Hi, Pixies. I feel like it's been ages but it has only been two weeks. You see, I finally have a firm offer of employment for Dream Job and I am now trying to juggle school schedules, after-school enrichment schedules, transit schedules, and, oh yeah, employment schedules. I have not a doubt in the world that I will do very well in my new job given that it seems tailor made for my strengths and abilities but I am seriously confused by the array of lifestyle choices I need to make.
Do I work a regular work schedule or take the alternative work schedule where I could have one day off in ten?
How do I transport my children to school, who do not have a bus or before school care at their school, and still make the transit stop that will get me to work?
How dumb would I have to be to drive to work when I would have to pay for parking and gas when work will subsidize transit?
When do I plan on buying groceries and cleaning the house? With my children's health issues, this is a must.
What about some me time? Will I ever get to exercise again?
I'm going to sit over here, with a vat of coffee ice cream, in total paralysis while you share your worthy (and not so worthy) whines this week. As always, prizes for creative whines, substantive whines, and egregious minor whines.
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Remember the saga of your dear redzils and her sometimes-almost-sort-of boyfriend?
Well, an ultimatum was issued three months ago, decreeing that it was time for him to make up his bloody mind already. The deadline was tomorrow, and I got my verdict last night.
Anti-whine: Well, it wasn't no.
Whine: But, it wasn't yes either. Limbo continues, due to extenuating circumstances. (insert much screaming here)
Anti-whine: I leave Monday for a three week "vacation."
Whine: In that "vacation'" I will be flying diagonally across the continent twice, with a week out of the middle involving two other unique destinations and lots of Family! Transitions!
Whine: Four days after I get back, I start teaching and collecting my dissertation data on the same day.
Whine: Well, assuming I get my IRB approval by then...
Redzils, dump him. He's not worth it.
And have fun doing the vacation trans-continental mambo!
Miranda, can you carpool? Or are there families in your area that can trade off child transport?
Oy, to both Miranda and Redzils. Seems like both of you are already top contenders for Whines of Substance.
My entry this week is Old Skool. *Really* Old Skool. I have apparently regressed to toddlerhood and have an ear infection. No wonder Offspring always wailed like a banshee when she had one. These bastards HURT!
Liz - My kids may be able to stay with a neighbor in the morning but she is starting nursing school. I am going to talk to her and see what she thinks. It may depend on other car pool arrangements she makes with other families. Because I can't take a driving turn, it limits my carpooling options. The worst? If this were a private school, my kids would have bus service. Since it's a magnet program, the district doesn't have to provide a bus. Fireplacers. All of them.
Redzils - Hugs. And some really good wine. And a special cluestick just for him.
Klee - Ouchy. I hope they give you the good antibiotics and you feel better soon.
Whine of Substance for Miranda...especially because you can't see all of the options that may or may not exist because it is new. And happening now. Can you pay the school district for bus service?
And Redzils...what a way to end summer. It could make fall refreshing and sweet. And try to find some fun in the travel.
Klee--I hate earaches. I hated them as a kid. And I don't understand how my daughter can get a silent ear infection and never complain (we missed that she had fluid behind her ears and wasn't hearing much when she was 2. She finally got tubes at 6 because the fluid is chronic and has affected her speech and hearing.) I wish you well soon. At least you can take good pain meds, if prescribed, or alcohol if not :)
Minor whine: I think Blogger ate my whine last week. Or I just thought I typed one.
Minor whine #2: Both children woke up last night for 2~ hours. I feel broken and sore...and how am I going to survive a newborn in t-minus 58 days?
Anti-whine: My second ultrasound to see if the placenta is over my c-section scar or otherwise adhered to my uterus...looks normal. The report said the placenta moved 2 cm. I did not realize that obstetrics was that precise and that we only needed 2 cm to make a difference. We're scheduled for a Sept 26th c-section.
Anti-whine: 58 days! I feel slow and plodding, but two months? I'm not even cranky yet. I don't even have swollen ankles yet. It doesn't feel endless. (the newborn era on the other hand...)
Am I the only one looking forward to Halloween? I say crazy things like, maybe we should have a party? (With the 5 week old, yeah, that's a good idea).
Whine: I came to work an hour early so I could have coffee with a friend, and she stood me up. (Her appointment ran over and she needed to get to work, so it's not really her fault, but still...)
Anti-whine: I was remarkably productive with the extra hour.
Anti-whine: In-laws are taking the boys for a week.
Whine: I still need to go to work.
Whine: the usual - not enough time to do everything that needs doing, let alone that which I *want* to do...
Antiwhine: Stuff that needs doing can be done with Dr. Horrible playing in a window behind my active window, thus allowing me to edit report on decline on unions while listening to the line "any dolt with half a brain, would think that humankind has gone insane..."
Sara - I adore Dr. Horrible. I watch it all the time.
Miranda - I hope all the logistics work out soon - that would be a big load of worry off your shoulders so you could just enjoy the New! Job!
redzils - sorry, but I have to agree with Liz on this one. Dump him. You deserve better.
KLee - double ouchies for you. Is this going to get in the way of your upcoming bloggy visit? I hope not.
Elizabeth - I really hate being stood up. Don't people have cell phones these days???? She might have let you know... Still, glad you got some productive work done.
Sarah - 58 days and counting. Big Xs on calendars can be very cathartic. (see whine below)
Major Whine: You know how my doc took me off all my opiate pain relievers for the past two weeks to test out (for the fourth time) whether or not I had rebound headaches?
Well, he called last night to say that he consulted with HeadacheDoc (who is no longer my friend) who said it will take up to TWO MONTHS to determine whether I have migraine without aura or Chronic Daily Headache.
Family Doc said we have to find out once and for all, so I need to do the two months off EVERYTHING including over the counter tylenol, advil, the works. Nothing. nada. Not so much as an aspirin for two months.
Anti-whine: I get to count the two weeks I've already put in. (Time served?)
Whine: for the next 44 days I have no means of relieving the constant pain in my head. The hot knife in my right temple has free reign for 44 fireplacing days.
Anti-whine: Doc stayed on the phone with me for longer than any appointment time I've ever had with him. He was (gasp) compassionate. The last thing he said before he hung up was "stay alive".
Anti-whine: His secretary/nurse (who is wonderful) called to check on me this morning and ask if doc had prescribed enough massage therapy for me to go once a week and still be covered for the cost. That tells me two things:
One - he wanted to make sure I was okay.
Two - he wants me to make use of every other kind of relief I can find.
Still - fireplace it all anyway. Three years of suffering and I'm a human guinea pig for the next 44 days.
Final whine for the day (I promise - I'm supposed to go back to work on October 7th. I don't know if I'll be ready. I feel worse right now than I did the day I left. Crap.
Sarah - I'm sorry - but I'm going to have to disagree with you. There is no way that Sept 26th is only 58 days away. My C-section is scheduled for September 15th and that would mean I have LESS than 58 days. That is not possible. Can someone look into this and get back to me with a more reasonable time frame? **Disclaimer - this statement in no way means I want to be pregnant any longer than September 15th**
AW: My daughter slept in her big girl bed for the first time last night!
W: When did she become big enough for a big girl bed?
Anti-Whine: My husband is the best stay-at-home-father-of-infant-twins-ever.
Whine: After two weeks, my husband is burned out and is requesting part time help. We have no money. I don't know how we're going to afford part-time help.
Secondary, or maybe Primary Whine: I want the part-time help to be ME! Waaaah, I miss my babies.
("ever" didn't really need to be attached by a dash to the rest of that phrase. I was just dash-happy.)
Whine: I'm at work and forgot to bring a snack and I'm hungry.
Antiwhine: that's really all I have to whine about.
Sorry so many of the rest of you have substantial whines. A round of votes for everyone.
And I forgot to say, CONGRATS, to Miranda. I mean, it's stressful figuring out the logistics, but dream job is a good thing, no?
Anti-whine: I got offered a job!!
Minor Whine: It's with the company with the long commute from my house.
Anti-whine: I got another interview with the company that is 5 minutes from my house!!!
It's tomorrow morning at 0830. Please think of me as you eat your Cheerios.
Sue, I'm thinking of you every hour and wishing I could wave a wand and make your headaches disappear.
AW the GREAT!!!: I have an excellent child care situation lined up for the kids until school starts. My friend, a licensed day care provider, has room for two kids the two weeks I need care. Plus, she is charging me practically nothing because she likes my kids. Like, she is charging me less for two than every other place was charging me for one. They won't have field trips, but c'mon, they don't need them.
Still looking for school year care arrangements. Have feelers out for a part-time nanny or else the afterschool program will have to do. I'd rather have a nanny so Teen Son isn't home alone for four hours. I like to make it very easy for my children to make good decisions, kwim?
Liz--WOO HOO!!! I knew you were up next.
Hugs to others and prizes in the am(ish). :)
hugs to everyone. and i have some leftover see's chocolate truffles to share.
antiwhines: we managed a very nice funeral, reception, and burial ceremony. my difficult sister must have received the cluesticks, because she was decent through all of it. my good sisters shared a suite with my daughter and me, so we all had good company -- and between us, we had a functioning brain. also, we had an all-comfort-food, all-the-time rule, which i highly recommend.
whines: it was a fireplacing funeral, and fairly bizarre given the difficult history with my mother. i'm soooo tired. my daughter [who held up great through all of it] finally melted on the plane, and was so bitchy that the sympathetic flight attended gave me my adult beverage for free.
*flight attendant -- separated from my sisters now, i only have 1/3 a functioning brain.
Miranda: Woot!
Kathy a: I'm glad your difficult sister was not difficult.
oooh, i forgot the "oh, shit" part. tuesday morning, we were getting ready for the funeral -- and there was this earthquake that seemed to go on and on. and on. mom doesn't have those kinds of connections, and there was no damage, so it turned out to be just one of those weird few minutes.
Yay Miranda!
I'll be thinking of you tomorrow a.m. Liz!
Kathy a. - glad you survived the ordeal and the earthquake.
ucellina and esperanza - sending good baby-care and snack vibes.
This has been a long, long Wednesday. Thanks to all of the pixies for walking through it with me.
So many of you have had tough weeks I'll just leave a standard "God, take care of these people and stop screwing up" directive. I mean really, do we all need this kind of tsuris? I think not.
Antiwhine: I have a mediator from the state lined up to deal with the school system. And we will have the meeting before Sept and the start of school. Whahoooo!
Antiwhine: Am catching up, slowly but surely, with all the things on my plate. It feels good not to have piles and piles of papers and forms to deal with.
Whine: No food. None. When you run out of pasta in our house, you're screwed. We ran out of pasta tonight.
HUGE Whine: the 7 inches of rain drowned my tomato plants. All 6 plants seem to be on their last legs. I am very displeased. I was counting on those tomatoes to keep us in sauce for a long long time.
Antiwhine: We have a new kitten. She's teeny tiny. I was desperate for a new kitten and found a free one. She's adorable. With very sharp claws. She will keep me company when my kids won't.
Whine: freelance work is drying up again due to economy. I need a job. I can't work. I'm so stuck.
Antiwhine: Kids, while still teenagers and still refusing to do anything, have been getting along better.
Whine: We're supposed to get more rain. I don't think I can take more rain. I know the garden can't.
What a week! I just want to scoop up everybody and hug you all. But I can't. I'm on my way out of town to a wedding from hell. Packing is so stressful that it's sending my blood sugar numbers through the roof - and I HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT YET.
I am breathing deep and lowering my expectations about how the weekend will go as we speak. I hope this next week brings only good things to us whiners. Srsly, dood. We needz it.
Hugs to everybody. Uccellina, I wish you could be the part time help too... or maybe even the full time help.
Whine: I am upset with my overly-sweet mother in law, who has been our childcare all summer. Mostly, she does a good job. But she often ignores what I ask her to do (Please, for the sake of all our sanity, put the baby down for a nap at 8 am - he gets up at 6am or earlier! When does he nap at her house? 10 am, sometimes later.)
Antiwhine: school starts in 2 weeks, and she teaches. So she won't be our child care any more. But...
Whine: that means daycare. Boo. And people seem to think it necessary to tell me that I don't "have" to work. That we could just cut back. Good thing they have magical insight into our finances, huh?
Antiwhine: I'm at the beach.
Whine: I uncovered that Miss M and her friend (they will be 11 in three weeks or so) were surfing pernos on YouTube until after 1 am last night.
Sigh.
DMD -- Jealous!
My day off has turned into a errand filled nightmare. Keep whining while I finish some important personal items.
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