Fair Warning

OK, I just need to warn you.  I am going to put up three posts today.  I know, crazy right!?  This first one is just some completely random thoughts.  The next one will be my picks for the BFL.  The final post will be about my recent blog angst.  So you've been warned.

Random thought #1:

I am sick as a dog.  (Where did that phrase come from?  Do dogs even get sick?)  Anyway, I am not sure which one of my three kids brought home this illness but it sucks.  Yesterday afternoon I felt so terrible I put some TV on for my kids and went upstairs to take a nap.  I have never done this before.  I told them not to answer the door or the phone and to come get me if anything caught on fire.  After about 10 minutes, Lolly came upstairs with a jar of spaghetti sauce and asked me if it was salsa.  I said no, and described what the salsa jar looked like.  I knew in my head that this did not bode well for my couches or living room rug, but I didn't care.  Thank heavens Mr. Mint came home a little early or I don't think my kids would have got dinner.  Or else I would have just handed them some dried pasta and a jar of spaghetti sauce.

This morning I could barely get the girls ready for school.  After I fixed their breakfast they got out some kind of craft and proceeded to spill glitter all over the couch and spread beads and tiny pieces of string all over the floor.  Again, I didn't care.  When it was time to leave for school I asked them to clean up and get dressed.  In my head I was screaming, "it's not f***ing craft time, it's time to get ready for school!!!!!"  I may have said this out loud.  I'm not really sure.

At any rate, Gloppy is at my in-law's, the girls made it to school and I am alone until 2:45pm.  But here I am typing away when all I want to do is take some NyQuil and go curl up in my bed.  See how much I love you dear readers?

Random thought #2

Sleepovers.  Lolly and Frostine who just turned six have their very first sleep over party tonight.  I am not sure how I feel about this.  Part of me thinks they are way too young and the other part of me thinks, "hooray!  Mr. Mint and I get the night off since Gloppy can stay at my in-law's!!  Bring on the booze!!"  Too bad I fear I won't be able to get my @ss off the couch in order to enjoy our night alone.  

The girls are super excited about the sleepover and I think it will go just fine.  It's not like they have never spent the night away from us.  They have spent several nights at my in-law's and my sister's house.   My beloved sister-in-law even took them to Disneyland without us when they were only 4 years old and it turned out great.  

Besides, we know the family very well and they don't live too far from us.  I think I am just writing all this trying to convince myself that they are old enough for a sleepover party.  Now I just need to go buy them some new sleeping bags since theirs have Disney princesses on them and they informed me this morning that it's not cool to have a princess sleeping bag in first grade.  Who am I to argue?

Random thought #3

Facebook.  I have resisted joining Facebook for a while now.  I enjoy making fun of my husband and his 100+ "friends" they way he enjoys making fun of my blog and my "imaginary friends."  But then I got a message from a friend from college and I couldn't say no to her.  So I joined Facebook.  It's a little strange and I only have 8 friends so far.   That's all I have to say about that right now.  I'll keep you updated on my friend count.

Random thought #4

Link!  My friend Marinka linked me in her post yesterday.  I have never met Marinka in real like, but her blog is one of my favorites.  I hope she doesn't mind that I called her my friend even though we've never met.  Maybe I should call her my friendrinka.  

Anyway, if you don't already read her, you should because she is wickedly funny and every time she leaves a comment here I have to make sure I am not drinking anything that would hurt if it came streaming out of my nose.   I love Marinka my friendrinka.  Go read her lastest post and leave her a question.  

That's all I got for now.  I am going to make some tea and do my BFL picks now.  Wish me luck.

p.s. I am not going to proofread this, so please accept my apology for the many typos I am sure you will find.  

Panic Button

Mr. Mint travels for work.  A lot.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for single parents.  Being all things to all people 24/7 is draining, emotionally and physically.  Lately he's been gone quite a bit.  

When my twins were infants I would be paralyzed by fear when he was out of town.   It was so hard for me to make it through the day knowing that no one was coming home to give me a break at the end of the day.  I had elaborate routines for bathing, feeding and rocking my two infants to sleep.  When they woke up in the middle of the night, both crying, I would sometimes call him in his hotel room just so he could hear what he was missing.  But mostly I would call so I could yell some not so nice things into the phone.   

Over the years I've done plenty of bitching about his travels and the strain it puts on me and the kids.  He's missed teacher conferences, I've had to flake on my book club and it's not like we're taking fancy vacations with all the miles he has racked up like we did before the kids came along.  The reality is that he loves his job and he's good at it.  His job allows me to be at home with our kids, it gives us good health insurance, cute shoes on our kids feet and a house that we love that is walking distance to an award winning public school (something very rare in the SF Bay Area).  For all that I am grateful.   So you can call me a whiner, but don't ever call me an ungrateful whiner.*  

Now that Lolly and Frostine are in school and Gloppy spends one night a week with my in-laws, Mr. Mint's trips, while still annoying, are not the huge source of anxiety they once were for me.  I have my routine with the kids.  I get at least an hour or so to myself during the day.  The kids can occasionally entertain themselves for a short time and are old enough for drop off playdates.  I eat healthier since I don't eat two dinners, one with the kids and one around 8pm with Mr. Mint after the kids are in bed.  No one is around to ask me "why do you watch this crap on TV?"  I get the whole bed to myself and I don't get woken up by any snoring.  I've come to accept that his trips are part of our life and I need to deal with it the best I can.

But lately when he's been gone I've been paralyzed by a different kind of fear.  The fear of rapists and murderers.   Our house is big and echoey when all the kids are in bed and I'm downstairs by myself.   There are a lot of windows with what I consider not very secure window locks.  You can't see our house from the street and it would be easy for someone sinister to walk up our driveway and peer into our windows without any of our neighbors noticing.   Then I watch shows like Dateline and Primetime Crime and my mind starts messing with me.  I start picturing that hunky, witty Chris Hansen narrating the story of my demise.   He'd talk about how my kids slept through all the horror and they'd probably show this photo since it's the only one I have of me with all three of my kids.

 

My sister would talk about how happy we were on that vacation and how she will never let my kids forget their mother.  Then they'd show this photo while Chris interviewed my grieving husband and Mr. Mint talked about what an amazing mother I was and how my kids are in therapy.

I get stuck on the couch because I'm too afraid to turn the lights off and walk upstairs.  Then once I do finally make it upstairs, I stay up way too late reading because I'm afraid to turn my bedside lamp off.  I'm sure the murderer is watching my bedroom window waiting for me to turn the light off and fall asleep so he can attack.   

So all you bad and evil people out there I want you to know that I sleep with this next to my bed.

See that blue button?  That's the "panic" button and it will bring the police straight to my house.  It only takes about 2 minutes for them to get here.  I know this because Gloppy pressed it once while playing with my keys.  There were two big, strapping policemen with hands on their weapons coming up my driveway in what felt like milliseconds.  So if you're thinking of targeting my house and my family, move right along.  I've got a panic button.

*Wow.  How's that for a paragraph full of run on sentences.  Do they give blogger awards for the most run on sentences in a post, because I think I might have a shot.

Ahhhhhhh... Friday

I love Friday. As noted below, Gloppy spends Fridays with my in-laws and the princesses are in kindergarten from 10am-2:45pm. That means it is the one day of the week that I have more than 20 minutes all to myself. I mostly use the day to clean up the house and catch up on projects that are hard to complete with three little kids following me everywhere. I should use the time to just sit and read, but I can never really relax in my house unless the dishes are done and everything is relatively tidy.  This is a problem for me and I often wish I could just let the dishes sit for a while and read a magazine. It seems there is always some project calling out to me on my precious Friday. There is always laundry to fold, a closet to clean, the pantry to organize, some art project to clean up, piles of papers to go through, etc., etc.

Today was turning out to be just such a Friday. But when I got back from the school supply store picking up supplies for the girls upcoming 100th day of school project my friend J called. J and I have been friends ever since we met in a mom's group when our twins were infants. There is no way I would have survived the first few years of motherhood without her. Every new mom should have a J. We spent countless hours together at parks, classes, malls and museums when our twins were babies and toddlers. She is the kind of friend that I can tell anything to and know I am not being judged. One of the things I love and respect about her is that she has the ability to give me people honest opinion without hurting their feelings.  

Today she suggested an afternoon movie and even tough I am looking around my house and can think of thousands of things to get done, I am off to see Juno with J. So I am giving myself a free pass and pat on the back today for doing something fun on this Friday in January.