Just to Catch You Up

My life has been fluctuating between extremely boring, incredibly dramatic, and very comedic.  Basically, its a Woody Allen movie.

For the entire month of July, I let a friend in need stay with me.  While at the time that she and her 2 teenagers moved in with us on July 6th, it appeared that her marriage was headed in only one direction -- divorce.  After a month of late night therapy on my front porch and some serious efforts from her estranged husband, she and her kids are back home and they are starting counseling.  I sincerely hope that they can work it out.  I hope that they can both make the necessary changes in themselves to make their marriage work because I never want to see a marriage end. It was more drama than this mama has seen in a long time, and made me thankful that my husband and I have the relationship that we do.  (I mean, he loves me so much that he let my friend and her kids move in with us for a month!  He's a keeper for sure!)

On the first of August, I went on a vacation with my parents.  It was really nice.  We stayed in a cabin in the woods.  There was only one problem with the cabin -- the water.  It was slimy.  And it smelled.  So we complained to the management office.  We weren't brave enough to drink it, or cook with it. but bathing was another story because we couldn't exactly fill a tub up with Dasani.  We were discussing all of the possibilities when my dad busts out with THIS lovely theory as I stand there towel drying my hair:  "I think its probably a dead animal in their well."  I thought I was going to throw up.  Luckily, that wasn't it.  The maintenance guy came and told us that all of the rain that they had had in recent weeks had flooded the tanks and that the filtering and chemicals that they added to the water had messed up somehow.  Basically, the balance was off.  But we still didn't drink it.  

The only other problem with the cabin was the inevitable critters in the walls and ceiling -- in my room.  Right over my bed in fact.  And that didn't really bother me until the second night when my room took on the distinct odor of urine.  Yep, rodent urine.  We never saw them, but we smelled them and heard them.  But it was a cabin in the middle of NOWHERE so I really wasn't surprised, and I burned some candles and sprayed some air freshener and dealt with it.  

And my parents and I got along too -- for the most part.  In fact, most of the problems were with the intelligence (or lack there of) of the various staff that we encountered.  For example, we were in south Georgia, in August, and we attended this circus that the University of Florida students put on every Summer. In a tent.  In the middle of the afternoon.  It was about 90 degrees outside, but in the tent, it was about 4,782 degrees Fahrenheit.  There were these HUGE box fans behind the stands, but they weren't on.  About halfway through the circus (which wasn't nearly as good as advertised, by the way), I got up and asked why the fans weren't on.  I was met with "Are you sure that they aren't on?"  Ummm, yeah.  I'm pretty sure that I would notice if they were.  Then later, I tried to purchase time for my 2 oldest on this huge bouncy thing in the middle of the lake.  It was $10 each, for one hour, and started on the hour.  After I had paid, she said that they couldn't go out there now -- it was 4:10.  They'd have to wait until 5:00.  I told her that I didn't mind, but she said that it would "confuse the guys monitoring it.  So I told her that I needed a refund because we wouldn't be there until 6:00.  I had given her a $10 and a $20 (with tax it was like $21.60).  So when I wanted to get a refund, I thought, hand back the change that she had given me along with the arm bands and she would give me back my $10 and my $20.  Simple.  No.  Not simple.  This is kinda how it went down:

Me: Yeah, we can't do that, because I am not sure that we will be here until 6:00.  Here, just take this and give me my $30 back.

Her:  

Me: Do you see what I'm saying?

Her: I'll have to put it in the system.

She then stares in confusion at the computer screen for a few minutes, hands me back my change again, and then proceeds to count out $21.60.  Then asks for the $1 in change and hands me a $1 bill back. I just stared at her as I was now holding a $20, a $5, and 5 $1's.

Me: I don't understand.  Why couldn't you just give me back the $10 and $20 I gave you?

Her:  Because I had to see it for it to make sense.  You know?

At which point, my 9 year old who had witnessed the whole thing said "That doesn't make any sense."

Indeed.

But other than the water, the rodents, and the idiots, it was a good trip.  

My kids start school next week.  All of them.  For the first time since 2001, I will be kid free 5 days a week, from 7-3.  I'm kind of giddy.  I expect that there will be a post about it later.