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On Friday, which was a half day, Kate's friend came over to work on their "save the bay" project. So all of you who are worried about the health of the Chesapeake Bay, never fear because ALL 6th graders in Montgomery County are on the job... Anyway, it's a "group" project and that means middle school drama. So Friday they worked on it for about 6 hours. That is how long it takes to glue about 10 pictures to a display board, apparently. And I had to buy all the supplies for this project- Kate's friend's parents sent along the jump drive with the pictures on it- to print up here? Our printer sucks. It sucks to a new level of horribleness. I am eagerly anticipating when it will just die, because I would love to buy a different one... For now, though, I don't print photos on it. So I uploaded the pics from her jump drive to pick them up at Costco. I already had picked up $4 of my pictures of them doing the "Bay Cleanup" from Costco the previous day, as well as $15 in supplies from Staples.
So then, Saturday morning I had to get up early to help deposit our Suburban to the dealership to get the stupid brake lights fixed. My word, that took forever to get Mac to give up that little venture. He spent... about 15 hours on that thing. Checking wiring, looking up stuff on the internet, going to the auto parts store... My mantra all along: you don't know anything about cars, call the dealership. Oh well. 15 hours he could have spent doing something really useful, like painting over all the dings in the walls from the kids throwing their cars at each other. :huh:
Then we got home to get Kate ready for her soccer game. It was super cold out, so I just took her. They won, and were awarded big trophies! What is it with sports and trophies? She has several trophies in her room- it seems that every little team she's on, whether it be drama, soccer, swim, etc., awards trophies. I never got a trophy growing up. Perhaps I will go get one commissioned: Mom of the Year! Ha ha... That's definitely one I'd have to get made up myself- not getting it from my kids!
After soccer, we stopped by Costco to pick up her pictures, then I schlepped her to her friend's house (only about 25 minutes out of the way, but hey) where she stayed until 9 pm working on the Chesapeake Bay project... So she worked for 6 hours, again, during which time they were able to IM some of their school friends to talk about who likes whom and is so and so still mad at me, etc., etc.
Kate also got to eat with her friend's family- a traditional Chinese meal. Yum! Homecooked! Kate was surprised at how quiet their dinner table was. She thought they weren't allowed to talk. That may be the case, but I doubt a dinner table gets much louder than ours does. "Inside voice" is still a work in progress. Kate was also surprised at how "controlling" her friend's parents are- they made us look not so bad. So I guess that's a plus. For instance, her friend must leave her door open at all times, and isn't allowed a CD player in her room. But she does have an iPod, so... It's hard to keep the kids from the technology... This particular friend refers to herself as "goth" and dreams of being "emo" one day...So, I went all the way out to get her at 9, and back home by 920. Then we were going to watch a DVD (Mac and I) but the one I rented didn't play in our player. The kids' movie I rented did play, just not the one we wanted to watch. So Mac went to change it, came back, and the same thing... By then it was 10, and I was too tired anyway. But he went back to the store and got an absolutely horrific Jackie Chan movie- apparently made in China. It was really bad. Really really bad. Just when you were ready to turn it off (after about 2 minutes of "story line") there was a big fight scence to keep you watching, I guess. But, I didn't make it. That makes about 8 weeks or so since we've actually watched a movie, DVD or otherwise.
So then Sunday, I was geared up for a nice day where at least I'd get a couple of hours to myself. And Mac wanted to do this or that as a family, but I told him that I couldn't handle spending time with the kids right now, that I just needed a couple of hours to recharge. But I did have to take Izzy to get shoes- poor thing- hers were way too small but she just doesn't tell me. She started wearing her ridiculous sparkly things all the time, and I would make her wear her tennis shoes, but... Oh well. Anyway, so we went to get new shoes (Mac even wanted to make that a family outing. (Ummmm, NO WAY IN HELL am I taking ALL the kids to a SHOE STORE to buy only ONE kid shoes....) So while we were shopping, Mac called me (I should've forgotten my cell phone) to tell me that Kate's social studies group was meeting at the library about 25 mintues away from our house, and what to do???? So, Izzy and I had to race home to pick up "the fam" to take everyone to the library, and we got Kate there on time after lecturing her about how this is the last time we schlep her anywhere on such short notice. I did ditch Mac with the kids in the library for a while so that I could go to the "grown up" book section. But not nearly enough time to be restorative...
Then we left Kate with her group, and we went across the street for Ice Cream. That occupied the kids for about 25 minutes. Luke is extremely intense when it comes to ice cream. It's pretty funny.
Finally, we picked her up, and went home. Mac told me to not worry, because he "had dinner under control". So, he put in a DVD for the kids (of course) and went on line to do something. I had to catch up on laundry, so I did that. (The gift that keeps on giving- our laundry piles.) It was getting late, so I asked him what was up with dinner, etc. He had forgotten, I think. So then he ordered pizza,
went to pick it up, and we ate. He did the baths, etc., so that was good. I just wish that during the time he's home he would be more "active" with the kids. I get that he's tired, and that he has online things he needs to do, but the kids never see him or play with him. So no more DVDs please...After the kids went to bed, Mac worked with Kate on her math. I did not interfere, much. I wanted him to get the full flavor of a snippet of the stress I've been going through. Kate, good old dependable Kate, didn't disappoint. She pitched her usual fits, her blaming of everyone else for why she doesn't "get it", her careless work, her staring out the window act... They only did about 7 problems, and it took 2 hours. She spends almost 5 minutes complaining and whining about every single *step* of every single problem. It's excruciatingly frustrating. Later, after we went to bed, I told him to imagine going through that with Kate, while breaking up screaming fights between the kids, while someone is whining at you for a snack, a candy, a cookie, milk, etc... Now he gets it a little bit why I've been so stressed. A very *little* bit.
There is no hope for me to get 2 kid-free hours on the horizon. I need to just hire a sitter and leave. I would love to have some time in my house to do stuff here, but it's just not going to happen. Plus mom and dad come to visit later this week, and I have to drive them to the airport twice while they are here so that they can go on a side trip to Albany. So I have to drive to the airport on Friday night to pick them up, Sunday afternoon to drop them off, Tuesday afternoon to pick them up, and again on the following Sunday morning to drop them off. The airport is about 55 minutes away, one way. That's a lot of driving...
And Mac starts Gen Surg this week. It should be *so nice*. Gag. Blah.
It will take a lot of effort on my part to be "thankful" this year, and I know I'm being a total brat, but I'm just keeping it real.