My 36 Hour Vacation

 I got home from work on Wednesday night after working a double shift Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Only worked a Tuesday night shift but headed back for one more double on Wednesday. When I got home I felt like screaming like the above photo "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I changed into a sweat shirt and pajama pants and hit the sack. I woke up Thursday morning to the sound of Tim taking Massey to school and meandered downstairs to the sofa in  the living room and pulled a blanket over my head. There! I DID something.

That was the last thing I did for the next ten hours, unless you count rolling over or hollering for someone to bring me a glass of iced tea or rub my back. I moved to the living room because it is on the second floor of the house and when I holler for something,  whether they are downstairs OR upstairs they can't say they don't hear me. I will have to admit the family was pretty decent to me while I was on the couch for my 36 hour stay cation. I didn't leave the house once, didn't comb my hair or brush my teeth.  When I got hungry they brought me a snack, when I got thirsty they brought me some juice or tea (of course I am sure they rolled their eyes and stuck their tongue out in my general direction) but they know when I crash like I did...I NEED IT!

They came and went about as I lay on the couch watching (sometimes snoring through) the same CNN news for hours on end. Zach went and picked Massey up from school for me and I struggled to the kitchen to throw a roast in  the oven and was back in a coma on my comfy couch before he got back with her.

I continued my zombie state until seven o'clock when Massey had the nerve to say she was hungry.

I rolled my eyes when she wasn't looking and dragged myself to the kitchen and made gravy from the roast in the oven , cooked some rice and field peas and even cooked some carrots. It was the longest thirty minutes of my life. When the dishes were done I was exhausted and crept back up to the living room and "Resumed the position."

This morning I woke to Tim once again taking Massey to school and think I may have heard the word "Bum" tossed around but figured they must have been talking about one of the dogs and rolled over and went back to sleep. Tim got home from taking Massey to school and I remembered it was his day off..."BINGO!"

I hollered upstairs and asked (kinda) nicely for a cup of coffee ... heard him let out a big sigh but ten minutes later he brought me a steaming cup full of sugar and loaded with cream (love me some kiddie coffee.)

He hadn't been upstairs five minutes when I hollered up again "Dang it's cold down here can you bring me a comforter?" He looked like he wanted to smother my face with it as he walked down the stairs but at the last second draped it quite nicely across me and I settled back in for a nice morning nap.

Zach wanted to borrow my car so I bargained that he could as long as he picked Massey up from school at 3:30. He had already cooked me a cinnamon raisin English muffin (although he DID just bring it to me in his hand, no plate no napkin... at least he he toasted it.)

I heard murmuring upstairs and Zach left saying "Dad will pick Massey up."

Okay, so I still had Tim there.
About 2 o'clock I bellowed up the stairs from my position on the couch that some heated up left overs would be really nice. I knew I was pushing it but I only had three hours left in my staycation, I had to work at 5:30.

Ole Timmy boy came through for me like a champ. Of course by  this time every one was ready for me to go back to work, but when I finally crash...I crash, HARD.

He went and picked Massey up and I rolled back over to keep myself from developing bed sores. I didn't crawl off the couch until after 4:30 when Massey screamed from downstairs it was time for me to get up. I rolled over once again and woke back up when Tim hollered from upstairs that it was 4:40. I hollered back upstairs that if he ironed my work shirt for me I could sleep five more minutes.

So I abused my family for 36 hours...they have abused me for 23 years.

I didn't want to get up but when I stood  and felt woozy from being vertical I knew I had rested enough. I only had to limp through a night shift but had a double shift Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Sometimes I just need to check out of life for a day (or 36 hours) and  can come back strong(er.)

My family depends on me...I have created a "Momster."

At least when I finally tucker out they all realize that they can either pamper me for a few hours or be left to do it all for themselves ALL the time.

It was a great staycation. I can tell you about every update on the Penn State debacle (which BTW chaps my already bed sore a**) and catch you up on General Hospital , my previously recorded episodes of Parenthood and tell you the weather outlook for the next week "Verbatim."

Now I am back! I feel rested I feel renewed and ready to go.

A big shout out to my FAM for loving ME when I needed some loving!



Til next time a rested and LOVED COTTON

Best Keep My Day Job

The top picture was taken by my brother on his phone Thanksgiving at my sister's house. The video was shot in my kitchen night before last while cooking. Thank goodness Massey didn't spot me singing until the song was almost over because I was belting it out pretty good . You don't hear my favorite songs on the radio much. American Pie is one of my favorites and the other is Creep by Radiohead. You should see me on Rock band singing "Creep" those guys NEED me in their band if only for this one song! "Creep" is the ring tone on my phone... unlike my husband's ring tone. You know the one, sounds like a phone ringing from the sixties. When his phone rings we say "Your Gran ma's phone's ringing." Of course by this point in life he tends to just ignore our sarcastic comments.

I have been busy typing up a few of my favorite blogs and have decided to start submitting them to anyone that will accept the envelope. After posting that on Facebook, I had 22 notifications of support and encouragement from friends. That was a pretty awesome feeling.

Yeah, life sucks right now...but at least I am alive and loved, two pretty good things to have in my corner at this crossroad in my life.

Work has me a nervous wreck...I am being watched constantly by the managers and have lost all faith in myself as a server (the one thing I thought I WAS good at.) It's hard to shake off bad vibes and on top of that knowing that I absolutely HAVE to keep my job right now doesn't help.

I have veins that seem ready to cause an embolism at any moment...gray hairs growing faster than a Chia pet and a job that I now hate going in to.

On the flip side I have a family that loves me and a network of friends that keep me going and make it all worth it.

I decided to answer the phone call from Chase last night...usually I don't. I talked to the guy til I was blue in the face and he probably quit his job when he got off the phone with me. He told me at one point early on that he wanted to help me and I told him that getting rid of our interest rate would help quite a bit. I explained our situation and told him that I was paying my mortgage, utilities and car insurance before his company even crossed my mind. I told him why should I send a minimum payment to them when 98% of it went to interest. I told him I felt like I was spinning my wheels and just flinging mud up. I also told him we haven't even used the card in over a year but with our situation had simply gotten behind.

After using my PHD in BS for half an hour I got the interest rate knocked to 2% for a year. I got really lucky with this guy, he was actually pretty nice and ended up helping me out quite a bit (even though they make BUTT LOADS of money off people like us) and it felt good to explode on someone who couldn't fire me or even see me.

Now if I can just find someone who thinks my writing is worth publishing maybe I can move my life in the direction I want it to go.

HEY! Maybe I can do a blog for Chase or Citi Card...I know, how about a Wells Fargo blog ?

Til next time...Cotton

The Worker

Zach has taken on a job with my neighbor and co worker. She has 3 small children and someone gave them a play set for their back yard. It sits right by the woods at the back of their yard and she needed someone to clear the woods from around the play set.

It's a pretty big job but Zach wants to pay me back for paying his fine . It doesn't help that he sleeps til noon before going over to her house and it gets dark before six but he is on day three and has made a lot of progress. Unfortunately when he completes the brush removal he still has to cut her lawn and bag all the clippings from the front and back yard.

I decided that I will ride my lawnmower over tomorrow when I get off work and cut the front and back for him and then all he'll have to do is rake and bag.

He has done a pretty decent job and she is going to pay him $100.00 when he finishes.

My only worry is that it may take him two weeks to get it all done. He's not the fire ball of energy that I am ...he takes his time doing every thing and moves slowly and methodically.

He said when I called home from work that he worked til dark and told them he would be back tomorrow after school. Let's see, he gets home at 4... takes him til ten after to get down the driveway and into the house...another ten minutes to eat a snack, about 8 minutes to walk to her house in the sub division behind me. That leaves him about 45 minutes of daylight to work.

Maybe I can get him a coal miner's hat with a light on top so he can work past six. I asked him when I took him over today if he needed any tools out of our garage to help. He said no, they had all the same kind of clippers and tools we have except all of theirs were sharp. Let me point out all my clippers and hedgers WERE sharp until my kids left them all out in the rain time after time or back in the woods for weeks at a time when building forts and such in the woods behind my own house.

Zach is a skinny kid but he is scrappy. It has been good to see him go over day after day and do some manual labor for a change. He hasn't complained once and I take him lunch and drinks over every day. I figure at the rate he is going the swing set will be usable by the first of Spring.

He still reminds me of the little boy he was in the above picture. A "Thinker."

At least now he is a "Working Thinker."
Til next time....COTTON

BATH TIME !

Boy, do I NEED a bath! I took a rare Sunday off because number one: I needed a "mental health" day, number two: a co worker called and begged me for the shift and number three: I had yard work to do!

Now that I am getting paid to keep the front entrance to the subdivision neat and trim, I intend to do just that.

I had yesterday off, but it turned out to be a wash. First off, I slept til noon. After nine straight days working I needed the rest. Then my husband reminded me that we had to go to a wedding in Athens for a good friend of his' daughter . I tried to get out of going, but after really ticking my husband off decided that I couldn't back out .

Massey went with us (of course) and the wedding was held at the Botanical Garden in Athens. It was beautiful. A chapel nestled in the woods full of nothing but windows and skylights...all you could see from the inside of the chapel was nature at every turn. After the ceremony, we all took the path from the chapel to the conservatory for the reception. The path was full of every flower, plant and herb you can imagine. The conservatory was magnificent and a perfect place for a reception. We had originally planned to leave right after the ceremony to go eat at the Varsity, but once the chafing dishes were uncovered, quickly decided to stay. Quail, roast beef, turkey, crab cakes, mashed potatoes, grits, tomato and mozzarella salad, lobster dip, fresh vegetables, fruit, yeast rolls and free wine screamed "PLEASE STAY!"

I had four plates of food and a glass of chardonnay. Massey and I both slept on the way home and enjoyed the trip back home immensely.

We left home at 4 and got back after 10...after sleeping til noon I had shot the entire day. That is why I decided I needed to take Sunday off as well.

One day to please the hubby, one day to please myself.

I got up this morning and gassed up my John "Dear" and headed to the front of our subdivision. There's really not much to cut on the mower because a lot of it is down in a ditch on both sides of the entrance. It is more weed eating than anything...but that is the exercise I enjoy the most. My stinkin' weed eater's 'fender' fell off (the thing that keeps grass and tiny rocks from flying into your face.) I went to Walmart to discover they don't sell spare guards, went to Lowes to find the same. Finally went to Home Depot to find ANY kind of part that might work.

I went to garden... got sent to hardware and back to electrical to finally find a guy nice enough to at least 'try' to rig my weed eater. We decided on some clamps that hold electrical wiring conduits and I took them home to try and fix my baby.

Two hours later, my son came into the garage and asked if I needed the duct tape. He's so funny that I forgot to laugh, but I think the look on my face and the grease on my hands told him it was a good time for him to go back inside the house.

I went to my older (really older) neighbors house to borrow his weed eater but his is an electric and unless I had enough drop cords to wire a Pink Floyd concert...I was out of luck.

I called my 'next door husband' but he was obviously screening his calls in case I needed him AGAIN. I have abused this man so much I expect to wake up any morning to the sound of him putting up the "Great Wall" between his house and mine.

But he called me back and told me that he wasn't home but I could use his weed eater that was in his shed.

So on my fourth trip back to the front of the subdivision, I finally got the job done. I am so proud that I may go up there tomorrow and take a couple of pictures to post just so you can see how great it looks!

When I came back home, my husband said "I thought you said you needed a day off for yourself."

You know, it may sound crazy...but it WAS for me.

To drive into my subdivision and see it looking trim and neat makes my day!

Tomorrow ...my own yard !

Tonight...my own bubble bath.

Til next time....COTTON

PS this pic is another one of my faves...Zach in a bubble bath at his Aunt Cin's house when he was six