It's raining, it's pouring...

The forecast is rain ALL day, today. There is NOTHING going on at work. Nothing at all. I'm looking at http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/, which is one of my favorite sites, printing recipes. Not that I don't appreciate surfing the web while at work but this is ridiculous. I'm going to ask the boss if I can just...not come back today, after lunch. There's no reason for him to pay me to sit here and do nothing.

Here's me, at my desk. Trying to look busy. I should go home.

Feeling Fallish.

This is the view from my porch, yesterday. I'm thinking I'll snap another one every two weeks or so, to see how the scene changes...

Look Mom! No Training Wheels!

Our neighbors pick up my son one day a week, and this last time, he and their son were playing, and the dad said, "You can ride M's bike,".

But my son said, "I don't know how--my bike has training wheels."

The dad said, "I bet you can."

So he put him on it and gave him a shove, and off he went.

Just. Like. That.

Yay!

We're In, Baby!

We moved in to our fabulous new house about a month ago. I ended up getting a full-time job one week before moving day, so things have been a little hectic. But I finally got things put away, and most of the boxes cut down and put out at the curb.

I love this house. The kids love this house. Their friends love this house...and are jealous. "Man, I wish I lived here!"

It's not a fancy house; it's very comfortable. We don't have frilly curtains or doilies on the tables or antimacassars on the chairs. I would say that we don't have any antiques, but I ended up buying two pieces from the previous owner--a kitchen table and a buffet. But we USE them--I don't go around polishing them.

I'm looking forward to Christmas; this house was MADE for Christmas decorations! I may need to bite the bullet and hire professionals to do the design, this first year, since I have never had a house decorated well, before.

But it's the kind of house with a porch, with rockers and a porch swing. I sat out there the other night while my son played with Hot Wheels cars. I would love to have a "porch party". I'm hoping some (or lots) of our family and friends will come visit us and sit awhile!

One...more...*gasp*...week...

Finally, officially, at long last, I'm a homeowner! Well, I don't own quite ALL of it, but a darn good portion thereof!

Moving day WAS going to be tomorrow, the 15th, and my son's 6th birthday party would have been HERE, at the new house, on the 22nd. But the sellers had a setback in the buying of THEIR new house, and so we can't move in until the 22nd.

The lady of the house cleared out the family room for me, though, and I was able to borrow a truck and small trailer the other day. I ferried 85+ bags, boxes, and bins over there and piled them in that room. I may do it again sometime this coming week; every container I can physically move myself saves me on the movers' costs!

So the birthday party is tomorrow, and we'll be moving in a week. Honestly, I'm absolutely ready to go. If the sellers called and said, "Okay, we're ready!", I could happily pull an all-nighter and get the last of the packing done. They could load during the party, and once the guests left, then we could go unload at the new house. But...that's not gonna happen.

What's gonna happen is that we'll be here another week. I think the sellers are going to actually vacate on Wed or Thur, though, so if that happens, I'll go in and take some pictures of the house as it stands empty. Well, except for the 85 containers...

My daughter is 15. As such, she tends to have a certain degree of obliviousness to anything not strictly revolving around HER. She cultivates ennui like salad greens. She is a professional shrugger and eye-roller. With selective hearing. You've probably met her. And been ignored by her. If you're lucky, that is. If she doesn't ignore you, she'll insult you. (Although I'm beginning to see that in HER adolescent economy, if she insults you, it means she LIKES you.)

At any rate, she is notoriously difficult to engage. Nothing is good enough, nothing is interesting, nothing is worth getting off the sofa, except Mom's ultimatums that if the dishes aren't done in 14 minutes, there will be dire consequences. It is a requirement of being 15 that nothing impresses her.

Until this weekend. Last week, the local school board voted to do away with Mondays, in order to save money. That's right. No school on Mondays. EVER. I won't go into all the reasons that the parents think this is a bad idea, and the probable repercussions on the community; that's not what this is about, today.

Today, this is about something that INTERESTS my chronically apathetic teen. Today, said poster child for lassitude took an informal poll of her peers, and discovered that most of THEM don't like the idea of no school on Mondays, either. I'm a little stunned at this news, frankly. The kids' concern is that the new schedule will mean more homework, as well as the potential loss of "elective" activities. But again, that's not the point.

The point (and I do have one), is that MY daughter (and I've just sent away for a fingerprint kit to be sure) decided with a friend that they wanted to DO something about an issue that affects them directly. She asked me, "Mom, would 'Brady' and I get into trouble if we circulated a petition among the student body stating WHY we think getting rid of Mondays is a bad idea?"
Kind of like when you're playing poker, and you have a good hand, but don't want to give it away by the look on your face, I had to contain my enthusiasm at the prospect that my disassociative offspring actually wanted to become (*gasp*) INVOLVED in something other than Next Top Model. Few things will discourage a teenager faster than a parent's approval in this kind of thing, so I played it coo-oo-l.

"No, honey, not at all. You and your friends have every right to voice your opinion. And you should, if you feel strongly about something."

I had to stifle my Beavis-like chuckle when she asked me, "Will you help us find out how to make up the petition form correctly and stuff?"

"Sure, yeah." I tried not to beam too loudly, lest it spook her out of her new-found pursuit.

So off she went to a youth group activity, determined to garner support for her cause. Evidently she recruited at least two more volunteers for the organizational bandwagon. "How To Influence People And Make Friends", forsooth!

A while later, she texted me, dejectedly (and yes, texts have *tone*; if you can't interpret it, you just don't text enough. I have had more exchanges with this same kid over texting than she would EVER sit still for in "real" time!) Anyway, she dejectedly informed me that one of the group leaders had dumped ice water all over the kids' idea, stating that, "You're just children. This is a matter for the adults to decide, not you. You should probably just stay out of it. You're going to waste your time. You can't change anything."

I beg your pardon.

That is NOT the point AT ALL!

The POINT is that if these kids, in a day and age when apathy is the word of the day, if they want to use their own time and effort to attempt a change in their community, then I APPLAUD that. Will it make a hair's difference? No, probably not. But did I tell them that? Of course not!
Is it not their Constitutional RIGHT to be heard? Is it not their right to peaceably assemble, lawfully organize and respectfully present their opinion to the powers that be? It doesn't matter if their issue is to petition that the cafeterial serve monkey brains and couscous on Tuesdays. What matters is that my lackadaisical kid and her friends are motiviated to exercise their rights as citizens of a free society.

It's so easy to toss our kids' ideas aside as absurd or inane. Or hopeless. That's not the point. The point is that I want to be the kind of adult who will encourage my kids and their peers in exercising the rights that we're so proud of, the freedoms that set us apart.

No matter if she wants to petition to ban banana popsicles from the State of Georgia. If she wants to get involved in changing her society, then I will encourage her. I will equip her. And I will enable her.

And in so doing, I will empower her.

May I NEVER be ice-water on a fiery spirit!

Almost Home

This is the house that I made an offer on; it's a great property!

We have a few details to work out, but I think we have a deal.

I'm supposed to meet with my lawyer today to have him look over their lawyer's draft of the proposal; waiting for a call back for the appointment.

But I think this one is going to be home!! :)

Deal, or No Deal?

The house in the post below...I couldn't get.

This is the candidate du jour. It needs a lot of work, but in my weird financial situation, I may need to get into something that I can pay cash for, and fix up as I go along.

I've heard the advice: "Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood." This house isn't the worst, but I still think it qualifies.

The question will be whether it's livable WHILE work is being done on it. It's nowhere NEAR "move-in" condition as you usually think of it.

But you know what? I don't have a lot of options. I'd rather put my sweat equity into something that's significant, over boring.

Of Course...

Of course, none of the furniture stays. My friends have made the point that most of my stuff is sort of neo-classical, which ki-i-nd of will work, but I'm going to have to consider getting some more antique-ish looking pieces.

But, I think that will be part of the fun--searching for and capturing the "right" things. It doesn't have to be done all at one time, nor can it. For the time being, I have enough to live with, certainly! We wouldn't be sitting on the floor.

Crunching the Numbers...

There's no way I can afford what these folks are asking for this house. But the couple of real estate-savvy people I've talked to says that they are going to HAVE to come down quite a bit; there's no way they're going to GET what they're asking, in this market, in this area. And I don't think they've had any bites.

My tactic is going to be to offer what the comparables SAY that house should be worth, which is rather lowballing them. BUT! If THEY would be willing to owner-finance me, then they would stand to make A LOT in interest, bringing their "price" much closer to what they're asking, over 3 years.

I have a call in to the realtor, now. Waiting on him to call me back. Cross your fingers, your toes, your eyes...

This is a kick-ass house.

Back Country, Baby!

Wow! That's one loooong horse!

No, he just has a friend. :) These are about the only "folks" I saw yesterday, while doing Census mapping.

Spring has sprung.

This is how it looks around here, now--all greened up!!



This is the house we've been in, that I might HAVE to buy... but I don't really want to.

THIS is the house I'd LIKE to buy. It's beautiful. Inside...

...and out!

Cross your fingers!

Yeah, Been Awhile...

I know, I know. It's been a while. I got into Facebook, and spend much of my PC time over there!


NOT, mind you, that I have any delusions of some great number of readers, anyway. But you never know.


Let's see... The Egg Hunt was great fun--we DID make it in time, and Jamie got lots of eggs.


I started the Census job, and it's a lot of hard work, but pretty fun most of the time.


I have to decide what to do about this leased house. I will soon either have to buy it or leave it. I don't really want to buy it--it's really not "me".


So...I've been looking at a few houses. Found one or two that I like very much, but it's just a matter of figuring out the finances...


The insurance interview finally came through--that will be Tuesday. If I get that, I'll have to quit the Census, but it makes sense to take the permanent position. BUT if I don't get it, at least I have a pretty good shot at working fairly steadily for the next year.


That's about it for right now. More on the kids and stuff, later...

Take away my Mommy Badge...

The Easter my little boy was 3, that was the first year that he'd have a clue about baskets, eggs, etc... so of course we wanted to take him to an egg hunt! Our church didn't happen to do them, but we got a flyer, somewhere, about an Easter Egg hunt in a local park.

I made sure I had the day off, and we made plans to be there. I got him a basket, took the camera, everything. We pulled up to the park, and there were almost NO cars there, and just a few people milling about, cleaning up. Clearly we'd missed the Egg Hunt.

I took the flyer, and approached one of the ladies there. The flyer said 1:00, and it was only 12:40. She looked at it, and said, "Oh. Yeah. No. That's a misprint. It was at 10:00. Sorry."

We got back in the car, went to the CVS or someplace, BOUGHT some (discounted!) Easter treats when the boy wasn't looking, took them home, and the next morning, he got to do a "hunt" in the front yard. He was 3; like he knew the difference! But how many egg hunts does a kid get in life?

So last year, he was 4, and knew what was what! I was determined to get it right, this time. The drop-off for my daughter's school was adjacent to a church. This church had a LARGE banner dropped from their sign, reading, "Community Easter Fair! Everyone is Welcome! Saturday, April (whatever), Children and Families, Egg Hunt, Activities, Crafts,..."

I thought, "Perfect!", and made plans for us to be there.

We arrived at the advertised time, but there didn't seem to be many people around. We wandered around the church campus for a while, and people were setting things up, but they clearly weren't ready for children to participate. We got back in the car, and waited until we saw other children arriving.

We got out, and kind of followed those kids, but no one seemed to know what was going on, and no one seemed to be in charge, or to be directing traffic in any way. We watched some lady do an educational experiment with a system of pulleys, which she let the kids try. My son drew with some chalk on the sidewalk. But there still didn't seem to be any sort of system going on. It was very random.

We ended up in what I guess was their fellowship hall, and teens were busy stuffing eggs on tables. If you were having an egg hunt at 11:00, wouldn't you have the eggs stuffed before 10:10? Whatever. We approached a table where the kids could color an Easter picture. The lady said, "Where is his band?"

"Ma'am?"

"His band. All the kids need a band to show what group they're in."

"I see. Where does he get a band?" I asked.

"Didn't you get one when you signed him up?" she queried.

"Um...I didn't know I had to sign him up..."

"Oh, my, yes. There was Pre-Registration. Didn't you sign him up?"

"But the sign outside just says, 'Everyone Welcome', " I pointed out the window where we could see the banner. "It doesn't mention any registration required."

"Well, there's only 100 spots. You'll have to ask if you can register him today, but I don't know if So-and-so is here, yet..."

She indicated a table at the far end of the hall, where there were children and parents milling about, and several folks seated, with papers arrayed in front of them. I walked over there, and with a fair amount of effort, attracted the attention of one of the table-sitters.

"Um...Hi. I didn't know I was supposed to sign my son up ahead of time... Is there a fee to participate?"

"Oh. No. It's free, but there was Pre-Registration required."

And he turned away and greeted the next kid, saying cheerfully, "Hi! What's your name?", and looking at the papers taped to the table.

I had been dismissed. No offer to GET him signed in. No offer to LET him sign in. Nothing. The man wouldn't look at me again.

(I'm sorry, but if I am sitting at a table, in the midst of a children's party, and a cute little boy is staring at me, not understanding why the lady at the coloring table wouldn't give him a beastly crayon, I am bloody well going to DO something for him. I mean, c'mon!) And it's not like we looked like homeless people or anything. Clearly we were functioning members of society. How unhelpful can people BE? And this was not the DMV. This was a church.

It wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't already had an Egg Hunt Failure from the year previous. And if I had felt that there was an error on my part, then I wouldn't have been so stunned. But I walked to the balcony that ran around the outside of the hall, and I looked down at the sign for the 84th time since it had gone up.

It absolutely did NOT say that the kids needed to pre-register for this event. But there we were, children milling about with their little colored wrist-bands, people greeting one another all around us, no one speaking to us, no one even looking at us. We did not exist, because my son did not have a wrist-band. Couldn't GET a wrist-band. Would not BE getting a wrist-band, evidently.

I walked back to where my husband and daughter were standing, waiting, and I was barely able to speak. You know that burning sensation that happens in the base of your throat, before it gets up to your eyeballs, and you can feel that you are about to cry? I was fighting it with everything I had, because I didn't want to embarrass them, and I didn't want my boy to see me upset.

(At this writing, my palms have slicked, thinking about it.)

I croaked out, "We just need to go... right now. He can't... they won't... just... let's go. Please. Now."

I had got it wrong, AGAIN. And although neither incident was exactly my fault, I still felt that I had failed my son in some way. He was in the back of the car, asking why they wouldn't let him play there, why we had to leave, why he wasn't going to get any eggs, why the lady wouldn't let him color, why... why...

I felt at that moment like they could take away my Mommy Badge, and I wouldn't fight them.

Imagine that.

"Try our New Iced Coffee..."

"... Just add ice..."

Oh, please.

(Eye rolling)

My daughter let her friend Jenny walk home with her. Jenny lives 10 miles away, and so is SUPPOSED to ride the bus. If she DOESN'T, her mom has to come get her, or I have to drive her, 20 miles round trip. They did this before, saying Jenny "missed" her bus. That time, her mom said, "Next time you call me from the SCHOOL. Do not turn up on Laurel's doorstep!"

So here they come today, saying they had some genetics assignment that they were partnered on, and they "had" to work together. They said it was on leaves. I said, "Um...ok. Call your mom."I could tell that her mom didn't believe Jenny, but said whatever. They went to my daughter's room, but a little while later, it was too quiet. I went to check, and they were GONE.

My kid doesn't HAVE her celly, b/c it got taken up at school last week. Jenny doesn't own one. They were gone for 2 hours, I had no idea where. It's POURING rain. I called Jenny's house, but got the machine. I said, "They can't be trusted!" (Her mom is totally cool--as in strict! She doesn't believe the crap that kids try to pull!) She called a while later, but hadn't gotten the messages. She said, "Is Jenny ready to come? I'm in your driveway. I don't want to get wet."

I told her that I didn't know WHERE the girls were. She and I both listed the tortures that they'd suffer. Just then they came waltzing down the street, SOAKING WET, BAREFOOT. They came in here (Mom still on the phone), and I said, "You didn't tell me you were leaving."

They said, "Yes, we did. We said it was about genetics and leaves. We went to get some."

I said, "We HAVE leaves, dear."

She said, "Tcha. Not in the front yard!"

Friends, I have 17 windows in this house. Big ones. Outside of EVERY window, you can see MILLIONS UPON BILLIONS of leaves, from at least 1000 SPECIES of plant life. I told them this. I gestured to the VERITABLE FOREST that we live in. "Furthermore, if you were collecting leaves, you would have had notebooks, pens, ziplocs, a worksheet, something."

"Well, we were just on our way ba-a-ck to GET a bag..."

"Oh, please!"

"We didn't TAKE notebooks because they'd get wet."

"Where are your LEAVES?!?" I asked. "It took you two hours to find NO leaves? We live in the bloody Forest Primeval."

"Tcha. Whatever, Mom. Don't believe us."

"I don't."

I don't blame Jenny, exactly, alone. It's the combo of those two that ALWAYS leads to deception. Last time, she had my kid cut her hair in some rocker chick thing, when her mother had said No.

Before that, they conned her mom into taking them to the Mall, and my angel bought gauges for her ears, and because of the haircut she'd given HERSELF, I didn't SEE her ears for weeks, and didn't even think about it. Now the child has stupid ass gaping holes in her ears. I told her the punishment will be that she has to live with a deformity she caused herself. She WILL regret it. And she'll have to live with it, or pay to fix it.

So, they lied to us about the assignment (WHO forces science partners OUTSIDE of school time? No one. Especially not at a rural school). If they DID need leaves, they had METRIC TONS of them RIGHT HERE. They must think we're stupid. They should have at LEAST filled their pockets with some damn LEAVES.

It was while she was gone that I snatched the tv out of her room. I am NOT retrieving her phone from the school (this is the 3rd time it's been taken up, and THIS time I'd have to go down there, stand in front of the principal's desk, ask for it back AND pay $25. Nope. Not gonna do it.

She's supposed to go to CA over Easter break. I'm not cancelling her trip, though, because she'd have to sit here alone all day, and I don't trust her an inch. And frankly, I could use the break from her. Our friends out there are very good with her--they take NO crap, and they make her do chores with their daughter. "If your eat our food, you can wash our dishes!" The mom asked me if there were any friends I didn't want her to see. I think I'll go the other way and say that she's only ALLOWED to see certain friends, and not to be LEFT at anyone's house except those people.

A tight leash is easier on them, as well as better for my kid. I was such a nerd. This is all new territory to me... :)

God hanged the sun...

My son thinks I hanged the moon. I didn't, quite, but I DID hang him some planets! And a whole bunch of stars.

They *GL-O-O-O-OW* in the dark!

Very, very cool!

Power in the Blood

My mom was an ICU nurse my whole growning up years. Back in the 60's and 70's, before AIDS and such, things were a lot different at hospitals, as far as restrictions and regulations. Every couple of weeks, my mom would bring home EXPIRED BAGS OF BLOOD.

"WHY?!?", you ask?

No, we're not characters from a Lyndsay Sands novel (and the post-dated blood would've made us sick, anyway).

My mom would feed the blood to her HOUSEPLANTS. I kid you not. She swore it made them thrive.Well, and we did have some damn fine looking plants, I'll say that.

It was a little disconcerting for guests, though, when they'd see the empty blood bags in the trash, or if they were lucky, they'd get to catch the bag SITTING IN THE PLANT, trickling blood into the soil.

And people wonder why I'm weird.

Yeah. They're white. Pretty! But Pink? No.

I took several shots with my traditional camera, since my digital one is broken. But I did take these with my cell phone.

It was a really nice spring day; the Festival was essentially a street fair, with a pink overtone. The boy child and I walked all around and had a nice time.

I tried boiled peanuts for the first time.

I'm thinkin' it may be the last time. Like congealed snot nuggets. Disgusting.

I also had frozen, chocolate-dipped key lime pie, on a stick. Weird. Very weird. But intriguing.

Kind of like my life. Weird. Yet intriguing...

"The Pinkest Party On Earth!"

We need an outing.

http://www.cherryblossom.com/

Tomorrow (Sun) is the last day. We're going to drive up there tomorrow after church. Try not to get lost (I DID print several maps!). I'm shooting for the Food Festival/Street Fair, the Kids' Chalk thingy, and the Heart Of Georgia Pipes And Drums.

Should be fun.

I just...

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I haven't been sure what to say.

The short version is this: My ex-husband announced that he's getting remarried.

Personally, I wish him all the best; all along, it has been my wish that he move on and be happy.

It was THE WAY in which he has gone about several things that has made everyone who knows about it say, "What is he thinking?!?"

The children, being of disparate ages and sensibilities, are at best perplexed, and at worst pissed off. So that's the damage control that I'm trying to manage right now.

That's it, in a nutshell, right now.

'Nuf Said.

This pretty much sums it up.

"Every Ten Years"

Oh, gosh, no! It doesn't snow here. Well, maybe every ten years or something, but you don't need to worry about that!


I-I-I'm worryin' about it! This is what it looked like around my house, yesterday. The news channels all said to stay off the roads, and the kids' were in Alabama with their dad. We agreed that we didn't want to each drive 200 miles round trip in this, so the kids are missing school today, and are staying there until tonight.



I'm afraid to even drive to work; it got below freezing last night (and still is), so all the slush will have turned to ice. So I dunno... I may have to call in.

Don't Be Fooled.

I love Kindergarten!

This little cherubic face:


Is attached to the boy who brings his mama things like this:

Which I LOVE! This is up on my kitchen cabinet, along with the umbrella he brought me two weeks ago...

But don't be fooled by his seemingly angelic exterior!

He is poised to take over the world, if we don't watch it!

Timing is everything.

Yesterday, driving my son home from school, he asked if we could do such-and-such that evening. I said, "No, baby. I have to go to work." The poor little guy burst into tears. At first I thought it was a tantrum because I said "No." And then I thought maybe he was just being pouty.

But as he sobbed, and told me why he was so sad, I realized he really was desolated that he'd been at school all day, and now I-I-I was going to be gone all evening. "Will you be home by supper?" No. "Will you be home to start my shower?" No. "Will you be home for story and tucking?" No.

He was inconsolable.

When we got home, I sat down and typed a note to my boss. I told him that as a (newly) single parent, I have additional challeges from the average worker, and that I don't feel comfortable leaving my kids alone at night right now. I told them that beginning March 8, my availability would change to just when my kids are in school.

In retail, that's the kiss of death, because everyone has to work evenings and weekends--it's just the nature of the beast. I know that the store's needs come first, and if my availability doesn't work for them, they are free to say, "Eh, no thanks." But that's a chance I have to take, since they insist on scheduling me with all the worst possible shifts for my family. So we'll see what happens, there.

BUT!!!!!

The same night that I put that note in the manager's box, I got a voice mail from the US Census Bureau, to which I had applied and taken an exam a couple months ago. THEY HIRED ME as not just an ennumerator, but as a Quality Control officer, checking the ennumerators' work in my county. True, the job is only for 3 months, but it pays WELL more than my retail job, and it's for 40 hours a week.

That not only will look fabulous on a resume, but it will give me time, money, and breathing room to find something else full-time.

Amazing how these things work out, isn't it? :)

Regarding Tornadoes

Somewhere in Georgia:

Very unfortunate. :(

Heather asked me a good question: Where would we go if a tornado hit? Well, there are hurricane corridor signs around here, for people to get inland for those, but tornadoes, while there is some warning, there's not really enough to get GONE.

Essentially, you just have to take cover when you hear the siren.

Except on Wednesday, we didn't HEAR the siren, because the rain was SO loud! But my best friend's son (age 13) called me from his mom's house, worried that we'd be scared. He reminded me that if we heard a twister coming, to stay away from any windows. The only room that would be is the kitchen; it's interior, with house all around it, so we'd have to hunker down there and hope for the best.

I think it's still better than CA earthquakes; at least with tornadoes you know to batten down the hatches/brace yourself/prepare for impact kind of thing. No matter where you go, there's something...

You'd never know...

...that 18 hours ago, the eastern sky was black with clouds, and there was a tornado watch. Then we had some awesome lightning! But right now, it's picture perfect.

Almost reminds me of a California winter's day.

Almost.

Oh, and...

...The Prince also woke up Monday with Pink Eye.
(Not his real eyeball--somebody's, sure, but not his)

Luckily there was no school that day, but the photo of him taking over my bed is WITH his crusty crud! I had to boil all of that bedding. The pediatrician's office couldn't see him until almost 5:00; turns out he has a double ear infection, to boot, so I guess it's "lucky" I took him in when I did.

My poor little, germ-ridden, contagion carrying munchkin. I wish he'd stay offa my pillowcase.

It's Good To Be The Prince.

Yes, it's good to be the prince.



Bu-u-u-t...

It kinda sucks to be the displaced queen.

Text Bane

You send a teenager off with a bunch of other teenagers, away from her parents for a full 72 hours, and what does she do? You'd think she'd be ecstatic to be having a weekend adventure. But, no.

She texts her mother constantly, complaining of this, that, and the other thing.

Her head hurts. She has cramps. She's tired. She doesn't wanna ski. She fell down. Her gloves got wet. She feels nauseous. Oh, on and on, and onandonandonandon. I did my best to keep up with them, trying to encourage her...

...but I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm being manipulated. I finally texted her, asking if she'd like me to speak to one of the leaders, and maybe she could just go sit on the bus by herself.

I didn't hear back, after that. :)

The girl child went off on a snow retreat this weekend. I thought they were coming back Sunday afternoon, but it turns out they won't be back until Monday afternoon. I called my boss, and said, "Dude. I don't have childcare that day." I figured I'd get flack for weaseling out of working on a holiday, but he just said, "Okay, no problem." So that's cool. A Monday off; haven't had one of those in a while.

The boy child will be off school that day too, of course. I'm not sure what we'll do. Actually, if I didn't have to work tomorrow night (sure, make the middle aged divorced woman work Valentine's evening; she won't mind!), we might have made plans to go somewhere. Where? I dunno. But somewhere FUN, dang it!

However, I DO have to work tomorrow night, and I'm scheduled to be the on-duty Bridal Consultant, which would be the first time I've been alone doing it. Please, God, let all the couples go do OTHER couple-ish things, and stay outta my store. I'm just not up to it.

So I have a little time to think of something to do with the boy child on Monday. Or Sunday afternoon, for that matter. I'm open to suggestions...

Bad Idea, Boys.

Um... No.

I don't think so. Just for any male readers out there, I'd like to make it clear that it is NOT appropriate for you to buy your woman pajamas, (ESPECIALLY with a "Do Not Disturb" sign included!), for Valentine's Day.

No, no-no-no, no, nooooo.

Why? Because it's presumptuous. Now, you can't go wrong with jewelry; I don't care what kind.

But a Valentine gift should NOT include anything that YOU, the guy, can remotely benefit from. And I don't care who the woman is, when she opens a "gift" for "her" containing something like what you see above, she KNOWS it's not for HER. That's for YOU!

Oh, and no stuffed animals dressed up as your profession, either. Sorry, maybe that's harsh, but that's the truth.

NOT, mind you, that I have any experience receiving Valentines, nor do I expect to.

I'm just sayin'. Tryin' to look out for my guy friends.