When Things Get In The Way

Sometimes life gets to be overwhelming.  And lately that's how I've felt.  But then the stupidest things happen and make you just laugh at yourself and your worries that don't (technically) matter.  Like tonight for instance...

I was crying in the car on the way home from work because I was frustrated about a lot of things that have been happening.  Or not happening.  So I was frustrated from that.  Things that need to be done have been overwhelming and I feel like we are living in a pigsty.  I try to stay up at night but can't quite muster the energy after Jacoby still isn't sleeping through the night.  I made it home and all my boys were waiting for me. 

So first thing I do is give a quick hug to Leo.  I sit down with him to read some of the things on his DS.  After that I get Jacoby some green beans.  Then the hubby is wondering what's for dinner.  I have no idea because I was hoping to go out for a celebratory dinner but didn't get the news I've been waiting for.  On the plus side I didn't get bad news...just no news.  So we decide on McDonalds.  Jacoby is fussing in his chair after he's been in it for a bit so I go to pick him up.  And find myself covered in poop.  And so I just have to start laughing.  Because this is what it's all about.  My job doesn't matter.  My house being clean doesn't matter.  It's spending time with my family.  So after a bath for Jacoby and a quick rinse for me it's finally dinner.  And I'm thankful for my McDonalds! :)

Spin Cycle: Car trips

Car trips is our mission this week for the weekly spin cycle and Gretchen has told us it will be one heckuva ride (you see what I did there?!).  (Boo by the way!)  Anyways...I HATE car trips.  I would rather fly anywhere.  I have no fear of flying, only of flying birds.  So even if we are just going to Dodge City to see the in-laws or visit Kansas City, each only 3 hours away, I would prefer to fly.  Of course that doesn't happen and I am stuck in the car for the drive.  So with saying that I don't really have enjoyable car trips stories I can regale you with.  But, because I like you guys, I will give you the one that I probably remember the most. 

It was the summer before my freshman year of college and I was a frequent babysitter for a family at our church.  And they had 3 children all under the age of 4 or 5.  So when it came time for them to plan a family vacation they invited me along and said that if they paid for my trip and also paid me, I think $75 or $100 then would that be ok?  I didn't have anything better to do and my parents agreed so off we went.  We live in small town Kansas and our destination was Galveston, Texas.  A whopping 12 hour drive.  With 3 children under 5.  Let me just say it was a loooong drive.  It started off on whatever day we left and they stopped at the church to get holy water to bless their van.  I kid you not.  From there we hit the highway and traveled at a snails pace from Kansas to Texas.  It probably wasn't that slow but this was pre-DVDs in the car.  I'm pretty sure we had some sort of video player because I remember watching an obscene amount of Veggie Tales but how I'm not sure. 

The vacation part was pretty fun.  We stopped on the way to Galveston at Dallas/Ft. Worth and went to Six Flags and toured the Grass Knoll and saw the book depository Kennedy was (supposedly) shot from. And I'm assuming we stayed the night there and then continued our trek the next day.  (Sue me for not remembering the details...this was 14 years ago!)  When we made it to Galveston we hit up the beach, rode a ferry somewhere and then in the evenings they left me with the kids and they went around and did their own thing.  It was pretty nice.  We had a suite and I actually slept on a bunk-bed like bed that was attached to the wall, kind of like on a cruise ship.  What I remember about being in the hotel for hours at a time at night was that I read Gone With the Wind.  I was such a cool 14 year old!

And then coming home came the adventure.  By the end of the week I was more than ready to come home.  This was the longest I had been away from my parents and not been with other relatives so it was a whole other experience.  So I was tired, crabby and ready to go home.  Pretty much every day at work! :)  But on the way home, driving probably 70 miles an hour on the highway the van started having problems.  So we weren't driving very quickly.  Then all of a sudden one of the tires blew out.  So, thankfully, because we weren't going as fast we were able to make it to the side of the rode without having an accident.  So I guess that holy water came in handy!!  From there I just remember feeling like i was in a nightmare.  We had to stop at some random town and stay another night in a hotel with these people that I was ready to get away from.  And I just lost it.  I was bawling like the little 14 year old that I was.  And looking back I feel kind of bad but also I'm sure they understood.  We finally made it home and they asked me to babysit again so it was a success!

Thinking about vacations now that I have kids and talking about this trip recently with my brother and his wife we talked about how awesome this idea was.  Taking some high school kid with us on a trip to watch our kids at night so we could have some fun.  So now I just need to find the time to take a trip! 

Now go see what other spins you can take on the other car trip memories. (see I did it again!)

Random things seen and heard on my first day of vacation...

Today was my first day of vacation.  And I have needed it.  But I had to cram in stuff on my vacation because I don't always know when I'm going to have dyas off.  So this morning I had an eye appointment, annual checkup and then a meeting for Leo for Kindergarten enrollment.  Here are just a few of the things that I've seen and heard today that I've found strange...

• Some girl at the doctor's office (who wasn't even a patient) was trying to get a walk-in appointment because she had seen her doctor yesterday and he had given her a medicine and she was having a reaction.  A reaction that was making her freak the eff out.  She was all jittery and scratching at herself.  The doctor didn't have an opening apparently and she left all crazy-eyed.
• Another person at the doctor's office was into oversharing to the receptionist.  She said she wanted to see the doctor even though all she needed was lab work done becuase SHE HAD LOST 70 POUNDS and she wanted OFF THAT MEDICINE. (it's all in caps because she was yelling!).  It took everything I had not to turn around and look at who was talking. She ended up walking by me but what I really wanted to say was...uh, you lost 70 pounds?!  Can I get some of that medicine! :)
• At the Kindergarten meeting this evening there was a mother who started nursing her baby during the meeting.  I'm all for breast-feeding but I'm also all for doing it in the privacy of my home.  I'm not judging her for doing it there, even though it was only a 30 minute meeting, but I just think that you could at least sit in the back of the room instead of the front!  Also, I don't care that she did it but I just don't feel comfortable doing that.  And she was covered up so there's that too.
• Also at the Kindergarten meeting we were waiting to sign in when the principal started the meeting with a prayer.  So I didn't go ahead and sign in during prayer.  There was another person behind me whose daughter saw a friend who was ahead of me with her parent signing in.  So the little girl walked up to her friend and stood there during the prayer.  After the prayer was finished it was my turn to sign in but since the little girl had gone up to the table the mom cut in front of me and signed in. She at least turned around and was like, Oh I cut in front of you.  I'm sorry.  But all I could think was if that's how you act how is your kid going to act.  But that was just me being snarky!

So there you have it.  Some fun for your Friday!