Saturday, June 30, 2007

"The List" = The Hydra

You know, that list of stuff that you want to get done around the house... the list that's got to have been the inspiration for the legend of the Hydra. Can't you just see some Greek wife in ancient times giving her writer husband the never ending litany of honey-do crap... and his imagination taking flight as he's stuck slaving away (on the roof, in the attic, cleaning the basement,whatever). One thing gets done and suddenly she's got eight more thankless ballbusting jobs on the list.
Anyway, I've managed to whack a head off my Hydra -- the Drama Queen has a freshly painted room that looks pretty damned good. Her room is now a nice warm pink with white trim. Hubby didn't seem to think I would do a good job -- no comment other than "You have a lot of work ahead of you" when I started, and a bemused "Oh, you did a good job!"when I finished. Nice that he has such confidence in me. The only part I couldn't do was the ceiling. I'm not tall enough, and the only step ladder we have in the house isn't stable enough for me to do that (I have to be too far up the ladder). So Hubby will have to tackle that at some point. I also took a stab at the mess in the dining room and tossed three bags of crap. I'm not quite done in there -- that was a naptime project that had to stop before I was done, and I haven't made it back to finish. This week the kids are in camp/daycare all week (except Wed) so I am hoping to get some major work done. I'd like to get the other bedroom painted, but I still have to negotiate that with Hubby as that will involve us not sleeping in there for at least one or two nights while the paint fumes air out, and he might rather do that on the weekend. If that project has to wait, then it's either attic or basement (attic first if the weather is cooler). Either way I have to remember to tip the garbagemen this week!
Harry Marathon tomorrow - have to get ready for Order of the Phoenix coming out on the 13th!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Hoowah -- Harrison Ford still looks good as Indy! Found this one online and am I happy to hear they are shooting #4. Still love the hat. :)


Summer's Here

...and the living is, well, easier at the moment, at least on the home front. The Murphinator is recently on the guilt trip rampage. I got three emails this weekend laying blame on me for abandoning her and "cutting [her] off". Interesting, as I can count on one hand the number of emails and phone calls I've gotten from her in the last five months (including this weekend), and two of those were just "are you coming to the birthday party". I gave up emailing her to ask if she wanted to get the kids together, go to the movies or go out to lunch because I never got a response. Whenever I called I got the answering machine and no response later-- so I gave that up too. Figured she didn't want to talk to me. Apparently in her world that means "call me more! offer to do more things with me!" and I was just too dumb to get that. I called her guilt trip on all points and made it pretty clear that I wasn't the one doing the cutting off, and that I wasn't going to put up with any more rude behavior (like at the Nephew's birthday party last month). I have a feeling that that will be the end of things, though I am not terribly torn up about that.
Hmmm...this divorce business doesn't make much sense to me. She has been knashing teeth and moaning that she needs to get out of this marriage for over 2 years, and that she doesn't want him in the house, yet when he left she announced he had abandoned her and the kids. Abandonment is pretty lucrative apparently: he has continued to pay ALL her bills PLUS give her $2500 a month spending money since he moved out. She's been saying for the same two years that she needs to get a job to have some security, and actually had several opportunities (interviews and all) to get jobs and refused to take any of them. The last one was because if she continued to be unemployed she "could screw him for more money in the divorce" (announced that to me at lunch in January). And yet she continues to whine that she has no security and that she has no job. She is now whining that no one invites her to any of the family occasions -- where her soon-to-be-ex-husband will be, the one person she has announced she wants nothing to do with socially anymore. Hmmm -- how do we invite her to come to an event where he will also be because he is part of this family??? Does she want an invitation just so she can say "Drop dead, I would never come to anything with him there."??? And since we have these functions on the weekends when we are all off work and he has the kids anyway, why would we invite her to come intrude on his time with the kids? She is rude to me, rude to FIL, and awful to her nearly-ex-husband. There is nothing amicable about this and yet she apparently wants the rest of us to act like it's perfectly friendly... and let her shit all over us. I know, it's divorce, she has a lot to be angry about ... but at least recognize that. Put on the goddamn big girl panties, do what it takes to secure your kids' future, and get the fuck ON with your life. I hope she finds someone soon who meets her needs as a friend or whatever else, as I am not that person.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Hubby, FIL, Curmudgeon, and UM ... along with all of our friends who are fathers or are going to become fathers.
We have 40-50 people coming to FIL's house this afternoon for a party, most of whom are GF's family whom we've never met. She assures me that they are just as dysfunctional as we are, therefore everyone should get along fine. Should be a hoot. FIL and GF were here for cocktails/dinner last night, and GF and I had mojitos. Yum.
Got some really good fruit at Costco yesterday, and when Hubby returns from errands (and brings me the butter and eggs I thought we had) I will make the pound cake to go with the berries for today. He smoked 18 pounds of pork yesterday, so we should have enough for a small army.
The last classes are done, the "student guide" website is finished, and Eeyore actually decided to pitch in and help with inventory by shelf reading for a couple hours in the afternoon, and holy crap! she actually threw out some ancient books from the stacks. I thought Kanga was going to fall over. I'm hoping to finish inventory Monday, run the reports and be done with it. I'm buying lunch on Tuesday for Beloved Blonde and the staff of the Hundred Acre Woods (sigh...and Eeyore too) as a thank you for all their hard work this year. Aux Delice is going to make money off me on Tuesday! I'm going to bake Monday night though -- something yummy, maybe another pound cake with fruit. I think I'm going to have to do something for Jake's teacher, too. If I get flowers for the lunch on Tues. maybe I'll just send him with some of those.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Commencing Countdown to Commencement

Well, sort of. Two more days of teaching classes. Six more (work) days with kids (only the last one doesn't really count since it's 8th grade graduation and I don't have a seat in the sweatbox for that). 8 more total days until The Boy's done with kindergarten and our Beloved Blonde graduates. 11 more total days until I'm completely done with this year.

6 more days until UM's first official divorce hearing. I am more and more relieved that I had the sense to force my hubby to change the child custody arrangements outlined in our wills the summer the Drama Queen was born. It was an offer he couldn't refuse -- after "The Incident" either UM could be the godfather in church (which he had already announced to everyone) OR they could be the custodians in the will -- but not both. Hubby chose the save face option and let his brother stand up in church as godfather. And the wills were quietly changed to Mame and Wome as custodians. Being no connosseiuer of divorce proceedings, I have no idea what exactly will go on at this hearing, but perhaps they will have better boundaries to function in and there will be less taking advantage. I don't think the amount of asshole behavior will cease ... not for a long time,, or at least until the Murphinator does some serious growing up. As in "you have been demanding this be over for two years, you don't have a lot of right to be mad that it's now ending."

Bookfair was all right -- not spectacular, but workable. Shelf reading and inventory are the next big projects (along with finalizing the bookfair accounting and numbers).