O...Just....CRAP

I'm in a bad mood. Therefore read the following whiny post at your own peril. This is one of those crappy days someone needs to do a "RESTART" to.

It's the WRONG time of the month. Let's just start with that.

Winter is baaaaaack. And it's DARK and COLD and WET outside. I wondered if I was in Seattle when I woke up this morning and DH wondered if he was in Manchester (the UK version of Seattle).

It's Sunday (start of the work week). Ugh.

I'm tired.

My sprained ankle still hurts.

I got to work today and the computers were down for the first 2 hours of the day. It's like being without air.

Some "outside people" are here at work today to review the filing for one of the studies I'm responsible for. I have a feeling it's not going well and I dread to hear what the findings are.

On the bright side....

A funny from DD8:

One night last week DH had gone out to pick up DD16 from a friend's house. I was getting the little ones in bed in the meantime. 

DD8: "I hear Abba and T coming."

Me: "You do?"

DD8: "Yes. I have ears like an elephant. I can hear a fly fart in Africa." <giggle>

WHERE does she get her material from??

This week is "New Apartment Key Week"!!!!!!!!!!! Our sellers are moving out on Weds. so we should get the key to our new apartment on Thurs. or Fri. Hurrah! Then we are going to have to get in there and make some renovation decisions FAST. We have one month to go before we move in.

"Warts" - Live with 'Em? Or Change 'Em?

Our city has an Internet message board which my husband started and of which he is the moderator. At times some heated exchanges take place on this board between residents of the city over various matters.

The newest gripe to be aired on this message board was started by someone complaining about the minuscule size of the new street signs - when street signs exist - and needing a telescope to even read them or the street signs being obscured by foliage that hasn't been cut back enough and the like. This was the start of the thread.

To which another woman (who I actually know and who lives on our street) responded today:
"Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch! In 65 short years has accomplished what no other nation has!!! We went from being nothing, to being a prosperous, strong, independent country. So what if street signs are not to everybody's
satisfaction? We excell in so many other fields. Let's be thankful for this piece of land that is ours! We're here by choice!!!!!!!!!!" 

This post went unsigned by its author which irked me as did the tone of her post. She is right to some extent. I guess it's just how it was stated.

I am nothing if not a writer. I know this is a strong point of mine. Always has been. But this was only driven home to me yet again after receiving floods of thank yous from others on the message board for the following response which I dashed off to the anonymous poster above and posted publicly. Here's what I said:

"Yes we're here by choice but just because we are here by choice and glad of it does not mean we have to or should close our eyes to the place's "warts". It does not mean that we have to suffer the status quo in silence or refrain from trying to improving the place, refrain from requiring some streamlining of existing methods or refrain from introducing some good old fashioned niceties and conveniences! We Anglos have a lot to offer on all fronts since we know something different which is - dare I say it? - occasionally better."

I am glad I was able to respond respectfully and yet still say what I meant in a concise manner and it seems to have hit home with many who feel as I do.

Dogs...Hmmmmm

The girls have begun pestering DH about wanting a dog. They had a good go at him on Shabbat. To the point where he said, "We have a lot of work coming up what with the move and getting settled and all. Let's get through that and talk again." Does that sound like a "maybe" to you?

Then this morning he came to me and whispered that the upstairs neighbor lady's daughter had found a German Shepherd and they were looking for a home for it. He said he was thinking of going to look at it just so he could say "Nah!" LOL

We had a quick whispered talk about it in the kitchen. I said I would tend not to go for a purebred. Plenty of mutts waiting for homes without breeding more. German Shepherds have genetic problems with their back legs and also since E is afraid of dogs probably best not to get a large one like that. If we ever got a dog and if the girls intend walking it, it needs to be a size that they can control on a leash. Also smaller dogs eat less and can get enough exercise in an apartment.

I have very mixed feelings about getting a dog. IF we ever did, I'm saying. Nice in theory but....they are a lot of work as well. I definitely would NOT get a puppy. I do not have time or energy to deal with housebreaking and getting my possessions chewed up. I do NOT have time to walk anything in the mornings. And thinking of having to walk it in the cold and rain and get up early on Shabbatot to walk it and up and down 4 flights of stairs on Shabbat.....Am I nuts?

The plus side could be that it would afford the kids hours of endless fun with no effort from me. Yeah. But it could also just add to the existing chaos in our house.

Can you tell I'm of two minds? I guess like DH says best to get through the move and then think again.

Pesach Vacation Summary

Here I am back at work after being off work quite a lot due to Pesach (Passover). I've had a raging migraine since yesterday that still hasn't gone away even after taking something for it on two occasions since last night.

The kids were all off school for 2 1/2 weeks or so and I must be the only mom in the country who delights in school holidays. Just means the mornings are all my own for getting myself ready for work. They've been staying up WAAAAY later than I normally let them and therefore sleeping in later. So I have a full, delicious hour in the mornings during school holidays to shower, get dressed, do my makeup, etc. No kids to argue with over what they'll be wearing, no one's hair to fix, no homework to hound them about, no food fights in the morning over what, exactly, they will let me put in their pita and will actually agree to eat. Bliss!

The kids go back to school tomorrow. Which leaves me counting the minutes until the end of June and the start of summer vacation.

Pesach seemed to be all chag and no chol hamoed of which there were only 2 days. I worked one full day of chol hamoed and was off the other and that day was really nice. We all attended Y's acrobatics competition in the morning and then myself and my three offspring betook ourselves to the beach for about 3 hours followed up with a stop at IKEA for a cheap, kosher for Passover dinner out. The beach and the weather were heavenly. Cool breeze, warm sun. I think the water was too cold still to go in and I wasn't really interested in that anyway. Thankfully, the 2 little ones are getting old enough now where they are prepared to play in the surf themselves and I'm not too worried about them as long as they are in my line of vision. Far more relaxing for me this way than when they were younger and expected me to carry them into the surf, sit beside them, dig sand pits and tunnels with them. I hope to go back to the beach often but then again I say that every summer and it doesn't happen as often as I'd like somehow.

Shabbat of Pesach was....Shabbat. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then DH had the bright idea of inviting his mother BACK to us for chag sheini (last day of Passover) because his 2 married kids and 3 grandkids were coming for dinner and he thought his mom would like to see them all. Great in theory. Bad in reality. I was peopled out by this time. MIL is a nice lady and all but irks me no end. She lurks, hulks, hovers, whatever you want to call it. She's very critical in her dry British way which gets old and she's hard of hearing so it's impossible to have a conversation with her when you have to say everything 3 times before she gets it. In the end, I just left DH to deal with her and spent a lot of the day in bed in my room or out in the park with DS4. Just couldn't deal. I'm sure MIL thinks I'm the rudest person on the planet for ignoring her and goodness knows what she's told the rest of the family about me but.....too bad. I gotta do what I gotta do to cope, right?

So here we are back at work, catching up on 5 days worth of emails and slowly getting back into the swing.