Saturday, April 25, 2009

Don't Mix Kids and Sugar at Laundrymat


We have started going to the laudrymat to wash our clothes. I used to hate the laundrymat as a kid. It smelled gross, gave me a headache. So even before going, Strike One Against the Laundrymat! But this one doesn't have a perfumey, soapy build-up smell. It doesn't have Pac-Man either. The laundrymat of my memories had Pac-Man, which I played once and lost horribly! This one has a shooter game. Strike Two! Thank goodness the kids are too short to play! Don't you think shooting games are a bit too graphic for little kids? I'm not really a fan of guns unless they keep away stray dogs or bring home deer sausage.

Now a laudrymat is no place for rambunctious kids. The first time we went we took only the oldest one, and he played his DS and sat the whole time. Oh, he charmed some money for cookies and a pop from a lady. The little Fabio. The second time we had both boys and there were other kids there. The four of them ran all around the place, which I'm sure disturbed several patrons. Try as I might, I was way too hopped up on Benedryl to react in time! Allergies.

But to add even more to the negative persona of the laudrymat, there are free suckers. Strike Three! What kid can resist free candy? And the sugar mixed with a maze of large appliances is just a gauntlet waiting to be run!

So future visits are going to require advanced planning. The little one will have to stay with grandma like he did the first time, or something. We did try to break up the time by taking turns taking one kid or the other out to the Goodwill. It's close by and I found the oldest one two pairs of shorts! SCORE! However, the end came where I insisted on FOLDING the clothes this time!!! Which annoyed hubby, causing him to want to help, and let me tell you he can't fold worth a nickel, which left the kids almost unsupervised. This was not good and raised the hassle factor of the whole situation to a 10. We were both exhausted when the hour was up!

And then we went grocery shopping. (Death wish anyone?)

Now grocery shopping is a chore on a good day, with the boys, who are snackers, grazers, whatever you call it, hungry all day, demanding they get to take a grape or wanting to tear into the packages as soon as they are removed from the shelf. Grocery shopping also averages about an hour being that we trek from one end of the Supercenter to the other, length and width, to procure all the items on the list. During an hour a full and happy belly can change to a hungry one. But this was 8:30 at night.

On one hand, the boys were pretty full from supper and the whining when we told them 'no' was kept to a minimum with very little correction from parents. But on the other hand, they were quickly tiring out. Not only had they been out all evening, they had taken a field trip to the Zoo and walked all day. We were just lucky they weren't both screaming from exhaustion in the checkout lane at 9:30. Heck, I could have screamed from exhaustion myself if the Benedryl hadn't left me in a fog of delayed reaction!

Of course, we got home to find that there were still items we missed. Actually we were doing pretty good at that point just to remember to put the milk in the fridge!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Fridge Poetry: Jealousy

I whipped out my dictionary for this one.. Online Magnetic Poetry Genius Edition gave me the words for this one. It's short 'cuz the words were hard! I couldn't add anything else to it and make sense. There wasn't a "desires" or more "his"s or "from"s.

the festooned profligate
the pithy pariah

his nefarious solution
will enervate you
with herculean lachrymose

ingratiating character!

A rough translation for the dictionary-lacking:

the adorned prodigal/the un-elaborated lowly one
his evil solution/will bore you/ with humongous tears and sadness
flattering character!

This must be how the other brother felt when the prodigal son returned and was welcomed with a feast. I read this with disgust, spitting the words from my mouth. Blech! :P Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

5 things I'm afraid of

So the challenge to post 5 fears seemed simple enough to tackle tonight and I did. Here's my 5.

1. I am afraid of stinging insects. Namely, bees and wasps. I will duck and run and try not to swat at them and anger them. One summer I was stung by a wasp who had decided my swing set was a great place to build a nest. It hurt a lot. So now I go out of my way to avoid a stinger.

2. I am afraid of a horrible natural disaster happening to me. I've been in tiny earthquakes, hid from a tornado, had my car crushed by straight-line winds, and so far have been spared. But tornadoes, quakes, and other destructive forces are stuff of nightmares.

3. Along the same lines, I'm afraid of accidents. I'm ever vigilant for semis on bald tires, deer that want to leap in front of me, or odd things, like spontaneous combustion. I watch planes flying overhead, thinking about the destruction a crash would cause. If things could suddenly happen because I had simply thought of them, I'd have died or caused the deaths of many people! I guess being vigilant means I am defensive and avoid all scenarios that could result in dangerous situations, but actually I'm a klutz and hardly think things through, especially when at home. I bet I die in some sort of freak home accident!

4. I'm afraid of peeping toms. The thought that someone is maliciously watching me with glowing red scooby-doo-cartoon eyes through the window gives me the willies. It's only when I'm alone in a dark room that I feel this way. I blame TV. I get this weird exposed feeling in my back and desire to protect it by turning so my back is to a wall or against a surface. This usually means I am looking at the windows though. Which is conducive to imagining those eyes, and makes me breathe faster and also move faster. I used to close my eyes and make a run for it, just to get to the lit rooms with other people.

5. I am also afraid of losing the people I love. Sometimes I forget how fragile life is. I take for granted seeing my children, kissing my husband, hugging my parents. I fear the financial burden with the logical part of my brain, and the loss and grief with the emotional side. I do try to make memories with my family. But in the end, it won't be quite the consolation I'll need.



Side note: whenever I dream of tornadoes, I also dream of my grandma. I guess she is my comfort, or guardian in my dream. I always look to her for shelter. I haven't dreamed of them in a long time, which must mean my life is not in turmoil right now..??