Work = Lazy

As many of you already know, since last May I have been working fulltime, while Jon has held down the frontlines at home. I confess, I did not enjoy this set of circumstances. I did not like working fulltime, but more significantly, I did not like Jon doing my job at home. Doing my job, and not doing it exactly like I did it. I know, that's a whole seperate issue. However, I yesterday came to a startling realization. Working has made me LAZY!! You just don't really know how completely and utterly inactive a deskjob is until you get winded scrubbing your childrens bathroom. I don't like it. I have vowed to get back into some sort of reasonable good health. It's positively shameful that scrubbing a bathroom at 37 years of age should make one tired. I'm going to start really light...I think I will make myself spend 15-20 minutes on the treadmill after the kids leave this morning. I need to do something...before I go sit at a desk all day again today. And to all of you, try to do the same, don't let your job keep you down! Love you all!

Keys and Towels and Library Books

Can anyone tell me why boys are so cavalierly irresponsible? Anyone? Please?

My boys are driving me crazy. I'm observing a big difference between boys and girls this week and I've decided to share it and open the floor for comment.

I actually will begin with the library book. Maggie left a library book on the table when she went to school Wednesday. Being a type A personality, this untidiness was not ok with me. After she left it was dealt with swiftly. Swiftly, and apparently mindlessly. When she got home Wednesday, there was a flurry of panicked chaos. She immediately noticed it was gone and started scouring the house for it. All the while adamant that it was on the table when she left. All the while, I was adamant that it was NOT on the table after she left. She went to bed completely stressed out that night and woke the next morn still upset. Devastated that she would be awarded a dreaded "Strike" for not having her library book. It was not until I pulled her bookbag out of her locker to hand it to her on her way out the door, that I remembered putting the book in the purse she also left on the table. At which point I saved the day and handed her the library book. Her  relief was palpable. So was my guilt.

Cut to this morning. When I told Sam to make sure he had his house keys. Again, this prompted a flurry of panicked activity. Note: the panic was all on my end. Please keep in mind that I have a key rack hanging right inside the door. He flipped through his locker and meandered to his bedroom. No keys. I am a person who likes for everything to have a place. And I want those said things to be IN their places. So, while he looked for his keys, I railed. I railed about the keys, and the key rack and his need to be more responsible at 14 years of age. In the midst of my railing, I grounded him from his new Playstation 3. Initially, for the evening...but as we progressed into 10 minutes of looking and no keys, I railed " No Playstation 3 until you FIND those keys!" Thinking "That'll show him! I mean business! " He left for school, with no keys in hand. I refused to hand over mine to him. The last thing we need is for him to lose my set of keys too! So, I told him on his way out the door that I love him and he might want to grab a hat, cause it would be pretty damn cold outside when he gets home and has to wait 45 minutes for me  to arrive. After he left, I went to his room and within 5 minutes I had unearthed the keys. At which point I texted him " Found keys. They will be where I hid them before. This had better not happen again.I U" His response? Well, of course, it was "Thanks Mom, You're the greatest".
Bwaaaaaa hhhaaaa haaaaaa haaaaa.
Sike, it was actually, "am i still grounded" . To which I replied, "Yes, you still lost them. You really need to be more responsible."

 Ugh!!!

As I sent this last text, Liam screamed at me from the bathroom, "I need my towel!" I screamed back at him, "Well, then get it off the back of the door!!" Needless to say, it was not hanging on the back of the door. I had to go find it on his bedroom floor and take it to him. In hindsight, perhaps I should have made him run cold and naked to find it. Seriously, how hard is it to hang your towel back up when you're done with it? For that matter, I should have hung Sam's keys on the key rack in the house and let him freeze for three quarters of an hour.

The most frustrating part for me is their attitude. They are so unaffected. There is no emotion visible. No guilt, no remorse, nothing. Not so, Maggie. She is in a positive tissy when something of hers goes missing.

Why is that? Why is my 8 year old daughter more responsible than my 14 and 9 year old boys?? I don't understand?

I love you all!

A Second Residence

The Garrett family has a new vacation home. I know, it’s very gaudy and ostentacious of us, but there you have it. We’ve signed a six month lease on our home away from home.

Where, you ask? Why, the beach of course. Well, not really the beach. It’s more like a Great Lake. Well, not really on a Great Lake, but near a Great Lake. Ok, FINE, it’s in Buffalo, NY. Are you happy now? Have you ever been to Buffalo?

What can I say? Except possibly don’t waste your time. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure there are advantages to visiting Buffalo. I just haven’t come across any yet. Actually, that is totally untrue. The one advantage: PIZZA! To be fair, Buffalo is near a Great Lake….and it is winter. I’m sure it will be much more appealing in the spring.

All joking aside, we plan to make the most of our sentence. Jon’s new apartment is only like 15 minutes from Niagara Falls. That is a commendation, all on it’s own. He plans on coming home most weekends, however, we do want to spend at least one weekend a month up there with him. Seeing the sights, visiting Canada, Niagara Falls, all that good touristy stuff.

The vacation home, ahem, apartment is small. But I was able to at least make it cozy.

The kitchen leaves a bit to be desired… A bit…like a decent fridge, some cabinets that aren’t 40 years old,

and, ummm, ANY other stove/oven.

I am really digging this brick wall in the dining area though.

The bathroom is likewise old…but it does have good water pressure to commend it.

And I absolutely love this shower curtain!

The living area is ho-hum. Can’t say I care a bit for the rental furniture…but I have seen worse.

  So, the kids and I went up with Jon on Monday, so he could get everything up there without renting a truck and because I needed to nest.

Add my little touches…

If you wanna check out Buffalo, and you aren’t afraid of a little snow, well, ok, a whole helluva lotta snow, come on up and pay a visit!

Love you all!

Buffalo or Bust

We have spent this second day of 2011 packing. Tomorrow, we move Jon to his apartment in Buffalo, NY. None of us is in the least bit enthusiastic about it. Well, the Buffalo part anyhow. The kids are keen on the fact that they will not be going back to school Tuesday with the rest of their classmates. They will return to school on Wednesday. We are driving up with Jon tomorrow. For several reasons. The least of which is that he cannot fit everything he needs to take in his Corolla.
The most important reason we will accompany him is because I feel a very strong urge to nest for him. I have thought about just sending him up on his own, and I can't do it. I have to go...clean, decorate, make it at least comfortable. I know he's not going to be happy there, but what kind of wife would I be if I didn't try to make it a home for him? So, I've spent a bunch of money on things like matching bathroom decorations when according to my brother, Bobby, all he really needs is a big tv, his Xbox 360 and beer. We ladies do what we can.
Last week, when we accompanied him up to sign for his apartment, we kenneled the dogs. That was distressing for us all. I worried about them constantly while we were gone. Then when we got back they were starving, exhausted and both of them puked for 2 days. So I think they picked up a bug there. Thank God, this evening, Krisi (my future sister-in-law, I HOPE) called and offered to keep Jet. That was such a HUGE load off my mind. I will feel easier leaving him in a home, with people I know will take good care of him. Plus, an added bonus, I think Jet will have a blast with Corn (my brothers dog). So, THANK YOU and God Bless You Krisi and Bobby!! Marley, we are going to take with us. I have a fair amount of confidence she can be snuck into the apartment with ease! ;)
So, we are driving up tomorrow and the kids and I will head back Tuesday. With Jon being in Buffalo, I will be going back to working part time. Which I must confess, is the one part of all this mess that makes me happy. I will be working 10am-3pm four days a week. Taking one day a week to be home with no kids, so I can get stuff done here. Jon plans on coming home every weekend possible. So, we are praying for little snowfall. The snow will likely be our biggest enemy this winter. I will keep you posted as we progress. Love you all!

Sam’s Future Profession

Sam’s school administered an “ACT” test this year to the eighth graders. I’m still unsure of exactly what it is…I can only assume though that it is not your traditional “ACT”.
The test was designed to test his knowledge in various subjects as well as his interests, likes and dislikes. Then the results are analyzed and given back to the kids with recommendations for future careers and professions. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this test, honestly. I mean, he’s 13 years old…he isn’t even really who he’s going to be yet. Or is he??
His results were not much of a surprise to us…and they won’t be to you either. The disappointment was his reading score. Shamefully, somehow, he scored better than only 76% of the eighth graders in Ohio. His results indicated that he does not do very well figuring out context clues…oh the horror…the utter shame…that a child of mine would score low in READING!!! How did this happen? Oh wait. I know how it happened…the only reading that turd does is subtitles on video games. Sigh. Needless to say, I told him he is going to be doing more reading in the future. The only way to get better at reading is to just keep reading.
Math and Science were a different matter altogether. Big surprise there too, eh? Samuel scored better than 100% of the eighth grade students in Ohio in both math and science. Holy Crap…a perfect score on both of them. Which is kinda funny, because right now, he is not really enjoying either of those subjects at school. He blames the teachers for his apathy and I tend to believe him. He’s never disliked math and science before. Anyhoo…
The test recommendations for Sam’s future:
Engineer (Rocket Scientist) – His response to this one was an emphatic no. He says rocket scientists have a bad rap for being nerds and he wants no part of it. We are still working on this one…any examples of not nerdy rocket scientists would be appreciated.
Natural Scientist/Astronomer – He is somewhat open to this idea. Why this one doesn’t strike his nerd chord is beyond me, but ok.
Video Game Developer – My only response to this one…how did he do that? He rigged the results or his answers. He is wholly in favor of this one. Right up his alley.
Interior Designer – I find this result terribly amusing, given the eternal state of his bedroom. He briefly considered this. Right up until lunch time when his friends told him that men who make a career in interior design are predominately gay. That put the kaputz to that one.
There probably were other suggestions…those were the four he shared with me. In the end, he was unimpressed by them all. His strongest response to the whole ordeal was envy. One of his friends got the result Food Critic. I laughed at him when he told me this and questioned, Would you want to be a food critic? Really?
To which he responded in his driest tone of voice: Eat for a living? And get paid money for it? Uuuummm…YES!
That’s my boy.
I love you all!