I’m back at work after vacation. It’s a relatively mild entry back, which is nice.
The part I’m having the most trouble with, other than missing my family after together time, is that I have to start allergy shots this week. They are hell and gone from my office, and they are twice a week for 3 months. I have to figure out whether to go do them first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon. Afternoon would mean missing less work, but I often have meetings the last hour of my day, so less time but maybe more disruption. Such a pain.
My ruined birch tree comes out today. I'm still annoyed at DH for his part in destroying it, but I'll be glad to see it go. Another perfectly healthy tree is coming out as well (it's planted in a poor location. Apparently the old owners didn't realize that it's not ideal to plant trees that grow 50-70 feet under power lines.)... So basically in one shot, all the "pretty" trees in my yard are going to be gone. And the tree that I want to get rid of, I can't.
I know, tree talk is totally boring and the fact that this is my biggest complaint in life means things are going pretty well.
ETA: DD has decided we're going to do a memorial for the birch tree this evening. That girl cracks me up.
Post by covergirl82 on Jun 24, 2019 10:02:42 GMT -5
Weekend was good. DS had a baseball tournament, and they won. One of his teammates got a grand slam home run in the championship game, and it ended up being that kid's last at-bat, so it was a great way to end the tournament.
My birthday was Saturday. I treated myself to a facial and massage on Friday. Saturday DD and DH made me a waffle, and then we went to lunch with my parents and sister. Baseball was all afternoon into the evening. We did go out with a few other baseball families for dinner Saturday evening after the last game, so it was a fun day.
This week will be busy at home (after work) getting ready for being away all weekend for a baseball tournament and then leaving next Monday to camp for a week. DS has a tournament 2 hours away, and we just got an email last night that the first game will be late afternoon/early evening on Friday (usually first games are Saturday morning), so now I'm really glad we booked the hotel for both Friday and Saturday nights.
MIL is staying with our dog, at our house, all weekend, and I'm so nervous about it. (My parents usually stay with our dog, buth they are out of town.) We can't trust her to always be truthful, so this is one of the times I wish we had hidden cameras in our house. Maybe I need to get an Echo Spot before Friday so I can do video drop-ins. WWYD?
Post by supertrooper1 on Jun 24, 2019 10:16:27 GMT -5
Saturday, DS and I went to see The Secret Life of Pets 2. Very cute movie. We ran errands and picked up a birthday gift for the birthday party we went to on Sunday. He had fun at the party, with a trampoline, ice cream truck visit, cupcakes and a water fight.
Today was the start of his new babysitter. She's a 14 year old girl excited to make money, so she should do a good job. She came over last night to meet DS and they seemed to click.
I am out tomorrow to take DS to his check up appointment.
I sent a normal kid to camp and they sent back a sullen teenager. DS has been in a mood since getting home. Not listening, half ass doing things. Then we you talk to him, you can see the look on his face - you are stupid, I don't like you. Then after dealing with him all weekend, DH comes in last light like what's the problem, he is fine. No DH, we are on a team. Back me up.
Then, Saturday night, DS has 4 friends over. 1 was a girl, but a child hood friend since birth. DH was home. I went to a friend's house. When I get back, DS informs me that 3 girls from his club/school asked to come over and they did. Some dad loaded up these girls and dropped them off. They didn't know me. Didn't come in and talk to DH. Just dropped the girls off with some teenage boys sitting around a fire. Who does that? I had no problem them coming, but I knew what my kid was doing and was OK at home with his dad. Plus we live out in the middle of nowhere and they were coming from some subdivision in town and thought they crossed over to another country. We could all be a bunch of crazy people making meth out in the garage and they wouldn't have known the difference. Is that weird? Or just me? We have been pretty sheltered with a small private school and any request to go to someone's house has been that I knew the parents reasonably well enough to at least be pretty confident they were not axe murders.
We're coming back after a weekend at the beach. I'm so glad to be back at work though b/c DD was out of school ALL week last week with a tummy issue she picked up from her brother. It threw me off so much, not to mention my stomach wasn't feeling great either. Probably a milder version of what she had.
I was so proud of myself for unloading the suit case yesterday and throwing all our vacation clothes and towels into the wash!!
I didn't get to my normal laundry but...can't have everything right?
I am out tomorrow to take DS to his check up appointment.
I sent a normal kid to camp and they sent back a sullen teenager. DS has been in a mood since getting home. Not listening, half ass doing things. Then we you talk to him, you can see the look on his face - you are stupid, I don't like you. Then after dealing with him all weekend, DH comes in last light like what's the problem, he is fine. No DH, we are on a team. Back me up.
Then, Saturday night, DS has 4 friends over. 1 was a girl, but a child hood friend since birth. DH was home. I went to a friend's house. When I get back, DS informs me that 3 girls from his club/school asked to come over and they did. Some dad loaded up these girls and dropped them off. They didn't know me. Didn't come in and talk to DH. Just dropped the girls off with some teenage boys sitting around a fire. Who does that? I had no problem them coming, but I knew what my kid was doing and was OK at home with his dad. Plus we live out in the middle of nowhere and they were coming from some subdivision in town and thought they crossed over to another country. We could all be a bunch of crazy people making meth out in the garage and they wouldn't have known the difference. Is that weird? Or just me? We have been pretty sheltered with a small private school and any request to go to someone's house has been that I knew the parents reasonably well enough to at least be pretty confident they were not axe murders.
I must be crazy right there with you because that drives me insane. I want to know who my kids are spending time with.
k3am, My DH always says you have to replant a plant for cutting down a healthy tree/bush but to plant it in a better spot. I would buy a new tree to replace the two you took down along with a bush when it is the right planting season.
rere, I'm with you on the crazy. I'm sorry your DS has turned into moody teenager.
I was very happy to take DD to gym camp this morning. I need a break from supermom duty. How do you get your kids to run errands happily with you? I normally do my grocery, Costco, Wal-Mart, Target runs on my Fridays off to avoid having to take DD and DH with. Now that summer is here DD is with me on Friday and refused to leave the house Friday so we had a stay at home day. That meant both DD and DH went with because DH hates staying home so my errands took 2x longer as DH loves to wander to avoid going home.
Got the pool up and filled. I crashed into a hanging basket last night hard enough that I have a nice size goose ache on my hairline while trying to water all my flower pots. Luckily it isn't black and blue and no concussion issues. It just hurts to brush my hair. We also got the patio and garage cleaned up. Now I just wish DH would help clean house like he does the garage.
My weekend was mostly great. DS1's pre-k graduation was on Friday morning and then we took all 3 kids to the county fair. The San Diego county fair is enormous and amazing and everyone had a great time with the farm animals and on the rides. Even DH (who gets twitchy around crowds and parking issues) admitted that it was fun. Saturday we went to a going-away party for friends who are moving their family (including 3 kids 6 and under) to Spain for the heck of it. Both parents are attorneys and can do their contract work from anywhere. I alternate between thinking they're crazy and being jealous. The family who hosted the party had a great pool and giant water slide and just-turned-2-year-old DS2 spent the party climbing the 20 wet stairs to the slide and going down by himself (in a puddle jumper). Then Saturday night was a fun date night with another couple. Sunday we got a babysitter for DS2 during his naptime and took the older kids to see Toy Story 4. It was great - I laughed so hard I cried a couple times.
Then for the not great part of the weekend. I headed to the airport around 5 last night to fly to Dallas. Apparently lightning struck the radar system at DFW and knocked out radar to both Dallas airports for hours. So I spend over 5 hours at the airport while my flight was delayed, then cancelled, and I tried to go standby on anything else that might get me anywhere close enough to Texas to fly in for a 10 am meeting this morning. Eventually my only option would have been landing in San Antonio at 2 am and driving 4 hours to Dallas (if I could even have gotten a rental car at that time). So I went home. And there was construction on the freeway here at 10 pm so even the drive home was awful. But in the end I got 7 hours of sleep in my own bed, came into my office early and did my meeting by phone (which was not ideal, but also not the end of the world) while my coworker was there in person, and now I'm in the office the rest of the day and get to catch up on stuff. I just really hate saying I'll be somewhere and not making it.
Last week of work before going on vacation, and it can't come soon enough. This week is bananas, but hopefully means that it will go quickly.
The weekend was awesome. Lots of family in town for my nieces open house and my oldest got two new time cuts she needed at a swim meet (and lost a tooth in between events!).
If the rain would ever let up, we could get the rest of the yard work that needs to be done completed. But apparently another week of rain is in our forecast. Awesome.
k3am , My DH always says you have to replant a plant for cutting down a healthy tree/bush but to plant it in a better spot. I would buy a new tree to replace the two you took down along with a bush when it is the right planting season.
Yep, that's the goal! The birch I want to replace with something pretty and the liquid amber we'll probably end up with a lime tree since those typically don't grow very tall and DH really, really, really wants one. I just have to figure out what the other tree will be.
Post by greenmonkey1 on Jun 24, 2019 13:12:37 GMT -5
Weekend was good. DS2 had a birthday party at the local park yesterday and the parents rented a bouncy castle. I'm standing outside of the castle while DS2 and another kiddo from school are playing inside. All of a sudden DS2's glasses come flying out of the castle - they're on a strap so it wasn't them falling off accidentally. Then I hear DS2 crying. The kid took DS2's glasses then bit DS2 on the arm! It was hard enough to leave a mark, but did not break the skin. The kids are all turning/have turned 5 so this isn't really within the developmentally appropriate range. The biter's mom brought him over to apologize to DS2 and the kid stuck his tongue out instead.
Some other friends asked DS2 to come play so he cleaned up and calmed down, but I was a little on the shocked side.
Post by erinshelley21 on Jun 24, 2019 14:20:30 GMT -5
Our inspections have finally been scheduled! And our mortgage broker is so on top of it that our mortgage has been approved and she ordered the appraisal.
After this, I can quit living in this limbo stage and deal with the current house. It's like its messy and dirty and I should do something about it, but there's a chance I'll need to purge/store over half of our shit and deep clean. Until then I am trying to stay on top of clutter and make mental lists of what goes to storage or just goes.
Also about to start my period any day, DH works the worst rotation ever (MWF) and I still cant fully workout due to have stitches, so this week is going to be something.
rere- by high school, I don’t plan on monitoring my kids’ comings and goings that closely unless they’ve given me a reason to think they aren’t trustworthy. I mean, they’re in a countdown to college, so they need to start learning to be a little free. My friends whose parents kept their thumb on tight mostly lost their minds when they moved into their first dorms. They didn’t know how to handle the freedom.
Our weekend was pretty busy. We had a graduation party on Saturday afternoon and SIL came in for a short day visit yesterday. I'm proud of myself for getting to the gym on both days this past weekend. I even tried spinning since my normal body pump class was a little too crowded for my liking. But man are my legs sore today! And I pulled a muscle in my neck/shoulder somehow. It didn't hurt when I went to bed, but I was tossing and turning a lot because I couldn't lay down without it hurting so bad. I've been stretching and taking ibuprofen, but it hasn't made a dent yet. I'm so tired, but DD has a playoff softball game tonight. I hope it is a quick game!
Post by sandandsea on Jun 24, 2019 15:13:51 GMT -5
It’s Monday. Womp womp. This weekend was fun and productive. We celebrated ds2s 3rd bday on Friday/Saturday. We opted to not have a party yet (we started at 5 for ds1 and will probably do the same for DS2) and just made cupcakes and went to Toy Story 4 and a play place in the mall. We were home and done by 2pm on Saturday. We detailed our cars, packed for camping next weekend, church, grocery delivery, and had a couple of ds1s friends over for a play date to round out the weekend. I want more weekends.
Side note. We went to Bass Pro on Sunday and they have boats parked outside with stairs to get into them. The kids love checking out the boats. DS2 climbed into one and burnt his leg on the metal. The aluminum parts were hot to touch but not burning but the steel (?) was burning. We had a first aid kit and applied burn ointment and wrapped it and told their customer service so they could put up a sign. Who designs a boat to have sitting surfaces that could burn you!?!? We felt so bad and negligent. He has a red diamond plate mark on his leg now. Thankfully it wasn’t hot enough to blister or anything really scary.
rere- by high school, I don’t plan on monitoring my kids’ comings and goings that closely unless they’ve given me a reason to think they aren’t trustworthy. I mean, they’re in a countdown to college, so they need to start learning to be a little free. My friends whose parents kept their thumb on tight mostly lost their minds when they moved into their first dorms. They didn’t know how to handle the freedom.
This. By “teen” I’m imaging a group setting, known kids/friends and think it is probably a pretty safe way to start to get some independence, especially with a group of three teens.
rere, I agree with mommyatty and sandandsea on the level of freedom, generally. That said, I still see myself probably walking up to the door just to say hi if I drop them off. DH might not do that, though, because he's socially awkward and not as used to the norms around dealing with other parents - and I think you said a Dad dropped them off.
Post by sandandsea on Jun 24, 2019 15:58:04 GMT -5
I’d probably “know” or at least “know of” the kids and parents. Dh would say “you said drive them you never said I had to talk to anyone. I wasn’t going to drive them there and not let them stay.” Because it would have been me saying yes in the first place and convincing him to take them.
I’d probably “know” or at least “know of” the kids and parents. Dh would say “you said drive them you never said I had to talk to anyone. I wasn’t going to drive them there and not let them stay.” Because it would have been me saying yes in the first place and convincing him to take them.
Ha, same. And he would probably ask me in advance "what do I do when I drop them off? Do I have to go talk to these people?"
I’d probably “know” or at least “know of” the kids and parents. Dh would say “you said drive them you never said I had to talk to anyone. I wasn’t going to drive them there and not let them stay.” Because it would have been me saying yes in the first place and convincing him to take them.
Ha, same. And he would probably ask me in advance "what do I do when I drop them off? Do I have to go talk to these people?"
True. This was a dad. If Dh dropped off, I'd been like how were the parents and hed been like how am I supposed to know. I'd been in their living room surveying the place while making introductions.
I just had a friend have to pick up her daughter drunk at midnight. She gets there and the mom comes out of the house wondering why she is there and the kids are all out in the detached garage and apparently made a bucket full of some pretty potent hooch.
rere - I am 100% with you. This isn’t a family you know, or more importantly, that knows you. I let DD go wherever and do whatever with people we know. But no way is she going and staying somewhere with entirely unknown people. Dumb things happen - like a friend of SD’s fell swimming and got knocked out. The hosts didn’t know her parents. Her phone was locked. I mean, I am not taking on the liability with no contact information. Having said that, parents send their kids to the lake house never having met parents. It shocks the hell out of me. Yeah, drive my kid 90 minutes away and bring them back in three days thanks.
No parent contact has been a super reliable red flag for me. Those kids generally are or have issues. A couple exceptions but it ties to promiscuity, lying, drinking, vaping and a host of other behaviors. Now, there are definitely kids with those issues whose parents know who they are and who they are with but every little bit helps - and the biggest thing is my kids know I care. They also know whose parents don’t and that’s resulted in some awesome convos.
Camp funk is also real!! I swear they need a week transition.
Post by erinshelley21 on Jun 24, 2019 17:40:14 GMT -5
mommyatty I had a suspicious mole on my arm removed 2 weeks ago and went to get stitches out on Friday. While at that appt I had the dr look at a spot on my leg where I had a cyst removed in Feb. He ended up cutting into that spot and removing what was either a new cyst or leftover cyst from Feb. So I went to get 12 stitches removed in my arm and left with 3 in my leg.
Summer break has started for me. I’m tackling a major organization of the house: room by room, closet by closet. All the kids appointments, dentist, ortho, eye appointment for me, vet, long overdue paperwork, changes in financial planning, trips to DMV, kids photos, all that kind of stuff this week and next.
Then I work a week while the kids do camp and daycare, then camping for a week. Then a few more weeks of summer fun, a week at the beach.
Then my husband will leave for a really long time right when I head back to the grind.
k3am - after your story I’m so nervous about my appointment with the arborist... we have 3 weeping cherries, 2 Japanese maples, and a row of arborvitae that are totally out of control. DH usually does the arborvitae, but he’s afraid he will kill everything else... I hope the people coming know what they’re doing...
mae0111, the fact that you have an arborist and not a damned gardener coming means you'll likely be fine.
I'm also now paying another company to come out and grind the stumps because I don't want to deal with that shit. I don't know why the arborist doesn't want to do it - other than maybe from his yelp reviews his business partner handles that side of the business and they have issues? Not clear. He keeps saying it's not necessary and giving me these ways to get rid of the stumps for cheaper, but all of which involve months of time, buying equipment, and heavy labor. Apparently he can't understand me when I said I'm "paying to make this problem go away."
DD is at gymnastic camp this week. Gym from 8:30-12, lunch/park time from 12-1:30, rec swim 1:30-3. Yesterday I picked up DD and friend and took them back to the gym for practice that went from 3:15-5:15. DD got done with practice and said "mommy can I just go home and eat and go to bed". She fell asleep on the 10 minute drive home which gave her a cat nap and enough sleep to not want to eat and go to bed. This is her week all week. I told her that grandma could get her Thursday at 12 for a break but she doesn't want to be different.
Work vent: one payroll client can't seem to get my secure emails. They just never show up in his inbox. He used to have no issues but the last two months have been annoying and he keeps blaming me but no other client is having this issue. Any ideas on where my secure emails are going? They aren't being opened so they are just floating in cyberspace.
supertrooper1, I asked and he said no. It's for a rural fire station so I'm thinking it might be a block due to government email? I know that if I attach a file to an email and send it to DD's teacher they can't open the attachment due internal firewalls and blocks. Now I can send a file attached in an email from DD's district email address and her teacher can open it. That makes no sense to me.