Teacher Appreciation Weekend...
Every Memorial Day Weekend for the past 4 years, Rich takes the kids away...away from the house, away from Tulsa, away from the cleaning frenzy that must take place once a year (for my own sanity).
He does this with another Dad and his two boys - ages 10 and 6. It's a perfect blend....well, almost perfect...Anne is the only girl. But she does an excellent job of "mothering" all six boys/men.
This year, they went to the Cosmosphere in Kansas. The weekend started off OK on Friday. The day before, I had taken the van (it was our year to drive) to the shop to get a fuel injection cleanse and a transmission flush. Hindsight is 20/20 and there was a new guy being trained at the Shell Rapid Lube. I trusted that Heather (with a mullet) would take care of the van...she'd done a great job for the last 2 years and I trusted her.
Janet and I sent the boys/men and Anne off and we went to see the new Indiana Jones flick and out for Mexican food.
I get a phone call on our way to dinner...they had stopped near Blackwell, Oklahoma for dinner and when they came out of the restaurant, there was transmission fluid all over the ground. You can imagine how upset I was...I had just taken the car in! Then I remembered the "new guy." GRRR!! They called AAA, had a guy come in from Ponca City...and 5 hours later (at 12:30 a.m.) they were on their way to Hutchinson, Kansas. They got to their hotel rooms at 2:30 a.m.
A new day...a new start...everything would be fine, right? Well, no! After arriving at the Cosmosphere, Rich decided to go back to the van to check the fluids and in the process, he locked the keys in the van...you've been there...you've hit the door lock button (out of habit), the keys are still in the ignition, you turn and in slow motion you hear the electric locks close and you scream "nooooooooo!" You grab the door thinking that'll stop the process, but it doesn't work. Again, thank God for AAA. I told Rich to not call me if he had anymore mishaps....I just couldn't take it! Fortunately they didn't.
So, what have I done this year? I cleaned out the garage. Why, you ask? Because it was driving me CRAZY! I couldn't get the bikes out, I couldn't get to the tool box, there were leaves and dirt everywhere, I had to squeeze along the side of the van to get out of the garage. It was time...and Rich was gone...I now could throw things away without a barage of questions about why I was throwing away that empty trampoline box from 3 years ago!
It looks so much better, but I'm afraid we still can't get Rich's car in the garage...maybe he can figure out how....I think we'll need to move the generator and it'll work. Rich will need to hang those bike hooks where you can hang your bike upside down and that'll help, too.
I also cleaned out the kids' rooms...I can do that when they're not here..."Oh! I've been looking for that (insert whatever that might be...car, Barbie, etc.) for six months. Thanks for finding it, Mom." Ummm...I don't think so...they don't need it....it's going to the garage sale bag...which I now have at least 2 dozen bags...and I HATE garage sales! Something traumatic must've happened when I was a child.
I got to watch "grown up movies," eat whatever I wanted to eat, be master of the remote (sweet) and not have to answer to anyone for a glorious Memorial Day weekend.
It's definitely enough time...just a weekend would be too short...I always need that extra day...and now I'm refreshed and ready to tackle the summer! Bring it on!
He does this with another Dad and his two boys - ages 10 and 6. It's a perfect blend....well, almost perfect...Anne is the only girl. But she does an excellent job of "mothering" all six boys/men.
This year, they went to the Cosmosphere in Kansas. The weekend started off OK on Friday. The day before, I had taken the van (it was our year to drive) to the shop to get a fuel injection cleanse and a transmission flush. Hindsight is 20/20 and there was a new guy being trained at the Shell Rapid Lube. I trusted that Heather (with a mullet) would take care of the van...she'd done a great job for the last 2 years and I trusted her.
Janet and I sent the boys/men and Anne off and we went to see the new Indiana Jones flick and out for Mexican food.
I get a phone call on our way to dinner...they had stopped near Blackwell, Oklahoma for dinner and when they came out of the restaurant, there was transmission fluid all over the ground. You can imagine how upset I was...I had just taken the car in! Then I remembered the "new guy." GRRR!! They called AAA, had a guy come in from Ponca City...and 5 hours later (at 12:30 a.m.) they were on their way to Hutchinson, Kansas. They got to their hotel rooms at 2:30 a.m.
A new day...a new start...everything would be fine, right? Well, no! After arriving at the Cosmosphere, Rich decided to go back to the van to check the fluids and in the process, he locked the keys in the van...you've been there...you've hit the door lock button (out of habit), the keys are still in the ignition, you turn and in slow motion you hear the electric locks close and you scream "nooooooooo!" You grab the door thinking that'll stop the process, but it doesn't work. Again, thank God for AAA. I told Rich to not call me if he had anymore mishaps....I just couldn't take it! Fortunately they didn't.
So, what have I done this year? I cleaned out the garage. Why, you ask? Because it was driving me CRAZY! I couldn't get the bikes out, I couldn't get to the tool box, there were leaves and dirt everywhere, I had to squeeze along the side of the van to get out of the garage. It was time...and Rich was gone...I now could throw things away without a barage of questions about why I was throwing away that empty trampoline box from 3 years ago!
It looks so much better, but I'm afraid we still can't get Rich's car in the garage...maybe he can figure out how....I think we'll need to move the generator and it'll work. Rich will need to hang those bike hooks where you can hang your bike upside down and that'll help, too.
I also cleaned out the kids' rooms...I can do that when they're not here..."Oh! I've been looking for that (insert whatever that might be...car, Barbie, etc.) for six months. Thanks for finding it, Mom." Ummm...I don't think so...they don't need it....it's going to the garage sale bag...which I now have at least 2 dozen bags...and I HATE garage sales! Something traumatic must've happened when I was a child.
I got to watch "grown up movies," eat whatever I wanted to eat, be master of the remote (sweet) and not have to answer to anyone for a glorious Memorial Day weekend.
It's definitely enough time...just a weekend would be too short...I always need that extra day...and now I'm refreshed and ready to tackle the summer! Bring it on!
posted by Shelley of The Faust Five | 2:35 PM
1 Comments:
This sounds like an excellent idea. I especially like the part about getting to use the remote. ;-) ~Kim B.
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