inhaler all night. Every step he took, he was gasping for air. I know what it's like to gasp for air and try to catch your breath but you can't. It's not a good feeling. It's pretty damn scary! I said to myself "I don't want to live like that." So for the mean time I have chosen not to. I catch myself thinking less and less about smoking. When it does cross my mind I just keep telling myself "Its my body that wants it, NOT ME." It helps me to have a little chant to keep repeating to myself. I am more determined this time than I have ever been in the past. You have to be determined when you are around it everyday. Most of my friends smoke as well as my husband Pat. That is the toughest challenge to date, living with a smoker. Although I have to say it's not that tough anymore. When I quit, I quit when Pat left for a business trip. He left, I threw out all the cigs, emptied all the ashtrays(for fear I would look for a butt I could take a hit off of) and said "It's Over between us! You are no good for me and things that are no good for me have no room in my life!" It's not over though and I have a feeling my relationship with smoking will not be over for a long time. I will always be a smoker at heart. As much as I say no, there is that side of me that will always want to say yes. Lets be honest and realistic too. It's only been a week.
I was at a friends house for New Years Eve and one of the guest was sucking on an inhaler all night. Every step he took, he was gasping for air. I know what it's like to gasp for air and try to catch your breath but you can't. It's not a good feeling. It's pretty damn scary! I said to myself "I don't want to live like that." So for the mean time I have chosen not to. I catch myself thinking less and less about smoking. When it does cross my mind I just keep telling myself "Its my body that wants it, NOT ME." It helps me to have a little chant to keep repeating to myself. I am more determined this time than I have ever been in the past. You have to be determined when you are around it everyday. Most of my friends smoke as well as my husband Pat. That is the toughest challenge to date, living with a smoker. Although I have to say it's not that tough anymore. When I quit, I quit when Pat left for a business trip. He left, I threw out all the cigs, emptied all the ashtrays(for fear I would look for a butt I could take a hit off of) and said "It's Over between us! You are no good for me and things that are no good for me have no room in my life!" It's not over though and I have a feeling my relationship with smoking will not be over for a long time. I will always be a smoker at heart. As much as I say no, there is that side of me that will always want to say yes. Lets be honest and realistic too. It's only been a week.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Why can't I leave a message?
I have a schedule just like everyone else. I have a planner I go by and that is my bible. It's not just a planner with my personal things on there, it has the whole families schedule as well. So just recently we were scheduled to eat dinner with a couple of friends. We had never really set a time. I tried to call Pat a few times during the day and got no answer. Well when that happens, normal people leave a message. That is what I use to do, until Pat call me up and sounds a little ticked when he says "did you leave me a message?" I'm like, "yeeees(like a little kid would say when they are in trouble)" Then I snap back and say "What else am I suppose to do CHEESE(said with confidence like the real Mary would say)?" Then Pat says, I see that you have called, you don't need to leave a message, I will call you back. I'm sure that may sound ok to you, but that sometimes is no good for me. I don't have time to wait for you to call me back. Furthermore, what if I can't remember what I called you for in the first place? This has happened on occasions. Not often, but it has happened. I mean really? Is that what you say to your customers when they call and leave a message? I would like to see you try it. Damn it! If I need to leave a message, I will!
So the other day I had to call Pat to see what time he could meet everyone for dinner. He is the one who works the furthest away. I called Pat a few times and he never called me back. You know this not leaving a message thing is DUMB!!!!!!! I can't worry myself with this stupid question all day "What time can you meet for dinner?" I have a life too, remember? It didn't stop the day we got married you know. I knew he was probably in meetings. He could check his messages when he was done and get back to me so I left a message. I was a little annoyed at this point so the message sort of went something like this. " Hello, this is your wife. Maybe you think this is your slave, since you have me running around doing YOUR errands for YOU today, but it's not. It would be nice if you thought I was important enough to get back to today. Need to know what time you can meet us for dinner?". Guess what? He called me right back. It's funny, all the times I called that day, he didn't call me back until I left a message, and a nasty one at that. It sort of makes you think, was he ignoring my calls, did he really have a meeting?........
Who cares! I got my answer.
So the other day I had to call Pat to see what time he could meet everyone for dinner. He is the one who works the furthest away. I called Pat a few times and he never called me back. You know this not leaving a message thing is DUMB!!!!!!! I can't worry myself with this stupid question all day "What time can you meet for dinner?" I have a life too, remember? It didn't stop the day we got married you know. I knew he was probably in meetings. He could check his messages when he was done and get back to me so I left a message. I was a little annoyed at this point so the message sort of went something like this. " Hello, this is your wife. Maybe you think this is your slave, since you have me running around doing YOUR errands for YOU today, but it's not. It would be nice if you thought I was important enough to get back to today. Need to know what time you can meet us for dinner?". Guess what? He called me right back. It's funny, all the times I called that day, he didn't call me back until I left a message, and a nasty one at that. It sort of makes you think, was he ignoring my calls, did he really have a meeting?........
Who cares! I got my answer.
Hurry up and wait!
While reading a girlfriends status update on Facebook, it infuriated me to find out she waited over an hour for her doctors appointment. What shocked me even more was to hear everyones comments on "Oh they double booked", "It's all about the money", "the doctor must have been busy at the hospital", Blah, Blah, Blah. Sounds like a bunch of lame excuses to me! I was probably just like every person who made those comments years ago when I was younger and didn't know any better.
Years ago, probably about 14 years ago, I was waiting around in the pediatricians office with Connor. He was still a baby. I was taking him in for one of his scheduled visits for shots or boosters or something like that. I remember waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I vividly remember looking at my watch to see how much time I had been waiting to see the doctor. I would see people come in, sit down, then get called back. This went on and on for about 45 min. Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed. When the next patient got called back, I got up and went to the receptionist and politely asked why it was taking so long. The receptionist non chalantly said, "oh the doctor is just a little overbooked today, because of sick kids that we squeezed into the schedule". I leaned over the counter and said, "Well as far as I'm concerned, I had an appointment scheduled for today weeks ago and I have been waiting patiently for over 45 minutes now. So the poor little sick kids you squeezed into to schedule can get squeezed in after my appointment and every other appointment scheduled weeks ago." I will never forget the look on the receptionist face. How dare she look at me like I'm some kind of Criminal. I was absolutely right. They were wrong. When she told me "As soon as the Doctor had time, she would get me back, I said, "I think its funny how you think my time as well as everyone else time out here isn't valuable too. How about this. I will send the doctor a bill for my time that was wasted here waiting for her!" She didn't like that either. I can tell you this, I have never waited again.
That kind of senseless waiting makes me mad, but it occured to me, I wait much more than I thought. It's the mother/wife kind of waiting. Waiting for the kids to do what you tell them too. Waiting for the garbage to be taken out, waiting for the wash to get done, waiting for the clothes in the dryer to dry, waiting for the bathroom, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for a piece of equipment at the gym, waiting for a friend, waiting for your husband to get home for dinner, waiting for the bus in the morning, waiting for the bus in the afternoon, waiting for sports practice to end and so on and so forth. Believe me when I tell you the list goes on and on. It's not so much the waiting for some of these things because it just sort of goes without saying, its what happens to a person while they have to wait. For instance, when Regan and Ian get off the bus in the afternoon, they can easily walk home. Certain days, if the the weather is bad, I will go to the bus stop to get them. What really ticks me off is when I am waiting and waiting, the bus comes and they are not on it. They got off at another stop!
My favorite story and probably the crowning glory of all waiting stories has to do with my best friend, my husband. I can tell you that for a long time he was not my best friend. He was enemy number 1. He pushed me to the limits one night. Those of you that know me, know that I don't physically attack. I like to verbally attack. I get much more satisfaction out of cutting you to the quick than I ever would of physically hurting you.
When Pat and I were very young and just married, it was a hard adjustment for both of us. Actually it was a hard adjustment for me. Pat was still living the same life he had always lived. Mostly ever night, when I got home from school and from picking up Connor from daycare, I would go home and make dinner before Pat got home from work. Some nights Pat would come home and some nights Connor and I would just sit there at the table and Pat would never show. The first couple of times this happened, I was worried something bad had happened. Then Pat would walk through the door a few hours later and say he was at Neptunes for happy hour. I would be so mad. He would apologize and it would be over. Thinking this would never happen again, next week would come, and Pat would do the same thing. This got old real quick. One night, I called down to the bar, he liked to go to. The bartender said he was there. So, I packed Connor up and headed to the bar. Little did Pat know I was on a mission. When I walked through the door with Connor, Pat gave me the warmest welcome. He was so happy to see me. Little did he know I was cursing him with every profanity I could think of in my head. "You rat bastard, I sit at home, make you dinner, wait around for you to show, take care of your son, and wonder if you are dead or alive!" I handed Connor off to Pat and said I'm done. How about you watch your son for a while. It's pretty sad we have to come and see you in a bar. Hey Rude "Why don't you try to pick up the phone and call next time you won't be home. I don't have time to waste on someone who doesn't appreciate me and what I am doing." I do still have a life you know, but it seemed to stop when I hooked up with you.
Needless to say, this has never happened again. Pat saw the error of his ways. A little embarassment and humiliation in front of your buddies doesn't hurt either.
Years ago, probably about 14 years ago, I was waiting around in the pediatricians office with Connor. He was still a baby. I was taking him in for one of his scheduled visits for shots or boosters or something like that. I remember waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I vividly remember looking at my watch to see how much time I had been waiting to see the doctor. I would see people come in, sit down, then get called back. This went on and on for about 45 min. Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed. When the next patient got called back, I got up and went to the receptionist and politely asked why it was taking so long. The receptionist non chalantly said, "oh the doctor is just a little overbooked today, because of sick kids that we squeezed into the schedule". I leaned over the counter and said, "Well as far as I'm concerned, I had an appointment scheduled for today weeks ago and I have been waiting patiently for over 45 minutes now. So the poor little sick kids you squeezed into to schedule can get squeezed in after my appointment and every other appointment scheduled weeks ago." I will never forget the look on the receptionist face. How dare she look at me like I'm some kind of Criminal. I was absolutely right. They were wrong. When she told me "As soon as the Doctor had time, she would get me back, I said, "I think its funny how you think my time as well as everyone else time out here isn't valuable too. How about this. I will send the doctor a bill for my time that was wasted here waiting for her!" She didn't like that either. I can tell you this, I have never waited again.
That kind of senseless waiting makes me mad, but it occured to me, I wait much more than I thought. It's the mother/wife kind of waiting. Waiting for the kids to do what you tell them too. Waiting for the garbage to be taken out, waiting for the wash to get done, waiting for the clothes in the dryer to dry, waiting for the bathroom, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for a piece of equipment at the gym, waiting for a friend, waiting for your husband to get home for dinner, waiting for the bus in the morning, waiting for the bus in the afternoon, waiting for sports practice to end and so on and so forth. Believe me when I tell you the list goes on and on. It's not so much the waiting for some of these things because it just sort of goes without saying, its what happens to a person while they have to wait. For instance, when Regan and Ian get off the bus in the afternoon, they can easily walk home. Certain days, if the the weather is bad, I will go to the bus stop to get them. What really ticks me off is when I am waiting and waiting, the bus comes and they are not on it. They got off at another stop!
My favorite story and probably the crowning glory of all waiting stories has to do with my best friend, my husband. I can tell you that for a long time he was not my best friend. He was enemy number 1. He pushed me to the limits one night. Those of you that know me, know that I don't physically attack. I like to verbally attack. I get much more satisfaction out of cutting you to the quick than I ever would of physically hurting you.
When Pat and I were very young and just married, it was a hard adjustment for both of us. Actually it was a hard adjustment for me. Pat was still living the same life he had always lived. Mostly ever night, when I got home from school and from picking up Connor from daycare, I would go home and make dinner before Pat got home from work. Some nights Pat would come home and some nights Connor and I would just sit there at the table and Pat would never show. The first couple of times this happened, I was worried something bad had happened. Then Pat would walk through the door a few hours later and say he was at Neptunes for happy hour. I would be so mad. He would apologize and it would be over. Thinking this would never happen again, next week would come, and Pat would do the same thing. This got old real quick. One night, I called down to the bar, he liked to go to. The bartender said he was there. So, I packed Connor up and headed to the bar. Little did Pat know I was on a mission. When I walked through the door with Connor, Pat gave me the warmest welcome. He was so happy to see me. Little did he know I was cursing him with every profanity I could think of in my head. "You rat bastard, I sit at home, make you dinner, wait around for you to show, take care of your son, and wonder if you are dead or alive!" I handed Connor off to Pat and said I'm done. How about you watch your son for a while. It's pretty sad we have to come and see you in a bar. Hey Rude "Why don't you try to pick up the phone and call next time you won't be home. I don't have time to waste on someone who doesn't appreciate me and what I am doing." I do still have a life you know, but it seemed to stop when I hooked up with you.
Needless to say, this has never happened again. Pat saw the error of his ways. A little embarassment and humiliation in front of your buddies doesn't hurt either.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Is Ian's gentle heart gone forever?
It snowed Thursday night and when I woke up Friday morning, there was a fresh blanket of snow laying on the ground. I scrambled for the remote to check for school closings. I was praying for school delays. Last thing I wanted to be was stuck at home with all three kids for the day. It may sound horrible to say, but it's every mothers secret fear. I enjoy my alone time during the day. The Kitchen stays clean, there is no screaming or fighting, and I don't have to answer to anyone as to where I'm going. And, most importantly, I don't have to entertain a bunch of kids who don't appreciate it anyway. As I turned on the news, I anxiously awaited our school district to pop up. I had to look for two counties, Calvert for Regan and Ian, and St. Marys for Connor. Calvert pops up and its a 2 hour delay. Thank God! St. Mary's pops up and they are closed. Oh well, two out of three is not bad at all. Connor sleeps for most of the day anyway, and he could really care less if I was even breathing. I guess that is all teenagers.
As I took Regan to the bus stop, she asked me why Connor was still in bed. I had to remind her that Connor's school is in a different county, trying not to tell her school was closed for him. I tried to dance around it, but she just kept probing. "Well if Connor is two hours late he should be up getting ready" I said "If he was two hours late he should be getting ready." Regan is like a mother hen. That's a nice way of putting. Question after question kept coming from her. Finally I said "Regan, enough already, he is off today!" The worst noise you could ever have to hear in the morning filled up the hoopty. Just as she was having a break down, the best site I could ever see came around the corner, the bus. One down, and one to go, Ian.
Ian wasn't very happy about Connor staying home either. I had to hear his ranting and raving about why he should get to stay home too. If I had to hear this isn't fair one more time, I was going to loose it! Trust me, if I was making the decisions, everyone would be in school. Ian really had a breakdown when I reminded him he had wrestling practice when he got home. This has been another issue around the house. Ian is in 5th grade and decided he wanted to try wrestling out. Some of his friends wrestle and So Ian got convinced somehow that he might like it. Plus, he thought the shoes were really cool. When he first told me this, my heart jumped in my throat. I really can't stand wrestling. Pat and his brother wrestled. I remember going to matches and looking around and seeing all the pasty, emaciated looking boys. They were all starving themselves to make weight. I was adamant that my son was never going to do that or wrestle for that matter. Eleven years later, here I am faced with the issue I thought I would never have. Years ago when Ian first saw a singlet, he was appalled. "Dad, that is way to tight! I don't want people to see my privates showing." That's all she wrote. Pat was disappointed but I was overjoyed. How did this all turn around? I still have no clue.
Last weekend, Pat entered Ian in a sort of scrimmage tournament. He said he had to get his feet wet before the real tournaments. I was crushed. I knew Ian was in for it. This is not an easy sport when you are a gentle heart like Ian. For goodness sakes, he picked kids up off the field during football games if he tackled them. And if he hurt them, it was even worse. He would feel so bad. Now he has to purposely go out and hurt someone. Now I walk into the gym right before Ian has to wrestle, and as soon as I walk to the corner of the mat, there are two kids wrestling about 7 or 8 years old. The kid on the bottom is on the bottom begging for the kid on top to stop hurting him. As the tears rolled down this little boys face, I lost it! I started to cry. I just wanted to rip that kid on top off and say stop!!!! I must have cried off and on the whole time we were there. Ian would lose, he would start crying and then I would start crying. Ian would lose again. He would start crying and I would start crying. Just when I was about to cry again, Regan walked up to me and said "jeeze louise, this room is filled with a lot of emotion!" I started to laugh hysterically! I looked aroung the room, and seriously, almost every boy who lost, came off the mat in tears. I didn't know if I could do this all year.
Well, today Ian had his first real tournament. I thought I was going to die when I learned he was wrestling a girl. My heart just sank. If he loses, he would be given a ration of shit from his teammates, not to mention the humiliation of it all. The whistle blew and they went at it. I was videotaping but I was just numb. She put up a good fight. That's for sure. Ian was wrestling with a lot of adrenaline. I knew he probably had the same thoughts I had. Ian was winning in points by the end of the first period. When the second period started, I was just wishing it would end. Luckily Ian put her in a head lock and pinned her for his sake. What boy could have lived that down? The girl got up crying from being practically choked to death and Ian didn't seem to feel bad at all. He was feeling pretty victorious. Where was Mr. Gentle Heart today? I hope he is not gone forever because I will miss him very much. If this is what wrestling does, I dislike it even more.
As I took Regan to the bus stop, she asked me why Connor was still in bed. I had to remind her that Connor's school is in a different county, trying not to tell her school was closed for him. I tried to dance around it, but she just kept probing. "Well if Connor is two hours late he should be up getting ready" I said "If he was two hours late he should be getting ready." Regan is like a mother hen. That's a nice way of putting. Question after question kept coming from her. Finally I said "Regan, enough already, he is off today!" The worst noise you could ever have to hear in the morning filled up the hoopty. Just as she was having a break down, the best site I could ever see came around the corner, the bus. One down, and one to go, Ian.
Ian wasn't very happy about Connor staying home either. I had to hear his ranting and raving about why he should get to stay home too. If I had to hear this isn't fair one more time, I was going to loose it! Trust me, if I was making the decisions, everyone would be in school. Ian really had a breakdown when I reminded him he had wrestling practice when he got home. This has been another issue around the house. Ian is in 5th grade and decided he wanted to try wrestling out. Some of his friends wrestle and So Ian got convinced somehow that he might like it. Plus, he thought the shoes were really cool. When he first told me this, my heart jumped in my throat. I really can't stand wrestling. Pat and his brother wrestled. I remember going to matches and looking around and seeing all the pasty, emaciated looking boys. They were all starving themselves to make weight. I was adamant that my son was never going to do that or wrestle for that matter. Eleven years later, here I am faced with the issue I thought I would never have. Years ago when Ian first saw a singlet, he was appalled. "Dad, that is way to tight! I don't want people to see my privates showing." That's all she wrote. Pat was disappointed but I was overjoyed. How did this all turn around? I still have no clue.
Last weekend, Pat entered Ian in a sort of scrimmage tournament. He said he had to get his feet wet before the real tournaments. I was crushed. I knew Ian was in for it. This is not an easy sport when you are a gentle heart like Ian. For goodness sakes, he picked kids up off the field during football games if he tackled them. And if he hurt them, it was even worse. He would feel so bad. Now he has to purposely go out and hurt someone. Now I walk into the gym right before Ian has to wrestle, and as soon as I walk to the corner of the mat, there are two kids wrestling about 7 or 8 years old. The kid on the bottom is on the bottom begging for the kid on top to stop hurting him. As the tears rolled down this little boys face, I lost it! I started to cry. I just wanted to rip that kid on top off and say stop!!!! I must have cried off and on the whole time we were there. Ian would lose, he would start crying and then I would start crying. Ian would lose again. He would start crying and I would start crying. Just when I was about to cry again, Regan walked up to me and said "jeeze louise, this room is filled with a lot of emotion!" I started to laugh hysterically! I looked aroung the room, and seriously, almost every boy who lost, came off the mat in tears. I didn't know if I could do this all year.
Well, today Ian had his first real tournament. I thought I was going to die when I learned he was wrestling a girl. My heart just sank. If he loses, he would be given a ration of shit from his teammates, not to mention the humiliation of it all. The whistle blew and they went at it. I was videotaping but I was just numb. She put up a good fight. That's for sure. Ian was wrestling with a lot of adrenaline. I knew he probably had the same thoughts I had. Ian was winning in points by the end of the first period. When the second period started, I was just wishing it would end. Luckily Ian put her in a head lock and pinned her for his sake. What boy could have lived that down? The girl got up crying from being practically choked to death and Ian didn't seem to feel bad at all. He was feeling pretty victorious. Where was Mr. Gentle Heart today? I hope he is not gone forever because I will miss him very much. If this is what wrestling does, I dislike it even more.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Laughing is Better Than Crying
I woke up for the normal morning ritual as usual. I made it to all the buses with no problems today. Because I had another hockey game today, I had to do all my pregame business on top of other business. Pregame stuff isn't a big deal, just a pain in the butt. On top of everything, Connor tells me he needs Julia Caesar for school. Well he was told before Christmas Break he needed it, but decided to tell me the day before class started that he needed the book. I can't stand procrastination. It really makes me mad! Thinking that Pat drives right by bookstores on the way home, I had him stop to pick it up. NO COPIES! It would have to be ordered. I was an English major in college so I knew I had a copy somewhere, most likely in storage boxes at my moms, but who wants to spend 3 hours looking over there? Now my blood pressure is rising. Why does this have to be my problem? We went to the mall over Christmas break. You think Connor could have mentioned this while we were there? That would have been to easy I guess. I let this bug me all day. I was really annoyed. I should have gone to kickboxing to let all the frustration go, but I had to get ready for the Hockey game.
As I was on way to the game, I remembered a little second hand book store that was on the way. It's small, but they usually have a pretty good inventory. When I walked in, the clerk wasn't around. I was in a rush. I had to meet dad to pick him up for the game. As I was looking around the clerk came up to me and offered her help which I gladly accepted. It's a confusing little book store. She lead me right to the section with Shakespeare. Right in front of my face was the last copy of Julia Caesar. RELIEF! I thought I was pushing it to ask if she had any cliff notes, but I asked anyway. She handed me the last copy of that too! Life was good again. Now Connor didn't have to die a tragic death like Caesar. He could live to see another day.
As I rolled up in the parking lot to pick up dad, I could already see the expression on his face. I was just waiting for the suburban jokes to start again. I know the car is a piece of shit, but that's how I have to roll these days. He opened the door, smiled, and said "The hoopty again?",that's his new nickname for the suburban. For a good few miles he kept telling me that he was going to call social services on Pat for making us drive around in this car that wasn't roadworthy. As he is telling me what he threatens to do, I was laughing hysterically because the car was missing. As he grabs the dashboard for his dear life, he asks me "Jesus Christ, are we even going to make it up the damn hill?". I guess laughing about it is better than crying. I've tried that. It doesn't work. Pat still won't get me a car. I carry the most precious cargo in the family, me. I guess I will include the kids too, but seriously, I am the spoke in the wheel.
The hockey game was great. The Caps won and I got all my commercial breaks in. On the way out to the car, I asked dad if it was snowing. He said"No. And, thank God for that because your tires are bald. Does your four wheel drive even work?" They are not bald(they could actually use a little more tread) and yes it works but most importantly, will the car even start? It did.
As I was on way to the game, I remembered a little second hand book store that was on the way. It's small, but they usually have a pretty good inventory. When I walked in, the clerk wasn't around. I was in a rush. I had to meet dad to pick him up for the game. As I was looking around the clerk came up to me and offered her help which I gladly accepted. It's a confusing little book store. She lead me right to the section with Shakespeare. Right in front of my face was the last copy of Julia Caesar. RELIEF! I thought I was pushing it to ask if she had any cliff notes, but I asked anyway. She handed me the last copy of that too! Life was good again. Now Connor didn't have to die a tragic death like Caesar. He could live to see another day.
As I rolled up in the parking lot to pick up dad, I could already see the expression on his face. I was just waiting for the suburban jokes to start again. I know the car is a piece of shit, but that's how I have to roll these days. He opened the door, smiled, and said "The hoopty again?",that's his new nickname for the suburban. For a good few miles he kept telling me that he was going to call social services on Pat for making us drive around in this car that wasn't roadworthy. As he is telling me what he threatens to do, I was laughing hysterically because the car was missing. As he grabs the dashboard for his dear life, he asks me "Jesus Christ, are we even going to make it up the damn hill?". I guess laughing about it is better than crying. I've tried that. It doesn't work. Pat still won't get me a car. I carry the most precious cargo in the family, me. I guess I will include the kids too, but seriously, I am the spoke in the wheel.
The hockey game was great. The Caps won and I got all my commercial breaks in. On the way out to the car, I asked dad if it was snowing. He said"No. And, thank God for that because your tires are bald. Does your four wheel drive even work?" They are not bald(they could actually use a little more tread) and yes it works but most importantly, will the car even start? It did.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
My Suburban
Tuesday started out just like any other morning. Clock goes off at 6:06 and the morning school ritual started. No drama! I can't believe it! It's only been two days though. The only thing different about tuesday is that I had a hockey game. That usually takes a big bite out of the day for me. And, I started back at the gym. That always stinks after not going the month of December. I am paying the price today! Spinning always kills me. I feel like I'm wearing my butt on my back this morning and my legs feel as hard as a rock. I was suppose to do Kickboxing this morning but I am just to exhausted, not from spinning, but getting home late from the game. Bed time for me is usually between 9-10p.m. I got home last night around 11:30p.m. Then it usually takes a while to wind down. So I probably got to sleep around 12-12:30. At 4a.m the worst noise you could ever hear woke me up, Pat's alarm clock. YIKES!!!!!!! He was up and off to go bird hunting. All I can say is don't bring anything dead home with you. I don't eat wild game. It grosses me out. I could never really get to sleep after that. I was in and out. I was finally asleep when my alarm went off at 6:06am. I did something I usually don't do. I hit the sleep. Regan came in and told me she was going downstairs. That means I have about 5 min before we go to meet the bus. I few minutes later I woke up to see I had slept for more than 5 minutes. Damn, we are going to miss the bus. That really puts a kink in things if Regan misses the bus. It starts a chain reaction of bad events. With Pat not here to drive her, it's especially worse. I jumped up ran downstairs and to my complete surprise, she was already gone. Now I felt bad. It's about 2 degrees out. I guess I should drive up to the stop so she can sit in the car. Well, she wasn't there! I knew she was probably in someone elses car, but your heart still jumps in your throat at the thought. She was in the Pitt's car. (sigh of relief) Everyone would rather be sitting in the Pitt's car. It's a brand new Escalade. My Suburban is as old as Regan(12)and smells like a dirty sock, which by the way is not my fault. I drove my dad to the game last night and he went on and on about how the car stunk. I have 3 kids that play sports. The car is bound to stink. What made it even worse is we got to the Hockey game and when I got in the cage(that is the area the players park), I had to park this huge monstrousity. There was a black escalade in the back corner of the garage and I thought it was Jeff Shultz's car. So I parked my hunk of junk right in front of his. Well is wasn't Shultzy car, it was one of the Wizards. As I turned the car off, he walked up to me and asked me if I could pull forward so he could get out. I'm thinking no problem. I go to restart the car and it took about 10 seconds to turn over. HOW EMBARRASSING! At this time, the Caps players were starting to arrive in their $300,000+ vehicles. Here I am in my dirty, stinky, scratched up, wires hanging out of the hitch, door squeaking, bald tire, vehicle, with a wizard player standing there worried as hell he's not getting out. He gave out a chuckle when the Suburban finally started. The whole night dad was asking everyone if they had a pair of jumper cables for after the game, just in case the suburban wouldn't start. The sad thing is I usually carry around a pair of jumper cables in the car for that reason. It's pretty sad when you have to say a little prayer that the car starts before you try to turn her on. After the game, as dad and I were making our way to the cage to leave, I asked him if he brought his walking shoes in case the car didn't start. He started to laugh, but it was a nervous laughter, like what I was saying could be a reality. I got in the car and said a little prayer and turned the key. It started!
Monday, January 4, 2010
January 4, 2010 Back to School and Back to Business
The alarm went off at 6:06 and the mad dash began. Regan was up and all ready to go. It doesn't take much time for me. I just throw on my Uggs, robe and a warm jacket over top and I am ready. We were out the door at 6:30 heading to the bus stop with no drama to start the day. It is freezing outside! The whole time at the bus stop, all I can think about is if Connor is up getting ready for school. By the time I get home, he needs to be dressed and ready to roll out the door. When I walked in the house, he was eating breakfast and ready to go. What a suprise! I am thinking to myself, he is trying to make up for losing his second retainer. I am still mad about that. Connor and I ran out the door to go to the bus stop. I have to drive him about 8 miles down the road. It is always the most stressfull time in the morning. If we miss the bus, the next stop is about 13 miles away and I have to drive like a bat out of hell to get there. If I miss that stop, I have to take him to school which is about another 22 miles. We made the bus today. Now it's back to get Ian off. He was ready to go too! Life is good this morning. That means we are all off to a good start.
It's a double edged sword for me when school starts back up. On the one hand I get a break and on the other I work twice as hard. The break is a wonderful calm that fills the day from 8-3:05. Craziness usually begins around 3:08 when Regan walks through the door. From her point of view, the sky is always falling. Just about the time she is heading into a full break down, I have to leave to go pick up Connor at the bus stop. As I head down the road, the only thought I have is how I am going to tune him out once he gets in the car. If I have to hear one more complaint about going to private school, I may lose it. I usually do lose it before the ride is over. He baits and hooks me everytime. I can't help it. I am just to opinionated. All I keep telling myself is he will appreciate this later. Somewhere between the time I pick up Connor and head home, Ian, my youngest is walking through the door from school. As Connor and I reach the driveway, usually still in an arguement, I run for the door making sure everyone is doing homework. Because I have to head out the door in about two hours to take Ian to Wrestling Practice, I am frantically trying to make sure all homework and questions needed to be asked of me are done before I leave.
If the kids aren't done by the time I need to leave, they know the window of opportunity is closed. They have to work with their dad when he gets home and that is not a good thing. The funny thing is, Pat likes to help with homework. But, he is usually just as confused by it as they are. The kids know its hit or miss if dad can help them or not. If dad can't help them, they have to come to me after I get home from practice and that is never a good idea. "Me time" starts at 8p.m. I am off the clock! As far as I'm concerned, everyone should be off the clock by 8p.m.
It's a double edged sword for me when school starts back up. On the one hand I get a break and on the other I work twice as hard. The break is a wonderful calm that fills the day from 8-3:05. Craziness usually begins around 3:08 when Regan walks through the door. From her point of view, the sky is always falling. Just about the time she is heading into a full break down, I have to leave to go pick up Connor at the bus stop. As I head down the road, the only thought I have is how I am going to tune him out once he gets in the car. If I have to hear one more complaint about going to private school, I may lose it. I usually do lose it before the ride is over. He baits and hooks me everytime. I can't help it. I am just to opinionated. All I keep telling myself is he will appreciate this later. Somewhere between the time I pick up Connor and head home, Ian, my youngest is walking through the door from school. As Connor and I reach the driveway, usually still in an arguement, I run for the door making sure everyone is doing homework. Because I have to head out the door in about two hours to take Ian to Wrestling Practice, I am frantically trying to make sure all homework and questions needed to be asked of me are done before I leave.
If the kids aren't done by the time I need to leave, they know the window of opportunity is closed. They have to work with their dad when he gets home and that is not a good thing. The funny thing is, Pat likes to help with homework. But, he is usually just as confused by it as they are. The kids know its hit or miss if dad can help them or not. If dad can't help them, they have to come to me after I get home from practice and that is never a good idea. "Me time" starts at 8p.m. I am off the clock! As far as I'm concerned, everyone should be off the clock by 8p.m.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
January 3, 2010
Thank God school starts tomorrow! My break starts tomorrow when all kids are loaded on the bus to go to school. Who can keep up with the trail of crap the kids leave around. The dishes are never ending. The laundry keeps piling up and the arguing and grab-assing increases. To top is all off, the husband has been home too. He didn't just take off a day or two, he been off the whole time as well. His scrutinizing eye is on me all the time. If I lounge around, he thinks that's what I do everyday. I WISH! All I can say is give me a break! I love it when I get a commission check that comes to more than he makes in one month. I have to laugh to myself. Trust me, this doesn't happen very often. Pat is a V.P. in an office solution company. I will never make what he makes in a year, but on a rare occasion I can make more than he can on a month to month basis. The only reason this makes me happy is because somehow this sort of validates my occasional laziness. I earned the option to lay around or put the laundry off to another day. We are both the oldest in our families so we both tend to take on the leadership role. We tend to lock horns a lot but at the end of the day we are good negotiators. We always find a compromise.
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