Monday, October 27, 2008

There's a Monster at the End of This Blog Post

Sort of....

You see, this is my 666th blog post (oooh, spooky, evil number, I know!) so I thought it would be kind of cute to mimic my favorite children's book since there really is nothing to be scared of, right?

Right?

Oh, wait, there is something to be scared of......

This weekend was sensory overload......

For.....

.......

.........


ME!


My in-laws were up for a four-day weekend, and I love them. Love them!

In small quantities. I've come to learn that 3 days is my max, but since we were together for 4......

Well, I am not a nice person and at best look like the worst pregnant mama ever.

Or maybe I am being too harsh on myself - whaddyou think.....

First... Thursday evening - ok, I had to work late for a monthly meeting. My house was mostly clean.

(I left the floors because my in-laws have 2 dogs that they bring with them and I knew if I cleaned the floors on Wednesday, they would just need done again for my Friday night jewelry party)

Charlie Brown and his dad were gone, as MIL bought them Av's tickets for their upcoming [November] birthdays.

Friday - I had to work, Charlie Brown took the day off since the kids were off and his folks were here, assuring me that he and his parents would help clean up for the lia sophia party I was hosting that night.

Got home early and they hadn't been home all day. Not only did I have some things of ours to clean up in preparation, but the inlaws' stuff was all over and needed put up. Floors needed cleaned. I would have been hot not-pregnant, but being pregnant, I was pissed.

I started making the refreshments and doing what I could when everybody came in. They all pitched in [GREAT] but it still completely frazzled me as we were in a last-minute cleaning spree [NOT SO GREAT]. I'd wanted to RELAX y'all!

Everything was done* on time and the party was great fun, thanks to 1.) gorgeous, affordable jewelry, 2.) some homemade spinach artichoke dip with bread and various veggies, 3.) lemon dip with strawberries, and 4.) Nana’s sugar cookies**.

* and by done I really mean, a clusterf*&k of crap got shoved into my bedroom with the doors shut

** I'm telling you, I DO love my MIL - I just feel so inferior around her because she’s never taken antidepressants, and she’s so domestic and crafty, and because she “just” did abc when her kids xyz’d. We look somewhat alike and I tell Charlie Brown all the time that if he’d wanted to marry his mother he must be sorely disappointed. :sigh:

Saturday….
This was the Big Get Together of the weekend.

Our niece 3M turned 10 on Friday and we had all planned to get together on Saturday because my SIL’s family was staying at their house in Aurora.

We’d decided to meet in the middle and check out the family-friendly adventures that Miller Farms had to offer us. We planned a picnic lunch and had been told that BIL was treating us to dinner at their home afterwards. Since we wouldn’t be back until evening, we left my inlaws’ airbed out in the living room. Remember this…

We had a GREAT time at Miller Farms. We all got to go out into the fields and each got to pick a bag of the following:

-Indian Corn – more for decorative purposes than for edible ones

-Onions – while many of them had to be picked through since they’d been exposed to freezes, a number of them were still in great shape – and these suckers were HUGE too!

-Carrots – again, you had to dig for ones that were still deep in the ground and not rotten, but we got a TON

-Potatoes – they had a tiller go through and dig them up for each group and then everyone bagged their loot

-Beets – not my favorite, but I plan on using them as stamps for the kids one afternoon, more than for food! I do like pickled beets but one can only eat so many.

And we each got to pick a pumpkin out of their pumpkin patch. We were LOADED in fresh produce.

My littlest niece, Double A, is 2 and she got antsy in the middle of the crop pickin' - which was more stressful for my BIL and his wife than it was for any of us. Otherwise it was a grand time. We also did a corn maze, rode pedal tracters, and Charlie Brown bought me a 20 minute massage at a merchant booth - which was heaven and ended up being 30 minutes actually. :contented sigh:

At the end of our Miller Farms adventure - it was announced that we were all going back to MY house, not BIL's house. And all the crap was still out! Minor heart palpitations at that thought, but eh, life goes on.

Get home, order pizzas to take and bake. I end up waiting on everyone, hand and foot, which my MIL said I "didn't have to do," but since no one else was taking the damned initiative who was REALLY going to do it?

The worst part was when 3M made it known that she had been supposed to have gone to her bff's house in Aurora after we'd been finished with our family party. This was now Not Going to Happen. And she displayed her [rightfully so, imho] tween angst about it. I sympathized with her internally, noting that we weren't all supposed to be here if I'd had anything to do with it too.

By the time they left and we got the kids bathed for church in the morning - it was an incredibly long day with out an ounce of rest for the pregnant, weary, pitiful woman that gazed back at me from the mirror that night.

Sunday....
Church - getting ready went off without a hitch, although the morning did arrive too damned early.

Church itself was interesting as the octogenarian who led the song service picked only obscure and ancient hymns that no one knew, which resulted in his bellowing vibrato solos. I am one who preaches that we don't attend church to be entertained and serve ourselves; rather that we go to church to worship and serve God. However, this particular morning my own admonitions were difficult to swallow.

I'd told my in-laws that I had a baby shower to prepare punch for and attend that afternoon. I'd planned on making the punch at home after church and then leave for the shower. Which was no big deal.

Except....we HAD to go to the BlackEyed Pea for lunch. At least where we live, the BlackEyed Pea is frequented largely by seniors after church on Sundays. Which means the table turnover is V.E.R.Y. S.L.O.W. at best. We left the restaurant at 1:36. The shower started at 2:00.

It became very painfully apparent to me that we would be LATE. And then when I discovered that I had filled a 2.5 gallon jug like it was a 2 gallon jug (i.e. with too much water), I went completely apeshit, freaking out that Charlie Brown hadn't told me it was a 2.5 gallon jug and that we were going to be late, and ohshitohshitohshit! In front of my inlaws mind you. I'm crying and screaming and cannot escape the frustrations that keep pummeling me.

I left, was 1/2 an hour late -felt terrible - but everyone assured me it was fine and the punch was a hit.

The rest of Sunday was ok, except for bedtime. Which was expected.

Today....
LMNOB had one of THOSE mornings. I'm frustrated. There is yelling and gnashing of teeth.

MIL comes up and tells LMNOB, "You know, 3M gets herself up and dressed and makes her own breakfast and fixes her hair and then walks to school all by herself..."

Which struck me about like it did LMNOB: Well, whoopdie freaking do for HER.

Instead, I gritted my teeth and we got through it. Backpack was missing and then so was jacket. And the bus was missed and then I found said backpack and jacket, and took them to school in the car - while bidding my inlaws adieu.

Work was ok....until about 4:18 when my phone rang and it was a neighbor saying the kids were with her; their babysitter hadn't showed up.

Call babysitter - no answer.

Call babysitter's mom and start to leave a frantic message when babysitter's mom picks up. Oh, no she said - babysitter had asked her mom to pick the kids up today as she had a conflict arise and their clock had defaulted to the old end of daylight savings time setting and it read 3:20 instead of 4:20. She was so sorry.

Yeah, me too. I'd already done the mom-obligated "what ifs," and that was NOT pretty.

So I'm emotional and the Boss had overheard. I share with her the story and she empathizes. She offers to help push the jobshare earlier and I'm honored by that but feel badly that I'm burdening her with that. I say it is no wonder to me that affordable quality child care is a number one priority for a local poverty initiative; I've had a hell of a year with childcare and I CAN pay for good care. She says no kidding and asks if I've got the baby on a waitlist yet.

:GULP:

I'm not going to lie - but I hadn't quite wanted to discuss this yet.

And it just blurted out, "Well, no, I actually don't think I'm coming back after the baby is born."

OH CRAP!

She took it ok, but yikes! I had not wanted to let that cat out of the bag yet - I'm hormonal and freaked because my babies had been standing at the bus stop for who knows how long and who knows who could have been around, and....

Yeah, it probably couldn't NOT have come out with that mindset. But still....

So I've been bawling all night and am the red-eyed monster at the end of this post.

Charlie Brown is singing to me as I type, "There's a light and the end of this tunnel..." as sung by Third Day.

I sure hope so. God, please carry me through this.



© 2008 Ramblings of a Red-Headed Step-Child. All Rights Reserved

3 comments:

  1. Yikes. Sooo sorry. Get a good night's rest. You need it! Those weekends are frustrating at best, eh?

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  2. Oh good gravy, that was a weekend straight from hell now, wasn't it? I'm so sorry that it was so rough. Hugs to you. I'm SURE that telling your boss your news now will work out for the best. I'm sending vibes for a quiet, relaxing, stress-free week with NO meltdowns, forgotten pick-ups or other issues. HUGS girl!

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  3. I was just thinking of a hymn I sang in my gospel choir in HS (I know! Baptist gospel choir and I'm Jewish!)

    "We are climbing, Lord, we're climbing, Lord we're climbing until we reach the top"

    Sometimes the mountain seems very very high.

    ReplyDelete