Life is Bittersweet!

At 40 years of age, I have finally experienced "bittersweet." I will make this short, for Nan. Today was a weird day in our household. Last night I knew that Elle was not feeling well, and it was confirmed today when she woke up, red cheeked and not concerned that she might not be able to spend the night away on Friday if she did not attend school on Thursday. In order not to interrupt Elle's sleep, I had the older two girls get a ride to school. My problem begins after school. Too many places to be and not enough drivers (dad is in Pennsylvania eating Hershey's chocolate!). Now that I have a driver in the house, this has eased up a bit. However, my anxiety with her driving has not. She is a very good driver. I am not a very good waiter. Katie had a tennis dinner this evening and at 10:15, I realized that she was not home, yet. Not for any other reason than I was watching Will & Grace on TV and got lost in the moment (that's a topic for another blog). I called her and told her that she needed to head home. Of course, she was already on her way...aren't they all? At that point I realized that I was sooo excited that she was driving, that I realized that her father and I had not gone over the "rules." The "rules", I might add, do not come about until you realize that as parents you have screwed up and have not gone over them with the teenager. Can you spell "PROBLEM"? All's well, Katie is our prototype. The other two do not have a chance. This is bittersweet...I am thrilled with the help that I am receiving in adding a driver into our house...but I am sad that I have now become my parents.

Why do I bother?

I know that I have said this a hundred times before...Men have SELECTIVE HEARING! I say it in jest, but I have decided that it is 100 percent true. It's genetic...and I am living with the master! At this point, I could go off on a tangent about the other male dominated traits, but I will keep this post on task. This morning, I sit down next to me WONDERFUL husband (and I do mean this from the bottom of my heart) and ask him a question. Now, I will admit that he was reading the paper and watching TV at the same time (I can't imagine). He, of course, does not respond the first time that I ask. I wait a minute and then I then yell his name...he turns to me and gives the pat answer of "yes, dear." I ask him if he heard my question and he says of course and proceeds to repeat it VERBATIM! I then ask him why he did not answer me when I asked the first time and he told me that he was reading the paper...so...he is now IGNORING ME! So, is it really selective hearing or just rudeness? He heard the question, he just chose to not answer it. This is a topic for another blog.

Fast forward to dinner tonight. We try to eat as a family as much as possible. Whether it is leftovers or firstovers. Tonight we ate a little late as the girls had tennis until 8 p.m. After everyone ate the wonderful meal that we both prepared (Cactus is an incredible griller!), he and I were talking about the events of the day. We were talking about things that are going on with our oldest daughter. He asked me a question and before I can answer the question he GETS OUT OF HIS CHAIR AND TURNS ON THE TV!!!!! He does not wait for my answer, he does not say excuse me, he does not pass GO...he just gets up and turns on the TV (we do not eat with the TV one). At this point, I think "I wish we had DVR." I also think that Nan and I are the only ones on the planet that don't have this tool. I somehow drag him back to reality and he says that he just wants to see what his show is about. I then start to clear the table. After a couple of minutes, I go and stand in front of him with my hands on my hips (I know you have all seen me do this) and wait for him to acknowledge me. I swear, I could have been standing there NAKED and he would not have noticed. Why do you ask? The show he was so interested in was CSI: Miami. There is a cute blonde that he can't wait to meet at a skeet shoot in April. I guess after 19 years of marriage and three children, I am not as distracting as I once was. Anyway, he said that he would finish this conversation in a minute...it is now 10:50, his show has been over for almost 2 hours; he has watched the news; packed for his trip; kissed me good night and I still have not answered HIS question about our oldest daughter.

You tell me...selective hearing or old age?

PEACE, LOVE & HAPPINESS

With Valentine's Day upon us, I thought this song would be fitting. This is my new theme song. Also, gotta love the name of the group ...
G. Love & Special Sauce

Peace, Love & Happiness is all we really need in today's chaotic world!

Sing, Dance & Always Take Time to Gab!

Nan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cewrR0niqIc

(Gotta give thanks to our radio show producer DAVE for sharing this with me.)