Week-ends start on Friday, right? So I was looking forward to our family going to dinner and services at Temple. The girls got home a little late and did a quick change and off we went....with a lot of whining and complaining from the younger Sterns, so Ron decided we could go without him. I insisted he come, which he did, and I enjoyed having his company at dinner. Of course, it helped that Devon suddenly started behaving well and Aubrey, well, she sat herself at a totally different table nowhere near us and had a great time. Go figure.
I did not get to enjoy services....it seems like everybody dumped their under 10 children in the "quiet" room and left them unsupervised. A no-no, but who's going to yell at the parents during services? I volunteered to go in and supervise since Devon insisted on being in there with all her friends. After all, I can't complain about others not following the "Children must be accompanied by a parent" rule if I'm not there with her, right? If kids go in there and are well behaved, no one says a word. The kids Friday night, well, not so well behaved. One boy in particular was very loud and wild and would not listen to me. He has some, shall we say, issues? and I think it was just wrong of his parents to send him into the room and never check on him at all. Denial, anyone?
Anyhow, for some reason the audio wasn't working properly so I couldn't hear the services which you normally can in that room, so I missed Friday night services, which I love, so I was bummed. And then, everyone happily goes to the Social Hall for the dessert which always follows services and lo and behold, all there is is a bowl of fruit, and not a large bowl, either. Lots of complaining by everyone there.....where are the cookies? It really is the simple things in life that make us happy, don't you know.
Saturday starts out okay, I guess. I don't really remember the morning....did I sleep through it? Oh, now I remember, Devon and I went out for a little Mommy and me time. Very nice. Anyhow, I'd been looking forward for a while to the family going to Chocolate World for the afternoon. Once again, as soon as we get in the car, Devon starts to melt down, Aubrey gets nasty, and Ron, well, let's not go there. There was nothing left of Devon by the time we got there - she just melted and melted and melted away. Aubrey was sullen but only minimally nasty by then and Ron was just mostly silent. Tell me again, why do I plan and look forward to family outings? I have this ideal picture in my mind which never comes to fruition. Yes, I continually live the saying about the definition of insanity, and will probably continue to do so until the girls are grown and gone. Once we actually got into the place everybody semi-perked up.....guess chocolate has that effect on you even if you're not eating it. The tour was interesting, a little too old for Devon, but we did get samples at the end (small but interesting)....and then we dined at their cafe (which included a chocolate shop, of course). YUM! Made the whole trip worthwhile.
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| Sculptures hand carved COMPLETELY out of chocolate |
Saturday night is as blank as Saturday morning.....guess that means nothing memorable happened, right? Nothing wonderful but nothing horrible. Yea! Let's move on....
Oh, yeah....Ron noticed that the driver's window in the van was acting a little wonky - it went down crooked. Of course, trying to be sensible, we agreed to just not open it and see it we could stave off any repairs, which would, of course, be costly. We know we have new tires in our future, so who needs window repairs, right? Naturally, first thing I did this morning was get in the car to go to my luncheon and yes rolled down the window to give Devon a kiss good-bye. Duh! Naturally, it would not go back up, so Devon volunteered to help ("I'll go get Daddy") which she did. Ron calmly announced that he probably would have done the same thing next time he drove the car and off I went to my luncheon in his piece of crap, I mean Hyundai, and he took the van to our trusty auto mechanic, who loves us. I told you about my flat tire that wound up costing us a thousand dollars because we were overdue for the 100,000 mile overhaul and did we want to do that while they had the car? Sure, why the hell not. Devon went with Ron to get the car fixed and enjoyed her outing - McDonalds for lunch, stopping by his office, walking Bella who they also took with them for some reason.... she tells it as quite a good story.
Throughout all of this, Aubrey was home and left to her own devices. This is bad because [1] I forgot to hide her phone which she has yet again lost use of, so she had access and [2] she decided to take herself off to the pool in the hopes that there would be someone there she knew that would let her in and "supervise" her. There was, which meant that she spent the bulk of the day today, and mid-day at that, at the pool. Now, remember that Aubrey always gives me a hard time about applying sunscreen ("what's the big deal?" "I know, mother" and so on). So guess what? I have a crispy Aubrey tonight. It hurts a little, not a lot, which is good, I guess. I almost wish it hurt more so maybe she would wear sunscreen more. Almost. It really aggravated Devon that Aubrey was at the pool so much. Don't know why, but it did.
Naturally, my week of not having to pack lunch or snack is over (sniff sniff) and both girls need both for the next week. So I went grocery shopping today. Not a big shop but enough to last at least most of the week. Italian ice was BOGO, so for a treat I did (BOGO). Aren't I nice? The girls love Italian ice and there's only 6 to a box and they're preportioned so it's great, right? Devon took one out as soon as we got home and then took another to bring to Aubrey at the pool so they would each have one. Sweet, right? Aubrey left the pool before us. Ron was at a parent orientation for Aubrey's camp for the next two weeks (don't ask). You know what that means? Aubrey was home alone (again). No, Ron had taken care of making her phone inaccessible. I, however, have not yet figured out how to make food inaccessible. She ate 3 more Italian ices and I haven't figured out what else. Devon was really upset to find all of the sour green apple ices gone plus some of the strawberry. And two plums. Sometimes I think I can only buy food she doesn't like - but then what would I make her for lunch? Let me know if you have any suggestions.
And, of course, we're pet sitting for a friend who is away this week starting tonight. The good news is [1] the girls signed up for the job so they are doing the work and [2] none of the pets are at our house - they're all at their house, yea!!! The bad news is [1] I have to drive the girls over to the house to do their job (and they were paid ahead of time, who does that?) and [2] it's a LOT of animals.....fortunately, we only have the night shift and only some of the animals come under our purview. The girls need to walk the 2 dogs, mist and feed the bearded dragons and cresties (those are crested geckos to those of you not in the know), feed the geckos (I'm guessing a dozen of them plus the new babies), cover the birds and play with and feed the kittens and their mama. The adult cats (plus one other litter) are someone else's duty. The kittens are so cute! But OMG it takes forever to do it all - no wonder my friend has a hard time saying exactly when she'll be anywhere. In her defense, the kittens and mama cat are fosters and she is actively looking for homes for them. No, much to Devon's dismay, we're not taking any. She reminds me daily she is the only one in the family to have never picked out a pet. And she really wants a kitten. And the kitten she wants has not found its forever home. Fortunately, Ron keeps me strong and saying no more animals.
So it takes forever to take care of all the animals and we finally get home and it's time for the girls to go to bed but first they need to get their stuff ready for the morning. Aubrey needs to be at camp at 8 and it's easily 45 minutes away - the drive there won't be so bad, but Ron said the route back after dropping her off at 8 is to take the 408 - not fun at rush hour. He hopes to be at work by 9, after leaving the house at 7:15. Guess I'll drive a couple of times to give him a break. I just have to trek out to Sorrento a mere 20 minutes the wrong way for work - but only one way, fortunately, a friend will pick up the kids after camp. Got to love a car pool!
So, let's just say I'm mostly looking forward to Monday. Work is the easy part, it's all the life around it that gets hard to juggle. But at least it's not the week-end any longer.
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