Here and there

Wanna know why I haven't blogged in oh like....let's see....5 days? I would, too. I had plenty to say and in fact, have forgotten some of it because I didn't haul my lazy rear out here to write it down for all of perpetuity. I'm sure the world is missing out and it's all my fault.

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Last Wednesday we were supposed to go out to dinner with Mom. She was taking all four of us grownups (The Taters and us) out for a collective birthday dinner to Josie's in Scammond, KS. Jon was bringing their kids here so that my mother in law could watch all five kids when a dude with a revoked license (due to DWI's - more than one of them methinks) and no insurance backed into him. Now, for those of you who know him - he values his precious car more than his football card collection and folks, that is saying a lot. He drives sooooo slow on dirt roads that it's kind of well, frustrating as all get out. In fact, the way he tells Tater to know if she's driving too fast on the dirt roads - if the automatic door locky thingy goes engages (which does so at 15mph) she's driving too fast. So how the dude couldn't see him coming and how he didn't manage to dodge the accident is beyond me, but it happened.

So of course, he called Fairland PD who was busy, but they sent Afton PD/County who then sent Fairland back when they got unbusy who then sat with them until Highway Patrol showed up and in the meantime found out that the guy was unlicensed (the uninsured part didn't come until later seeing as how he handed the Highway Patrolman a "valid" verification) and they called a tow truck..... Paul went down and got the kids because it was hot, brought them back here and we waited. And waited. And waited.

Then I talked to Mom who said that we should just go ahead and eat and we'd do dinner some other time. So we went to Sonic (Our romantic dinner after which he offered to buy me an exercise machine) and just as the carhop brought our food - yep, Tater called and said they were on their way. *sigh*
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Saturday I did absolutely nothing. Okay well, I take that back - I unloaded, reloaded and ran the dishwasher then unloaded it again. But that was it. It had been so long since we'd had a full weekend at home to do nothing that I reallllllly took advantage of it. I read Memoirs of a Geisha and dozed a little bit off and on all day. We all stayed in our pajamas and vegged. It was lovely.

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Sunday was Tater's birthday and of course, every birthday in our family is celebrated with a casino run! I got up and around and was putting on my shoes when Paul decided to be a full-fledge jerk and tell me he wasn't watching the kids so I could go. He wanted to go, EVEN THOUGH he'd already agreed to watch the kids so I could because, after all, she IS my sister. But suddenly Sunday morning he changed his mind and since he couldn't go, then neither should I. And because I have no backbone I said okay.

So we went to church. And that turned out better than spending the day in a casino. Not nearly as noisy either. Except when the kid who was playing the drums (in a Baptist church? *gasp*)
hit the cymbal and Abby and I nearly came 2 feet up out of our pew. And the money I donated at the church went for more good than any I would've donated at the casinos.

When we got in the van to go to church I discovered that the air conditioner in my van wasn't working. Not the first time. We took it in about 2 years ago when it quit blowing out the vents and would only blow through the defrost vents on the window. The guy, a supposed friend of mine, charged me $80 to fix it, telling me he replaced the hoses and hooked back up the one that had come loose. Turns out he didn't replace the hoses. Just re-routed the one that had come loose. Grr.

After church the kids and I ate lunch at the KuKu and I tried calling Paul to see if he wanted to meet us. He wouldn't answer the phone. I called over and over, each time telling him that I'd just keep calling until he got up to answer the phone, assuming he was mad at me for having to take his truck and was lying there sulking in the bed. The messages on the machine got gradually more hateful and angrier until I finally gave up, seething. Turns out he was fixing my van and not sulking. I felt kinda bad. He can be nice. Sometimes.

After lunch we hit Wal*Mart for some groceries and also bought the soundtrack to High School Musical. And not only am I totally in love with the movie, but now I only listen to the soundtrack. It's sad really. Li'l Divinity's first spoken phrase will be "Get your head in the game!"

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Thanks to Mrs. Coach my kids are doing another week of VBS this week. Hey, it's a different theme, so it's not like I'm just doing it to get rid of them so I can have some time to myself. Okay, nevermind. Yes I am. Okay, not entirely. Alright, alright.....I confess - I got Tater Season 1 of LOST on DVD for her birthday and we have every intention of watching it this week while the kids are at VBS. There. I said it. How cathartic.

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Mom got her blood test results last Tuesday. She does have Factor V Leiden and started her Coumadin that night. My results are probably in, but they won't give out results over the phone. So I'll just wait until the 14th to find out. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I have decided to not go on Coumadin therapy if my test comes back positive. And the doctor I saw agrees with my decision. But at least I'll know.

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Had two utterly delightful chats last night. One with my always-missed Cousin Stacey and the other with my BFF, Tiff.

Tiff and I were discussing how someone had her "ball in a vice" or something. I replied, "Just one ball there, Lance?" Meaning Lance Armstrong. She said, "No, Lance has two, he just prefers that boys play with them, not girls." I was confused because I could've sworn that Cheryl Crow is a girl..... but when she said something to the effect of that when her friend found out that Lance was gay she was "curled up in the corner hugging her Lance pillow friend, crying and singing Bye Bye Bye" that I busted out laughing so hard that I was worried I'd woken the children. I then explained that I was talking about Lance 5-time Tour de France winner testiciular cancer ex to Cheryl Crow I have one nut Armstrong and she was talking about Lance I like boys Bass. It was okay that I was laughing hysterically and snorting, but she was in a public computer lab. Yet she was still laughing and snorting. And maybe y'all aren't laughing, but man we were last night.

And Cousin Stacey and I were discussing the utter political saturation in the family lately. My uncle is a State Representative, my mother works for the county election board and my sister works for the County Clerk, so pretty much any time there is a gathering there is politickin'. I personally have no interest in politics, nor any desire to get interested. My eyes usually glaze over if I'm stuck at the grownup table and if I can get away I go play with the kids. Yes, I'm a horrible citizen, don't tell me something I've not been told already. 


Note: I really feel the need to say that the people who are involved in politics aren't stupid. Someone has to be all responsible and involved and stuff. That person just isn't me. I have a very politically involved family and I am so very proud of them all. My uncle has worked very hard to get where he is and he works very hard for the people of this state. My mother is doing such a fabulous job in getting voting numbers up and raising voting awareness and she's so involved with the Democratic party that I'm frightened sometimes. And my sister, the Tater, man, she is so politically aware that I can hardly believe that we're related.

So that said, politics is stupid shit, just not the politickers.