I gave up on my kids and got a dog. We relate better. My kids refused to obey me and grew up. I told them when they were 8 and 4 that they were not to grow anymore. As usual they didn't listen. Now they have little to say to me except under the following conditions: 1) They are mad at me 2) They either need a ride or gas money 3) They have been unfairly treated by some thoughtless adult. Other than that, I am pretty much wall paper to them. they never want to take walks with me, they never want to watch TV with me, and they never like what I cook anymore. So I got a dog. She is older and slightly over weight. WE have decided to get in shape together. She goes out running, ok running that turns into a stumble, with me every morning. She doesn't whine about being bored or tired. When I want to take a break and walk for a minute, she doesn't call me old or slow. When I am watching TV, she sits with me and doesn't complain about the news. She doesn't force me to watch reality TV or car shows. What ever I watch, she is happy. As far as cooking, throw some dog food in a bowl and she is thrilled. I should try this with the kids.
I have discovered an added bonus. I can get her to howl on command. I spent two days working on this one. She appreciates my effort. 6 am this morning I got her to howl for 5 minutes. I loved it. The kids did not.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Camping with my "grown "kids. I was sitting around one day doing "nothing", when it dawned on me that this is the last full year my kids will be home. My daughter will be moving out soon for school, and my son is 17. I decided to spend this last year bonding with them.. We are going to camp out on top of Mount Derby so we can watch the sunset and sunrise on the Beartooths. I packed up our camping gear. This went well with the kids. They were terrified of freezing to death, the bears would eat them, and they will die of boredom. In response, I packed extra sleeping bags, extra food, and a portable DVD players. We were going.
We get up there, set up the tent, and build a fire ring. My daughter and I going hiking. My son sits on a cliff and plays his guitar singing at the top of his lungs. Well, that took care of the bears. It was going so nice. There wasn't a lot of talking, just a kind of quiet communion with nature. We were all relaxed and happy.
I cooked a great dinner of red beans with tomatoes and biscuits. We sat around the fire and watched the sun set over the mountains. It was beautiful. Took pictures with our cell phones. By the way, you get full bars up there. We climbed into our tent and watched a movie.
Let me explain our tent. It is 16 by 8 by 6 feet. My son has a twin sized air mattress. My daughter and I share a queen air mattress. It is the Rockies and I am not sleeping on rocks. My son is a personal advocate for Big Foot. He starts talking about how this is a perfect place for Big Foot. My daughter is not amused. She yells at him to shut up. He thinks its funny to see her scared. Then he starts talking about movies, like Wrong Turn and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Mike is laughing and Renee is yelling. I tell them both to shut up. The wind blows causing the tent to shake a little. Mike is dragging his mattress over by mine. He says he doesn't want to get cold. Every time the wind blows, they are both convinced it's either a bear or a cannibal.
I wake up at 5 am sore. Somehow during the night, my son has wormed his way onto my air mattress. I have two kids embedded into both of my sides. Mike complained that his mattress went flat. It didn't. So here we are in this large tent, crammed in one end taking up about 4 feet. I have to pee now. No one wants to move. I tell them one of two things are going to happen. Either they move or I pee right where I am at. They move.
Here is the irony of the whole experience. For the last two years, my kids have made fun of me for being old. blind. weak, and senile. I must be more helpless than a 2 minute old kitten. So why did they think I was going to be able to protect them from bears and cannibals?
We get up there, set up the tent, and build a fire ring. My daughter and I going hiking. My son sits on a cliff and plays his guitar singing at the top of his lungs. Well, that took care of the bears. It was going so nice. There wasn't a lot of talking, just a kind of quiet communion with nature. We were all relaxed and happy.
I cooked a great dinner of red beans with tomatoes and biscuits. We sat around the fire and watched the sun set over the mountains. It was beautiful. Took pictures with our cell phones. By the way, you get full bars up there. We climbed into our tent and watched a movie.
Let me explain our tent. It is 16 by 8 by 6 feet. My son has a twin sized air mattress. My daughter and I share a queen air mattress. It is the Rockies and I am not sleeping on rocks. My son is a personal advocate for Big Foot. He starts talking about how this is a perfect place for Big Foot. My daughter is not amused. She yells at him to shut up. He thinks its funny to see her scared. Then he starts talking about movies, like Wrong Turn and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Mike is laughing and Renee is yelling. I tell them both to shut up. The wind blows causing the tent to shake a little. Mike is dragging his mattress over by mine. He says he doesn't want to get cold. Every time the wind blows, they are both convinced it's either a bear or a cannibal.
I wake up at 5 am sore. Somehow during the night, my son has wormed his way onto my air mattress. I have two kids embedded into both of my sides. Mike complained that his mattress went flat. It didn't. So here we are in this large tent, crammed in one end taking up about 4 feet. I have to pee now. No one wants to move. I tell them one of two things are going to happen. Either they move or I pee right where I am at. They move.
Here is the irony of the whole experience. For the last two years, my kids have made fun of me for being old. blind. weak, and senile. I must be more helpless than a 2 minute old kitten. So why did they think I was going to be able to protect them from bears and cannibals?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Life lesson learned today. Do not under any circumstances go over your pay stubs while watching the morning news. I was musing over the fact that the federal government gets a bigger cut of my husband's paycheck than I do. I have to actually pay MY bills with what they leave for us. I realized he was paying almost 20% just on federal with-holding. Mean while, a story comes on the TV about congress wanting to pass legislation capping the GSA conference spending. Capping their spending! Hell, how about dismantling the whole operation. Any way that set the tone for my day.
I finally get out of my sweat pants into street clothes to go the the garage. My truck needed a front wheel alignment. My 3 month old tires were wearing horribly on the inside tread. What the heck. I might have enough for groceries after today. I sat and waited and waited and waited. I actually had time to finish a novel I have spent 2 months reading ( in 10 minutes daily intervals). Finally they bring my truck up front.
The mechanic hands the keys to the front desk person who hands the paper work to the manager. He runs into the garage. This was starting to feel like when the nurse checks your blood pressure, doesn't tell you what it is, and leaves quickly. After 20 minutes he returns with my keys in hand. The truck cannot be aligned. Instead, it needs about $1200 work done. My husband has a job that takes him away for two week periods. He was not going to be home for 10 more days.
Normally I can do minor repairs on my own. I have replaced various electrical parts, replaced a head gasket once, and even helped pull a transmission in our own driveway. But this was beyond me. Two bad ball joints and one bad hub assembly. How I got the truck there was a true miracle. For the typical city dweller, this is not a crises. But I live about 35 miles from the nearest village. 11 miles are dirt road with no cell service. My mailman will not even come to my house. I have a mailbox 2.5 miles away.
Groceries! The first thought in my head was I need groceries. Screw it, I call the finance company and tell them they will get their payment as soon as I can drive my truck again. I tell the garage I am taking it home (slowly) and will wait until my husband is home to look at it. I buy groceries with my payment to last at least 2 weeks. I always carry coupons so that wasn't so bad. At least the grocery store had good sales going on.
I called my husband at work to share the joy. He said I made the right decision, yea, that made my day all better. I drove home and announced to my teenage kids we are stuck for the next 10 days. Yup, this was welcome news. Trapped in the mountains with two teenagers and no vehicle.
Monday I had an argument with my husband. He has a list of things he wanted to to get done in a specific time frame. I apparently wasn't getting things done quickly enough. The good news is I get a break from running all those silly errands for 10 days. I WIN!
Now I am in the right frame of mind to write a letter to my congressman expressing how once again my government has ruined my life. I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO!
I finally get out of my sweat pants into street clothes to go the the garage. My truck needed a front wheel alignment. My 3 month old tires were wearing horribly on the inside tread. What the heck. I might have enough for groceries after today. I sat and waited and waited and waited. I actually had time to finish a novel I have spent 2 months reading ( in 10 minutes daily intervals). Finally they bring my truck up front.
The mechanic hands the keys to the front desk person who hands the paper work to the manager. He runs into the garage. This was starting to feel like when the nurse checks your blood pressure, doesn't tell you what it is, and leaves quickly. After 20 minutes he returns with my keys in hand. The truck cannot be aligned. Instead, it needs about $1200 work done. My husband has a job that takes him away for two week periods. He was not going to be home for 10 more days.
Normally I can do minor repairs on my own. I have replaced various electrical parts, replaced a head gasket once, and even helped pull a transmission in our own driveway. But this was beyond me. Two bad ball joints and one bad hub assembly. How I got the truck there was a true miracle. For the typical city dweller, this is not a crises. But I live about 35 miles from the nearest village. 11 miles are dirt road with no cell service. My mailman will not even come to my house. I have a mailbox 2.5 miles away.
Groceries! The first thought in my head was I need groceries. Screw it, I call the finance company and tell them they will get their payment as soon as I can drive my truck again. I tell the garage I am taking it home (slowly) and will wait until my husband is home to look at it. I buy groceries with my payment to last at least 2 weeks. I always carry coupons so that wasn't so bad. At least the grocery store had good sales going on.
I called my husband at work to share the joy. He said I made the right decision, yea, that made my day all better. I drove home and announced to my teenage kids we are stuck for the next 10 days. Yup, this was welcome news. Trapped in the mountains with two teenagers and no vehicle.
Monday I had an argument with my husband. He has a list of things he wanted to to get done in a specific time frame. I apparently wasn't getting things done quickly enough. The good news is I get a break from running all those silly errands for 10 days. I WIN!
Now I am in the right frame of mind to write a letter to my congressman expressing how once again my government has ruined my life. I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO!
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