A Day In The Life (Another Mrs. G great Idea!)

Today we're to post a "day in the life." Because my sunday got out of control, my posting will be done Monday Night, as usual. Taking photos as you read this - please come back tonight for my Mrs. G Post!

Thanks for the Obvious

QUICK POST FRIDAY

It's official - I have gained a lot of weight. Went for my rather overdue annual physical today. Yes, I am having avoidance issues. So the Dr. (a woman) says, "You've gained 10 pounds since your last physical. Not that you're fat, but wanted to make sure you knew that." OH GEE THANKS - NOPE IT DIDN'T OCCUR TO ME THAT THE ROLL OF SKIN HANGING OVER MY JEANS OR THE MYRIAD OF CLOTHES IN MY CLOSET THAT REQUIRE A CROW BAR TO GET THEM OVER MY BUTT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH MY WEIGHT GAIN.

10 pounds when you're only 5' 4" is a lot.

Thanks Dr. Nice way to start the weekend.

My Ass Project '08 starts for REAL on Monday (see side bar). (Broccoli is in town for the weekend for World Cup Qualifying Match and there will be much beer and food consumed. And Yes I have a feeling the alcohol and food consumption might have something to do with my weight gain.....)

It was Not A Date - and my Ass ( I broke the ThighMaster)

Thanks to all of you who helped me figure out if I were being paranoid or if my kids were right. With your advice, a precautionary email, and some other well-advised tactics, the dinner with my Sunday School "Friend" was just fine thank-you-very-much.

It was too late to invite others. I already tried co-ercing the kids to join me but 1) it's dad's week 2) Daughter had Wind Ensemble and 3) Son said "OVer my dead body will I go." so not such a plan to bring them. Plan B? An email: "Gee too bad we didn't think to invite the other Sunday School teachers - then we could have all enjoyed learning more about each other and shared some ideas - well, maybe next time!" And Part 2 of Plan B: Captain strategically calls during dinner....

SO we had a lovely dinner, we DID talk about Sunday School and shared some ideas and solved some "how should we handle this rowdy kid" problems AND got to know each other a little better. AND he knows I have a BF. I think I have a new friend. No Hard Feelings. Whew.

And my Ass? Growing nicely. This week I managed to 1) work instead of play soccer 2) notice people jogging and think "Gee I have the urge to do that" which is a positive sign; 3) do a few hundred sit-ups 4) break my 1980's thigh master while attempting to tone my massive thighs.

So Broccoli is coming to watch the World Cup Qualifier against Cuba. We will tailgate and drink waaaaay too much beer and have fun (and watch Son run in his Cross Country Match) so, um, my ass project begins for real next week.

Pay no attention to the fact that I have said this previously. This time I Mean It. Really. Uh-huh...

Pure Sweet Bliss

Today for the first time since we lived in Spain 12 years ago and help of the kind I am currently experiencing was $20 for 4 hours, I have experienced Nirvana. Bliss.

Chalk it up to the excellence of living Alone and Making my OWN decisions....

Today, the Housecleaners/maids/helpers - call them what you want - they showed up. And as I am typing/blogging/quasi working-from-home- my house is becoming blissfully CLEAN.

Why yes I have worked ridiculous hours for the last 7 years and never had any housekeeping help. I was not allowed to. Ex would not hear of it. We fought about it - I even said, "FINE if you won't hire help and want to clean instead of spending time with the kids, you clean and I'll pay YOU." He actually did pick up most of the slack. But I was miserable with a dirty house (not messy - we are pretty neat people. But worse - DIRTY). Oh and folks out there? We could afford it - while not "rich" we certainly had excess income although we were never certain exactly how it all magically disappeared every month. (Um wait, kids, boat, cars, tuition, mortgage, yep that about says it all)

I have paid the kids - mostly Daughter - at various times to clean the house. And she's pretty good. But not really reliable, particularly with her full school/activities schedule.

So the other night when I was really cleaning off my desk, I came upon the cell phone number of people my neighbors use, and I. Called. Them. And They Are Here. Cleaning. Chatting. Being wonderful. I think I am In Love.

For now I am only hiring them 1x a month. The kids are only here every other week. We can vacuum and clean in between. And if I need them 2x a month, we'll try that.

Seriously, I didn't know having help could feel this good. Almost makes working 16 hours yesterday worth it....

And as Dear Abby used to say, "Confidential to Broccoli": When you come this weekend, you'll get to sleep in a clean house - Please take time to NOTICE! Haha.

Am I being Stupid? Or are my Kids Over-reacting?

OK I need some weigh in from the masses here, PLEASE before I do something stupid. Or embarrassing.

I teach Sunday School with Daughter and Son - I've got the 2nd-3rd graders with Son, Daughter moved up (with some of our kids from last year) to the 4th/5th graders. It's a lot of fun and sometimes we successfully hold their attention long enough to teach them something. On a bad day we provide good crowd control and minimize physical assaults.

Mr. J teaches the 4th/5th graders with Daughter. He taught last year, too. (and maybe before that I don't know). He's a laid back, quiet, kind of quirky guy. A couple weeks ago he sent out an email asking for suggestions on corralling the rather boisterous boys in his group (I was not sorry to see them move up....). He admitted to having zero disciplinary skills. I fired back a suggestion for "catching them doing something good" that I used to use in my children's choir at the Baptist church years ago. (Oh yeah, I've been lots of variations of Christian - another post for another day....)

So he emails me back "Hey Sunday-School-Buddy" a request to catch some coffee or food somewhere sometime. Sounded good to me - the kids and I haven't really "found" our social niche in this church. We kind of float in and float out each Sunday. We are buried in high school activities, homework and work and haven't made time for church life outside of church, if you know what I mean.

SO what do you think of this? I think he's just a quirky guy who teaches Sunday school who wants to grab coffee and chat. My kids think he's a slightly strange man who is after something more. I have no idea how old he is - I'm guessing around my age. he could be a few years younger. I don't really know anything about him other than he seems totally devoted to the Sunday school program, he's always there, everyone seems to like him, and he has a goofy sense of humor.

Am I being an idiot here? Am I setting myself up for a problem? (I have a BF! Friend/Captain wouldn't be pleased if this were a date! And in fact I ran this by the Captain and he thinks it's nothing - so I'm not hiding anything). Or are my kids messing with my head?!

HELP!

A few Days of Bliss and an A-Ha moment...

As you know from the Dumb Runaway Dog story, below, Ex was out of town for a few days this week. Why does that matter? hmmm. Yes, why exactly does that matter?

Because while he was gone, there was peace and tranquility in my life.

Ok not really, but I did have a sense of peace that is not there on a daily basis when he is there.

Why you ask? Therein lies the $64,000 question: WHY DOES THAT MATTER?

And the fact that I do feel differently when he's home than when he's not suddenly hits me and I begin to see why so many people think it's just a little odd that we live next door to each other.

Somehow, when he's not there, he's not there. It's easier to forget. And maybe I'm still wallowing through the "forgetting" stage, because the remembering hurts too much. Or pisses me off too much, depending on what I'm remembering.

And maybe the feelings I have of pissiness and ugliness towards him explain why he experiences the same when he sees me. Maybe it explains why he was not at all grateful for me taking care of his dog. Maybe it explains why he runs back in the house if he starts to go out back with his Dumb Runaway Dog and sees me out back with my dogs. Maybe it explains why when I walked over to deliver the medical records from the emergency room vet clinic, he snatched them out of my hand without saying a word to me. Not even thanks. Maybe it explains why when I send him emails about the kids, he answers with as few words as humanly possible.

It shouldn't matter if we live next door or in the next block or the next town or the next state. It shouldn't but it does.

And I'm going to admit it: I hate living next door to him. Not that he does anything nefarious. I just don't like the vibe....

Missed the Darned Debates - and Lots of other things this week...

So what happened to "Prompt Tuesday" and maybe an Ass Wednesday and somethin'somethin' Thursday and how the hell did I miss the Debate I really wanted to Watch? LIFE happened, something like this:

• Monday night received unexpected response from opposing party in litigation, dialing up the pressure by a week. All the crazy hours I thought I'd be working NEXT week? All the Experts I lined up for Next week? HA add them to this week
• Remember that you're the only associate paying attention to another case that has a filing (or three) due ....OOPS this week. Friday. Tuesday morning get help immediately on that
• Kids in tow this week
• Attend Daughter's Soccer Game Tuesday way the hell over in another state. Take Daughter to dinner, lose it with coach who makes the mommies and daddies walk over to the field to individually claim child after the game. This means walking around the gravel track in my heels and dodging warm-up soccer balls in the next game in my heels to claim a daughter who is old enough to drive and who leaves other games and practices when dismissed. No, he wouldn't allow them to point us out (he knows us all) in the stands across the field as we all waved at him and said, "Let My People Go." Nope, we had to go over individually. What are they, 5? Oh but Coach let the girls who were not leaving with parents (who would be taking the bus home after the Varsity game) walk across the 6 lane highway to go to Panera for dinner. I know because they came in behind us about 10 minutes later. Let Daughter drive home - around the famed "beltway" into a hail storm with swirling clouds approaching. Cannot see white lines. Daughter declares it "cool." I wonder if I am not insane letting her drive until I realize her eyesight is tons better than mine so probably better she's driving in the dark, driving hailstorm than blind momma.
• Wednesday, driving frantically late to get Son from Cross Country practice, get unbelievably calm yet urgent call from Daughter reporting that Ex's Dog has been hit by a car while Ex is out of town, no one is around, she's going to get in the car with a stranger to go to the Doggy Hospital and can I meet her there please? then CLICK hang up. Can't get her to answer her phone. Call every neighbor, no one is home. Call a couple friends and tell story and they agree: Call 911 and report abducted Daughter. 911 puts me on hold. Then 911 tells me to pull over and wait "somewhere" for a police officer to come take my statement. "UH CAN YOU MEET ME at the doggy hospital in the event she shows up there?!" "NO we have to meet you now." OK thanks but no thanks I'm going to go find my Daughter. FINALLY Daughter calls me - didn't have her phone, left it in house when she ran out chasing runaway dog as 2 other dogs followed suit. Ex's dog going to live, but likely needs surgery on broken leg. Call Ex after diagnosis, volunteer to stay home next day from frantic job to watch Dumb Runaway Dog. Ex. not particularly thankful or communicative. DRD must go to vet next day anyway to stay. So much of a story here.
• Spend 14 hours Thursday frantically writing motions, doing research, making calls, while watching Dogs and juggling Life. Realize haven't posted or read blogs in days. Realize it is nearly 2 a.m. I have missed debates and I should go to bed....but first I have one more project to finish before morning.

sigh....

At least I have a job in this "economy" so I am not really complaining!!!!!!!