Rambling Friday (7/14/06)

"You look tired." I think that is the most annoying phrase in the English language, especially when someone says it to me. What they're actually saying is, "You look like complete and utter crap, and that's the nicest way I think I can relay this to you." Doesn't everyone know that 'you look tired' is the universal way of saying, 'I can't believe you left the house looking like that, you troll.' ?

Here's the thing. I am usually tired 90 percent of the time, but I am under the delusion that I look so put together no one could ever tell that I'm running on fumes. I'm sure my friends and enemies alike will tell you different, but I prefer to think I don't look like a walking zombie most of the time.

Not quite as bad is the phrase, "You sound tired." This I can handle just because most days I do sound tired, even to myself. It does not help that the children are trying to give me a cold. The runny nose started with Georgia, then went to Eli. Now that they're both perfectly find, I woke up Wednesday morning with that "ick" feeling. You all know what I'm talking about - that feeling you get when your body says, "I'm getting sick in two days and there's nothing you can do about it." Oh yeah?! I proceed to fight my body tooth and nail, and I drug up! It worked! yesterday I felt fine! Then today I woke up again with the "ick" feeling. Grrrrr! I'm starting off with coffee and we will see how much that improves the situation. I have high hopes, as I truly believe cancer could be cured with the proper blend of strong coffee.

Plus, I don't have time to be sick. I have family in town, and Eli's birthday party is tomorrow. Eric's parents, sister and niece showed up yesterday, and the kids had a great time. If I could bottle an ounce of their energy, I would be set for life.

I thought after dinner, we could all come back to our house and the kids could play while I turned on the TV and saw who got voted off Big Brother. (No comments please - it's my summer addiction.) Now, the more tired Eli is, the more revved up he gets, and he goes until he simply crashes. After last night, I think all kids work this way. It started out with Eli chasing Emily, our 2-year-old niece, through the family room, dining room, kitchen, and back to the family room again (It makes a big circle.), screaming all the while. Then there's Georgia trying to follow them and not get trampled in the process, and she's also smiling and screaming. From there, it went to the kids standing on the fireplace, singing the toddler version of every song they could think of, and then they lapsed into ring around the rosy.

I've decided I should really do this every night because about 10 minutes after Emily left, Eli and Georgia were comatose and slept through the whole night. Woo hoo! That also means I got a full night's rest. Let's see if anyone tells me today that I look tired!

I am now about to get the kids up because my parents will be here in 20 minutes. They're driving up from Wellington today, which is a 3 1/2 hour drive. They called at 7:30, and said they were past Emporia, which means they're only a little over an hour away. And they had already stopped for breakfast! It kills me to think what time they must get up in the morning. Oh, but the memories come flooding back to me of the times in high school, when my dad would come in my room at 8:00 in the morning, on a Saturday, mind you, and turn on my light, shouting, "Get up! You're sleeping the day away!" Grrrr! I'm still bitter.

Anyway, after my parents accompany the kids and I to Gymboree today, we're off to pick up Eli's cupcakes at Target for tomorrow's party. I'm crossing my fingers on the cupcakes. Remember the Russian lady I talked about in the previous blog? We'll see what she came up with.

After that, my parents have told me they would like me to take them somewhere to buy a new computer monitor. I think we'll be there the rest of the day. I have spent countless hours on the phone with my parents trying to explain to them how to "cut and paste," so I can't imagine the experience of buying a computer monitor will go quickly.

I probably will not blog again until Sunday, since tomorrow is the big birthday party at Deanna Rose. It's outside, and they're predicting it will be 99 degrees. I have already received calls from two of my friends asking, "Did you know Saturday is going to be the hottest day of the year?" *sigh* This should go well!