I leave tomorrow for close to a week to attend Pauline's second wedding. I think it's a huge mistake, because she calls me every few weeks bawling about how sad and depressed she is. Then she swears up and down, that she "loves" him.
It feels like abuse to me in my empathic heart. I haven't met the guy, so it may not be, but I'm going to go visit and get my own impression and see what I think.
What makes me sad is that she's trying desperately to impress me and I just would rather she was happy.
Genny's coming with me. I bought her a pretty dress for the wedding and I've got one coming in the mail for me, so even if things fall to shit, I'll be well-dressed!
Pauline's lining me up to blow big wads of cash on her, claiming, she'd "pay me back." Been there, done it, and *just* paid off the bills from it, so Mike and I decided to just give her a engagement card with $250 in it. That way, she can buy what she wants, without the lie about paying it back, and I won't be obligated to give up any more than that. Mike and Sarah have just told me to be strong and blame them.
Mike said I can claim he's gotten to be a real tightwad now that he's making the money and Sarah said I can tell Pauline I gave her money to help her out. What I'm going to tell her is that Mike had to help out his brother to buy a computer and that our extra money went there because that's not a lie. And it'll shut her up.
The problem is that I love both Pauline and her daughter, Angelina, but I'm also way more generous than I should be sometimes, and Pauline takes advantage of that. She plays that "oh, don't get anything for me" ploy and then I end up spending a bunch of money on Angelina AND her. I'm just not going for it this time. I figure I'll tell her that I split my money with her and she'll have to be careful. Before I arrive there, I'll buy some groceries, so I don't get hit up for that either, and I have the kind of food that I need.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
It's been nice to actually have money.
We've been shopping, but we've also opened up a savings account.
I've already placed orders for the bathroom cabinets. I've got an order for a Pella storm door with Lowe's. While we looked for kitchen sinks, we haven't selected anything finally, just yet. Mike has to measure the over the stove fan -- unfortunately, it's a special size which means it has to be special ordered, and that'll cost.
I started pricing tile for the kitchen today, but I'm going to start cruising the tile store down the hill -- it has a really good "back room" with all kinds of nice stuff. I need to measure out the kitchen first and determine just how damned much tile I need. Then, I'll start planning for May.
We've been shopping, but we've also opened up a savings account.
I've already placed orders for the bathroom cabinets. I've got an order for a Pella storm door with Lowe's. While we looked for kitchen sinks, we haven't selected anything finally, just yet. Mike has to measure the over the stove fan -- unfortunately, it's a special size which means it has to be special ordered, and that'll cost.
I started pricing tile for the kitchen today, but I'm going to start cruising the tile store down the hill -- it has a really good "back room" with all kinds of nice stuff. I need to measure out the kitchen first and determine just how damned much tile I need. Then, I'll start planning for May.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
I have decided that longaberger baskets are akin to the devil's work.
I went to one of those longaberger basket parties. It's one of those parties, that isn't really a party -- like tupperware, partylite, Mary Kay, etc., where you are lassoed into going because it's a friend or the friend of a friend and you sit through a 1-2 hour sales pitch that you nearly believe and then are offered cake and punch at the end. I was a good girl and didn't touch the cake or punch, but kept to the diet sodas and asked for cheese and crackers because I was hungry and my head was exploding and the thought of fucking up my sugars for over-priced baskets really pissed me off.
The whole pitch is that they are handmade, well-made, and made from wood and thus, built to last and built to be heirlooms that will incur value over time. A perusal of ebay demonstrates that the bulk of the "more value over time" stuff is a farce. Only baskets that are colored or very limited editions are more valuable over time. The one thing is that the baskets generally don't lose their value, however, so that's a good thing. And yes, they really are pretty, but there's just so much basketing a girl can be talked into.
Myself, I've gotten baskets I liked just fine at the dollar store, such as the baskets that the chickens use to lay their eggs in and the baskets that I organize my bills, office supplies, and various collected McDonald's Happy Meal toys that I like. I got a cool gold star basket from Michael's on sale a few years ago. I also found a neat newspaper basket in my travels and I bought a couple at Walmart.
However, with my kids, I have a hard time justifying the expense of $200 for a basket that will hold magazines for me in the bathroom. I also have a hard time justifying buying several expensive baskets at about $150/pop when I can get the same sizes cheaper as trunks for a third of the price.
I really like the baskets and I think they're pretty, but they're very expensive and they're more than I wanna spend. Also, I can't justify $25 for basket liner when I'm such a skilled seamstress and their fabric selections are hokier than hell. I'd buy a pattern for a liner, for example, so I could make my own, but damn. And the looks I got when I suggested such a blasphemous thing at this "party" were just amusing as hell. Also, the idea that you'd have to purchase special hanging decorations to put on the basket versus either making or buying them elsewhere, seemed well nigh on insane.
I think the high point of the "party" was when the woman was demonstrating a pie plate. She asked what we thought you could do with said pie plate, aside from the obvious of baking a pie in it. I quietly thought to myself, "you could shove it where the sun don't shine," but I failed to vocalize said thought. We suggested quiche, a centerpiece with candle, etc. Then she dropped the bomb -- "Why not write a note to your husband or children on it with a crayon?", she asked sweetly. Immediately, the answer came to me,"Because it costs $24 and my husband has broken every decent piece of china I've ever owned?"
However, I was good enough to just shut the fuck up and refrain from laughing hysterically in response.
The silence in the room after her little bomb told many tales, too.
Honestly, I'd rather buy tupperware. They have some really cool ovenware -- you can cook in it, freeze it, dishwasher it, and it'll still smoke your cigarette after sex for ya. That's what I'm talkin' about!
While tomorrow is money day and I've got lots of stuff I wanna buy, baskets aren't making the list, for some reason. I'm such a hard-assed witch. I tell ya. Instead, I'd like to buy a couple of rough-hewn pine wood tables for nightstands and stain them. I also am going to finish the dresser I've been painting in the garage. It's got the same brick red color of two of the bedroom walls and I've stencilled leaves and pine trees on it in metallic glittery copper, green, and gold art paints. It looks very cool. The final thing was rolling an mini oak-leaf roller across the dresser in a few places in copper paint. Truly awesome. Mike thought it was way cool. He said astounded,"Wow, I didn't know you were going to do that! That's awesome."
*preen*
Other than that, husband and I have discussed and agreed that we will buy a printer- fax-copier-scanner machine for the home office. We seem to really need that fax a lot and a copier beats having him do it at work. We're also paying off every credit card except the mastercard. We're putting up a storm door. The kitchen will get new stuff -- the sink, the fan over the stove, refinished cabinets, and so forth. I'm also buying a new dryer. The guy at the Sears store felt so bad that the Kenmore I bought just three short years ago that I have had to replace everything on, is yet again, not working properly, that he's giving me a 10% discount on the new Whirlpool machine.
We're going to start cleaning out the garage. We'll also be saving like mad each month, so that come summer, we can put up insulation and drywall in the garage and start working toward finishing the garage and converting it to living space. In the spring, we'll cash out some stock we bought through Mike's company and that will put new windows on the house.
Thus, I am not buying baskets. ;)
I went to one of those longaberger basket parties. It's one of those parties, that isn't really a party -- like tupperware, partylite, Mary Kay, etc., where you are lassoed into going because it's a friend or the friend of a friend and you sit through a 1-2 hour sales pitch that you nearly believe and then are offered cake and punch at the end. I was a good girl and didn't touch the cake or punch, but kept to the diet sodas and asked for cheese and crackers because I was hungry and my head was exploding and the thought of fucking up my sugars for over-priced baskets really pissed me off.
The whole pitch is that they are handmade, well-made, and made from wood and thus, built to last and built to be heirlooms that will incur value over time. A perusal of ebay demonstrates that the bulk of the "more value over time" stuff is a farce. Only baskets that are colored or very limited editions are more valuable over time. The one thing is that the baskets generally don't lose their value, however, so that's a good thing. And yes, they really are pretty, but there's just so much basketing a girl can be talked into.
Myself, I've gotten baskets I liked just fine at the dollar store, such as the baskets that the chickens use to lay their eggs in and the baskets that I organize my bills, office supplies, and various collected McDonald's Happy Meal toys that I like. I got a cool gold star basket from Michael's on sale a few years ago. I also found a neat newspaper basket in my travels and I bought a couple at Walmart.
However, with my kids, I have a hard time justifying the expense of $200 for a basket that will hold magazines for me in the bathroom. I also have a hard time justifying buying several expensive baskets at about $150/pop when I can get the same sizes cheaper as trunks for a third of the price.
I really like the baskets and I think they're pretty, but they're very expensive and they're more than I wanna spend. Also, I can't justify $25 for basket liner when I'm such a skilled seamstress and their fabric selections are hokier than hell. I'd buy a pattern for a liner, for example, so I could make my own, but damn. And the looks I got when I suggested such a blasphemous thing at this "party" were just amusing as hell. Also, the idea that you'd have to purchase special hanging decorations to put on the basket versus either making or buying them elsewhere, seemed well nigh on insane.
I think the high point of the "party" was when the woman was demonstrating a pie plate. She asked what we thought you could do with said pie plate, aside from the obvious of baking a pie in it. I quietly thought to myself, "you could shove it where the sun don't shine," but I failed to vocalize said thought. We suggested quiche, a centerpiece with candle, etc. Then she dropped the bomb -- "Why not write a note to your husband or children on it with a crayon?", she asked sweetly. Immediately, the answer came to me,"Because it costs $24 and my husband has broken every decent piece of china I've ever owned?"
However, I was good enough to just shut the fuck up and refrain from laughing hysterically in response.
The silence in the room after her little bomb told many tales, too.
Honestly, I'd rather buy tupperware. They have some really cool ovenware -- you can cook in it, freeze it, dishwasher it, and it'll still smoke your cigarette after sex for ya. That's what I'm talkin' about!
While tomorrow is money day and I've got lots of stuff I wanna buy, baskets aren't making the list, for some reason. I'm such a hard-assed witch. I tell ya. Instead, I'd like to buy a couple of rough-hewn pine wood tables for nightstands and stain them. I also am going to finish the dresser I've been painting in the garage. It's got the same brick red color of two of the bedroom walls and I've stencilled leaves and pine trees on it in metallic glittery copper, green, and gold art paints. It looks very cool. The final thing was rolling an mini oak-leaf roller across the dresser in a few places in copper paint. Truly awesome. Mike thought it was way cool. He said astounded,"Wow, I didn't know you were going to do that! That's awesome."
*preen*
Other than that, husband and I have discussed and agreed that we will buy a printer- fax-copier-scanner machine for the home office. We seem to really need that fax a lot and a copier beats having him do it at work. We're also paying off every credit card except the mastercard. We're putting up a storm door. The kitchen will get new stuff -- the sink, the fan over the stove, refinished cabinets, and so forth. I'm also buying a new dryer. The guy at the Sears store felt so bad that the Kenmore I bought just three short years ago that I have had to replace everything on, is yet again, not working properly, that he's giving me a 10% discount on the new Whirlpool machine.
We're going to start cleaning out the garage. We'll also be saving like mad each month, so that come summer, we can put up insulation and drywall in the garage and start working toward finishing the garage and converting it to living space. In the spring, we'll cash out some stock we bought through Mike's company and that will put new windows on the house.
Thus, I am not buying baskets. ;)
Sunday, January 16, 2005
After all that shit, we signed on the refinance on Friday. We're not getting any moolah until Thursday.
However, God does work in mysterious ways. My father's mother sent my parents a bunch of money -- just cuz. And my folks sent my brother and I each $500 from that.
It will tide us over until things go through on Thursday.
I have elected to take a furniture refinishing class, so I can learn how to refinish my own cabinets and not have to pay so much to get it done.
__
In other unrelated news, last night, I got bit on the eyelid by a spider (I suspect due to the two fang marks), which, despite the benadryl, still managed to swell up both eyes and put a black ring around each, adding credence to the whole idea that my husband beats me (with his rhythm stick, baby).
I went to urgent care, spent money I wished I didn't have to spend to get antibiotics and antihistamines. Tonight, I just want to scratch my eye out because while last night it hurt like an ice pick in the eye, tonight, it itches in all new and horrible ways. I need to go to bed and take my drugs, already, but I'm waiting on laundry, so my husband doesn't have to go to work in a scuzzy t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
__
Today he was wearing a shirt with some 50's guy on it that said,"Pull my finger."
I need one that says,"Light a match, quick!"
However, God does work in mysterious ways. My father's mother sent my parents a bunch of money -- just cuz. And my folks sent my brother and I each $500 from that.
It will tide us over until things go through on Thursday.
I have elected to take a furniture refinishing class, so I can learn how to refinish my own cabinets and not have to pay so much to get it done.
__
In other unrelated news, last night, I got bit on the eyelid by a spider (I suspect due to the two fang marks), which, despite the benadryl, still managed to swell up both eyes and put a black ring around each, adding credence to the whole idea that my husband beats me (with his rhythm stick, baby).
I went to urgent care, spent money I wished I didn't have to spend to get antibiotics and antihistamines. Tonight, I just want to scratch my eye out because while last night it hurt like an ice pick in the eye, tonight, it itches in all new and horrible ways. I need to go to bed and take my drugs, already, but I'm waiting on laundry, so my husband doesn't have to go to work in a scuzzy t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
__
Today he was wearing a shirt with some 50's guy on it that said,"Pull my finger."
I need one that says,"Light a match, quick!"
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
I should be in bed, but the refinance has me fit to be tied. No, we have not yet signed the damned thing, much less have money in our pocket to pay bills.
I've been promised that we'll sign on pain of death tomorrow, but the bank, of course, had yet another forgotten and newly remembered piece of paper that they had to have us sign before they could draw up papers. Mind you, they forgot and then remembered. If they'd given us a list from the get-go, this would have been done before we left for Florida because, yes, I am that anal-retentive when it comes to finding all the bits and bobs of papers.
The latest bit or bob requires Mike's boss to sign it and both of the appropriate parties were unavailable to do so. We're fully expecting a snow day tomorrow as we hit the last fucking day of precipitation before the sun shines all damned week, so they may not be at work tomorrow, which means this could drag on a week longer. We should have signed on December 30th -- we would have had money by January 3. I'd have had contractors out here and licking my boots to get our bid by now. I had an outfit all picked out and everything!
Mike said they must be out of money.
All I know is that World Bank is out a customer. As soon as we can unload this refinanced mortgage and move on, we will. I'm going to dump every penny we have into finishing that stupid garage, changing out the sink, the fan above the table, refacing the cabinets in the kitchen and front bathroom, and any other thing that will bring us a few bucks at the next refi.
Fuckerheads.
__
Okay, thus endeth my sojourn to Scatology Land.
Now, on to fantasy land. (I might have spent to much time at Disney world.)
I have a fantasy to have one of those dryer closets. It's the holy grail of removing soapy liquid from all things and has a 7 cubic foot drum, plus racks for fine washables, sweaters, and stuff you wanna hang. Its damned door doesn't pop open every 15 minutes a dry cycle. It's made by Maytag, so it might actually dry a damp sock in the time it takes to wash three loads of clothing. Unlike my machine, which at this time, I have paid for twice. My machine might dry a half load of towels in 90 minutes. Can you say Piece of Crap? Thank you, I knew you could.
Mike wants a second more up-to-date computer to play on, however, and that is where the antlers of the Moose and Mrs. Moose tangle a tad. I could push hard for the dryer closet and get it, but then I'd feel bad because I could get something much more reasonable made by Maytag or Whirlpool that just wouldn't have the lingerie and sweater racks and hangers.
But damn, that dryer gives me the hots.
The idea of clean and dry clothes in a reasonable amount of time is enough to make any domestic goddess cream her jeans. It's taken me two days of personally tracking or bribing snow-bound child (home from school) to keep an eye on that current dryer load. And the damned thing still isn't dry.
A computer just can't dry clothes when there's three feet of snow on the ground. And we have a good computer, already.
Mike has this fantasy about that we'll play on the computers together. I don't think it has occurred to him that Russell's in school and will have no time. When Russell has time, Mike gears up at work, and about the time I'm interested will be when the entire house has been done the way we've discussed, much of which, he will be doing, thus giving him little time to play computer games at home.
I hate to be the reality check to a dreamy computer engineer, though, so for now, I'm enjoying his good behavior and bland begging.
__
I'm dumbfounded at the magnitude of the tsunami damage and toll on human life. As soon as the refi check comes in, we will be donating. Mike simply told me how much he'd like us to donate, though he looked at me and said,"You can't send the whole thing to Unicef, OK?"
The man knows me.
I've been promised that we'll sign on pain of death tomorrow, but the bank, of course, had yet another forgotten and newly remembered piece of paper that they had to have us sign before they could draw up papers. Mind you, they forgot and then remembered. If they'd given us a list from the get-go, this would have been done before we left for Florida because, yes, I am that anal-retentive when it comes to finding all the bits and bobs of papers.
The latest bit or bob requires Mike's boss to sign it and both of the appropriate parties were unavailable to do so. We're fully expecting a snow day tomorrow as we hit the last fucking day of precipitation before the sun shines all damned week, so they may not be at work tomorrow, which means this could drag on a week longer. We should have signed on December 30th -- we would have had money by January 3. I'd have had contractors out here and licking my boots to get our bid by now. I had an outfit all picked out and everything!
Mike said they must be out of money.
All I know is that World Bank is out a customer. As soon as we can unload this refinanced mortgage and move on, we will. I'm going to dump every penny we have into finishing that stupid garage, changing out the sink, the fan above the table, refacing the cabinets in the kitchen and front bathroom, and any other thing that will bring us a few bucks at the next refi.
Fuckerheads.
__
Okay, thus endeth my sojourn to Scatology Land.
Now, on to fantasy land. (I might have spent to much time at Disney world.)
I have a fantasy to have one of those dryer closets. It's the holy grail of removing soapy liquid from all things and has a 7 cubic foot drum, plus racks for fine washables, sweaters, and stuff you wanna hang. Its damned door doesn't pop open every 15 minutes a dry cycle. It's made by Maytag, so it might actually dry a damp sock in the time it takes to wash three loads of clothing. Unlike my machine, which at this time, I have paid for twice. My machine might dry a half load of towels in 90 minutes. Can you say Piece of Crap? Thank you, I knew you could.
Mike wants a second more up-to-date computer to play on, however, and that is where the antlers of the Moose and Mrs. Moose tangle a tad. I could push hard for the dryer closet and get it, but then I'd feel bad because I could get something much more reasonable made by Maytag or Whirlpool that just wouldn't have the lingerie and sweater racks and hangers.
But damn, that dryer gives me the hots.
The idea of clean and dry clothes in a reasonable amount of time is enough to make any domestic goddess cream her jeans. It's taken me two days of personally tracking or bribing snow-bound child (home from school) to keep an eye on that current dryer load. And the damned thing still isn't dry.
A computer just can't dry clothes when there's three feet of snow on the ground. And we have a good computer, already.
Mike has this fantasy about that we'll play on the computers together. I don't think it has occurred to him that Russell's in school and will have no time. When Russell has time, Mike gears up at work, and about the time I'm interested will be when the entire house has been done the way we've discussed, much of which, he will be doing, thus giving him little time to play computer games at home.
I hate to be the reality check to a dreamy computer engineer, though, so for now, I'm enjoying his good behavior and bland begging.
__
I'm dumbfounded at the magnitude of the tsunami damage and toll on human life. As soon as the refi check comes in, we will be donating. Mike simply told me how much he'd like us to donate, though he looked at me and said,"You can't send the whole thing to Unicef, OK?"
The man knows me.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Sometimes, I am struck by what a brave, strong human being my son is becoming. I am often thinking how amazing he is. He had to write a reflection essay on a different kind of hero. I suggested he write one about his grandfather.
He wrote the following:
"Different Kinds of Heroes" by R. Schreiber
Most heroes fight crime, are famous, play sports, fight fires, help people get well when they’re sick, or fight in wars. My parents are different kinds of heroes.
My dad is my hero because he taught me how to do multiplication, division, powers and a little calculus after I learned addition and subtraction. He's made math a blast for me! He taught me how to read with Pokemon cards and play with me. He's has always supported me. He's taught me computer commands, which helps me with my Alphasmart and homework. He's been nice to me and taken care of me, even though he’s not my biological father. He wakes me up at 7AM every morning during the week, even though he doesn’t like to get up, to give me my medication. I love him and he loves me. He’s adopting me this spring.
My mom is my hero, too. My mom fought the school tooth and nail for my I.E.P. I'm happy about that because otherwise, I would be getting marked down for my handwriting because I have cerebral palsy. If I didn’t have my I.E.P., I probably wouldn’t even know what an Alphasmart is. I would also have to rewrite my assignments instead of typing them into the Alphasmart. She's shown me how to collect stamps and to take care of them; I have over two hundred stamps. She's helped me to learn how to write a story. She has helped me learn to cook things like macaroni and cheese and spaghetti. I am grateful for that because I probably wouldn't be able to cook or know how to make food. She has pushed me to become smart by doing things like telling me to read at night instead of watching television. She will help me with things I don't understand like grammar, spelling, and English. I'm grateful for that, too. She has given me skills. I love my mom because of the things she does. She loves me.
My parents aren’t Batman or Superman or firefighters or doctors, but they make a big difference to me. That makes them different kinds of heroes.
--
Bear-bear, you're my hero, too.
He wrote the following:
"Different Kinds of Heroes" by R. Schreiber
Most heroes fight crime, are famous, play sports, fight fires, help people get well when they’re sick, or fight in wars. My parents are different kinds of heroes.
My dad is my hero because he taught me how to do multiplication, division, powers and a little calculus after I learned addition and subtraction. He's made math a blast for me! He taught me how to read with Pokemon cards and play with me. He's has always supported me. He's taught me computer commands, which helps me with my Alphasmart and homework. He's been nice to me and taken care of me, even though he’s not my biological father. He wakes me up at 7AM every morning during the week, even though he doesn’t like to get up, to give me my medication. I love him and he loves me. He’s adopting me this spring.
My mom is my hero, too. My mom fought the school tooth and nail for my I.E.P. I'm happy about that because otherwise, I would be getting marked down for my handwriting because I have cerebral palsy. If I didn’t have my I.E.P., I probably wouldn’t even know what an Alphasmart is. I would also have to rewrite my assignments instead of typing them into the Alphasmart. She's shown me how to collect stamps and to take care of them; I have over two hundred stamps. She's helped me to learn how to write a story. She has helped me learn to cook things like macaroni and cheese and spaghetti. I am grateful for that because I probably wouldn't be able to cook or know how to make food. She has pushed me to become smart by doing things like telling me to read at night instead of watching television. She will help me with things I don't understand like grammar, spelling, and English. I'm grateful for that, too. She has given me skills. I love my mom because of the things she does. She loves me.
My parents aren’t Batman or Superman or firefighters or doctors, but they make a big difference to me. That makes them different kinds of heroes.
--
Bear-bear, you're my hero, too.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Okay, you're asking yourselves, wow, so how was that Christmas vacation to Florida, aren't you? You know you are -- just admit it. Now, ask me allllll about it. You know you want to, baby.
Overall it was nice, but now we're beyond broke. We're just hoping that we can get the refi signed tomorrow or Tuesday.
We did SeaWorld, Magic Kingdom at Disney World, drove by Cape Canaveral, went to the Manatee Center on Hutchison Island, went to the Tupperware factory, and hit the beach. Also of course, we visited at my parents. My brother-in-law, joined us in Orlando a few days into our trip and we drove him to a bus station the day after Christmas. He got leave from the navy base and Mike really enjoyed seeing and hanging out with him.
Things with my parents went pretty well until Christmas day. My mom turned into a mean old bitch on Christmas day. Well, she was stressed out about people who were coming to dinner (with good reason) and she took it out on me. Everyone was rather horrified, including my brother-in-law, who generally isn't horrified by much. I'd already cleaned up the livingroom on her behalf, thus, I was not in a huge rush to run into the bedroom and arrange blankets. I was enjoying my children on Christmas morning because I'm a rotten mother who hates my kids. (Hehehe) She just had a bitch fit because I didn't get up immediately and make my bed, but had the audacity to play with my kids. I told her to get off my ass. Naturally, she flipped out. I ended up in tears, tried to apologize and she was still ranting about it days afterwards; I kept reminding her that I had apologized. Yeesh!
Other than that, it was okay. I just realized where I get my control freakishness from.
For Christmas dinner, she had invited this one elderly gentleman (my deceased godmother's husband), and he asked if he could bring his son and his son's girlfriend. Then suddenly, we had girlfriend's sister, too. The son is a bit off -- and not fully crazy, just kind of creepy weird. He was making little passes at me, in front of my HUSBAND! He was talking about the last time we saw each other -- he was 13 and I was 5 and that I had said I was in love with him. But he said it as if, I'd be in love with him NOW, though, I couldn't remember him at all. As the liquor poured, however, he kept bringing it up!
Naturally, Mike wasn't really paying attention; He trusts me and fuck everyone else.
I told Mike about it afterwards and told him I felt like I needed a shower to remove the ick factor. He gave me a hug and offered to rub me down to get the ick off.
This guy's girlfriend was 22 years his senior -- thus, he's in his 40's and his girlfriend is 70. My mom kept saying that when he saw the girlfriend get out of the car, she thought that the elderly gentleman was bringing a date, not the son. When she discovered that that the woman was the son's girlfriend, she had a hard time keeping her mouth from dropping open.
After a few drinks, the girlfriend basically told me that he was basically a boytoy. Senile sister had to keep being told people's names, and insisted after she'd eaten a huge meal, that she was starving and needed to eat more. Well, between him and the senile sister who kept feeding the dog shit she shouldn't -- you couldn't write it funnier. Gah. Just puttin' the "fun" in dysfunctional, yessirree!
Highlights of the trip included:
Things we would like to or did forget:
The kids were pretty good. Ms. Thang was always tired and worn. That made things ugly a few times.
The worst part of the trip was getting home -- we left the airport at 130PM and got home at 1045PM -- snow all over the passes. when it usually only takes 3 hours.
Gen slept a lot on that part of the journey. She just sort of zonked. We fed her by the airport and then started driving. She slept for several hours, then we woke her up to eat again.
All through dinner she was saying she didn't want to eat because she was tired. I hand fed her and put her in the car and she slept til we got home, then dropped into bed like a stone. Russell hit his wall last night. He announced he was going to bed at 720 -- this from the child who begs to stay up nights. And when I checked on him, he was out like a light. The light sleeper boy didn't even wake up when I put covers on him.
Well, at this point we've got 2.5 feet of snow on the ground, and we're anticipating a big storm by noon. School's already cancelled for tomorrow. So all we've been doing is house stuff. We usually get a few inches and it melts away next day. We usually have had one storm that puts 8-10 inches on the ground that sticks for a few weeks.
We're buried. We can't find our snow shovel -- apparently it's under all the snow. Everyone is sold out of snow shovels. We paid a neighbor $20 and a jar of jam to plow the driveway. What's good about this, is that it will build our water table.
We've got all the stuff unpacked. Now, I have had to be just plain manipulative to get the bags back out in the garage and the floor vacuumed. I just might make it hard on Mike.
With all the walking I did, I'm sometimes having a hard time staying on top of my sugars. My mom was bitching that I eat too much. I wasn't eating lots of carbs. My mom's first dinner was chicken marsala on a little bit of pasta. The problem was that the pasta wasn't enough, so after dinner, I had to make some light micro pop corn. She was about shitting her pants. She hadn't made enough pasta (Mike and Mike's brother -- get real! You have to make a LOT of food for those two!) I told her that my sugars were low and I was hungry, so I had to eat. She was all suspicious and shit, until I told her that I'd actually tested my sugars.
Overall, I was a good girl and lost weight over the trip. Of course, now that I'm back and away from my mother, I'd like to eat in relief. So, I've filled the fridge with fruit and vegetables.
Overall it was nice, but now we're beyond broke. We're just hoping that we can get the refi signed tomorrow or Tuesday.
We did SeaWorld, Magic Kingdom at Disney World, drove by Cape Canaveral, went to the Manatee Center on Hutchison Island, went to the Tupperware factory, and hit the beach. Also of course, we visited at my parents. My brother-in-law, joined us in Orlando a few days into our trip and we drove him to a bus station the day after Christmas. He got leave from the navy base and Mike really enjoyed seeing and hanging out with him.
Things with my parents went pretty well until Christmas day. My mom turned into a mean old bitch on Christmas day. Well, she was stressed out about people who were coming to dinner (with good reason) and she took it out on me. Everyone was rather horrified, including my brother-in-law, who generally isn't horrified by much. I'd already cleaned up the livingroom on her behalf, thus, I was not in a huge rush to run into the bedroom and arrange blankets. I was enjoying my children on Christmas morning because I'm a rotten mother who hates my kids. (Hehehe) She just had a bitch fit because I didn't get up immediately and make my bed, but had the audacity to play with my kids. I told her to get off my ass. Naturally, she flipped out. I ended up in tears, tried to apologize and she was still ranting about it days afterwards; I kept reminding her that I had apologized. Yeesh!
Other than that, it was okay. I just realized where I get my control freakishness from.
For Christmas dinner, she had invited this one elderly gentleman (my deceased godmother's husband), and he asked if he could bring his son and his son's girlfriend. Then suddenly, we had girlfriend's sister, too. The son is a bit off -- and not fully crazy, just kind of creepy weird. He was making little passes at me, in front of my HUSBAND! He was talking about the last time we saw each other -- he was 13 and I was 5 and that I had said I was in love with him. But he said it as if, I'd be in love with him NOW, though, I couldn't remember him at all. As the liquor poured, however, he kept bringing it up!
Naturally, Mike wasn't really paying attention; He trusts me and fuck everyone else.
I told Mike about it afterwards and told him I felt like I needed a shower to remove the ick factor. He gave me a hug and offered to rub me down to get the ick off.
This guy's girlfriend was 22 years his senior -- thus, he's in his 40's and his girlfriend is 70. My mom kept saying that when he saw the girlfriend get out of the car, she thought that the elderly gentleman was bringing a date, not the son. When she discovered that that the woman was the son's girlfriend, she had a hard time keeping her mouth from dropping open.
After a few drinks, the girlfriend basically told me that he was basically a boytoy. Senile sister had to keep being told people's names, and insisted after she'd eaten a huge meal, that she was starving and needed to eat more. Well, between him and the senile sister who kept feeding the dog shit she shouldn't -- you couldn't write it funnier. Gah. Just puttin' the "fun" in dysfunctional, yessirree!
Highlights of the trip included:
- I got to pet a dolphin at SeaWorld. We bought food for them several times and tried to convince the kids to feed them and they simply freaked out, backed away and watched me. We fed them so much, that one of the dolphins just ran against my hand. It was just cool. I also pet the sting rays -- very soft beautiful creatures.
- We went to the beach and picked shells and I walked in clamdiggers out on the edge of the tide. Sitting and getting lost in thought watching the waves, while digging my feet into moist sand and dreaming myself away, was by far one of the best experiences of the whole trip. Russell loved picking shells with me and I really enjoyed every second with him.
- Genny dressed up as a pretty Christmas princess at the Magic Kingdom She whirled in her Santa Cloak more than once.
- Seeing manatees. We didn't get to see any at the Manatee center -- the water was very churned up from a lot of wind, so you couldn't see in the water, but we had watched them at Seaworld, and honestly, I could actually imagine their fluid movements in the canal as we watched.
- Surveying hurricane damage -- geesh everything everywhere on the coast was just thrashed. Trees flattened, dead grass where the sea water had flooded up, railings missing and boarded windows on condos, the sand-filled swimming poools, the condemned trailer parks -- truly all of it gave me deep understanding of tsunami damage. It is truly unimaginable.
Things we would like to or did forget:
- Big fat cockroach in Mainstay Suites in Orlando. We poured boiling water on it and killed the thing. However, it had obviously lived there a while because it had a secret hiding place under the bathroom faucet that it scurried to. When I called the front desk, I was told by a very unperturbed clerk that they wouldn't be able to spray until we leave. Apparently, this isn't that uncommon there. Nonetheless, we'll be staying at the Comfort Suites instead next time.
- Left the suitcase full of presents in the hotel room and realized we'd left it at the airport when we didn't have time to go back and get it.
- Grandpa left his hat in our car and we forgot it in our room.
- The ever constant bickering between two children where and when ever we went anywhere, which has not ceased.
- Christmas is too stressful a time to visit my mom.
- Disneyland is a lot BETTER and CHEAPER than Disneyworld.
- Cape Canaveral is very expensive for a government-run thing.
- The kids generally like animal stuff and the beach a lot better than Disneyworld, so we'll head more south, should we ever go to Florida again to warm beaches, Alligator Alley, and the Everglades next time.
- Some alligators are not aggressive, thus, there is a 7 foot alligator that lives in a pond by the Clubhouse at my parents' living complex, which the kids got to see with their Uncle Mark. I saw one on the side of the road in a canal by Cape Canveral.
The kids were pretty good. Ms. Thang was always tired and worn. That made things ugly a few times.
The worst part of the trip was getting home -- we left the airport at 130PM and got home at 1045PM -- snow all over the passes. when it usually only takes 3 hours.
Gen slept a lot on that part of the journey. She just sort of zonked. We fed her by the airport and then started driving. She slept for several hours, then we woke her up to eat again.
All through dinner she was saying she didn't want to eat because she was tired. I hand fed her and put her in the car and she slept til we got home, then dropped into bed like a stone. Russell hit his wall last night. He announced he was going to bed at 720 -- this from the child who begs to stay up nights. And when I checked on him, he was out like a light. The light sleeper boy didn't even wake up when I put covers on him.
Well, at this point we've got 2.5 feet of snow on the ground, and we're anticipating a big storm by noon. School's already cancelled for tomorrow. So all we've been doing is house stuff. We usually get a few inches and it melts away next day. We usually have had one storm that puts 8-10 inches on the ground that sticks for a few weeks.
We're buried. We can't find our snow shovel -- apparently it's under all the snow. Everyone is sold out of snow shovels. We paid a neighbor $20 and a jar of jam to plow the driveway. What's good about this, is that it will build our water table.
We've got all the stuff unpacked. Now, I have had to be just plain manipulative to get the bags back out in the garage and the floor vacuumed. I just might make it hard on Mike.
With all the walking I did, I'm sometimes having a hard time staying on top of my sugars. My mom was bitching that I eat too much. I wasn't eating lots of carbs. My mom's first dinner was chicken marsala on a little bit of pasta. The problem was that the pasta wasn't enough, so after dinner, I had to make some light micro pop corn. She was about shitting her pants. She hadn't made enough pasta (Mike and Mike's brother -- get real! You have to make a LOT of food for those two!) I told her that my sugars were low and I was hungry, so I had to eat. She was all suspicious and shit, until I told her that I'd actually tested my sugars.
Overall, I was a good girl and lost weight over the trip. Of course, now that I'm back and away from my mother, I'd like to eat in relief. So, I've filled the fridge with fruit and vegetables.
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