Month: May 2009

Life Themes

kanniduba8 Comments

Do you ever feel like your entire life centers around a theme?  You know, that “thing” your soul needs to learn next in it’s path to enlightenment?  I’ve heard it said that God will continue to send you trials to challenge you to learn this lesson until you get it right.  Well, the theme of my life has always been “patience” (or so I’ve thought—I had a very wise man ponder once that he thought I was not on the right track with that theory…and therefore that is why I continue to fail at this lesson.  That until I figured out my true life “theme” I would continue to be frustrated.  Maybe he was right.)

Anyway…I have worked hard on my path to enlightenment.  I became a Special Education teacher, (and a darned good one if I do say so myself) which took a TON of patience.  And I worked with severely disabled adults for years (and I had a wealth of patience for that job.)  And I married Zan—let me tell ya’…patience galore. (He’s had to have a lot to stick with me too, so I guess we’re even.)   I have been on long-term bedrest with each of my three children, and managed to remain peaceful throughout my sentences.  I have three children, which is a very huge trial on my patience at times, but they remain very much loved, and unabused.  I tell you all this so you understand why I am so exasperated when something like this:

threatens to shred my hold on sanity.

The phone cord caught this half full cup of yogurt this morning as I talked with Zan, and then came the F-Bomb heard round the world.  The demon that resides quietly inside my typically rational breast, threatened to chew it’s way out like the vampire/half-breed spawn in Twilight and devour everything in it’s path.  Why, oh WHY have I not progressed further along my “path to enlightenment?”  In fact, I think I’ve taken one step forward and two steps backward (sometimes three) throughout my 39 years on the planet.  The “little” things will surely lead to my eventual demise.  I will be that crazy old  lady that all the neighborhood kids are afraid of, living behind dark shabby curtains and a wall of overgrown shrubbery.  And yet, I won’t be lonely, because I will still have my little demon sprite living with me, irritating me to irrationality at every opportunity.  Knocking over yogurt containers, making sure there are no more paper towels in the house to clean up the mess with…

Yes, unless I learn my lesson soon, this is my sad fate.  I’ve heard that straight-jackets are really quite comfortable though…?  I’ll let you know.

Rejuvenation

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My friend Anywho and I had a FABULOUS time!  We ate lunch, we shopped, we enjoyed iced lattes on a sidewalk bench, we shopped some more.  We spent a bunch of time wandering the bookstore…we browsed the wine shops.  We enjoyed a yummy relaxing late dinner at Lillian’s Restaurant, picked up some cheesecake slices from Uncommon Grounds (THE best coffee shop on the planet by the way,) and then retired to the lovely Saratoga Arms to drink wine, read gossip magazines, chat, and half-watch Twilight.  Ahhhhh….SUCH a relaxing day. 

I’m a new woman!

Happy Mother’s Day to all my Mommy friends out there!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

And the only decent photo of the event…was too busy having fun to lug my camera around.  (Sorry!)

Thirty Hours and Counting

kanniduba3 Comments

My friend Anywho and I are doing something we have never done before.  We are going on a mini-adventure, without husbands or kids. 

We aren’t going far, and we won’t be gone long, but we will be away overnight, and we hardly know what to do with ourselves!!  Leave it to us to be totally obsessed, first and foremost, about where we’re going to eat!   Dreaming of uninterrupted meals, no preparation or dishes, no giving away our best food to our begging darlings.  Then we’re dreaming of drinking wine at every stop since we will have no responsibilities…no driving, no possibilities of a crying child needing us in the night.  I’m dreaming of shopping in the teeny boutiques without a stroller… and no little hands pulling delicates from the shelves or throwing Matchbox cars at the salespeople.  No diaper bag!!!!!  A credit card and license in the pocket is all I’ll need.  Just IMAGINE!!!  And then a night of uninterrupted sleep, and a morning that doesn’t need to begin with the shrieking of Mister at 5:30.  *sigh*  Bliss.

And then comes the reality…we’ll stuff our faces so completely at lunch that we’ll be too full to enjoy a fancy dinner.  And we’ll feel so dizzy after one glass of wine that we’ll be afraid to enjoy another for fear that we’ll end up on a sidestreet passed out somewhere.  And we’ll spend the entire day talking about our kids…and pointing out all the things they would be touching and whining about if they were with us.  And I’ll worry about Mister, if he’s surviving the day without me.  Will he be miserable???  And we won’t be able to sleep well because we are all alone, without the soft, comforting breathing of our families surrounding us.  And we’ll get up in the morning, anxious to get back to the responsibilities we were so anxious to leave behind for a few hours.  *sigh*

I can’t freakin’ wait!!!!  🙂

Lessons

kanniduba1 Comment

So, I’ve been without a dryer for two weeks now which prompted a trip to the laundromat for the first time in years.  I didn’t realize I was raising a snob until I announced said trip to my nearly 12 year old daughter on Saturday.  “I’m NOT going to be seen in a LAUNDROMAT!”  I believe my head swung around three times and my eyes burned a fiery red. 

You see, I came from the WORST part of town…When the locals talk about “The John Streeters” with contempt in their voice, I am quick to say, “Be careful what you say…I grew up on John Street.”  That revelation is always met with shock and sputtering apologies.  We may not have had the beautiful house, but we had all the things that were important—that apartment was always overflowing with love, family and friends.  When I was 13, my parents built their dream house, so the rest of my growing up years were spent living in a bit more luxury, but I never took for granted the “nicer” things, and I don’t think I ever lost my connection to my roots. 

In contrast, my children have only known comfort.  Are they “spoiled?”  Apparently yes.   And I’ve always said that I don’t mind them being a bit spoiled as long as they don’t act like it.  Well….guess what?  That plan seems to have backfired a bit.  Now, to be clear, they don’t get everything they want, but they want for nothing.  My daughter’s snobby reaction to the laundromat embarrassed me to the point of mortification.  Made me want to sell all our possessions (except for that brand new washer and dryer that will be delivered on May 22nd…*ahem*) and move to a little house on the prairie. 

Needless to say, I dragged that girl to the laundromat.  She carried clothes, and loaded and unloaded dryers, and she folded and stacked.  And she got a lecture (or two or three) on empathy and snobbiness.  And I was sure to remind her that this comfortable life we lead could disappear in the blink of an eye…she needs survival skills.  And she listened to stories of Zan and my early years, when we lived in a teeny basement apartment and spent every other Sunday at the laundromat, drinking milkshakes, reading books, and holding hands.  Those were some of our best memories. 

Did the message sink in?  We’ll see.  She did come out of there offering to start taking care of her own laundry.  I just might take her up on that.