Beware the Soul-Sucking Fiends

Over the past few weeks, there has been very little of a smile upon my face. I haven't felt happy inside. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I don't really feel like smiling much. DramaMama says she feels a lot the same way.

I have a 9-day vacation coming up toward the end of July, and am very much looking forward to it. My son from Utah will be arriving here on Tuesday, and will be here for the entire month. The last week of his stay I am scheduling off from work to spend mostly with him.

I think a nice long break from work will do a lot for me. I don't think what I am feeling is so much burnout as lack of time for me. DramaMama is going through a bout with everyone sucking the life out of her, and not getting anything back from them. She has neighbors, family, children, and a husband that always turn to her, because she is the go to girl. It isn't fair in any way, shape or form, because she turns into a puddle of goo and feels horrible, yet people still are trying to boost their own energy with whatever she has left.

I think both of us are at a point where we need a break from everyone and everything just to have alone time, together and by ourselves to recharge our batteries. I have a similar problem as she does, but it comes from work mostly. Most days are comprised of people coming to me to do things. Usually they are things that nobody else knows how to do, so I get them. A lot of days are filled with interruptions which gets frustrating. Sometimes I just want to stand on my desk and yell "SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The Bear comes with soul-sucking vacuum attachments and knows how to use them. He is very high maintenance, and is a constant drain. He is a great kid, and we love him very much, but there are times when he is almost too much for us to deal with.

After a day of being soul-sucked at work, the last thing I want to hear is "Daddy, I want to go to the big park" or "Daddy come play Wii with me." I want to come home, crawl in a hole, and hide.
On the days where I feel like that, if I get about 45 minutes to an hour of me-time, I seem to do better. I know that sounds a bit heartless, but a lot of times it is true.

Oh... and I hurt my back again yesterday. GRRRRR.

Old Softy... I Mean Yeller

The other day I saw that Old Yeller was coming on, so I recorded it so I could watch it with the Bear.

After work today, I had to drop by my dad's house to help move a TV into the house. It was in the back seat of his car, and was big, bulky, and heavy. I managed to wrestle it out, and get it on a little wheeled gizmo. We rolled it inside, and got it in place and hooked up. I knew I had done the deed though. My back was already hurting.

Once I got home and had dinner, I fired up Old Yeller. DramaMama had never seen it, but knew what happens. She noticed that as the movie started, I was a little misty eyed. Dern my hide! :) I think it is a great movie, but I knew what was going to happen, so it got me before my butt groove in the couch was even warm!.

At the moment it happens I choked it back. The Bear wasn't sad at all. His take on it? "I bet that makes him dead!"

As you can see on the bottom part of the picture, Arliss is riding on Old Yeller's back. The Bear said, "That was cool! he was riding the dog!"

Next week: Where the Red Fern Grows... *whimper*

A Guest Post From The Bear

Gas - a rant

This is frickin' NUTS!

How can the price go up over a dollar in 2 months time? We all panicked with hurricane Katrina when gas went over $3.00. Now we sit and dream of those days.

I have been thinking about getting out my trusty bike and pedalling to work. That is until I went bike riding this evening with the Bear. We went about 3 blocks out and 3 blocks back. My legs were burning, the fellers were squarshed, I was huffing... I wont be riding my bike to work.

If this gets much worse, I don't know what we will do. We are being ripped off, and there isn't a whole fat lot we can do about it.

I would applaud goverment regulation of gas prices, that way the local stations couldn't gouge us just because they are greedy. If the feds started handing out fines for price gouging, I would think that prices would even out nicely. Granted the price of oil is rising, but the gas industry is using that as an excuse to force us over one of the barrels and ram the gas dispenser up our hoinky.

Uh.... Come Again?

There are things in life that just don't make sense to my brain. We came across one of those this past week.

A couple months ago DramaMama had an alarm system installed in our house. We got the system free on a promotion, and all we pay is the monthly fee. Last week Drummer Boy accidently pushed the panic button on the remote to the alarm system. Soon the police were at our house checking it out to make sure that there really werent intruders.

A little bit after that we were notified that we weren't licensed to have a security system in our home.

HUH?

You have to have a LICENSE to protect your home and family with an alarm system? I don't know about you, but that is completely ludicrous to me.

So anyway, we have to fill out a form and send in $10 to become licensed to not die in a home invasion.

The Double Deception of the Tooth Fairy

The Bear has had a wiggly fang for awhile, and it finally came out yesterday. I immediately recalled a bag in my desk drawer from dejunking the other day. The bag contained two dollarrs in quarters and a roll of Smarties. This was the gift from the Tooth Fairy for a previous AWOL tooth.

So being a frugal and practical fairy, I snealed the bag into my pocket, and waited for the Bear to go to sleep. When it was time for bed, I cleaned out my pockets to the dresser, and there was the bag.

So I trotted upstairs to fulfill my parental duties of deceiving my child. I knelt beside his bed, and started tugging on the bag with the tooth in it, and the Bear woke up... sort of. A lot of spastic jerking, and wondering where he was type of thing. So I told him I didn't mean to wake him up.

I was sort of busted at this point, so I started thinking fast. I said, "Hey, do you think the Tooth Fairy came yet?"

*Some indistinct mumbling*

"Let's check."

So I pulled out the bag with the tooth in it, then lifted up the bag with the money and candy. "Look, she did come!"

The Bear smiled, took the bag, rolled over and went to sleep.

The next morning, the Bear reported that the Tooth Fairy came while Daddy was watching the baseball game. LOL Makes sense though, I went to do the deed after I watched the game, and from his perspective, the Tooth Fairy had already come.

So the cheapo Tooth Fairy regifted the Bear his own money and candy, and did the switcheroo right there with him watching. And we wonder why our kids grow up thinking we're mental!