We leave tonight to take the kids to my mom's for what we fondly call "Fishing Vacation" and then Mitch and I leave on Sunday for Utah for four days. Then we go back to Illinois on Saturday the 3rd to pick the kids up. Maybe. If my mom's lucky, we'll show up to get them. But there's no telling with us.
Three weeks from today will be my last day here at this job. It's actually hard to believe now that it's so close. My replacement starts on the 5th, so I'll be spending 2 weeks training her. Which should be interesting, since it's not a secret I'm not good talking with people. Plus my desire to just do it myself hampers any training that might occur. Oh, and my wicked control issues really help. I'm going to try really hard to squash those tendencies, but I'm going to go on record as saying I don't hold out much hope.
I cleared my desk of all personal belongings today and it took a excruciating 3 minutes. It would appear I don't keep much personal crap here. It may take me like 6 days to clear out my computer however. That will be a job for this afternoon. Before I leave early, of course. I will never find another job like one, that's for sure. I'm sure my next job will expect me to actually show up at a specific time and stay until a specific time. However, I also thought that about my last job and it turned out not to be true. Maybe I just have a gift for finding jobs with "flexi-time", in the words of one of my bosses in Virginia. And that job paid for my college degree, which as you can see is getting a lot of use here in my menial clerical job. Okay, so maybe I'm just lazy. There's always that to consider.
I won't get all sentimental about leaving this job quite yet. There's still 3 weeks to go and around here, anything can happen in that length of time. But I've worked with some great people, who seem to like me in spite of my bad attitude and often inappropriate bursts of temper and sarcasm. And I've liked most of them as well. Well, I've liked most of them most of the time anyway. (See previous comment regarding bad attitude and bursts of temper.) I hope I find people half as great to work with in Utah.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Look Out Any Window
Hey, did you guys know that a little sleep tends make things a bit better? Shocking, I know.
And getting the window on my van fixed also helps. It was the driver's window and the motor died so it wouldn't go down. Which, I realize, is far better than being unable to go UP, but either way, my ability to drive-thru anywhere has been severely hampered for the last 2 weeks and it has been a thorn in my side. I celebrated the fix by driving thru Wendy's and getting Frostys for the office. Oh, if only all my problems (read: drama moments) could be solved for only $300. Add $6.30 for Frostys.
I've been told the sign outside my house now reads "Sale Pending". Someone is fairly confident this sale is going through.
I have also delegated the calling of rental places to Mitch. Whatever, judge me if you will, but I'm just not any good on the phone. If I had my way, all my correspondence would be done through e-mail or worst case, voice mail messages. I am the rare individual who has no desire to speak to a live person. Give me an automated system or an on-line form or a good game of voice mail tag and I'm a happy girl. What? You didn't already know I was bizarre? I'm happy to find places on the internet, print the info, and then hand it over to him to contact.
Tonight's exciting endeavor shall be laundry. Maybe get some of the packing done for the kids' trip. But mostly laundry. And watch some tennis. If I'm not careful, this fortnight will slip by without me having seen any of it.
And getting the window on my van fixed also helps. It was the driver's window and the motor died so it wouldn't go down. Which, I realize, is far better than being unable to go UP, but either way, my ability to drive-thru anywhere has been severely hampered for the last 2 weeks and it has been a thorn in my side. I celebrated the fix by driving thru Wendy's and getting Frostys for the office. Oh, if only all my problems (read: drama moments) could be solved for only $300. Add $6.30 for Frostys.
I've been told the sign outside my house now reads "Sale Pending". Someone is fairly confident this sale is going through.
I have also delegated the calling of rental places to Mitch. Whatever, judge me if you will, but I'm just not any good on the phone. If I had my way, all my correspondence would be done through e-mail or worst case, voice mail messages. I am the rare individual who has no desire to speak to a live person. Give me an automated system or an on-line form or a good game of voice mail tag and I'm a happy girl. What? You didn't already know I was bizarre? I'm happy to find places on the internet, print the info, and then hand it over to him to contact.
Tonight's exciting endeavor shall be laundry. Maybe get some of the packing done for the kids' trip. But mostly laundry. And watch some tennis. If I'm not careful, this fortnight will slip by without me having seen any of it.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Freak-A-Ristic
The FHA appraisal was yesterday, so now we just wait. And wait some more. And take the kids to vacation with their grandparents. And go to Utah to find a place to live. And hopefully at some point in there, it was all come back as wonderful and approved and we'll get a damn closing date so I can schedule some movers and get this crap DONE.
But for now, we wait.
I'm crabby about a lot of stuff right now, some of it justified and some of it not. I think the stress is starting to get to me. I'm starting to freak out that we won't find a place to live. Which is silly of course, because we will find something. The odds of us ending up HOMELESS for God's sake are pretty slim. I know this logically, however at 2 AM when I'm staring at the ceiling thinking all these things over, logic is rarely a factor.
I'm tired of everyone saying "Oh, we have to get together before you leave! Let me know!" I appreciate the thought, really, but don't put it all on me. Because if you haven't figured this out by now, I'm not a hugely social person. Let's get 20 people together and have lunch. But I simply cannot imagine a way to see 20 people at separate times between now and whenever the hell I leave. It's overwhelming. And then I freak out some more. Which no one needs.
I'm freaking out about this cat. I honestly thought she would have died by now, as skinny and whacked out and crazy as she, yet she continues to live. She is not going to Utah, I can tell you that, because she pukes everywhere and hates the dog and I don't need the drama. But you just know if I call the vet and say "Enough!", they'll want to try to fix whatever is wrong with her and in realty, she's like 14 years old. I'm not putting a ton of money in this cat. But then I feel bad because we've had her forever, and Sara used to drag her around everywhere, and she is our cat. So I don't know what to do.
Oh, and I'm not sleeping, Have I mentioned that? Yeah, that always works out well. Probably adds a bit to the freak out mode. I should be full-on-crazy by Thursday.
But for now, we wait.
I'm crabby about a lot of stuff right now, some of it justified and some of it not. I think the stress is starting to get to me. I'm starting to freak out that we won't find a place to live. Which is silly of course, because we will find something. The odds of us ending up HOMELESS for God's sake are pretty slim. I know this logically, however at 2 AM when I'm staring at the ceiling thinking all these things over, logic is rarely a factor.
I'm tired of everyone saying "Oh, we have to get together before you leave! Let me know!" I appreciate the thought, really, but don't put it all on me. Because if you haven't figured this out by now, I'm not a hugely social person. Let's get 20 people together and have lunch. But I simply cannot imagine a way to see 20 people at separate times between now and whenever the hell I leave. It's overwhelming. And then I freak out some more. Which no one needs.
I'm freaking out about this cat. I honestly thought she would have died by now, as skinny and whacked out and crazy as she, yet she continues to live. She is not going to Utah, I can tell you that, because she pukes everywhere and hates the dog and I don't need the drama. But you just know if I call the vet and say "Enough!", they'll want to try to fix whatever is wrong with her and in realty, she's like 14 years old. I'm not putting a ton of money in this cat. But then I feel bad because we've had her forever, and Sara used to drag her around everywhere, and she is our cat. So I don't know what to do.
Oh, and I'm not sleeping, Have I mentioned that? Yeah, that always works out well. Probably adds a bit to the freak out mode. I should be full-on-crazy by Thursday.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tennis Anyone?
So if you don't already know this about me, I love tennis. Like a serious tennis junkie. I DVR all the major tournaments and for two weeks in February, May, June, and August, my family is subjected to the sounds of players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dinara Safina, and Serena Williams for hours on end.
Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think I actually PLAYED tennis?
You don't really know me at all, do you?
I've been watching tennis seriously since Jacob was born. We were living with Mitch's mom in an apartment and Mitch was working third shift. I kept the TV in my room on all the time, using it as a nightlight and one night, I was up with Jacob (because that baby was ALWAYS awake) and the French Open was on. Replay or live coverage, I don't know which. But ever since then, I've been hooked. I don't what it is about it, but I really enjoy it.
I know the players grunt and yell inappropriately. Mitch and the kids imitate the grunts to irritate me whenever I am watching. But there's something about the game that speaks to me. That a spectacular player can have an off day and lose to an unseeded player who is having the best match of his life. That there are no coaches allowed and the players are basically on their own from the minute they step onto the court until the match is over, one way or another. That sometimes the match comes down to one ball hit that catches a millimeter of the sideline for a win.
Monday, Wimbledon starts. My least favorite of the 4 majors, but the most classic. Played on grass and by the final, the grass is yellowed and worn and torn up. Much like the players by that time. The tournament most often delayed due to rain. The players only wear white.
By the time the final major of the 2010 season, the US Open, starts on August 30, I'll be living in Utah. The US Open is the complete opposite of Wimbledon, where the players wear whatever they want, the winners are interviewed immediately after the match and then hit balls into the crowd. I can't imagine what the house I'll be living in to watch the US Open this year will look like, where I'll be working, or who my kids' teachers will be. I can't look two months into the future and see anything with any clarity. It's terrifying, but also a little exciting.
And I know that I'll be watching the US Open. No matter what else is going on. And that's a little comforting.
Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think I actually PLAYED tennis?
You don't really know me at all, do you?
I've been watching tennis seriously since Jacob was born. We were living with Mitch's mom in an apartment and Mitch was working third shift. I kept the TV in my room on all the time, using it as a nightlight and one night, I was up with Jacob (because that baby was ALWAYS awake) and the French Open was on. Replay or live coverage, I don't know which. But ever since then, I've been hooked. I don't what it is about it, but I really enjoy it.
I know the players grunt and yell inappropriately. Mitch and the kids imitate the grunts to irritate me whenever I am watching. But there's something about the game that speaks to me. That a spectacular player can have an off day and lose to an unseeded player who is having the best match of his life. That there are no coaches allowed and the players are basically on their own from the minute they step onto the court until the match is over, one way or another. That sometimes the match comes down to one ball hit that catches a millimeter of the sideline for a win.
Monday, Wimbledon starts. My least favorite of the 4 majors, but the most classic. Played on grass and by the final, the grass is yellowed and worn and torn up. Much like the players by that time. The tournament most often delayed due to rain. The players only wear white.
By the time the final major of the 2010 season, the US Open, starts on August 30, I'll be living in Utah. The US Open is the complete opposite of Wimbledon, where the players wear whatever they want, the winners are interviewed immediately after the match and then hit balls into the crowd. I can't imagine what the house I'll be living in to watch the US Open this year will look like, where I'll be working, or who my kids' teachers will be. I can't look two months into the future and see anything with any clarity. It's terrifying, but also a little exciting.
And I know that I'll be watching the US Open. No matter what else is going on. And that's a little comforting.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Grade B Movie
So the house thing is moving along. The FHA appraisal is scheduled for Monday, which gives Mitch and some guy he hired at work to help him plenty of time to scrape and touch up the trouble spots on the outside of the house. And since I don't have to help him, because he won't PAY me, I can stay out of his way and maybe catch up on the laundry. Or last season's 24. I'll catch up on something, that's for sure.
Our house hunting trip has been rescheduled - and rescheduled right through the premier of Eclipse. The girls are going to be mad. Especially since the tickets are reserved on my credit card. We're in the middle of trying to figure out how to fix that mess. I think everyone's going to be really mad if they can't go because the tickets can't be picked up. Plus, I think I'm going to have to go see Eclipse at least 4 different times to make it up to all of them. Which would somehow imply that I'm not going to see it at least 4 times anyway, but now I can say to Mitch "Hey, I cancelled going to the premier so now I have to go with (Jen, Maryann, Jenni, Becky)" and he can't say anything about it. Ha!
Against my better judgment, we are letting Jacob play All-Star baseball this year. We were approached by 5 different people in the league about him playing, so we basically said OK here's the deal - he leaves for vacation June 26, returns July 5. If that's a problem, tough. No, we can't reschedule. I didn't want him playing for one of the coaches in the Little Major league. It wasn't a deal-breaker necessarily, but I figured since they were so anxious to get him, I might as well go for broke and see what happens. I believe he is playing for his coach and the All-Star coach from last year, so that's great. We'll see how this goes. There is a parent meeting tonight.
Side-note: Was there really a Pokemon movie? Was there really more than one? As I was looking for a title to this post, I came across a listing for "Pokemon: The First Movie". I'm horrified to find this out, yet happy that I haven't had to see such a thing.
Our house hunting trip has been rescheduled - and rescheduled right through the premier of Eclipse. The girls are going to be mad. Especially since the tickets are reserved on my credit card. We're in the middle of trying to figure out how to fix that mess. I think everyone's going to be really mad if they can't go because the tickets can't be picked up. Plus, I think I'm going to have to go see Eclipse at least 4 different times to make it up to all of them. Which would somehow imply that I'm not going to see it at least 4 times anyway, but now I can say to Mitch "Hey, I cancelled going to the premier so now I have to go with (Jen, Maryann, Jenni, Becky)" and he can't say anything about it. Ha!
Against my better judgment, we are letting Jacob play All-Star baseball this year. We were approached by 5 different people in the league about him playing, so we basically said OK here's the deal - he leaves for vacation June 26, returns July 5. If that's a problem, tough. No, we can't reschedule. I didn't want him playing for one of the coaches in the Little Major league. It wasn't a deal-breaker necessarily, but I figured since they were so anxious to get him, I might as well go for broke and see what happens. I believe he is playing for his coach and the All-Star coach from last year, so that's great. We'll see how this goes. There is a parent meeting tonight.
Side-note: Was there really a Pokemon movie? Was there really more than one? As I was looking for a title to this post, I came across a listing for "Pokemon: The First Movie". I'm horrified to find this out, yet happy that I haven't had to see such a thing.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Can't Make No Sense
I tried to write an entry earlier and ended up deleting the whole thing. It made no sense. Maybe I'll try a list format. Maybe I'll make more sense in short bursts.
- The home inspector guy came back Saturday afternoon to get his radon tester thing. And shock of all shocks, our house came back with a "very low" reading. Now what that means, I don't know exactly, other than at first glance, we may not have to buy a radon system for the house in order to sell it.
- We are still awaiting the results of Thursday's home inspection. Our realtor says "nothing major", and what the buyer will want us to fix is negotiable, so we continue to wait. I am choosing to wait patiently, my other half not so much.
- Tomorrow is the last day of school. Hooray and hurrah. Finally.
- Church went 2 hours yesterday. 2 hours. We're Methodist, for goodness sake, we cannot be expected to sit in church for 2 hours. But it was our senior pastor's final sermon, 3 baptisms, a Cub Scout badge award and the commissioning of the Mission Trip. So yeah. It was a nice service, though crowded. You'd have thought it was Christmas Eve.
- I spent 5 hours yesterday finishing the scrapbook for Sara's teacher. And by finishing I mean starting and completing in one sitting. It's not too bad, though I didn't have any group shots or field trip photos. And I'm missing a photo for one kid who wouldn't let me take his picture and his mother didn't get me one after I asked her. So when her kid's page just has his name and his card where he wrote what he likes about the teacher and she complains, tough potatoes. Get on the ball, lady. We're all busy. Deal.
- We have ball games every night this week. Take me out to the ball game indeed. But this is Sara's last week and I think Jacob has some sort of playoff thing going next week and then he's done too. So we'll get through it.
Okay, this makes more sense. I guess I'm just a bit scattered today. We had 13 calls over the weekend, so it made for a busy morning. I'm just about caught up, just stalling on one last thing I do not want to do.
- The home inspector guy came back Saturday afternoon to get his radon tester thing. And shock of all shocks, our house came back with a "very low" reading. Now what that means, I don't know exactly, other than at first glance, we may not have to buy a radon system for the house in order to sell it.
- We are still awaiting the results of Thursday's home inspection. Our realtor says "nothing major", and what the buyer will want us to fix is negotiable, so we continue to wait. I am choosing to wait patiently, my other half not so much.
- Tomorrow is the last day of school. Hooray and hurrah. Finally.
- Church went 2 hours yesterday. 2 hours. We're Methodist, for goodness sake, we cannot be expected to sit in church for 2 hours. But it was our senior pastor's final sermon, 3 baptisms, a Cub Scout badge award and the commissioning of the Mission Trip. So yeah. It was a nice service, though crowded. You'd have thought it was Christmas Eve.
- I spent 5 hours yesterday finishing the scrapbook for Sara's teacher. And by finishing I mean starting and completing in one sitting. It's not too bad, though I didn't have any group shots or field trip photos. And I'm missing a photo for one kid who wouldn't let me take his picture and his mother didn't get me one after I asked her. So when her kid's page just has his name and his card where he wrote what he likes about the teacher and she complains, tough potatoes. Get on the ball, lady. We're all busy. Deal.
- We have ball games every night this week. Take me out to the ball game indeed. But this is Sara's last week and I think Jacob has some sort of playoff thing going next week and then he's done too. So we'll get through it.
Okay, this makes more sense. I guess I'm just a bit scattered today. We had 13 calls over the weekend, so it made for a busy morning. I'm just about caught up, just stalling on one last thing I do not want to do.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Ants in Your Pants
This house-selling thing is going to kill us. Or, more specifically, going to force me to kill Mitch. He could not be more stressed. So obviously, in the face of his over-stressedness, I sent him on an overnight field trip with Jacob's class. I feel for the children, but honestly, I'm not sure how much more of his crazy I can handle.
There were ants or some such insect on the front porch and door this morning. And of course, today is the day they are coming for the home inspection. Mitch went into full crazy mode, spraying and vacuuming and waking me up with predictions of insect infestations that will take sabotage the inspection and thus the sale, if not the entire world. I got out of bed, watched him freak out for a few minutes, and then sent him to the truck and off to the field trip. He had pretty much handled it all by then anyway.
I often wonder during these situations, what would happen if I completely freaked out too? Would the earth cease to turn? Or would Mitch stand there looking at me, shocked? Could go either way.
So anyway, the home inspection is today and we won't know anything about that until Monday probably, our realtor says. That's 4 more days of waiting. And if that comes back OK - or not so bad anyway - then next up will be the FHA home inspection. And Mitch told me that's the one he's really worried about. Great. Because apparently, this inspection wasn't the one that worried him. Ugh.
There were ants or some such insect on the front porch and door this morning. And of course, today is the day they are coming for the home inspection. Mitch went into full crazy mode, spraying and vacuuming and waking me up with predictions of insect infestations that will take sabotage the inspection and thus the sale, if not the entire world. I got out of bed, watched him freak out for a few minutes, and then sent him to the truck and off to the field trip. He had pretty much handled it all by then anyway.
I often wonder during these situations, what would happen if I completely freaked out too? Would the earth cease to turn? Or would Mitch stand there looking at me, shocked? Could go either way.
So anyway, the home inspection is today and we won't know anything about that until Monday probably, our realtor says. That's 4 more days of waiting. And if that comes back OK - or not so bad anyway - then next up will be the FHA home inspection. And Mitch told me that's the one he's really worried about. Great. Because apparently, this inspection wasn't the one that worried him. Ugh.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Taken by Surprise
Last night we got an offer on the house. A bona fide, real life, serious offer. Maybe that St. Joseph statue planted in the yard really worked, because in this market, who offers only $5000 less than asking price? No one smart I would wager. But I don't care if these people are smart or stupid or purple - they want to buy my house and therefore I love them.
It's weird how now that Mitch and I had decided the house wasn't going to sell and we were going to end up staying here, getting the offer seems a little disappointing. And even more weird is that the only one that is excited is Jacob. The child who is most reluctant to change and who fought bitterly against the move and called our realtor and anyone who came to look at our house any combination of bad names allowed in the vocabulary of an 11-year-old. Now he can't wait to move. Sara cried, but we took her out for dinner after we dropped Jacob at Scouts and let her throw peanuts on the floor and at Mitch and soon she was fine. She's still not thrilled about the whole thing, but she'll bounce back. She always does.
Needless to say, we accepted the offer and now we just wait for the inspection to tell us what's wrong with our house. I just keep saying "It's not a done deal yet". But in my head I am making lists of everything that needs to be done in order for us to move. Including rescheduling a house-hunting trip that had better not fall during the release of Eclipse. Since I put all the tickets on my card, I guess if I have to be gone then Jenni, Becky, Jen and Maryann aren't going either! Oh, and I'm out $90. Yes, I am currently thinking up excuses why we can't go that week.
I have to tell my workplace what my plans are by Friday of this week. I don't think I'll have any more concrete information on Friday than I have now, but at least now it's reasonable to think I won't be here much longer. And they want to get someone in so I can train her, though my experience has always been in these situations that I will train the new person and as soon as I leave, everyone will be saying "Now, I know Nancy used to do it this way and told you to do it this way, but this is what we should be doing..." I'm not stupid, I know how these things go. I suspect it will not be long before this state goes to electronic filing of death certificates and everything will change anyway.
I do have a list of things I need to get straightened around and written down for the new person however. Things that are just rattling around in my head that she'll need to know. I know I was lucky when I started this job that the person before me stuck around and worked part-time for a few years before she retired. So whenever I had a question, I could just find her and ask. And since she did this job for 26 years before me, she had a fair amount of knowledge rattling around in her head too. It really was the best way to train.
It's weird how now that Mitch and I had decided the house wasn't going to sell and we were going to end up staying here, getting the offer seems a little disappointing. And even more weird is that the only one that is excited is Jacob. The child who is most reluctant to change and who fought bitterly against the move and called our realtor and anyone who came to look at our house any combination of bad names allowed in the vocabulary of an 11-year-old. Now he can't wait to move. Sara cried, but we took her out for dinner after we dropped Jacob at Scouts and let her throw peanuts on the floor and at Mitch and soon she was fine. She's still not thrilled about the whole thing, but she'll bounce back. She always does.
Needless to say, we accepted the offer and now we just wait for the inspection to tell us what's wrong with our house. I just keep saying "It's not a done deal yet". But in my head I am making lists of everything that needs to be done in order for us to move. Including rescheduling a house-hunting trip that had better not fall during the release of Eclipse. Since I put all the tickets on my card, I guess if I have to be gone then Jenni, Becky, Jen and Maryann aren't going either! Oh, and I'm out $90. Yes, I am currently thinking up excuses why we can't go that week.
I have to tell my workplace what my plans are by Friday of this week. I don't think I'll have any more concrete information on Friday than I have now, but at least now it's reasonable to think I won't be here much longer. And they want to get someone in so I can train her, though my experience has always been in these situations that I will train the new person and as soon as I leave, everyone will be saying "Now, I know Nancy used to do it this way and told you to do it this way, but this is what we should be doing..." I'm not stupid, I know how these things go. I suspect it will not be long before this state goes to electronic filing of death certificates and everything will change anyway.
I do have a list of things I need to get straightened around and written down for the new person however. Things that are just rattling around in my head that she'll need to know. I know I was lucky when I started this job that the person before me stuck around and worked part-time for a few years before she retired. So whenever I had a question, I could just find her and ask. And since she did this job for 26 years before me, she had a fair amount of knowledge rattling around in her head too. It really was the best way to train.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Campfire Song
This weekend I went with Sara's Brownie Troop for an overnight at Girl Scout Camp. This is only the 2nd overnight that we have attempted - the first having been the overnight at the Zoo last year. And this was the first time we spent the night at camp.
Now, you must remember a couple of things about me and Brownies. First of all, my patience with these girls lasts for roughly 45 minutes. Then I'm ready to snap and send them all home. Which works somewhat ok in meetings, because even though the meetings run for an hour and a half, the girls are usually well contained in a classroom for the duration of the meeting. And I can therefore leave for short periods of time to compose myself.
Secondly, we had 11 girls that went. 2nd and 3rd grade girls. And oh for the love of God, the screaming. The shrieking. The incessant baby talk. The jumping up and down. My brain cannot process such behavior except to say "Make it stop! My God, make it stop!"
And no, I don't know why I volunteer as an assistant leader. It seems unwise of the Girls Scouts organization as a whole to allow me to continue to be around girls of an impressionable age who are working on developing their self-esteem. Our leader is seriously awesome, as is the other assistant leader. But our leader is a dad and by Girl Scout law, he has to have a certain number of moms around. So I guess I'm really just a statistical necessity. Which, okay. I'm good with that. I have a fair amount of experience in being a statistic.
Actually, it all went better than I had expected. No one cried to go home. No one was seriously injured. I did not do anything that would later show up on 48 Hours or could be used as an episode of Law and Order. I did threaten to send 8 of them home at one point but the threat seemed to stop them in their tracks and make them think, which is all I really wanted anyway. Fine, what I really wanted was to go home and watch tennis, but that wasn't going to happen.
Mitch and Jacob were horrified that we went camping in a cabin with a full kitchen (minus a dishwasher - hey, we had 11 kids to do the dishes!) and a full bathroom (if you wanted to scrub the dirt and bugs out of the shower that is). Truth be told, we were in the Staff Lodge, which is exactly what is sounds like, where the staff stays during the summer. So yes, it was a little less hardcore camping than Boy Scouts. And yes, probably even easier than regular Girl Scout camping. But these girls are between 7-9 years old and this was their first real campout. So if anyone wants to judge us, go ahead, but next time we'll make you go with us. And then you can see the joy that was my weekend.
It rained Saturday night and that forced us indoors (to our cabin, I know, but still - SHUT UP) from dinnertime until Sunday morning. So there were microwave s'mores (SHUT UP) instead of over the campfire and they built marshmallow shooters, but weren't allowed to shoot them. None of the adults were up to spending all day Sunday sweeping up mini marshmallows from the cabin. We made them go to bed at 9:30 PM, and then they told ghost stories one by one until 11. And wow - those ghost stories were terrible. Not one included the phrase "Give me back my golden arm", which was a mainstay of all ghost stories when I was their age. All of the stories started with "Once upon a time there were 11 girls scouts...". Not very creative. But no one was scared, which was very good.
There was a major storm that blew through, but since we were in the very sturdy Staff Lodge and we had really and truly tired these girls out, everyone slept through it without incident. They were all up by 7 AM. We got cleaned up, packed up, and had them all back to school by noon, which was the plan. I think I was not the only leader happy to see them all head home with their parents.
Next year, if we are still here, Sara's group is it's own group again, since the 2nd graders will still be Brownies, while she and her friends will be Juniors. She and her friends are a good group and I've always enjoyed them. It's some of the younger ones that can drive me insane. Not that it's a long trip there.
Now, you must remember a couple of things about me and Brownies. First of all, my patience with these girls lasts for roughly 45 minutes. Then I'm ready to snap and send them all home. Which works somewhat ok in meetings, because even though the meetings run for an hour and a half, the girls are usually well contained in a classroom for the duration of the meeting. And I can therefore leave for short periods of time to compose myself.
Secondly, we had 11 girls that went. 2nd and 3rd grade girls. And oh for the love of God, the screaming. The shrieking. The incessant baby talk. The jumping up and down. My brain cannot process such behavior except to say "Make it stop! My God, make it stop!"
And no, I don't know why I volunteer as an assistant leader. It seems unwise of the Girls Scouts organization as a whole to allow me to continue to be around girls of an impressionable age who are working on developing their self-esteem. Our leader is seriously awesome, as is the other assistant leader. But our leader is a dad and by Girl Scout law, he has to have a certain number of moms around. So I guess I'm really just a statistical necessity. Which, okay. I'm good with that. I have a fair amount of experience in being a statistic.
Actually, it all went better than I had expected. No one cried to go home. No one was seriously injured. I did not do anything that would later show up on 48 Hours or could be used as an episode of Law and Order. I did threaten to send 8 of them home at one point but the threat seemed to stop them in their tracks and make them think, which is all I really wanted anyway. Fine, what I really wanted was to go home and watch tennis, but that wasn't going to happen.
Mitch and Jacob were horrified that we went camping in a cabin with a full kitchen (minus a dishwasher - hey, we had 11 kids to do the dishes!) and a full bathroom (if you wanted to scrub the dirt and bugs out of the shower that is). Truth be told, we were in the Staff Lodge, which is exactly what is sounds like, where the staff stays during the summer. So yes, it was a little less hardcore camping than Boy Scouts. And yes, probably even easier than regular Girl Scout camping. But these girls are between 7-9 years old and this was their first real campout. So if anyone wants to judge us, go ahead, but next time we'll make you go with us. And then you can see the joy that was my weekend.
It rained Saturday night and that forced us indoors (to our cabin, I know, but still - SHUT UP) from dinnertime until Sunday morning. So there were microwave s'mores (SHUT UP) instead of over the campfire and they built marshmallow shooters, but weren't allowed to shoot them. None of the adults were up to spending all day Sunday sweeping up mini marshmallows from the cabin. We made them go to bed at 9:30 PM, and then they told ghost stories one by one until 11. And wow - those ghost stories were terrible. Not one included the phrase "Give me back my golden arm", which was a mainstay of all ghost stories when I was their age. All of the stories started with "Once upon a time there were 11 girls scouts...". Not very creative. But no one was scared, which was very good.
There was a major storm that blew through, but since we were in the very sturdy Staff Lodge and we had really and truly tired these girls out, everyone slept through it without incident. They were all up by 7 AM. We got cleaned up, packed up, and had them all back to school by noon, which was the plan. I think I was not the only leader happy to see them all head home with their parents.
Next year, if we are still here, Sara's group is it's own group again, since the 2nd graders will still be Brownies, while she and her friends will be Juniors. She and her friends are a good group and I've always enjoyed them. It's some of the younger ones that can drive me insane. Not that it's a long trip there.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Books Books Books
So today I shot out of work at 11:10 to get over to the kids' school so I could take them to the half-price book fair. Please don't even get me started on the fact that this book fair runs from 9:30 - 3:00 Tuesday through Thursday and closes for lunch from 11:30 - 12:30. In order for me to take my kids to their school book fair, I have to come there and TAKE THEM OUT OF CLASS. Now I do acknowledge that librarians need to eat too, however, perhaps they could stagger their lunches so that it would be open during the kids' lunch time. Just a thought. Because I am not the kind of parent that would give my kid $10 and send them to the book fair to pick out their own books.
Here's why:
Jacob got, I think, 5 books: a book of addresses for writing celebrities, politicians, sports figures, etc, and four other books pertaining to dragons, fantasy or some like topic. All is fine there, other than even at half-price, far exceeds the $10 I would give him. And I don't mind paying for books for him because I know he will actually read them.
Sara, on the other hand, got 2 books: a book called "Diary of ......" which is actually a graphic novel (not "Diary of a Wimpy Kid") and a Choose Your Own Adventure book that I talked her into. I vetoed the book of poetry because - come on. Who really reads poetry? I know there are people that do, but I also know they are not 9-year-olds on summer vacation. And I don't really consider graphic novels reading, since I know my kid, and I know she's really only looking at the pictures and that's cheating. It's not all that different than watching TV really. Just without the pesky commercials. So this child would have taken her $10, bought one $5 book for half-price and spent the rest of my money on Smencils or nachos or some such crap they sell at school that infuriates me to no end.
I have one child who literally almost missed his ride to school this morning because he was reading his Enrichment book for pleasure and another child who would rather remove her eyeballs with a spoon than read a book. It's baffling really.
Would it have been too much to have a kid that fell somewhere in the middle? Maybe that's what my third kid would have been like, if I'd had one.
Here's why:
Jacob got, I think, 5 books: a book of addresses for writing celebrities, politicians, sports figures, etc, and four other books pertaining to dragons, fantasy or some like topic. All is fine there, other than even at half-price, far exceeds the $10 I would give him. And I don't mind paying for books for him because I know he will actually read them.
Sara, on the other hand, got 2 books: a book called "Diary of ......" which is actually a graphic novel (not "Diary of a Wimpy Kid") and a Choose Your Own Adventure book that I talked her into. I vetoed the book of poetry because - come on. Who really reads poetry? I know there are people that do, but I also know they are not 9-year-olds on summer vacation. And I don't really consider graphic novels reading, since I know my kid, and I know she's really only looking at the pictures and that's cheating. It's not all that different than watching TV really. Just without the pesky commercials. So this child would have taken her $10, bought one $5 book for half-price and spent the rest of my money on Smencils or nachos or some such crap they sell at school that infuriates me to no end.
I have one child who literally almost missed his ride to school this morning because he was reading his Enrichment book for pleasure and another child who would rather remove her eyeballs with a spoon than read a book. It's baffling really.
Would it have been too much to have a kid that fell somewhere in the middle? Maybe that's what my third kid would have been like, if I'd had one.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Thriller
Our Memorial Day weekend was pretty good. We went to Mitch's dad's like we usually do and hit Cedar Point on Saturday. The weather was perfect really - not too hot to stand around and not rainy like we've had in years past. The adults were all hopeful this year since now most of the kids are tall enough to ride everything. There are a few that Sara and her cousin Emma still can't ride, but this is the first year that there are more they can ride than not. And those two are the kids that want to ride EVERYTHING. Jacob and Julia would just as soon spend the entire day on the Scrambler and eating funnel cakes, but unfortunately for them, they have parents who make them ride roller coasters. Whether they like it or not, in some cases.
Sara did really great - she rode everything she was tall enough for, except for the Maverick, and that's only because we thought she was too short for it. At the end of the day, my brother-in-law and I decided to hit the Top Thrill Dragster. Sara was the only one who wanted to go with us. The wait was listed at an hour and a half, but we'd been lucky all day and had found the line much shorter than the signs said. About halfway through the line, the ride stopped. There was some mumbling over the loudspeaker and a bunch of people ahead of us left. We stayed and after about 20 minutes, the ride started up again. We got all the way up to the platform and were the 4th people in line to ride when it broke down again.
More unintelligible loudspeaker mumbling.
My brother-in-law and I look at each other. It's now well after 10, when the park closes. There are 4 adults and 4 other kids waiting for us at the front of the park. And probably long past the point of waiting patiently. But Top Thrill Dragster was the only coaster we hadn't ridden that was open and Sara had never been. And she was DYING to go. And we were so so so close. I said to him "I'm not leaving til they throw us out of here" and he nodded. So we stayed.
Another 15 minutes of waiting and not understanding random loudspeaker announcements. No one is leaving.
Finally, at 10:40, the ride starts up again. The first cars to leave do not crash and die, so we figure we're in business and relatively safe. (Personally, I'd never want to be the first car that goes after a shut down. I thought they ran some cars empty until they were sure, but apparently, after 10 PM, they don't want to waste the time and figure it's your call.)
And we rode. And Sara loved it. Like seriously, LOVED it. I thought she'd be freaked out, but I guess I should know better by now. There hasn't been a roller coaster yet that has scared her, the little thrill-seeker. I did tell her not to put her arms up, since that's what she usually does, and a roller coaster that starts off at 118 mph seems like it would rip her skinny little arms right off.
It was so fun for her that all the grumbling and carrying on of everyone else when we met back up with them didn't even matter to me. Not that it would have anyway, but I really didn't care this time.
Sara did really great - she rode everything she was tall enough for, except for the Maverick, and that's only because we thought she was too short for it. At the end of the day, my brother-in-law and I decided to hit the Top Thrill Dragster. Sara was the only one who wanted to go with us. The wait was listed at an hour and a half, but we'd been lucky all day and had found the line much shorter than the signs said. About halfway through the line, the ride stopped. There was some mumbling over the loudspeaker and a bunch of people ahead of us left. We stayed and after about 20 minutes, the ride started up again. We got all the way up to the platform and were the 4th people in line to ride when it broke down again.
More unintelligible loudspeaker mumbling.
My brother-in-law and I look at each other. It's now well after 10, when the park closes. There are 4 adults and 4 other kids waiting for us at the front of the park. And probably long past the point of waiting patiently. But Top Thrill Dragster was the only coaster we hadn't ridden that was open and Sara had never been. And she was DYING to go. And we were so so so close. I said to him "I'm not leaving til they throw us out of here" and he nodded. So we stayed.
Another 15 minutes of waiting and not understanding random loudspeaker announcements. No one is leaving.
Finally, at 10:40, the ride starts up again. The first cars to leave do not crash and die, so we figure we're in business and relatively safe. (Personally, I'd never want to be the first car that goes after a shut down. I thought they ran some cars empty until they were sure, but apparently, after 10 PM, they don't want to waste the time and figure it's your call.)
And we rode. And Sara loved it. Like seriously, LOVED it. I thought she'd be freaked out, but I guess I should know better by now. There hasn't been a roller coaster yet that has scared her, the little thrill-seeker. I did tell her not to put her arms up, since that's what she usually does, and a roller coaster that starts off at 118 mph seems like it would rip her skinny little arms right off.
It was so fun for her that all the grumbling and carrying on of everyone else when we met back up with them didn't even matter to me. Not that it would have anyway, but I really didn't care this time.
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