Saturday, November 15, 2008

I have NO business being single... let alone a single parent!

Sorry for being such a slacker lately but sheeesh....

Rick has been out of town since Tuesday and it seems as though we have truly gone to 'hell in a hand basket'.

Rick has been working in an alternate universe doing manual labor in Newark (yup, that's Jersey, folks). He's been working installing antennas (antennae?) on top of Continental airlines' terminal to help expedite baggage handling for you and me (the collective 'we') - do you like how I'm embracing change or what???? The only problem is that the poor guy hasn't done manual labor since the day I met him - circa 1993 - and he CERTAINLY hasn't had to do manual labor in conditions where it's "Windy with rain and snow showers. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the upper 20s." - Odds are 2 to 1 that he comes home with a raging case of pneumonia.

Although he was kind of excited the first day (excited enough to take a picture anyway) the excitement has since worn off. The poor guy is weary. He's had a 6:20 am wake up call everyday and has been getting in at 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning. Nope, no typo. The boy has been BUSY!

All that being said. He's basically incommunicado, so I'm flying solo here. (and NOT doing a very good job unfortunately).


In just the time that Rick has been gone, I've managed to get (and get rid of) a dog -(more about THAT story later). Allison has been reprimanded at school for 'not keeping her clothes on' - Danny is running a fever of 103. My ceiling is hanging on by a thread and I am doing the same. Can you believe my doctor told me no more baths? It's killin' me! So not only am I itching like a flea-ridden cur, I can only take a luke-warm shower - no baths allowed. Madness, I say... Madness! For those of you who may not be aware of my oh so personal situation (you MUST be outside of my zip code) I've been diagnosed with having sensitive skin and guttate psoriasis which is embarrassingly itchy. So far nothing has alleviated it but stress certainly aggravates it. yeah, me!

Well... back to the dog thing.... It all started with Laurie and ended with Misty. Long story short we were going to adopt a lab mix, Laurie but... some other folks got her first.

So off we go to a shelter and bring home a dog that we thought was part greyhound, part something or other.... Her name is Misty and we got three different stories about HER story. Things like... her owner left for Iraq and had no other family to she was born there to she was a runaway !?!?!?!?

Well... the kids fell in love (as did I) and after an overnight debate, we brought her home. Fast forward two days and we find out that she's part pit bull, doesn't like men, is verrrrry protective of me and poor Danny is afraid to move in his own house for fear of the dog.

Needless to say, Misty went back to the shelter - which, by the way, is a no-kill shelter so we were convinced that she'd find a new forever home.

*side note* Danny has put Misty's dog tag on his stuffed monkey and sleeps with the damn thing every night - I don't know if he's scarred for life or what....

Now Allison is concerned that since Daddy has been gone as well..... did I find HIM a new forever home just like Misty??? 'No, Al, Daddy has no such luck.'

I just went through our pictures of the dog to post one and apparently I deleted them all.... hmmmmm ... I didn't do it intentionally... hmmmmm... my mind is taking on a life of it's own!!!

We did get some good news this week! The folks will be here sometime after turkey day. They're leaving the frozen tundra of northern New England and heading south to the frozen swamplands of southeast Texas. (Can you believe it's 33 degrees as I'm writing this!!!) Hopefully they survive the drive down with each other in a van full of $hit and a doped up geriatric cat with no nose.... wouldn't want to be in THAT vehicle!

And then we'll be getting a visit from my dear friend Mrs. Prescott the day after Thanksgiving! She hasn't been to Texas since her infamous visit of 1994 - (Richmond Ave is still reeling from THAT one) but things have changed since then.... :-) We're older now, much, much calmer and have kids (so we can't sleep until noon anymore) Regardless, it'll be an adventure, as it always is when Tray and I get together (even at almost 40).

Danny is running a fever still, so he's pretty puny. God love him... he tries so hard to feel better. It's like the mind is willing even if the body ain't. My kids have been blessed with the gift of running ridiculously high fevers. They tend to hallucinate and their eyes roll back in their heads. It's pretty impressive. When you can get a doctor at an emergency clinic to say 'holy crap' - you know you're on to something!

Allison is in love. I was checking my email on Friday and she asked if she could draw. This is what she "drew" - note that LOVE is underlined... not once - twice. LOVE LOVE - good lord... give me strength. At least Jacob is a nice boy. :-) His mom reprimanded me for putting pop-tarts in Al's lunch kit. I told her to wait until her second born was Al's age... she'd be scrambling for something in the pantry too that wasn't moldy or raw.... I thought I was doing pretty well sending her with a pop-tart instead of a half-eaten box of croutons.
The natives are restless and wanting some breakfast... time to resume my mom duties...
*note to Ricardo.... HURRY HURRY HURRY!








Saturday, November 1, 2008

As promised...

The ALWAYS festive Mama.....



Okay, my little sugar bugs were up and dancing around early early early today.

Still on a Halloween high I imagine. Miss Allison was up with me at 3 a.m. discussing the nastiness of mosquitoes as she was scratching away. That was when Daddy decided to come home. Luckily for him, WITH poker winnings... We bandaged Miss Cupcake up and sent her along to bed, I fell back to sleep for a couple more hours and now, here we are.

Isn't it funny that kids STILL get excited about Saturday morning cartoons? They have access to the junk 24/7 - but Saturdays are still the 'promised land' of crappy TV. They are actually even being quiet and leaving me alone.... (as a choir of angels sings 'hallelujah' in the background)

I know that the grandfolks are dying for pics of the kiddos in their glory for without further ado... here are those: and I will continue with my rants afterwards. If anyone wants to stick around. Does anyone actually read this? or do they just look at the pictures (like playboy?)