Sunday Morning Comin' Down ...
May. 31st, 2009 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
texchanI've managed to reach the end of my weekend as a "single parent". Hubby will be back kind of late Monday night, but I'm ready for him to come home. I don't like it when he's out of town. Totally selfish of me, but ... there 'ya go.
Even so, I've survived the weekend quite nicely. Believe me, I had my doubts from the get-go. I was worried about doing the b-day party on Saturday. I was worried about having to deal with all the rain on Friday. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You name it, I was a bit stressed about it. I think part of it is that I'm just kind of high strung. (Yeah, I know this comes as a HUGE surprise to the folks who've read my LJ before. >.O =D) But in way that makes me really hard on myself while cutting others a HUGE amount of slack. I definitely need to work on having more confidence in myself and my abilities.
Today was kind of a weird day. Not bad weird ... just kind of surreal, I guess. I finally fell asleep this morning around 5 AM. Kiddo got up at 10:30 AM, so it wasn't too horrible. I managed to get 5 and a half hours of sleep, which is enough for me to run on for the day. We got up and did some stuff in one of her workbooks. (Her choice of what to do, not mine.) But, it was pleasant to spend time together like that. Then, we headed off to McDonald's for lunch.
Mickey D's was kind of crowded when we got there, which surprised me -- although this particular location has a small seating area. We found a seat at the back of the restaurant, got our food, and started eating. I was done and kiddo was almost done when this man came in. He didn't look totally "right", but, at the same time, he didn't really look homeless, either. Kind of in-between. He came in to the trash can near our table, opened it up, and took a cup and some food out of there. He grabbed a tray off the top of the trash can, put the food on there, went to fill his cup at the soda fountain -- as well as getting some of the different sauces, which he put right on the tray. He came back and started eating his trash food. Really, I didn't think much about it. I figured: OK, maybe he is homeless. And if that's the only way he can get by, then that's what he has to do. I thought about buying an extra burger to give to him, but just as I was about to get up to do that, his cell phone rang. O_O Yeah -- he had a cell phone. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the caller ID, then set it on the table without answering it. So now I'm more creeped out than feeling sympathetic for the guy. Then he starts talking to himself, and he kept looking over at our table. I wasn't watching him or looking at him, but I could see him turning his head in our direction out of my peripheral vision. I feel like a jerk, but I could not get out of there fast enough. I rushed kiddo through the rest of her meal, dumped our trash, and bolted for the door. If I had been by myself, I don't think I would have been so creeped out. But it's a totally different dynamic when I have my daughter with me.
The kiddo didn't notice any of the man's weird behavior, which is lucky, as she's only five and can't keep her mouth shut. We're still working on getting those social graces down pat. *laughs* So, we headed to the grocery store with her none the wiser.
Grocery store wasn't horrible. I mean, it's the grocery store, so it's never fantastic. Kiddo had a wonderful time, though. She helped me push the basket (which is kind of a pain but keeps her entertained and close by), and she made up songs and little dances about what she was doing. It was pretty funny. I even sang along for a bit. Hey, might as well try to make it fun, right? We got to the check-out stand with our basket full (of course), and got in line. There was an older lady in front of us, and she said hi to my daughter, then pulled a little container of bubbles out of her bag and blew bubbles for my kiddo. Kiddo loved it, and the lady gave them to her. Kiddo and I both thanked her. Then, she (the lady) told me all about the different things she does ... about a certain tv station she loves to watch b/c it has foreign programming ... etc, etc, etc. She talked pretty much nonstop until she was done checking out. Which doesn't bother me so much. I mean, I'm from Texas. People there do that kind of thing when waiting in line. Now that we live in Virginia, it doesn't happen as often, but it happens every once in a blue moon. Plus, I figured she was probably lonely.
I finally picked up my reusable grocery bags at the store today. It sounds totally dorky, but I'm really pumped about having them. I got three of them. They hold a LOT, and all my week's worth of groceries pretty much fit in there, which meant I only had to make two trips up the stairs to the second floor -- as opposed to my normal 5-10, if I had used the plastic bags. I recycle my plastic bags, by the way. But this will be much better. Fewer trips up the stairs, easier than having to remember to take the bags to recycle. A definite win-win all around.
Then, when we were leaving the store -- in the car and pulling out of our parking space -- I saw the man who had been in line behind us. He was a good ten years older than me (and I'm no spring chicken any more!), and I saw him riding his shopping cart down the parking aisle to his car. Totally cracked me up.
We got home, put away stuff, and called my dad. His birthday is today, and kiddo sang happy birthday to him over the phone. I'm sure that totally made his whole day. He almost didn't get to hear it, though, because she had started to sing, then he told my mom to get on the phone to listen, too. My mom, of course, wanted my daughter to start over. At first, kiddo was like: forget it, I'm not singing this song over and over. (Really, I can't blame her. It was a sweet thing that she wanted to do, but them forcing her to "perform" kind of takes that innocent intent out of it.) But, I talked her into it so it turned out OK.
After the phone call, we did some more work book stuff. Then headed outside for a bit. I trimmed my roses back. They were gorgeous, then we had those pounding storms on Friday, as well as storms very early this AM, so my poor roses pretty much got beaten all to heck. They look better now, though. Kiddo blew bubbles and drew chalk pictures in the driveway.
Right now, she's in the bath -- to be followed by dinner, then probably a movie. I think we will watch My Neighbor Totoro together. Unless kiddo gets bored with it. If she does, we'll find something else. Not like we're lacking for DVDs around here.
I love days like today -- just casual, kind of slow-moving, family days. I haven't had a day like this in a long time, so it was really refreshing to do this. Hopefully, I'll be able to start next week relatively relaxed -- although tomorrow is going to be a pain. I want to get the house straightened up for hubby's homecoming. It's always nice to come home to a clean, straightened house. (I should know. I never get to when I travel, since I'm the one who does all the housework. >.O)
I know there was more I intended to say, but this ended up being longer than I had expected. So I'll leave the rest for tomorrow. Or another day.
Even so, I've survived the weekend quite nicely. Believe me, I had my doubts from the get-go. I was worried about doing the b-day party on Saturday. I was worried about having to deal with all the rain on Friday. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You name it, I was a bit stressed about it. I think part of it is that I'm just kind of high strung. (Yeah, I know this comes as a HUGE surprise to the folks who've read my LJ before. >.O =D) But in way that makes me really hard on myself while cutting others a HUGE amount of slack. I definitely need to work on having more confidence in myself and my abilities.
Today was kind of a weird day. Not bad weird ... just kind of surreal, I guess. I finally fell asleep this morning around 5 AM. Kiddo got up at 10:30 AM, so it wasn't too horrible. I managed to get 5 and a half hours of sleep, which is enough for me to run on for the day. We got up and did some stuff in one of her workbooks. (Her choice of what to do, not mine.) But, it was pleasant to spend time together like that. Then, we headed off to McDonald's for lunch.
Mickey D's was kind of crowded when we got there, which surprised me -- although this particular location has a small seating area. We found a seat at the back of the restaurant, got our food, and started eating. I was done and kiddo was almost done when this man came in. He didn't look totally "right", but, at the same time, he didn't really look homeless, either. Kind of in-between. He came in to the trash can near our table, opened it up, and took a cup and some food out of there. He grabbed a tray off the top of the trash can, put the food on there, went to fill his cup at the soda fountain -- as well as getting some of the different sauces, which he put right on the tray. He came back and started eating his trash food. Really, I didn't think much about it. I figured: OK, maybe he is homeless. And if that's the only way he can get by, then that's what he has to do. I thought about buying an extra burger to give to him, but just as I was about to get up to do that, his cell phone rang. O_O Yeah -- he had a cell phone. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the caller ID, then set it on the table without answering it. So now I'm more creeped out than feeling sympathetic for the guy. Then he starts talking to himself, and he kept looking over at our table. I wasn't watching him or looking at him, but I could see him turning his head in our direction out of my peripheral vision. I feel like a jerk, but I could not get out of there fast enough. I rushed kiddo through the rest of her meal, dumped our trash, and bolted for the door. If I had been by myself, I don't think I would have been so creeped out. But it's a totally different dynamic when I have my daughter with me.
The kiddo didn't notice any of the man's weird behavior, which is lucky, as she's only five and can't keep her mouth shut. We're still working on getting those social graces down pat. *laughs* So, we headed to the grocery store with her none the wiser.
Grocery store wasn't horrible. I mean, it's the grocery store, so it's never fantastic. Kiddo had a wonderful time, though. She helped me push the basket (which is kind of a pain but keeps her entertained and close by), and she made up songs and little dances about what she was doing. It was pretty funny. I even sang along for a bit. Hey, might as well try to make it fun, right? We got to the check-out stand with our basket full (of course), and got in line. There was an older lady in front of us, and she said hi to my daughter, then pulled a little container of bubbles out of her bag and blew bubbles for my kiddo. Kiddo loved it, and the lady gave them to her. Kiddo and I both thanked her. Then, she (the lady) told me all about the different things she does ... about a certain tv station she loves to watch b/c it has foreign programming ... etc, etc, etc. She talked pretty much nonstop until she was done checking out. Which doesn't bother me so much. I mean, I'm from Texas. People there do that kind of thing when waiting in line. Now that we live in Virginia, it doesn't happen as often, but it happens every once in a blue moon. Plus, I figured she was probably lonely.
I finally picked up my reusable grocery bags at the store today. It sounds totally dorky, but I'm really pumped about having them. I got three of them. They hold a LOT, and all my week's worth of groceries pretty much fit in there, which meant I only had to make two trips up the stairs to the second floor -- as opposed to my normal 5-10, if I had used the plastic bags. I recycle my plastic bags, by the way. But this will be much better. Fewer trips up the stairs, easier than having to remember to take the bags to recycle. A definite win-win all around.
Then, when we were leaving the store -- in the car and pulling out of our parking space -- I saw the man who had been in line behind us. He was a good ten years older than me (and I'm no spring chicken any more!), and I saw him riding his shopping cart down the parking aisle to his car. Totally cracked me up.
We got home, put away stuff, and called my dad. His birthday is today, and kiddo sang happy birthday to him over the phone. I'm sure that totally made his whole day. He almost didn't get to hear it, though, because she had started to sing, then he told my mom to get on the phone to listen, too. My mom, of course, wanted my daughter to start over. At first, kiddo was like: forget it, I'm not singing this song over and over. (Really, I can't blame her. It was a sweet thing that she wanted to do, but them forcing her to "perform" kind of takes that innocent intent out of it.) But, I talked her into it so it turned out OK.
After the phone call, we did some more work book stuff. Then headed outside for a bit. I trimmed my roses back. They were gorgeous, then we had those pounding storms on Friday, as well as storms very early this AM, so my poor roses pretty much got beaten all to heck. They look better now, though. Kiddo blew bubbles and drew chalk pictures in the driveway.
Right now, she's in the bath -- to be followed by dinner, then probably a movie. I think we will watch My Neighbor Totoro together. Unless kiddo gets bored with it. If she does, we'll find something else. Not like we're lacking for DVDs around here.
I love days like today -- just casual, kind of slow-moving, family days. I haven't had a day like this in a long time, so it was really refreshing to do this. Hopefully, I'll be able to start next week relatively relaxed -- although tomorrow is going to be a pain. I want to get the house straightened up for hubby's homecoming. It's always nice to come home to a clean, straightened house. (I should know. I never get to when I travel, since I'm the one who does all the housework. >.O)
I know there was more I intended to say, but this ended up being longer than I had expected. So I'll leave the rest for tomorrow. Or another day.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-01 03:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-01 07:12 pm (UTC)It was a very busy weekend and a really busy day on Sunday. But busy in a good way. =)