Thursday, June 29, 2006

More lines

That last bad pick-up line has made me think of some of the good things men have said over the years. First off, most of them are compliments instead of pick-up lines, once you've been married fourteen years you don't get a lot of men trying to pick you up. Not openly anyway, a coworker has been trying and he thinks he is being subtle. I'm putting this one in the bad category, so kids don't try this one at home. "Don't be laughing when my phone rings, my wife thinks we are having an affair." This would not be quite so bad except that I happen to be friends with another lady in town he is using the same tactics on. /sarcasm/Wow, this guys is smooth. What is he thinking? 'This is such a good line I'll scatter it machine gun style all over town.'/sarcasm/
A few years ago at a wedding reception I got what I felt was the best compliment ever. It was late most of the people were past there alcohol limit, my husband included. I was standing around waiting for him to finish hugging people, when he introduced me to a friend of his that I had never met. We stood there talking about general things, nothing meaningful, until my d.h. wandered back ready to leave. The friend shook my d.h's hand and said, "I'm glad I finally met your wife." Then he gave me one of those looks that sends electricity through my body and finished with "She's perfect."
In print it doesn't look near as good as it does in my memory. I don't remember the man's name, or even really what he looked like, but that sentence is tattooed on my brain.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Bad storms and lines

We has one hell of a storm come through here last Thursday. Straight line winds at sixty miles an hour with gusts being clocked at eighty. We were driving home from a ball game when we drove into it. There was visibility of a few feet. The rain was coming in sideways. I was really worried about making it home, and I'm not usually worried about those kinds of things.
It blew the roof off of the office where I work. We spent that evening covering everything in plastic. Luckily we got that done in time to save all of our electronics except for one calculator. We have been working out of City Hall temporarily, which has been a real bitch. After a temporary roof and a lot of clean up we are back in the office today. Well, they are, I have the day off. I still have to work at my second job for an hour or two this morning. Other than that my only plans are to play a game of cards with Lane, and take the baby swimming.

Saturday night I heard one of the oddest pick-up lines. We were at a party having a few drinks when one of the girls called a boy to see where he was. He was at the local bar, with her brother, so we decided to walk up and get him. This is a really small place so even though there were only actually about twenty-five people there it seemed really crowded. One guy came up to me, he had that really drunk look in his eyes, put his arm around my shoulders and said, "Are you an idiot, or am I the idiot?"
"It is most certainly you." I answered. That is when he put the wettest sloppiest kiss on my temple. I don't think he is ever going to have much luck with that approach.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Weekend

Saturday evening we went to a b.b.q. at a friends house. We stayed up late drinking beer and laughing. My sides and jaws hurt by 2:00 a.m.. That was a sign it was time to go home. The kids of course were still up playing on the trampoline, why do they never run out of energy? Sunday morning the phone was ringing, and I had the impression it has been ringing a long time before I stumbled in to answer it. My eyes were too blurry to read the caller i.d. so I just took my chances. It was for d.h., a golfing invitation, which he accepted. I crawled into bed and slept three more hours.
When I woke up the boys and I decided to go to the movies. I saw the Lake House and really liked it. Of course I'm a Sandra Bullock fan, why she made Speed II I don't know , but I like most of her movies. We did some grocery shopping and came home to make a father's day supper. My mom and sister came by and ate with us. They had said they weren't going to eat because they had just ate at Applebees. They both ended up eating. D.h. was eating his third enchilada when he said he wasn't hungry either. He had ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant after golfing. That is the power of enchiladas even stuffed people can't resist them.
After supper the boys, my mom, sister, and I went down to the football field and played football, not the American kind. I kicked a ball and hit my mom right in the gut. It startled me for a second and I just stood there. Of course I'm not that strong of a kicker and it didn't hurt at all. Watching my mom run and play out there it made realize how bad I am at categorizing people. She is not just a grandma, she is still a very active person capable of anything. I also realized that sometimes I am too hard on her about things that happened in the past. Her and the six of us siblings came through a trying twenty years, but it is over now and we need to let it go and forgive each others part in it. I always say I have forgiven everything, and some days I have , but occasionally resentment wells up. Life is a process, and I do feel that I'm getting better. We came home and played a game of Clue. I always work hard trying to figure it out and then a ten year old wins on a lucky guess, just as I'm almost there. GRRR.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Football

When I started watching the England/Trinidad-Tobago match yesterday I wasn't sure who I was cheering for. I can't imagine anybody not wanting to see T. & T. Go far. At first it was their story, then seeing how hard those guys were willing to work for it was enough to make me hope they would make it to the 16. We spent quite a bit of time discussing which scenario would be best for both teams to make it, and decided we wanted a tie. When England scored I realized that emotionally I couldn't not want them to win. The neighbors probably heard me jump and yell. Growing up reading so much English literature and watching a bit of BBC makes me feel a kinship with England. Also since they show a bit of English Football here I am familiar with some of the players. If The U.S. gets eliminated I'll still have a team.
You might notice I'm stubbornly not calling it soccer. My boys and I decided the other day that if my generation would switch to calling it football it would be easy for them. The older generations would resist, but gradually it would be changed. What would we call American football then? Well, the name soccer would be available.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Hell

I was laying on the couch with my youngest son, Lane, the other day when we flipped it over to a documentary on hell. We had been watching it for a few minutes when he turned to me and said, "Do you believe in Hell? I don't."
This one sentence sent a rush of questions through my brain. When did he get old enough to think about hell, he's my baby? What is the right answer to that? What else have I been missing out on if I didn't even realize we could be having this conversation? After what was probably too long of a pause I answered him honestly. "No, I don't believe in Hell either."
I am a Christian, but the idea of Hell has always seemed out of synch with a loving God. It does seem in synch with a church bent on controlling its followers. I've quit trying to be logical about it and trying to make my beliefs meld with everything I've been taught. I believe what my senses tell me to believe. I feel more spiritual in my yard then inside of a church. I believe god is all around us, loving instead of condemning. Jesus wasn't a fire an brimstone preacher. He never pushed himself on others. He led, they followed. Maybe the fundamentalists need to reread the red parts of their bible. I think I've been preachy enough for one day, I'll step off my soap box now.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Football, driving, and cooking

I crept out to the computer quietly at nine this morning. My intent was to come straight here while everybody was asleep, I fell by the wayside when I went instead to the Fifa's World Cup sight. I didn't get to watch the match yesterday, but my kids called me and broke the bad news. Not gently either, they laughed. In our family pool I picked the U.S. on a whim. I knew it was a long shot, but Germany, Brazil, and England had already been picked so I thought what the hell. If we don't make it out of the first round I'll have to pick another team to cheer on. We can still pull it out though, let's not throw in the towel yet.
If the need to pick a new team arises I have a quite a few good choices. Germany of course, because in 2002 I developed an inexplicable crush on a few of their players. Remember the goal keeper from Turkey? He was hot. Australia looks good, and I like to root for underdogs. I might just switch to Portugal, who Lee picked. So far my team is the only one picked who lost their first game. It'll be fun watching this whole thing play out, even if we are out in the first round.

Yesterday was one of those days spent mostly sitting. I started off at seven with an hour in front of my computer at the office, then after a shower I hopped in my van. After a ninety minute drive to Garden City, three hours taking an exam, ninety minute drive home, twenty minute drive to drop Jason off at baseball practice, twenty minute drive home, straight to school board meeting, my three mile walk last night was very refreshing. My legs needed to stretch out after so many hours on my ass.

I dreamed about cooking last night. In my dream I made a cut of meat called deerhart, it wasn't really a heart, it was really more like brisket. Julia Child was showing me how to serve it. Somebody knocked on the door and she screamed at them to leave then explained to us that the meat was very tender just now but would toughen up as it sat so we were eat immediately and that we shouldn't have to listen to that damn knocking while we enjoyed our meal. I woke up with a desire to cook something. The lack of groceries in our house is going to present one problem. The other problem is lack of time, we have to be in Elkhart at 4:30 for a couple of baseball games. We will be lucky to make it home by 10:00. I may make something that can be waiting for us, or we may just pick up pizza.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Summer reading

No not the program my kids go to at the library, what I'm reading this summer. I have been trying to read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, but I just can't stick with it. I can't read something sad and dense in the summer. Maybe my reading can't be contradicted by all of the light around me. I am taking it back to the library today. I'm not checking anything new out though because Lee has assigned me some books to read. When this role reversal took place I'm not sure, but here we are. The first book from the stack was The Amulet of Samarkand. I started it on Monday night and am already halfway through it.
No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't sink my teeth into The Jungle. I was beginning to suspect I was going through some sort of reading deficiency. I'll try it again this Winter. All Winter I was struggling to get into a memoir called Extra Virgin, now that summer is here I've been breezing through it.

On a totally unrelated note, The boys and I started weight lifting two nights ago. I'm easing my way into it, to avoid soreness. I seem to be filling my time with recreational activities. I really need to get some work done.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Dates

Tomorrow is a friend from grade schools birthday. I haven't seen her in almost twenty years, yet every June seventh I think 'hey, it's Terra's birthday.' Why is this date stuck in my head when I can't remember my brother's wife or kids birthdays? I don't know for sure when my anniversary is. Sometime in February is the closest I can guess.
I remember Becca's birthday too, another friend. December 31st, she is a Capicorn. Terra is a Gemini, but I can remember not one of my three kids astroligical signs. Maybe that is because I cared more about those sort of things back then.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Pizza party

It is glorious when a party goes off really well. I built a cob oven a few years ago and have been planning to have a pizza party since before it was done. When I am waiting for everything to be ready before I do something it never gets done. That is why two years later I still had not had a pizza party. Friday I just started inviting people to come over on Sunday. My house was a total disaster, and I had no toppings. I went shopping that night. On Sunday morning we all five pitched in and cleaned until two, which is when the party started.
Whenever a party is thrown there is a chance it wont all come together. People may not show up, or they may show up and not be in a festive mood. The food may not turn out. The combined group may not find that they have enough to talk about. That is why impromptu parties are my favorite. These factors are there, so there is a party, unlike a planned party, which can seemed forced. A theme party must usually be planned though, so I planned a party. The moment I realized it was working was when I came inside carrying the fourth pizza in from the oven. I stopped and looked around and three different groups having very spirited discussions, all laughing and talking, and everybody with a slice of pizza or a breadstick in their hand. I put down the pizza that was starting to burn my hand even through the pot holder, spiked a glass of sweet tea, and sat down to enjoy one of the conversations.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Princess and Curly top

I took my girls home last Saturday. My house seems so empty now. Who would have thought that going from a family of seven to a family of five could make such a big difference? So now my life is back, you remember the one I wasn't sure if I wanted to give up, and I don't have any idea what to do with it. Free time is a problem that works itself out. Just when I start to enjoy it something new will come up.

I miss having somebody to take to the pool, and somebody to kiss good night, and climb into my bed in the middle of the night. I miss watching them ride their bikes, curling them into my lap when we watched t.v., making somebody so happy they jumped up and down just by offering them ice cream.

I don't miss changing the sheets in the middle of the night when one of them wet my bed. There are not many ways worse to be woke up than by slowly realizing that the warm liquid soaking into your t-shirt is urine. I don't miss having to find a babysitter when I have to work. Every one of the things on this list are worth it if I can have the things in the first list.

Really though what I want the most is for them to live with their mother because that is what is best for the three of them.