The Queen's Rambles

We’ve had a great weekend for a change! No illness! Mike was convinced the stomach flu would hit him on Friday, based on the timing of illness for the rest of us but he never got it. Instead we got to hang out with some family friends. The whole family came over for dinner (pizza–no way was I cooking), then all the boys (Erik, Mike, the dad and Irish Lad) headed over to Erik’s school for a puzzle competition. We had to pre-register and pay $20, so I’m glad we didn’t have to cancel.

Everyone has been saying a team headed by some guy name Ed was the clear winner and everyone else was showing up just to have some fun. I have a wee bit of a competitive spirit, but I am not a great puzzler. Still! I couldn’t let this Ed fellow stand un-challenged! I resorted to putting the pressure on the menfolk. They were not going to be allowed back home if they didn’t win. They were not impressed and didn’t consider themselves the likely winners since two of their teammates were first graders.

I did a huge victory dance when I got an e-mail from the PTA president telling me they had won! I knew it was smart to send in the rocket scientist and the world renowned planet formation guy! Science geeks rock at puzzles. They are the champions, my friends! Notice how I somehow take credit for something I wasn’t even involved in?

So the boys get home, I rush down to great them and congratulate them on their victory, and they start laughing at me. There were only five teams in the whole competition and no one named Ed! They were the only team that even finished the 300 piece puzzle. The little boys were beyond excited, so their victory was not completely hollow.

Our little friend, Irish Lad, stayed for a sleep over and it went really well. I tucked them in at 10 pm and we heard a few giggles but that was it. They got up in the morning and took care of themselves. I came down the stairs at 9 am to see if they were all starving. Elsa was eating a piece of left over pizza and Erik had made a batch of crepe batter. He didn’t want to turn on the stove, so he was waiting for someone to come down and cook them.

If you would have asked me two years ago if I would ever get to sleep in or if my kid would ever prepare himself crepes on a Saturday morning while I slept in, I would have laughed you out of the room. He has had such a huge shift in maturity lately. He doesn’t want me to tell him any part of the morning routine anymore–he does the whole bit before I can even get my mom voice going. It is so pleasant to have an independent kid around. He wants to please us and is so proud when we notice all the little changes he is making. I look back and pictures of him when he was little and miss my squishy baby, but he is such a nice boy now. Who knew that crazy, screaming, running kid could turn out so well? All that hard work I put into learnin’ him a thing or two is paying off.

We met up with Irish Lad’s family for an Indian lunch, then made a trade-off. Erik went off to their house for the afternoon and played outside all day. I am really sad that he hates being outside at our place. The neighborhood boys are not his type–way, way too rough–so he refuses to go out even though he is a natural athlete who used to love the outdoors. We live in a townhouse community so there’s not much option of minding your own business and staying away from the other kids. Irish Lad lives out in the country on a huge piece of land with no neighbors, so they can run free and enjoy themselves without the specter of bullies.

Eventually Elsa and I went back out to the Irish house and had dinner and purple cake (chosen by Elsa), and came home again, leaving Erik out there for a second sleep over. The boys are in hog heaven.

I also got my new chair today! It is way bigger than I realized and the color is too yellow for my beachy room, but it is very comfy and fits a lap full of kids a lot better than my other rocker. I need to do some serious re-arranging of the living room to make it blend in a little better. I saw a great idea for storage/seating HERE and need to talk with Mike about how we could implement something like that in this room and get rid of some of the other storage. I need more seating. I host a lot of playdates and it can get really crazy in my little townhouse.

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My mom now has plans to move to my town. She needs to do a little more research, but it seems like she might be able to move into one of the senior active living apartment places. There are a few around here that are actually within her budget, so we’ll see what happens. I like this idea a whole lot better than the idea of her living within a few hours of us. If she lives in town we can visit with her, then send her home. I fear that if she lives in a nearby town she’ll want to come and spend days at a time with us to make the drive worth it. I do like her and enjoy being around her, but being able to send her home after a few hours is very appealing.

Not that I think this is all going to pan out.

Update on my sister: her boyfriend found another girlfriend, so she and her husband are back together. The whole family just moved into a HUD house within walking distance of a pretty good school (relatively speaking). My sister is taking pride in it and is acting like a mom instead of a drug addict. She’s been good for a whole week, so my mom thinks she’s cured. We all know how this will go.

Her diabetes doctor told her that he can’t treat her if she doesn’t get her mental health in check and that she’s going to die sooner rather than later. Like, VERY sooner. Yet she doesn’t have time to go get the mental health evaluation that will get the ball rolling.

I am convinced she’s going to pull something while Mike and I are on our vacation. I hope if she kills herself she doesn’t take anyone with her, especially one or all of the kids. Isn’t that an awful thing to even have to think about? We all know she’s on the verge, but because she is an adult there is not a damned thing anyone will do to help her until she does something really bad. I begged and cried and pleaded with CPS, but got no where. The case is still open, but the caseworker says her hands are tied unless an authority figure catches her in the act of doing something illegal.

I still don’t understand how my mom can leave those kids, especially the boys. She raised them both (my sister had a lot more interest in my niece because she could dress her up like a doll).

And yes, I totally believe my sister would pull something just to ruin my vacation. That sounds so dramatic and I would roll my eyes if someone else declared that their sister would kill herself to ruin a vacation, but you don’t know my sister. She hates me and thinks I have everything (which. . . well. . . I guess I do, but only because I’ve worked my ass off, not because anyone handed it to me). She doesn’t think things through and is very impulsive. She’s straight up untreated mentally ill–who knows what she’ll take a notion to do.

I’ve had a few different friends offer to take the kids if we are on our trip and my mom has to leave so I think it will all be ok on our end. My kids will be well cared for no matter what crazy thing she decides to do. I’ve built a really wonderful community of support for myself and our family. I love this place because I feel like I belong. I went to Five Below today and a troop of girl scouts was selling cookies. I knew one of the girls, so bought some cookies. When I came back out they had switched shifts and I knew a different girl and the mom supervising. Though this town had a large population, it has a small town feel in some ways. No main street or anything like that, but I feel like I know someone just about anywhere I go. Granted, I do get out a lot.

Ok, time for bed. I’ll have to tell you the exciting news about Elsa’s goodie bags later. You know how much I love goodie bags [/sarcasm].