This is the part where you welcome me back
Mood:  down
As you may have guessed, I'm back from vacation. `How did it go?' you say. Well, sit down and I'll fill you in.

What I learned while on vacation:
1. My step dad hasn't changed much
2. I need to see my Mom more
3. My kids rock
4. I Hate Babe Ruth baseball
5. I still love San Francisco
6. The ex can make my son cry from 1200 miles away
7. The world really is shit sometimes
8. My son's coach is a moron
9. It wasn't long enough

The long version:
Wednesday:
I stayed home with the girls. We watched movies and cleaned house. Basically were sitting around waiting for my mom, step dad and son to show up. They ended up being a lot later then expected because my mom had to take her car to the shop and they ended up taking a lot longer. But she made it ok, we visited all was good. We ended up playing Scategories most the night and had a BALL. We had so much fun that even my step dad joined in - boy was that surprise.

The biggest surprise was later, though. I had set the `rents up with a bed and was walking through the living room one more time as my step dad came in from outside. Just as he stepped in the SMELL hit me, one that reeked of childhood and unpleasant memories and STUPIDITY. He stunk of DOPE! Now, smoking dope is one thing, around my kids is another - both of which is enough to get my dander up, but to smoke dope around my kids while you sit there with a hole in your throat and talking with an electronic voice box because yours was removed when they discovered cancer six years ago - well that just makes you... a dope. I didn't say anything to him. I just hope he dies quickly and doesn't leave my mom with a bunch of medical bills.

Thursday:
We had planned to go to San Francisco and walk around. My son was supposed to go to baseball practice. I had tried earlier to convince his coach to excuse him from practice (me being two HOURS away) but he didn't seem to get the hint. Perhaps I should back up a bit and tell the WHOLE story...

Apparently (according to the ex, I'm not making this up) M didn't want to play Babe Ruth, BUT the ex talked him into it. M tried out, made the team and then found out that this coach is some psycho who has forgotten that these are 13 year old boys who are on summer vacation. Just the kind of guy the ex LOVES. So the ex has gotten to do what he LOVES, shuttle the boy to and from practice every SINGLE FREEKING DAY!! Because of all this practicing and games and freaky baseball stuff the ex had arraigned for M to stay with one of his teammates for the two weeks the ex was going to be out of town. A fact I was NOT happy about, and apparently neither was M. M called me and we talked about it. It ended up with my promising to get M to his games/practices and M assuring me that his coach wouldn't make them practice EVERY day.

Fast forward to the weekend of the 4th. Richard (the ex) has made a Big production about this game `being M's last' because the team hasn't won a game so far. Not only have they NOT won a game but they haven't lost by less then 10 points, and the parents are tired of shelling out $60 or more dollars per tournament to only have their kids play two games. So we had that whole fiasco that ended up with my mom riding with Richard and his fianc? etc.

So, they lose that game and I'm ALL prepared for the coach to tell us all `well folks that's it, take your kids home and have a GREAT summer.' But no, he doesn't. Instead he informs us that because the next game/tournament is 10 days away he is giving them all ONE DAY OFF. Oh my, let me kiss your feet, you've given us an ENTIRE day off!

So, M had practice on Tuesday, my mom picked him up and brought him with her on Wednesday. She then tells me that M's coach has planned practices for both Wednesday AND Thursday. Well, my mom ended up showing up late, so that eliminated Wednesday's practice. (did I mention that I live TWO HOURS away?)

So, now we're up to Thursday. As I said we were planning originally to go to San Francisco. Even though my mom had grown up in California she never spent much time in the city was looking forward to doing the `touristy' thing. So I pop my head in the room to talk to M.

Me: Hey buddy. So you have practice tonight?
M: *makes a face and nods*
Me: So, to make your practice we'll have to leave here at 3:30 and we'll get home about 10:00pm
M: *makes another face and holds his stomach*
Me: I'm thinking you don't feel good.
M: *brightens* Yeah! My stomach is upset, there's no way I could ride in the car right now.
Me: OK!

In truth he really wasn't feeling good. He ended up staying home while we all went to San Francisco and slept about 9 hours.

We had a ball in San Francisco. We went to the pier, the wharf, the cannery, drove down Lombard, and through china town. Oh, and walked the Golden Gate Bridge. Mom bought us lunch at Bubba Gumps and we shopped `til our feet wouldn't take us another step. Then we went home and watched a movies.

Friday:
We had planned to go to the beach but after checking the weather and finding out that it was only going to be 75. We nixed that. Instead we stayed at home, warm and comfy and just talked. It was really nice to visit with my mom like that. I miss our visits. Later we went out for pizza and after that they packed up and drove back to Monkeytown.

Saturday:
At 10:00am I was woken up by a knock at the door and the sound of my son's voice. When I came out there were tears in M's eyes. "Mom, we have to call my coach. Dad called C___ and said the coach called him (yes the coach was aware that M was staying with me but apparently he doesn't talk to women) and wanted to know why I wasn't there. He said I was supposed to be at game right then"

While M quietly fought back tears I called the coach's cell phone. No answer. Then I called his home. No answer. M grabbed his schedule and verified that the next tournament didn't start until the 14th. I tried the house AGAIN. This time a lady answered, and after a short explanation, she let me know that she THOUGHT that they had a scrimmage game at 11:00, but she would call me back to let me know for sure.

I explained all of this to M and then watched helplessly as he lost his battle and tears rolled down his cheeks.

Me: Buddy, I'm so sorry!
M: It's not your fault. It's MINE. I should have called my coach before.
Me: Are you upset that you've missed a game?
M: No
Me: Um, did your dad chew you out
M: *Nods and cries harder*
Me: And is that why you're upset?
M: Yeah
Me: I love you buddy! And I'm so sorry.

He hugged me for a while and then quietly cried until he fell asleep.

If I could have strangled his dad right then - I would of!

The coach's wife eventually called me back at 11:15 and left a message saying that they DID have a game and that she hoped we had made it. Yeah RIGHT. Instead we spent the day geocaching and my son didn't think about his dad or baseball for the rest of the day.

Sunday:
Lovely Lazy day. We tried calling the coach to find out when the next practice was - got no call back so we went out and did a bunch of hiking and geocaching. When we got back to the Jeep after hiking N says. "where's my water?"

I looked at him and shrugged as it obviously was gone. "didn't you finish it?" I asked.
"No, it was half full." Puzzled he continued to look around and then noticed. "where are our plums?"

We searched the jeep and sure enough his water and the bag of plums we had picked up earlier in the day were gone. We then looked over at the only other car in the parking lot and said "Shit! They did it again!" It was surrounded by glass and the driver's side window was broken out. Really put a damper on what HAD been a lovely day. Luckily we were in the Jeep and there were no windows to break out. We got off easy this time.

My oldest was going to visit for a cousin of mine in Monterey so we made arraignments to meet and I dropped her off late in the day. Finally at about 10:00 I get a call from C. "Dad wants you to call him. He said they would be up for a while. The coach called him."

So I have to talk to Richard, bleh! I do, and find out that M has practice tonight AND tomorrow and their first game of this next tournament is Thursday the 15th. He then lets me know that they won't be back Wednesday like he first told me, but Thursday. So this week is going to be a little hectic.

And that was my vacation!

Another quiz


Wackiness: 50/100
Rationality: 60/100
Constructiveness: 68/100
Leadership: 50/100

You are an SRCF--Sober Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you a White House staffer. You are a tremendous asset to any employer, cool under pressure, productive, and a great communicator. You feel the need to right wrongs, take up slack, mediate disputes and keep the peace. This comes from a secret fear that business can't go on without you--or worse, that it can.

If you have a weakness, it is your inability to say "no." While your peers respect you, they find it difficult to resist taking advantage of your positive attitude and eagerness to take on work. You depend on a good manager to keep you from sinking under the weight and burning out.


------------

Ha! This is so me it's sickening - especially the inabilty to say "no" thing. The people at work always know they can give me the shit jobs because I won't turn them down. *sigh*

Yeah, I'm back, and bitching again
Mood:  blue
I've been back for half an hour and I can tell your for certain... even after only working 1 day last week (I thought all I needed was a vacation)... I HATE my job. I hate my job so much that my stomach is upset and I want to cry just sitting here. The policital crap here is overwhellming and there seems to end in sight. I need a job, no I need a CAREER, and that's not happening here. Coming in everyday wondering who is going to screem at me because they just got shit on by THIER boss is just too much. I come in everyday wondering when I'm going to be fired, not because I'm incompentent or don't do my job, but because someone else need to cover thier ass. No one should have to live like this...

How to Piss me Off
Mood:  irritated
Please allow me a moment to rant...

When I asked Richard Cranium (the Ex) when they were going on vacation (and thus I would need to watch the kids) he answered (on several occasions) July 7th. Ok, fine. I took the last three days of this week off in preparation of having my three `little' ones over. This weekend I was informed that they were leaving EARLY on the 7th and that they were planning to drive over to San Francisco on the 6th and stay in a hotel before leaving. Basically Richard says to me "You have to work on Tuesday? What are you going to do about the kids?"

To say I was annoyed was ah, well it would about cover it. HE changes his plans and it's MY problem? The worse part was that I had TRIED to get the 6th off, but my boss had specifically asked me to come in to make sure that things were moving forward on this big project I'm working on. FINE. So I call the ex about 9:00am yesterday and ask him what their plans are. I figured that if he could swing by and drop the kids off, I could manage to entertain them until I got off work, take them to the mall or something. He informs me that they were running behind schedule and that they REALLY wanted to get to their hotel and that he could meet me in Pleasanton (About 45 miles from my work) at 2:00. Since I had a meeting at 1:30, there was NO WAY I could do it.

So, I call him at about 1:00, just to see how things are going. After some hemming and hawing he lets me know that they still aren't ready to leave. I offer to rush my meeting, and be in Pleasanton by 3:00 if he would bring the girls that far. (Just the girls because my son had baseball practice and was being picked up by my mom who is brining HIM today). After explaining to me that they REALLY wanted to get to their hotel, and how they wanted to get some sleep etc etc, Richard finally agree to meet me at 3:00.

I rushed my meeting, got it over by 2:00 and then called Richard to let him know that I would be leaving work. His response? "Oh, ok we having left yet.."

I was not surprised but glad I wasn't going to be the one to make them wait and offered "Oh, then I can hang out here a few minutes then."

Him, "Well... Not knowing how traffic is and all..."

Me, "Alright, I'll leave right away..."

So I rushed around, let a few people know I would be back and drove as fast as I could to Pleasanton. I got there at 2:45. I called to let them know I was there, and there was something in the tone of Richard's voice that told me I was soon going to be REALLY pissed. And I WAS. I find out, that they STILL haven't left, still need to get the girls some lunch, AND have to get GAS! "We'll be there as soon as we can, maybe 45 minutes?"

GAH!! Then, to cover for his OWN asinine behavior, he goes on to chew ME out because he says "Your son is really upset, he doesn't know what's going on, he can't get a hold of your mother, and he's not sure who's picking him up after practice.

GRRRRRRR! Richard knew as well as I did that my mom was going to pick him up. But in his usual manipulative way had managed to work my son all up right before taking off for vacation. Typical.

I called my son, reassured him that mom was picking him up and ALSO that the only reason I wasn't picking HIM up too was because I had to work until 7:00pm. Told him that he would be coming to my house today and calmed him down a bit. Then I settled in to wait, and wait, and wait. 4:15 the ex finally shows up! Do you think he says "I'm sorry?" of COURSE not. Because just like everything else it's never his fault, it's never about anyone but him. The fact that I had, at this point, taken TWO hours off work, and I was still at least an HOUR from work was unimportant.

Anyway, I got the girls and all is well. Got back to work, finished up the things I need to finish before going on vacation, and here I am!

Now I just need to clean house and figure out how I'm going to sleep 7 in my two bedroom apartment!

Weekend Update
Mood:  don't ask
I'm sure you're all on pins and needles to know how my weekend went. I'll give you the short version.

Saturday:
We were supposed to get up at 4:00 so we could watch the dawn patrol at the balloon rally in Windsor. Needless to say when the alarm went off, N slapped the `off' button, rolled over and snuggled back under the covers. I woke up at 5:00 and finally got everyone up and going. We made it in time to see the 6:30 liftoff, so all was not lost.

The balloons were GREAT! Over 25 in the air of various size and shape. I loved all the rainbow colors. The most amusing, though, was this odd shape that we watched blow up for a VERY long time. We had a great deal of fun watching it blow up and trying to guess what it could possibly be. Then I FINALLY got it! It was Noah's Arc! As soon as THAT lifted off there was a NEW puzzle to solve. I was the first to recognize this one as well. I pointed and shouted "Look! It's JESUS!"

Needless to say, hilarity ensued. Talks of "Seeing Jesus" etc. The most brilliant moment, though, came when one of the guys standing next to us turned and shouted. "Jesus is coming back!"

After that GREAT start to the day we were all aglow and ready to enjoy the great outdoors. We went hiking, then grabbed lunch, and then drove to another regional park to go hiking again.

When parking N noted glass along the ground and mentioned that it appeared that some cars must have been broken into recently. *cue tension building music* Being honest and upstanding individuals who assume that those sorts of things don't really happen because, after all we would never do them ourselves, we parked anyway. Jokingly we called out to a couple of ladies resting after a run, that we weren't sure if we should leave our car there with two such sinister looking individuals nearby. They laughed and told us that some cars had been broken into the day before. *cue more tension* N thought about it for a moment and then said "They wouldn't do it two days in a row!?" *music's screaming now, but we as the blithely ignorant hero's in this scenario continue onward*

After about four hours of hiking, we're wearily trudging toward our van (yes the new van we just bought last week and had yet to put insurance on) when N says "FUCK! The van's windows have been broken"

In my mind I immediately took inventory of what I knew was in the van: Some clothes, some food, my phone, my palm pilot, a GPS receiver, N's laptop... Of course the lap top was our first concern and you could imagine our surprise when we opened up the van and it was still there. And so was my palm and the GPS, and HOLY COW we had left a set of keys with the IGNITION key on it in there too...

Our first impression, some jerk kids were being vandalistic.... By the time we got home I realized my cell phone was gone, and so was the backpack we had just bought for one of the kids (that was practically empty). Me, being the masochistic *bitch* that I am, called my phone and actually TALKED to the guy. I wanted to laugh in his face for spending so much time and energy and getting basically NOTHING! But I was still too upset thinking about the fact that this vehicle that we had bought for the express purpose of hauling around a shit load of people, would now be unavailable over the next week when I will have not only my KIDS but my mother visiting! I guess we shouldn't have laughed at Jesus earlier in the day.

So, the phone is turned off, the guy got an empty $13 backpack and, (we discovered yesterday) a $70 empty backpack. Not a whole lot, but we're left with a $9,000 car we can't drive...

But, here's why I love my man so much. The kids are upset, _I_ am upset, N is upset, but when the kids say "I guess we don't get to watch the fireworks" he says "Yes we will! We aren't going to let something like this ruin OUR day!" And we didn't. We had a GREAT time watching an AWSOME show.

Sunday:
My son had a baseball game and being that there were rumors that this might be his LAST we decided to go. My mother ALSO wanted to go, as she doesn't get a chance to see the kids play very often. I - was coming from Slowville, the ex and two kids from Monkeytown. My MOM was in Monkeytown also as that's where most of my relatives live. Got that? Alright, so my son's game is in Locktown - a little closer to Monkeytown then Slowville but certainly on the way. Now, an additional complication. My Mom wanted to come to the game, but didn't have a ride. I offered to give her a ride, but my car only holds four and I had N, IB, S and myself in the car. SO, the idea was, I'll drive to Monkeytown, drop off S, pick up my M and then drive to Locktown to watch game. Still with me? Heheheh.

About half way to Monkeytown I call Richard (the ex). I explain to him that I need to trop of S so that I could pick up my Mom and bring her to the game. HE then informs me "Oh, well were ready to leave - now, we won't be here for you to drop off S___." GAH! BUT he also tells me "M____ is already at the game, why don't you drop S____ off there."

So, not an ideal situation, but one that will have to do. I find M's game, get ready to drop off S when the phone rings again. It's Richard "Hey, why don't you just stay there, I'll give your Mom a ride..."

I'm thinking DESPERATLY trying to come up with a reason why that's NOT a good idea, and I can't come up with anything. So, I stutter out "Uh, um, well, if you can get a hold of her..."

Ends up, MY Mom rides to Locktown with my ex and his fianc? (he apparently asked her to marry him over the weekend). How crunchy was that for the fianc?? My mom's impression of her? `She's really nice, what does she SEE in him!?"

My thoughts exactly -

So the game went well. Ok, not well they lost, but my son played well and hustled the entire time. We dropped mom back off in Monkeytown and after goofing off a bit headed back home. After a stressful, hot day of way too much driving we got a `bonus'. As we were driving home we got to see FOUR firework shows!

Monday
We did NOTHING but play board games and hang out. It felt SO good to be home!

Today
I have to work :( but as soon as I have my crap done, I'm out of here and off to spend FIVE DAYS not thinking about work! YIPPY!

Vacation here I come

I'm a Wizard, he's a wizard, she's a wizard, wouldn't you like to be a wizard too?
Mood:  cool
My Inner Hero - Wizard!





There are many types of magic, but all require a sharp mind and a cool head. There is no puzzle I can't solve, no problem I can't think my way out of. When you feel confused or uncertain, you can always rely on me to untangle the knots and put everything back in order for you.



How about you? Click here to find your own inner hero.

Conundrum
Yeah folks, I'm going to ask some advice and hopefully I'll get a few responses though I've pretty much already decided what I'm going to do.

Here's the deal. We have this guy here at work, you've met him before, I call him F-wad*. He's a 50 something Jewish man, with a BIG mouth, who bitches and complains about EVERYTHING, with no constructive ideas on how to solve any of the millions of earth shattering issues he points out daily. (The only reason I bring up his Judaism it actually pertains to the story I'm going to tell.)

So, this guy has had a LOT of complaints brought against him. Not just because he complains but because in his tirades he always manages to get to the point that he starts to personally attack someone. Usually someone who isn't there. Over the past two days I have been privy to two of said attacks.

Two Days Ago: F-Wad pokes his head over the cubical in the midst of some political debate (they do that a lot in this place - more about that another day), and announces "So, who's going to do the background check on Abdul*?"

Now Abdul is this quiet Pakistani man who works in our department. He's always ready with a "Good Morning," and a smile, and is a dedicated family man. (I know because he asked my advice on marriage enrichment books - so that he could work on his marriage - Not that he NEEDED it he assured me, because his marriage was really good, but because he wanted to make it excellent)

Needless to say we were all completely surprised and confused at this outburst and more then one person said "Huh?" F-Wad went on to explain "Well, the government just made an announcement that they believe that people who were recently in Pakistan were not really on vacation, but were in camps training to be terrorists. Abdul just came back from Pakistan."

Of course you could have heard a pin drop at that point. Everyone had no idea how to respond. Of course he's oblivious to such reactions and goes on to say even MORE defaming things, but all along the same lines as above.

Then there was Last Night:
I can't even remember what everyone was talking about. I wasn't really playing attention, but what I heard come out of F-Wad's mouth...

"...we should just blow up the mosque and then go in and kill them all...(some of this garbled in my memory as I said I wasn't paying much attention at first)... THEY built it over the temple."

Several people responded "Who?" or "What temple"

At that, F-Wad got ALL riled up "Abdul and his friends.. the" *spitting* "Mooooslims. They razed the temple of Solemn and built a mosque on top of it. If I had the chance, I would kill them all myself!"

Of course this dissolved into a debate between F-Wad and `The Curch Lady" about weather or not the bible REALLY says "Thou shall not kill.." but at that point I was leaving the building.

Now I understand that (according to sorces) the Temple of Solemn is one of the most holy places in Judaism, and, due to the above mentioned act, people of the Jewish faith can no longer worship there. That is a despicable act, but to blame a group of people today for it, and to also have the will to KILL them over it. That completely freaks me out.

And so we come to my dilemma. Do I report this guy? I'm pretty sure that after the complaints that have come before mine, and the fact that he actually NAMED an employee and expressed the desire to KILL him that he would be fired. And after THAT do I worry that he may come back and FOLLOW through with some of the violence that he's expressed before?

Truthfully at this point I don't give a shit what he threatens. I want this guy and his poison OUT of the office and as far away from me as is possible.

Any thoughts, opinions?

*Names changed to protect the innocent**
**Namely ME

Barbie Girl
When my daughter C was little I used to call her `my own personal Barbie' because she had long blond hair, blue eyes, and a cute little figure that could wear ANYTHING. We would go out shopping and I would let her try on clothes for HOURS. She's 16 now and not only is she MY Barbie, but her friends call her Barbie Girl because she looks so much like the doll. Ok, except for the boobs, and C can bend her arms, and her feet aren't permanently fixed so that she has to walk en Pointe, but the blonde hair (past her waist) blue eyes and cute figure are still there.

Because of this, in January, when we were shopping for her Winter Formal she chose one in a color that would be best described as `Barbie Pink'. We then set out to find accessories: pretty black heals, long black satin opera gloves and a black ribbon choker. While shopping for her choker we happened to come across some of those `Christian' bracelets emblazoned with WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) My daughter looked at them and said "I need one that says `WWBD' what would BARBIE Do?" This, of course, set us OFF. We stood there describing all sorts of bizarre scenarios, and then ask the question, "What would Barbie do?" and then come up with an equally bizarre answer. Things like:

Q: You've just wrecked your car and the police are on their way... What do you do? What would Barbie do?
A: Go Shopping!

Q: You're best friend has admitted to you that she's been sleeping with her brother's best friend, who's married to your aunt. What do you do? What would Barbie do?
A: Call Ken and see if he wants to have a foursome tonight!

Of course this is one of those jokes that never dies. Now, whenever we've got a family dilemma we ALWAYS ask the question...

What would BARBIE do!?

Happy 7/1
Wow! It's July 1st already!? June went by with a WHOOSH.

This has been one of those LONG weeks. So long that I kept thinking it was Friday YESTERDAY. Needless to say that today I'm even more confused. I'm just SO ready for my vacation. Have I mentioned that I'm going on vacation? Of course that could be 1 of two things for my blog. Either I'll ignore it completely because I'm having so many bloggable adventures that I don't even have time to blog about it, or that I'll be posting 10 to 20 times a day because I'm HOME damnit. The best part of this comming week is that my Mom will be here to visit. She lives in Wyoming and I'm lucky to see her once a year (though we talk on the phone at LEAST once a week). My Mom and I are GREAT friends and she's promised this visit that she's going to take time out from visiting reletives to do some 'tourist-like' things. And _I_ get to be the tourguide! I can't wait! The down side to all of this? She's bringing my step-dad, and personally I could go a lifetime without seeing him. I'm hoping that when she comes to visit MY house that my step dad will stay back in MonkeyTown to visit all of HIS reletives. But you never know.

Anyway, I'm babbling. What can I say it's late, it's friday... or at least my body THINKS it's friday

Family Fun Night
Mood:  happy
I used to experience a certain amount of thrill when I would overhear my children enjoying a moment with their dad. Perhaps it was because those moments were so few and far between that I guarded them like little treasures. The sound of laughter from the other room would freeze me in my tracks and send shivers of joy down my spine.

You can imagine my surprise when I experienced that same thrill last night when, after my run I came into the living room to find my fianc? and my daughter laughing together as they played a board game. I've wanted them to like each other, and always expected that they would but to see them actually enjoying each other. That was a hallmark moment. I stepped back into the hallway and just watched and listened for a while. There was this little bubble of joy lodged in the back of my throat that stayed there for a very long time. I can recall the feeling just sitting here thinking about it. I suppose a great deal of my happiness had to do with the fact that this man, who I am going to marry would set aside what he was doing and play Clue with a 10 year old. And not just ANY 10 year old, but MY 10 year old. Not many people would do that.

There have been a few other moments like that recently, and like before, I treasure them, but for other reasons. I think it has something to do with having two (or more) of the most important people in the world to me, enjoying themselves at the same exact moment. I'm just goofy like that.