Thursday, September 29, 2005
A typical Saturday
I didn't want this blog to turn into a "here's what I did all day" kind of blog, but when I actually sat down last Saturday and put in writing, I realized that I actually have a REASON to be a raving lunatic! Hallelujah! And all this time, I thought I was just a nutcase! OK, so now you get to see how my typical Saturdays are:
6:45 am - My husband gets up. He's going to play in a golf tournament today.
6:55 am - He turns the light on in my face - nevermind that I was at the high school football game last night until 11pm waiting for Shaunne to do her thing (me, alone with all of the other kids too). He asks me if I need any money for today (Shaunne wants to go get her nails done). I tell him no, that I can write a check. He leaves me money anyway. He tells me that I HAVE to go by the tire place next to Home Depot this morning - I have a nail in my tire and it keeps going flat. I start planning my morning in my head.
7:00 am - He kisses me good-bye and leaves.
7:02 am - I get up and wander into the kitchen to start the coffee. No decaf this morning - I need the hard stuff. I love it when the house is like this - all quiet and neat and serene. I get on the computer and try to check my e-mail.
7:20 am - Mark is the first one to wander down the stairs. My peace is broken. He wants to turn on the t.v., but I remind him that he's still grounded (he called the neighbor's kid a "freakin' asshole" the other day). He rests his head on my shoulder and rubs my back - his way of saying, "sorry I did that, Mom. Can I watch TV now?" I tell him to go fix himself some breakfast - it's Saturday - cereal day.
7:50 am - Jake gets up next. He comes over and gives me a good morning hug & kiss & heads straight to the kitchen for breakfast. I'm finishing up an entry to this blog, getting ready to post.
7:55 am - I get done at the computer and go in to load the dishwasher. I tell Mark to not let me forget his water bottle (again) for practice.
8:15 am - Emily is awake - I can hear her talking to her toes - quite a lengthy conversation!
8:16 am - I head in and change diaper #1 of the day.
8:19 am - Back to the kitchen to rush the boys through breakfast and feed Emily.
8:22 am - The boys are done - they clear off their places and I ask them to take out the trash (which makes it hard for me to feed Emily because she keeps watching them).
8:25 am - Finally, I get Emily done and get up to fix her bottle. I tell Mark exactly what to put on (and where to find it) for soccer practice and send him upstairs.
8:26 am - I take Emily to the living room and giver her a bottle. Jake now has "Emily duty" while I load more dishes in the dishwasher.
8:30 am - I get a bathroom break while Jake entertains Emily.
8:35 am - I head to the laundry room - fold the clothes in the dryer, put clothes from the washer into the dryer, and start a new load in the washer.
8:45 am - I find more dishes and load the dishwasher once again.
8:50 am - Mark is back downstairs - his is NOT wearing what I told him to, but he matches somewhat ok (at least everything is blue). I send Jake upstairs with instructions: wake the girls up, make your bed, get yourself dressed. Mark now has "Emily duty."
8:51 am - I head to my room to get dressed.
9:01 am - I'm still not dressed, but my bed is made and all of the dirty clothes in my room and bathroom are picked up.
9:02 am - I yell up the stairs for Shaunne to get up.
9:03 am - I see Mark dragging Emily by her feet across the living room and yell at him to stop. I then head back to my room.
9:04 am - I'm trying to get dressed. Where the hell is my other bra? Oh, that's right... it's still in the laundry room... I grab my bathrobe and head out to the laundry room.
9:12 am - I am finally completely dressed in my "Saturday Soccer Attire" - ballcap, t-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes, and I head upstairs to check on the girls' progress. On the way, I stop to put the cordless phone on the charger, pick up one of Emily's toys, and tell Mark to find and put on his shin guards.
9:17 am - Straight to Shaunne's room. She hasn't moved. I ask what her plans are for the day. I tell her that if she's getting her nails done, she needs to go with us to soccer practice and she has 10 minutes to get ready. She's pissed.
9:18 am - I check the other kids' rooms - the beds are made and they are {mostly} cleaned up.
9:19 am - Back downstairs to put Mark's soccer socks on. Why the hell do these things need to be so tight?
9:20 am - The socks are on. I fix his water bottle and tell him to get his cleats on.
9:21 am - I tell Jake to get his shoes on. He asks me if he can take his new Harry Potter book to practice then decides that he wants to read the 1st one first (which is in a box in the garage). I tell him fine & remind him again to get his shoes on.
9:23 am - I get Emily and take her to her room to get dressed. All of the other kids follow me.
9:25 am - Emily is dressed. I walk to my room. Again, all of the other kids follow me. I yell at them to go to the living room. I get the money off the dresser, get my cell phone from the charger, pick Emily's pacifier up off the floor and stuff it in my pocket, and turn off the bathroom light before heading to the living room.
9:26 am - I tie Mark's cleats.
9:27 am - I go to the garage, unstack 3 big boxes, get the other 5 Harry Potter books out, then restack the boxes.
9:30 am - I pack the diaper bag while I have a conversation with the boys - they tell me that I'm such a nice mom, except for when I'm not. When I'm mad, I'm really mad. I chuckle & tell them that they should stop doing things to make me mad, as I fix my coffee to go. (Of course, I'm out of creamer, and have to dig in the pantry to find the new carton of it).
9:33 am - I yell at everyone to get in the van.
9:34 am - I yell at Mark that he's left his water bottle on the kitchen table.
9:35 am - The phone rings - it's Elizabeth's mom (Elizabeth spent the night with us last night). She says she's coming to get Elizabeth. I tell her we're already loaded and on our way.
9:36 am - I head out to the van. The boys are there - no girls. I buckle Emily into her car seat, then honk for the girls.
9:37 am - The girls come out - they stink like some kind of fruity lotion. I open the windows.
9:40 am - I drop Elizabeth off at her house (she lives just around the corner) and head to soccer practice.
9:55 am - Get to practice (and amazingly, we're on time!).
9:57 am - I sit down at practice. The coach makes a comment about the school closings. I give my opinion - not very nicely - and several other parents agree with me.
Are you tired yet? I now get a one hour break to sit on my butt and watch soccer practice... all while wrestling Emily, fielding questions from Jake & entertaining Morgan.
11:00 am - We leave soccer and head to get lunch. Emily falls asleep during the ride.
11:15 am - We hit the McDonald's drive thru, then head across the street to the nail salon.
11:22 am - I drop Shaunne off at the nail salon, after helping her pick out her nail color, and leaving the girls there with instructions of what to do with her, and head to the tire place.
11:27 am - There's no room at the tire place - we have to come back at 1pm. So, we head back to the nail salon.
11:30 am - The kids and I sit in the van in front of the salon and eat lunch while we wait on Shaunne. I laugh to myself as the kids sing along with the radio (don't think we'll be auditioning for American Idol anytime soon).
11:45 am - I send Todd a text message about the tires.
11:56 am - I referee a fight between Jake & Morgan.
12:10 pm - I'm tired of waiting, so the kids and I go into the pet store next to the nail salon. I get conned into buying 2 more fish for the kids' fish tank.
12:27 pm - Shaunne is done. We head to Publix to get a boutonierre for Craig.
12:35 pm - Publix has no boutonierres made and no one there to make them, so we head to Kroger.
12:50 pm - The tire place is across the parking lot from Kroger, so we drop the van off at the tire store first.
1:00 pm - We all walk to Kroger for the boutonierre. Jackpot! The lady on duty there will make us one!
1:15 pm - We walk back to the tire store.
1:20 pm - The van is ready. The man behind the counter makes some smart-assed comment about how I've "been busy" (talking about the kids). We load up and head home.
1:25 pm - On the way home, we stop at Wendy's to get frostys. We've earned them!
1:45 pm - Home at last! The kids have orders to get all of today's trash out of the van. Shaunne heads straight to the bathtub, and Dad pulls up right behind us.
1:47 pm - Time for diaper change #2. This one's a muddy one! Yeah, I'm a really great mom - I've been on the go so much, I havent' changed this kid's diaper all day!
1:50 pm - I feed Emily lunch. Strained turkey & green beans... not her favorite.
2:05 pm - It's bottle time! I lay Emily down on the floor with her bottle, and sit on the couch for a much needed break. Morgan heads out to Elizabeth's house. The boys, who are still grounded, head upstairs, and Todd heads to the store. It's very quiet again, but only for a moment.
2:12 pm - Morgan is already back and disrupting the quiet. None of her friends are home and she's bored.
2:15 pm - I sit down at the computer and play cards (my no-brainer meltdown moment) while I listen to CNN, and watch Emily play.
3:15 pm - Emily is so sleepy. She's rubbing her eyes, and wanting her pacifier badly. I change her diaper and put her in her bed. She screams bloody murder.
3:18 pm - I finally give in. I get Emily out of her bed and let her sit in Daddy's lap. She falls asleep in about 30 seconds. Little shit.
3:25 pm - Shaunne (the princess) comes down and tells me she needs me to do her hair. It's homecoming night, so of course, she can't just wear it down.
3:40 pm - Shaunne's friend, Makenzie (who is here so much, I consider her my "other child") shows up, and kibitz's the whole time I fix Shaunne's hair.
4:25 pm - I am finally finished with the hair-do from hell. I go upstairs to deal with the new fish. I had Shaunne sneak them in past dad when we came in, and they are still in the plastic bag in the sink in the kids' bathroom. I put them in their tank and watch as they swim around and get used to their new surroundings. I wonder how long these will last...
4:35 pm - I am finally getting a much needed and deserved shower. Oh hot water, how I love you!
4:45 pm - I get out of the shower and realize I only have about 20 minutes to get completely dressed before Shaunne's & Makenzie's dates (& their parents) show up.
5:15 pm - I'm ready! Bring on the homecoming dates!
5:25 pm - Craig & Evan show up with their parents in tow. Shaunne yells down the stairs that she needs me. I run upstairs and she tells me that she needs a touch up on her curls. (shit!) I call Heather (Makenzie's mom) and let her know it's time to head over (they live around the corner) for pictures.
5:35 pm - We are all standing around staring at each other while we wait for the girls to make their "grand entrance" down the stairs. Morgan and her friends come flying down the stairs with Kenzie's keys... Kenzie has left her shoes in the car....
5:40 pm - FINALLY! They are downstairs and we can get the picture crap over with. Shaunne looks too grown up, and is showing WAY too much cleavage. We parents look like the freakin' papparazzi.
6:00 pm - They head out to dinner. It is so nice to not have to be the chauffer this year! Last year, she had no date, so we drove everywhere.
6:03 pm - I sit down at the table with Heather, and we have a beer and talk. These girls are driving us nuts.
6:30 pm - Dad puts some hotdogs on the grill for the kids. Morgan comes in and says she wants to spend the night with Elizabeth. That's fine with us. One less kid to deal with.
6:40 pm - The kids eat.
6:55 pm - Emily wakes up. I get her up, change her, and put her in her high chair to eat.
7:00 pm - Heather is heading out. She lives across the street from Elizabeth, so she offers to take the girls over there. I call Karen (Elizabeth's mom) and let her know they are headed over.
7:02 pm - I feed Emily her dinner. Mark gets in the shower. Jake wants to know if he can watch the ballgame (he's still grounded, remember). I tell him that dad & I will discuss it and let him know. I send him upstairs and tell him to get into the shower when Mark gets out.
7:05 pm - Todd & I discuss Jake watching the game. We call him downstairs and tell him that he can watch the game. Dad adds that "you're never grounded from watching the bulldogs."
7:06 pm - Jake runs upstairs and tells Mark to hurry up in the shower.
7:08 pm - I give Emily her bottle. I can go eat MY dinner now (Todd did steaks - wow!)
7:10 pm - I go sit down on the couch to watch the football game and eat. The boys come down with their bean bag chairs.
7:20 pm - I finally get to relax. I watch the ball game, play with the kids, and r-e-l-a-x.
9:00 pm - I am getting so tired. I've had a really long day. Todd wants to have sex. No freakin' way. I'm way too tired. I keep dozing off during the game.
10:04 pm - I put Emily down to sleep.
11:02 pm - Todd turns the tv off. He's going to bed. I opt to stay up and wait for the princess to get home. I watch the news. The boys are asleep on their bean bags and I decide to leave them there.
12:00 am - Flipping the channels. I watch Trading Spaces on TLC. It's been a really long time since I got to watch that - Todd HATES that show.
12:20 am - I get up and put some dishes in the dishwasher and clean the counters. Then I pick up Emily's toys.
12:30 am - I lay back down on the couch and watch the rest of Trading Spaces.
1:00 am - I'm thinking of going to bed. Shaunne isn't home yet. I start flipping the channels and watch about 30 seconds of each show on each of the 800 channels we have.
1:30 am - I can't take it any more. Shaunne is still not home, but I've heard from her twice. They are at the bowling alley with Craig's parents. They should be home in about 30 minutes, so I head off to bed.
Now the day is done. Anytime that I think that I'm a nutcase, I'll just read this and remember that I have a reason to be!
6:45 am - My husband gets up. He's going to play in a golf tournament today.
6:55 am - He turns the light on in my face - nevermind that I was at the high school football game last night until 11pm waiting for Shaunne to do her thing (me, alone with all of the other kids too). He asks me if I need any money for today (Shaunne wants to go get her nails done). I tell him no, that I can write a check. He leaves me money anyway. He tells me that I HAVE to go by the tire place next to Home Depot this morning - I have a nail in my tire and it keeps going flat. I start planning my morning in my head.
7:00 am - He kisses me good-bye and leaves.
7:02 am - I get up and wander into the kitchen to start the coffee. No decaf this morning - I need the hard stuff. I love it when the house is like this - all quiet and neat and serene. I get on the computer and try to check my e-mail.
7:20 am - Mark is the first one to wander down the stairs. My peace is broken. He wants to turn on the t.v., but I remind him that he's still grounded (he called the neighbor's kid a "freakin' asshole" the other day). He rests his head on my shoulder and rubs my back - his way of saying, "sorry I did that, Mom. Can I watch TV now?" I tell him to go fix himself some breakfast - it's Saturday - cereal day.
7:50 am - Jake gets up next. He comes over and gives me a good morning hug & kiss & heads straight to the kitchen for breakfast. I'm finishing up an entry to this blog, getting ready to post.
7:55 am - I get done at the computer and go in to load the dishwasher. I tell Mark to not let me forget his water bottle (again) for practice.
8:15 am - Emily is awake - I can hear her talking to her toes - quite a lengthy conversation!
8:16 am - I head in and change diaper #1 of the day.
8:19 am - Back to the kitchen to rush the boys through breakfast and feed Emily.
8:22 am - The boys are done - they clear off their places and I ask them to take out the trash (which makes it hard for me to feed Emily because she keeps watching them).
8:25 am - Finally, I get Emily done and get up to fix her bottle. I tell Mark exactly what to put on (and where to find it) for soccer practice and send him upstairs.
8:26 am - I take Emily to the living room and giver her a bottle. Jake now has "Emily duty" while I load more dishes in the dishwasher.
8:30 am - I get a bathroom break while Jake entertains Emily.
8:35 am - I head to the laundry room - fold the clothes in the dryer, put clothes from the washer into the dryer, and start a new load in the washer.
8:45 am - I find more dishes and load the dishwasher once again.
8:50 am - Mark is back downstairs - his is NOT wearing what I told him to, but he matches somewhat ok (at least everything is blue). I send Jake upstairs with instructions: wake the girls up, make your bed, get yourself dressed. Mark now has "Emily duty."
8:51 am - I head to my room to get dressed.
9:01 am - I'm still not dressed, but my bed is made and all of the dirty clothes in my room and bathroom are picked up.
9:02 am - I yell up the stairs for Shaunne to get up.
9:03 am - I see Mark dragging Emily by her feet across the living room and yell at him to stop. I then head back to my room.
9:04 am - I'm trying to get dressed. Where the hell is my other bra? Oh, that's right... it's still in the laundry room... I grab my bathrobe and head out to the laundry room.
9:12 am - I am finally completely dressed in my "Saturday Soccer Attire" - ballcap, t-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes, and I head upstairs to check on the girls' progress. On the way, I stop to put the cordless phone on the charger, pick up one of Emily's toys, and tell Mark to find and put on his shin guards.
9:17 am - Straight to Shaunne's room. She hasn't moved. I ask what her plans are for the day. I tell her that if she's getting her nails done, she needs to go with us to soccer practice and she has 10 minutes to get ready. She's pissed.
9:18 am - I check the other kids' rooms - the beds are made and they are {mostly} cleaned up.
9:19 am - Back downstairs to put Mark's soccer socks on. Why the hell do these things need to be so tight?
9:20 am - The socks are on. I fix his water bottle and tell him to get his cleats on.
9:21 am - I tell Jake to get his shoes on. He asks me if he can take his new Harry Potter book to practice then decides that he wants to read the 1st one first (which is in a box in the garage). I tell him fine & remind him again to get his shoes on.
9:23 am - I get Emily and take her to her room to get dressed. All of the other kids follow me.
9:25 am - Emily is dressed. I walk to my room. Again, all of the other kids follow me. I yell at them to go to the living room. I get the money off the dresser, get my cell phone from the charger, pick Emily's pacifier up off the floor and stuff it in my pocket, and turn off the bathroom light before heading to the living room.
9:26 am - I tie Mark's cleats.
9:27 am - I go to the garage, unstack 3 big boxes, get the other 5 Harry Potter books out, then restack the boxes.
9:30 am - I pack the diaper bag while I have a conversation with the boys - they tell me that I'm such a nice mom, except for when I'm not. When I'm mad, I'm really mad. I chuckle & tell them that they should stop doing things to make me mad, as I fix my coffee to go. (Of course, I'm out of creamer, and have to dig in the pantry to find the new carton of it).
9:33 am - I yell at everyone to get in the van.
9:34 am - I yell at Mark that he's left his water bottle on the kitchen table.
9:35 am - The phone rings - it's Elizabeth's mom (Elizabeth spent the night with us last night). She says she's coming to get Elizabeth. I tell her we're already loaded and on our way.
9:36 am - I head out to the van. The boys are there - no girls. I buckle Emily into her car seat, then honk for the girls.
9:37 am - The girls come out - they stink like some kind of fruity lotion. I open the windows.
9:40 am - I drop Elizabeth off at her house (she lives just around the corner) and head to soccer practice.
9:55 am - Get to practice (and amazingly, we're on time!).
9:57 am - I sit down at practice. The coach makes a comment about the school closings. I give my opinion - not very nicely - and several other parents agree with me.
Are you tired yet? I now get a one hour break to sit on my butt and watch soccer practice... all while wrestling Emily, fielding questions from Jake & entertaining Morgan.
11:00 am - We leave soccer and head to get lunch. Emily falls asleep during the ride.
11:15 am - We hit the McDonald's drive thru, then head across the street to the nail salon.
11:22 am - I drop Shaunne off at the nail salon, after helping her pick out her nail color, and leaving the girls there with instructions of what to do with her, and head to the tire place.
11:27 am - There's no room at the tire place - we have to come back at 1pm. So, we head back to the nail salon.
11:30 am - The kids and I sit in the van in front of the salon and eat lunch while we wait on Shaunne. I laugh to myself as the kids sing along with the radio (don't think we'll be auditioning for American Idol anytime soon).
11:45 am - I send Todd a text message about the tires.
11:56 am - I referee a fight between Jake & Morgan.
12:10 pm - I'm tired of waiting, so the kids and I go into the pet store next to the nail salon. I get conned into buying 2 more fish for the kids' fish tank.
12:27 pm - Shaunne is done. We head to Publix to get a boutonierre for Craig.
12:35 pm - Publix has no boutonierres made and no one there to make them, so we head to Kroger.
12:50 pm - The tire place is across the parking lot from Kroger, so we drop the van off at the tire store first.
1:00 pm - We all walk to Kroger for the boutonierre. Jackpot! The lady on duty there will make us one!
1:15 pm - We walk back to the tire store.
1:20 pm - The van is ready. The man behind the counter makes some smart-assed comment about how I've "been busy" (talking about the kids). We load up and head home.
1:25 pm - On the way home, we stop at Wendy's to get frostys. We've earned them!
1:45 pm - Home at last! The kids have orders to get all of today's trash out of the van. Shaunne heads straight to the bathtub, and Dad pulls up right behind us.
1:47 pm - Time for diaper change #2. This one's a muddy one! Yeah, I'm a really great mom - I've been on the go so much, I havent' changed this kid's diaper all day!
1:50 pm - I feed Emily lunch. Strained turkey & green beans... not her favorite.
2:05 pm - It's bottle time! I lay Emily down on the floor with her bottle, and sit on the couch for a much needed break. Morgan heads out to Elizabeth's house. The boys, who are still grounded, head upstairs, and Todd heads to the store. It's very quiet again, but only for a moment.
2:12 pm - Morgan is already back and disrupting the quiet. None of her friends are home and she's bored.
2:15 pm - I sit down at the computer and play cards (my no-brainer meltdown moment) while I listen to CNN, and watch Emily play.
3:15 pm - Emily is so sleepy. She's rubbing her eyes, and wanting her pacifier badly. I change her diaper and put her in her bed. She screams bloody murder.
3:18 pm - I finally give in. I get Emily out of her bed and let her sit in Daddy's lap. She falls asleep in about 30 seconds. Little shit.
3:25 pm - Shaunne (the princess) comes down and tells me she needs me to do her hair. It's homecoming night, so of course, she can't just wear it down.
3:40 pm - Shaunne's friend, Makenzie (who is here so much, I consider her my "other child") shows up, and kibitz's the whole time I fix Shaunne's hair.
4:25 pm - I am finally finished with the hair-do from hell. I go upstairs to deal with the new fish. I had Shaunne sneak them in past dad when we came in, and they are still in the plastic bag in the sink in the kids' bathroom. I put them in their tank and watch as they swim around and get used to their new surroundings. I wonder how long these will last...
4:35 pm - I am finally getting a much needed and deserved shower. Oh hot water, how I love you!
4:45 pm - I get out of the shower and realize I only have about 20 minutes to get completely dressed before Shaunne's & Makenzie's dates (& their parents) show up.
5:15 pm - I'm ready! Bring on the homecoming dates!
5:25 pm - Craig & Evan show up with their parents in tow. Shaunne yells down the stairs that she needs me. I run upstairs and she tells me that she needs a touch up on her curls. (shit!) I call Heather (Makenzie's mom) and let her know it's time to head over (they live around the corner) for pictures.
5:35 pm - We are all standing around staring at each other while we wait for the girls to make their "grand entrance" down the stairs. Morgan and her friends come flying down the stairs with Kenzie's keys... Kenzie has left her shoes in the car....
5:40 pm - FINALLY! They are downstairs and we can get the picture crap over with. Shaunne looks too grown up, and is showing WAY too much cleavage. We parents look like the freakin' papparazzi.
6:00 pm - They head out to dinner. It is so nice to not have to be the chauffer this year! Last year, she had no date, so we drove everywhere.
6:03 pm - I sit down at the table with Heather, and we have a beer and talk. These girls are driving us nuts.
6:30 pm - Dad puts some hotdogs on the grill for the kids. Morgan comes in and says she wants to spend the night with Elizabeth. That's fine with us. One less kid to deal with.
6:40 pm - The kids eat.
6:55 pm - Emily wakes up. I get her up, change her, and put her in her high chair to eat.
7:00 pm - Heather is heading out. She lives across the street from Elizabeth, so she offers to take the girls over there. I call Karen (Elizabeth's mom) and let her know they are headed over.
7:02 pm - I feed Emily her dinner. Mark gets in the shower. Jake wants to know if he can watch the ballgame (he's still grounded, remember). I tell him that dad & I will discuss it and let him know. I send him upstairs and tell him to get into the shower when Mark gets out.
7:05 pm - Todd & I discuss Jake watching the game. We call him downstairs and tell him that he can watch the game. Dad adds that "you're never grounded from watching the bulldogs."
7:06 pm - Jake runs upstairs and tells Mark to hurry up in the shower.
7:08 pm - I give Emily her bottle. I can go eat MY dinner now (Todd did steaks - wow!)
7:10 pm - I go sit down on the couch to watch the football game and eat. The boys come down with their bean bag chairs.
7:20 pm - I finally get to relax. I watch the ball game, play with the kids, and r-e-l-a-x.
9:00 pm - I am getting so tired. I've had a really long day. Todd wants to have sex. No freakin' way. I'm way too tired. I keep dozing off during the game.
10:04 pm - I put Emily down to sleep.
11:02 pm - Todd turns the tv off. He's going to bed. I opt to stay up and wait for the princess to get home. I watch the news. The boys are asleep on their bean bags and I decide to leave them there.
12:00 am - Flipping the channels. I watch Trading Spaces on TLC. It's been a really long time since I got to watch that - Todd HATES that show.
12:20 am - I get up and put some dishes in the dishwasher and clean the counters. Then I pick up Emily's toys.
12:30 am - I lay back down on the couch and watch the rest of Trading Spaces.
1:00 am - I'm thinking of going to bed. Shaunne isn't home yet. I start flipping the channels and watch about 30 seconds of each show on each of the 800 channels we have.
1:30 am - I can't take it any more. Shaunne is still not home, but I've heard from her twice. They are at the bowling alley with Craig's parents. They should be home in about 30 minutes, so I head off to bed.
Now the day is done. Anytime that I think that I'm a nutcase, I'll just read this and remember that I have a reason to be!
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Georgia's Governor is an idiot
Maybe I'm wrong to be this upset, but I am furious about what happened in Georgia yesterday. Our illustrious Governor, Sonny Perdue, "requested" that all school systems in Georgia shut down on Monday and Tuesday to "preserve fuel." Of course, the county that I live in JUMPED at the the chance to have a 4 day weekend.
But here's my problem with this: The buses can't run on Monday and Tuesday morning because we have to preserve diesel fuel, but last night, the high school that my oldest daughter attends loaded up 2 buses worth of football players and 2 buses worth of band members (4 buses total) and drove them to a football game (afterall, it WAS homecoming). And I'm sure that our high school wasn't the only one that did that.
So let me get this straight; football, important; school, not-so important. Right? When I called the governor's office, they didn't have an answer to that question. The school board, however, told me that 3pm on Friday afternoon was just not enough time to cancel the sporting events for that weekend. Hmmm, but by 4pm, I knew that school was going to be closed on Monday and Tuesday, so why wasn't it enough time?
I'm not an idiot - I can understand the concept of "the refineries are shut down, we are trying to avoid a shortage on fuel," but my thoughts on that are - ok, we can't have the buses running on Monday and Tuesday. That's fine, but keep the school open - give me the option of taking my kids to school! According to the governor's office, the schools are shut down because they have also "requested" that the teachers and administrators stay home and not drive, so we can preserve fuel. But it's not only the schools - they've also "requested" that all businesses in the state of Georgia do the same! So basically, the Governor has "requested" that the state of Georgia completely shut down on Monday and Tuesday!
My husband is a self-employed contractor. If he doesn't work, we don't get paid. If we don't get paid, it's kind of hard to pay the power bill, the gas bill, the water bill - you know - the basics. Not to mention feeding these 5 kids here. I asked the guy in the governor's office if he'd like for me to forward those bills to Mr. Perdue, and where could I pick up my food stamps. Yeah, a smartassed comment, but they deserved it. At least the guy at the school board told me that he "understood my frustration." It wasn't going to change a goddamn thing, but he understood it.
But here's my problem with this: The buses can't run on Monday and Tuesday morning because we have to preserve diesel fuel, but last night, the high school that my oldest daughter attends loaded up 2 buses worth of football players and 2 buses worth of band members (4 buses total) and drove them to a football game (afterall, it WAS homecoming). And I'm sure that our high school wasn't the only one that did that.
So let me get this straight; football, important; school, not-so important. Right? When I called the governor's office, they didn't have an answer to that question. The school board, however, told me that 3pm on Friday afternoon was just not enough time to cancel the sporting events for that weekend. Hmmm, but by 4pm, I knew that school was going to be closed on Monday and Tuesday, so why wasn't it enough time?
I'm not an idiot - I can understand the concept of "the refineries are shut down, we are trying to avoid a shortage on fuel," but my thoughts on that are - ok, we can't have the buses running on Monday and Tuesday. That's fine, but keep the school open - give me the option of taking my kids to school! According to the governor's office, the schools are shut down because they have also "requested" that the teachers and administrators stay home and not drive, so we can preserve fuel. But it's not only the schools - they've also "requested" that all businesses in the state of Georgia do the same! So basically, the Governor has "requested" that the state of Georgia completely shut down on Monday and Tuesday!
My husband is a self-employed contractor. If he doesn't work, we don't get paid. If we don't get paid, it's kind of hard to pay the power bill, the gas bill, the water bill - you know - the basics. Not to mention feeding these 5 kids here. I asked the guy in the governor's office if he'd like for me to forward those bills to Mr. Perdue, and where could I pick up my food stamps. Yeah, a smartassed comment, but they deserved it. At least the guy at the school board told me that he "understood my frustration." It wasn't going to change a goddamn thing, but he understood it.
