Sometimes we get the week we want, and sometimes we get the week we are given. If you know what I mean.
Workload panic, a wee bit of job security anxiety, and snow in April. An absent spouse, a holiday that involves no bread or pasta for a week, and a long drive in traffic to the home of our gracious friends who host us for Seders. The friends are, of course, an anti-whine. It's not their fault there are 12 kilometers of rush hour between us and them. They bought their house first.
I take my anti-whines this week in the form of charming kid conversations.* Such as this one, which I like to call:
Third Graders, They're Just Like Us!
[Brief conversation about parents who are from other countries and then . . .]
Boy 1: Where are you from?
Boy 2: I'm from here.
Boy 1: This is the best country to be from!
Boy 2: Yeah! It is! Except for the winter.
Boy 1: I know! Snow in April. Can you believe it?
I'm pretty sure I've had that exact conversation with a few adults since moving to this wonderful snowy country.
I know this week has extra-special extra-specialness for several pixies. What have you been given, and what would you have preferred instead?
* And chocolate. Passover brings out the best in chocolate, because treats intended to be served with a holiday meal including meat can't have any dairy in them. I'm a dark chocolate gal, so this is Teh Good For Me.
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38 comments:
antiwhines: iowa! vermont! equal protection of the law is one of my favorites.
whine: gray gloomy rain. the further adventures of cat poop.
antiwhine: sent little easter packages to daughter, her best friend, and a friend's daughter who is starting peace corps work in zambia. my inner bunny likes to virtually hop!
whine: the HBP is stressing me out, and that's bad for the BP. also, i'd like to exchange my current set of hormones, please. i'm checking box 17, "not a good fit."
antiwhine: in shocking news, i've gotten really pretty good about watching the sodium. don't do diets, never could. but even with a few small-portion careful but deliberate bad choices, i'm kicking sodium's butt.
madeleine -- that is the most wonderful kid conversation! and, at least you have the dark chocolate.
kathy a., hooray for escaping from the salt mines. Wishing you a less stressful way to cope with your stress.
And thank you (on behalf of young adults everywhere) for playing Easter Bunny. So sweet!
kathy a - good work on the Easter Bunny activity. I've been remiss there, sadly. My sons reminded me last year that it would be good to buy them chocolates that THEY like (as opposed to my favourites) - to which I responded (naturally) that they could always pass along what they didn't like....
Great conversation madeleine!!
Whine: Holy Week - feels more like Holy Month and a Half, but whatever....can't WAIT until Sunday at noon..
Anti-whine: Sunday at noon - I AM OFF!!!! For two weeks, leaving on the 15th for an educational event in *drum roll please* Arizona. WooHoo!!!
It will be warm there. No snow. No freezing rain.
Whine: I'll be the whitest, pastiest creature by the pool - no question. These legs haven't seen the sun since last August. I will likely scare away small children with my paleness. As my oldest son says, "Mom, you're so pale, you're almost clear."
*sigh*
OY, frickety frack fireplace! we are working on a refinance, and they are coming over for a FULL INSPECTION on THURSDAY. This Week! i'ma dyin'. my housekeeping is not totally up to code, and it is possible that at least one cat will be in Big Trouble. there is absolutely no time to work out certain problems, but i should do the cobwebs and major vacuuming and huge dust-wads, toss all the extraneous crap someplace, and omg total refitting of the litter boxes, right?
this shit had better give me karma points for aerobic exercise.
Ooooh, kathy moves into an early lead for craptacular week.
Housecleaning is totally aerobic.
kathy a - my parents are real estate appraisers, and they have seen EVERYTHING. They are just concerned with evaluating the value of what is underneath, so please don't sweat the spring cleaning stuff so much. I doubt your house can even compete with what they see every day...
Listen carefully, peeps. The. Brisket. Is. Bigger. Than. My. Roasting. Pan.
Yes, indeed, this is one of the nuttiest problems to have. My friend I am cooking for (be kind) is bring over one of those extra huge aluminum pans tonight. Meanwhile I've made 2 kugels, gefilte fish, and the tzimmes already. Brisket will be cooking once the pan arrives.
My back is OUT. I went to the doctor today after 5 days of extreme agony. My neck, middle back, and lower back are ALL in spasm. Wow, this sure is FUN! One forgets how much one needs a sturdy back until one has an entire back hurting like a bitch.
I had to close down my blog due to some guy I don't even know that decided it was time to stalk me. Which he did, and then he posted my full name on twitter AND his blog. I'm furious about this, but have taken 'measures' to deal with it. I'll be baaack!
Daughter comes home today so pissed off and tells me tales of her Spanish teacher who must be the most burnt out teacher I've ever heard of. I'm not happy, people. And you know what happens when I'm not happy.
Friend's dying husband is still alive. He's like Francisco Franco... only he's still alive! Anyhew, he is in rehab (thank HaShem) and will NOT be at the seder, which is a VERY good thing.
Son "forgot" to take out the garbage and guess who is at fault. Why, ME of course. Because I didn't 'remind him' which if I do, constitutes nagging. Can't win for losing with teenagers.
Got good drugs from doctor. Am very relaxed and sleepy now. However, this does not bode well for things like making 2 seder dinners in advance. Damn!
Chag Semeach and Happy Easter!
I am now hereby grateful that I do not celebrate passover. I am thinking I would not survive this week without some leaven of some sort.
Having said that, I am in complete solidarity with Sue. Holy Week! I "only" have one extra service, on Thursday. But why, oh why, do I put all this extra pressure to be extra inspiring on Easter Sunday? Like if I am all of those people are going to come back the next week? Doubtful. And it's my last Sunday at this church (see: moving whines) so a little more pressure on the pile.
Moving whines: I'm trying not to think about moving this week. We told our churches on Sunday, and they are upset. Sigh. The pixies (mostly) get a break from moving whines this week. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Fertility clinic whines: my period had a very ambiguous start-date this month. Thanks, endometriosis. Not helpful for the scheduling department. I get to start the fun meds tomorrow. Because all Holy Week needs is extra hormones.
That should be sufficient whining, at least until tomorrow.
Anti-whine: no family in town, so Easter afternoon = order pizza and collapse on couch.
New and Improved Holy Week! Now with Extra Hormones!
And Peasch with Painkillers! The fun never stops!
The ad copy just writes itself sometimes.
Hugs to margalit and esperanza!!!!!
I'm with kathy: equal protection under the law is a good thing.
whine: monitor pulled out from closet for new computer doesn't work so I can't actually use the new computer.
anti-whine: newegg delivers in 2 days.
whine: not seeing family for Passover.
anti-whine: not having to drive to NYC or clean my house
anti-whine: lovely friends who let me invite myself and my family to their seder.
anti-whine: chocolate oblivion cake, raspberry flame version. (Ingredients: chocolate, eggs, butter, sugar, raspberry puree.)
whine: no word on the transplant front for my mother. she's given up on waiting and decamped back to NYC.
Elizabeth, I'm so sorry that your mom had to come down from the mountain top and wander in the desert again. Here's hoping she gets to the promised land soon.
I am also currently enjoying the anti-whine of not cleaning my house. I had to wash a pot to make that last pre-Passover pot of macaroni tonight. Every pot I own is dirty. But I don't have to cook dinner for the next two nights, so eh, they can marinate a little longer.
Hugs and sympathy whines to all the pixies. Early votes for kathy for housecleaning aerobic woes. Ick. And to margalit for craptastic everything. When is the universe going to give you a break????
Whine #1 for today: Breakfast freakin' meeting. I will say no more, but it's a good thing those butter knives aren't sharper or there may have been bloodshed. Who else but the church can ACTUALLY talk around, above, behind and inside an issue for an entire fireplacing YEAR and still get nowhere... and for this I get up in the middle of the night. How special.
Whine #2: Where Is This In My Job Description? We have a contracted person who is supposed to clean our church. She does SUCH a craptastic job it's ridiculous. We are hosting the North side Good Friday service, so Admin Assistant and I went to the sanctuary to "tidy up" a bit. Took two hours. The place was filthy.
But hey, no worries, I've got NOTHING ELSE to do this week.
Cranky much? Oh yes. I'm causing a huge disturbance in the Force today.
I'm so tired of whining about my husband. I *do* have a whine about him, but I will try to keep it to myself. Instead I offer one anti-whine about the husband and one whine I should be embarrassed about.
AW: My washer and dryer are causing me grief. Nothing new. What's great, however, is that my husband told me to quit my b!tching and buy a new dryer and that he'd fix the problem with the washer. That's not even the best part. The problem with the washer is that the underside of the lid has rusted and drops rust flakes into the wash, causing rust spots. The solution? He's going to sand it, prime it, and paint it. With flames.
I could pee mt pants, I'm so excited.
My whine is that I need more friends who play Pet Society. I've already invited most of my FB friends (not that many, really) to play, but no one's taking me up on it. I am left making frownie faces. :(
Votes for Elizabeth, Sue, kathy a and esperanza. Margalit for old skool for "The. Brisket. Is. Bigger. Than. My. Roasting. Pan."
Whines: I'm nauseated since last night. Have Seder tonight, with horseradish and other nausea-unfriendly ingredients (and brisket which I was really looking forward to - hope I can eat it). Heading out on vacation before o-dark-thirty tomorrow (probably leaving home before 5) and would like to relax on vacation w/o stomach bug or whatever this is. Had planned to eat lots of rice and beans on vacation (I eat kitniyot during Passover). Stomach unhappiness: Do Not Want.
Also was up very very late, stupidly, which makes me feel crummier, and the reason makes me sad - was on computer trying to find apartments to recommend to friend who just broke up w/his husband of ten years - we love them both and are really sad about the breakup. Had to tell kiddo about it b/c he's seeing them both next week in a group setting. He was sad.
Antiwhines: going on vacation tomorrow!!! will be in beautiful warm Puerto Rico for a few days - if I have to feel ill, not bad at all to do it on a beach. Also, big antiwhine, friend saw that last year's Seder exhausted my mom, so she offered to host it as long as I ran the Seder part. Friend is terrific hostess and cook, this will be a million times easier for my mom and for me. She invited my cousins and my mom's friend who usually comes to our Seder - so hospitable of her. Very grateful.
Next week in Whining!
Whine:
Kids have Spring Break Next week. We will be spending it driving back to MI to help with the MIL cancer issue. Original plan for break: visit New York City, which the kids have never seen despite living in NY state all their lives.
Whine: Did I mention the car accident my husband got into on his last trip to his mother's? With the car we had picked up only 3 days before? Estimate for repair: $1200.
Whine: MIL is lying to doctors, attempting to lie on her Medicaid apps, refusing to sign any papers or even tell us where important papers are, and refusing to use her meds appropriately.
Whine: As a friend in the office said, "People die like they live." This means MIL will die messily, chaotically, and hurting everyone around her. And it's starting already.
Antiwhine: It's still Easter. And Passover Season of rebirth and renewal and redemption. And we'll probably have daffodils in the yard when we get home.
Oh, Sara. So sorry you have to go through this. I'll bet the kids aren't too thrilled, either.
Genevieve, I hope your tummy settles soon.
((Sara))
Good tummy vibes to Genevieve
Two backhanded fertility anti-whines: it took soooo long to wait in the waiting room that I (a)got lots of work done and (b) didn't actually have to wait very long with half of my clothes off.
Oh, Sara, I'm so sorry - how absolutely miserable.
antiwhine: stomach is better. yay! almost ready to head out, Seder and then vacate!
second the mullet vote for margalit. and bleah about closing the blog.
i'm with esperanza about the need for leaven. especially in extra-hormonal times.
hugs to elizabeth about the transplant non-news. chocolate oblivion cake sounds like the best thing in the universe, but maybe not a strong enough shield against the anxiety. eat two.
sue, you know i'm with you on cleaning woes. i'd fire myself if i wasn't so cheap.
amy, i think that a reworked washer lid with FLAMES is brilliant! and stylish!
genevieve: so sad about your friends. glad the stomach ick is better! send postcards from the vacation!
(((( sara )))) how sad and awful. xoxo
antiwhine: i've spent the day so far on a problem situation for work -- but great progress was made!
whine: i still have to house clean.
antiwhine: have decided that surface swiping in the more public areas will pass for real cleanliness, orderliness, and general decency.
(((sara))) thinking of you...
esperanza - good anti-whining, given the circumstances. I shudder at the thought of those paper gowns. Uber-ick.
Hugs for everyone who needs 'em. Which is too fireplacing many of you this week.
I am here with the anti-whines:
I went to an event in Richmond for spouses and SOs of c@ndid@tes and had a great time.
Realized I should've carpooled with the folks from my area. Now that we know each other, we'll do that next time.
Our group met (planned) and talked for 10 minutes (unplanned!) with the Governor! I've met him before (once before he was Governor and several times since), but this was a really valuable amount of time and he was just so incredibly gracious.
Had a terrific lunch and learn and then came home.
Only minor whine, I found out I'm expected to be spending 15! Hours! a! Week! doing something I'd really rather not spend ANY time doing. Can't I just get on with the SmilingSmilingSmiling?
well, I guess there's another antiwhine--I get to keep my top half clothed, and they have real, cotton sheets for the bottom half.
~ swoon ~ cotton sheets for drapes? that's just so DECENT, esperanza.
liz, where do they think they are going to get 15 more hours out of you?
Wow esperanza - no crunchie paper???? I'm dyin' of jealousy here. That's a nice touch...I'm guessing warm....um.....instruments too??
1st Seder Report: It was just the three of us tonight, as the big seder is tomorrow. But that didn't meant that we wouldn't have a comedy of errors. It was the most unruly, laugh filled seder ever. The turkey was great... but we didn't eat until after 10 pm. Not because the seder was long, oh no.... because we started a bit late due to a hard boiled egg mishap when my son put the egg into his egg salad, so we had to start over.
And then in the middle of the 'service' both kids were struck with the drizzlin' shits and we had one bathroom break after another. By the time it was actually time to eat, we had some chicken soup with MBs, and then daughter was full and son felt cruddy, so we took a LOST break, which was a heart thumping episode, and then had dinner at 10.
The three of us polished off three bottles of Pinot Grigio, so I'm guessing both kids are gonna be home tomorrow. They aren't wine drinkers, but who doesn't love Pinot Grigio?
We still have more cooking to do tomorrow. It never ends.
My doctor only has real cotton sheets and cotton johnnies, but my big complaint is the johnnies only come in one size, and they NEVER fit across my boobs. NEVER. So what good are they?
How come the hospital has big johnnies but my doctor's office only has extra small? I think we need to go on strike or something!
morning is dumm.
Baby got 6-month vaccinations two days ago and since then has reverted to waking every 2-2.5 hours at night. Am. So. Tired.
I think I just whacked a spam comment. If I am wrong, and that was one of you Pixies, do let me know...
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Things here are mixed.
Yay new job!
Boo new job people haven't even *initiated* the paperwork to hire me. This means I am getting ready to move across the country with NO ASSURANCES that there will be a job waiting for me. But I trust them, right?
And, when I agreed to accept the new job in the Frozen North, my boyfriend was going to be living there too. Now, not so much. But don't worry - since his parents' live there, he assures me I can just stay with them for a while! I'd been saying things like, "how kind of them to invite me," which was interpreted as "Great! Yes! Of course I'd love to stay with your parents," which he apparently communicated to them. So, they announced to my parents that I would be living with them for at least three weeks
(they hung up the phone and my mom called me. Oy). And I got an email from his mother yesterday, asking what day to put new sheets on the guest bed.
As for getting ready to move, I am running the world's silliest garage sale on facebook, which amuses me deeply (if you want to be facebook friends and check out my garage sale, Pixies, email me at redzils/gmail). I'm a 12 hour drive from all of my stuff too, so delivery of garage sale items is it's own adventure.
In other great news: not allergic to chocolate. Just dairy, and maybe soy. I am delighted that the chocolate/sick connection has been broken, but still a little sad that this means I can eat nothing off any dessert menu in the greater Mouseville area. Blargh.
All my sympathy to pixies dealing with stressful events (religious or otherwise), stressful family, and stressful medical stuff. I'm sending good vibes and chocolate eggs!
Oh my Redzils. You defintely win the Awk-ward Award this week for the parental unit issues. Oy indeed.
oh, redzils!
Ah, Redzils - the outlaw issues are the mostest fun of all. Fun, fun fun.
Happy Passover to all the Passing-over whining Pixies!
sara -- outlaw issues! perfect description!
the inspector came and went, and so far i have not been arrested for defective housekeeping. she took a bunch of photos; i couldn't bear to see what she found photo-worthy. i know in my mind that she's just seeing if the place looks structurally sound and that all the rooms are there, but this little hamster in my brain keeps yelling, "OMG! you don't have the good housekeeping seal of approval, no way!," and they'll send my MIL over to show me how to clean.
Thursday is kicking my butt.
Awards tomorrow, I guess.
Smooches.
((( madeleine ))) have some dark chocolate! no worries about awards.
I spent three hundred dollars and drove through five states to accompany my daughter on a skiing trip. She skiied for a total of 12 minutes the entire weekend.
I was, needless to say, upset about the outlay of cash and time for so little on her part, but five other people in our party ended up getting injured on our last day, one being serious enough to warrant an ambulance trip to the nearest hospital. I had to dial back the anger and just be relieved that my child wasn't hurt, and concentrate on aiding those who were.
Came back from said trip dead dog tired. Drove 1300+ miles in three days, and still have laundry to do. Thank God Almighty that this is our Spring Break week, and I can veg.
oh, klee! i hope there were some redeeming moments in the trip -- and suspect you provided some to others -- because 1300 miles and five injuries and laundry is enough to drive a person over the brink.
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