Friday, May 23, 2008

And this is why I love her

A while back, I borrowed a book on CD from my Sis-In-Law. She goes to the library and rents an ass-load of CD Books for her & her girls to listen to in the car. When she last came over, I took one and told her I'd let her know how it was.

My brat who is 12, would listen with me on my way to drop her off at school. Her ride to school is not such a long one, except it is 20 miles in the OPPOSITE direction of where I'm going for work. But whatever. You want them to get a good FREE education? There is no such animal. It's going to cost you, one way or another.

But I digress. It was a Dean Koontz book...and they always have some creep factor. This particular story, I'm not sure if it was a SERIES or just random book, is about a guy who sees ghosts. To make a long story (and it was long..8 or so hours long) short, this guy, Odd Thomas, has a friend who gets kidnapped by someone who is trying to lure him into showing HER (yeah, the bad guy is a HER) ghosts. She's into some weird occult type shit and says some of the weirds non-sensical things that make not-one-lick of sense to you, the listener, or Odd Thomas aka Mr. Good guy. One of those things is: "Whenever someone hangs a black snake it a tree, it rains."

Mr. Good guy has some internal comment like this lady is truly TRULY batshit, and both the brat & I have to agree..although, the brat knows better than to say batshit.

Flash forward: Even though all of last week it was so hot it was like living on the surface of the sun, a couple of days ago, clouds started rolling in and it's been sort of overcast all week.

The brat who had gotten chewed out JUST that morning because even though she KNOWS we need to leave at the crack of dawn, insists on trying to oversleep every damn day, send me a text message: Mommy, I think somebody has just hung a dead black snake in a tree.

I'm laughing hysterically at work and thinking. I really DO love her. That's my baby.

Random Ridiculousness

I am a working, single-ISH, Mom. I used to work because I like to contribute financially to our silly little partnership, now I do it because I still like to contribute, but also my love of crazy expensive high heels is financially irresponsible on his salary, and raising kids in California is not cheap. I say single-ISH because even though I am married, his participation depends on his location. It's amazingly hard to give your wife a break and let her go to the movies WITHOUT the brats if you are off playing in some sandbox on the other side of the world.

I have nothing but respect for Moms who have to do it alone ALL OF THE TIME. You have to be strong & independent, because your brats need you. And unless you are independently wealthy, you also have to work. How else are you going to feed those brats, and put a roof over your head? You have to do it all and be it all.

And stay-at-home Moms? You are amazing. You are the Mom I wish I could be. There to teach them and watch them grow into independent little people (who then grow into TEENAGERS ...but that's a whole other bucket of fish). You are there when they get home from school, there for after school stuff -- volleyball, softball, dance. You are the one other Moms call for carpool duty. You may not work OUTSIDE of the home, but don't get it twisted..and don't let anybody else twist it either: You work..HARD..at home. 

What is my point, you ask? WHERE, you say... is my ridiculousness-ness? Read on. 

Today, after I drove across town, as I do EVERY school day to take my brat to school. I was thinking about how if I won the Lottery, I would move closer to where the brat goes to school and be a stay at home mom. Okay, maybe not a stay COMPLETELY at home Mom... but I would be home before she was every day. I would like being able to know that I could be there if she needed me, and not be overly concerned about losing my job for one more sick day type bullshit. I get to work wishing I could get off early for the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, clock in and check my email.

Co-Worker (Male): My daughter got caught in the rain yesterday and had a fever all night long. I'm going to stay home & take care of her. I know it seems fishy because of the long weekend, but the one thing that I don't play around with is my daughters health.

Boss' email: So can you cover him today in Mr. Big Fancy Doctor's office?

MY email: I guess.

my inside thought: Hey...his wife is a stay-at-home Mom. I think he just guilt tripped his boss so that he can enjoy his stolen EXTRA long weekend. JERK. 



Happy Memorial Day. To All of my Military Friends: I love you all. For every sacrifice that you've made, and every deployment you've done. Thank you.