Rudeness

I am in.a.mood. 

My basic demeanor lends me toward being happy. I get stressed and anxious, sure. I worry about stuff that I can't control and I think I might be a little on the hyper side. For the most part I identify myself as a happy person. I let things roll off my back.  I go with the flow.  And sometimes... rude people really piss me off.

So I went to Wal-Mart.  This goes against my rule of "Never go to Wal-Mart on the weekend because all the crazies are there and Rebecca, you are simply going to get irritated."  I really should just FOLLOW my rules and life would be good.  But I had already been to Publix today, and another of my crazy character traits is I get all weird about going to the same store twice in one day.  I don't know why I care. It doesn't even matter.  Anyway, needed a couple of things I had forgotten and went on to the store. 

The situation that occurred had nothing to do with Wal-Mart. It had to do with some crazy lady who was determined to get a parking space.   My philosophy on parking is I'd rather walk than stalk a spot and wait for someone to unload their stuff.  Walking is HEALTHY.  Waiting is kind of a waste of time. And time is precious because due to my inability to organize and remember what I need to buy on a given day I seem to never have enough.

So here's what happened.  I am driving in the parking lot looking for a space.  Not necessarily a close space just a space.  I rounded the corner and there was a car pulling out.  There was also a car that had fully passed the car pulling out just sitting there.  In the way, so the guy couldn't even pull out.  I sat there and waited for the lady to pull on up and go for the next space, but she didn't. I guess in her mind she got their first.  In my mind she needed to move on because she was past the point of no return. Right? Am I wrong?  So I sat there and felt my blood pressure rise because I don't do confrontation but I felt this very strong urge to stand my ground.  She waved me to go around her and I smiled and waved that she should go on.  She glared at me. I sat there. Then she started backing up all the while glaring at me as if to bully me to move.  I continued to stand my ground and then she did something I couldn't believe.  Maybe it's just because I couldn't pull this particular backing up maneuver.. or maybe that I would never, ever have the audacity to do this... she swerved around me and continued backing. There wasn't room for her there.  I was scared the crazy lady was going to hit me at this point and ended up honking my horn and moving on. You should have seen the look on her face when I honked. As if I was the unreasonable one here.

My analysis of this situation (because oh my goodness, I am the Queen of rehashing and over analysis) is as follows:

1. She was crazy.  Or maybe not. Maybe she just really wanted that parking space.  She was thin, so I doubt she was lazy. Perhaps it was because she had gotten there first.  Yet, the rule I follow is if I am past the space when I see the person is leaving and someone is behind me I figure it's my loss and the next guy gets the space.

2. The poor guy who was trapped in the parking space was probably doubly annoyed at our little standoff.  And rightly so.

3.  I completely overreacted. 

I was so embarrassed that I didn't even go into Wal-Mart. I ran into CVS on the way home since I really only needed a couple of things.

I am slightly irritated that I ended up bailing out.  But clearly this other lady wasn't backing down. She's probably celebrating her victory right now. The funny thing is I didn't even care about the parking space (really!)  I just was so appalled at her bossy, rude behavior.  In the end, none of it matters. I'm laughing now at how upset I became over something so silly.  But it seems like politeness is becoming a lost art.  That's what disturbs me the most.

Summer Time Wrap Up

So this summer has been absolutely nothing like I envisioned. It  hasn't been bad, just as often happens the reality is different from the expectation.

We were going to spend lots of afternoons at the pool.  Instead, a lot of times by the time we got our chores done it was raining, so we've had to find inside stuff to do.

I had a whole schedule lined out. We were going to  have reading time every day and handwriting practice and a host of other scheduled items.  I never actually got around to any of it.  The boys did read most days because they are avid readers.

I devoted more time than I anticipated to getting paperwork ready for nursing school. Which the boys patiently endured. (Thank you boys!)

My patience has at times worn beyond thin. Then I've recovered and moved on.

The boys have fought way more than I expected. But they are learning to work these things out on their own (now to get them to work it out without smacking each other!)

The really funny thing is, that seems to happen to me often, is that we are kind of in a good groove now.  Wake up, chores, relax, go play. In the groove just in time to start back to school. I'm not ready. I think they might be though.

Puppies

So when people used to tell me having a puppy was like having a baby and I'd scoff because babies are PEOPLE and puppies are DOGS.  I still see that distinction, but I can now also totally see the parallels.  Let's explore:
Babies get you up at night. They need to eat and be changed.  You sleepily feed them and change them and if you are reallllllly lucky you can sleep for a few hours before waking up again.  I still remember this phase and it is very very hard, and completely harder than puppydom, so if you are in the middle of the newborn phase please don't take this the wrong way.  Puppies get you up at night.  They have to pee.  You have to get up, get shoes, meander outdoors and stand there while you wait for them to do their business, and then if you are lucky, they fall asleep and you can do the same.

Actually, I never ever thought I'd be so in tune with the bathroom habits of an animal. It's all consuming.  I was never actually good at potty training.  It eventually got done.  Right now we do pretty well, as long as I am very nearly OCD about what the dog is doing.  We spend a LOT of time outside.  Figuring out how to get her to "ask out" is eluding me.  I have several doggie training books on hold at the library. If books can't fix it I don't know what can!  It's not bad but I am a very type B personality, and if I have to obsess about stuff for too long it takes a toll on me. 

The rest of living with a baby dog is more like having a two year old than a newborn.  They like to chew, they love to get into stuff. Just when you thought you had everything picked up, you find them chewing on something that you missed (this may be exacerbated by the 4 boy factor.) And the energy! She runs like lightning. Then two seconds later she's out like a light. Yep, much like a little 2 year old.

But despite it all she's CUTE! And we are all a little smitten with the new little creature in our family.

Summer Time. Day 3

We are on day 3 of summer time and thank goodness it looks like it might stay dry long enough for us to get to the pool! 

Yesterday, we had some friends over because our very close friends are moving to Texas. I've known it for a while, but what I hadn't realized was that the kids were leaving yesterday to visit their dad (in Texas) and wouldn't be returning to Florida.  The kids had a great time all together, and had sandwiches, played wii, and had a water balloon fight in the rain.  (It was just a sprinkle, and they realllllly wanted to. I'm trying to be less rigid on these things and just let them do stuff. I'm glad we were able to have some fun with them before they moved away.

Today, I am sleep deprived.   When we got our cute little puppy, I forgot about the part where they have to go pee in the night. I figured, it wouldn't be a big deal though, I made it through 4 newborns after all!  I think the difference is that I could feed and diaper my babies while still half asleep. Little Clover (Cloe) has to go outside and in the process I become fully awake and it's proving difficult to go back to sleep.  Hopefully this will all resolve.  At least it's summer and we don't have to be anywhere early in the morning.  Also, she is the cutest puppy EVER so this makes it all worthwhile!

I'm not quite where I want us to be as far as summer schedule goes. I want to get up, work hard, and then play just as hard.  We are doing some work, and we've played but it's not very smooth just yet.  Hopefully we'll get there before time to go back to school.  If not, flying by the seat of my pants usually works out ok.

My goals for the early weeks of summer are:
  
Getting the kids to sleep past 7.
Getting certain ones of them to listen and do as they are told the first time.
Getting certain other ones to stop pestering their brothers.

I have a few other goals, but I need to get past these 3 first and then the others will (hopefully) fall into place.

School's Out. Day 1

The first day of summer we  have - played with our new puppy, made spy cars out of boxes, made chore charts and gone over expectations, made a "boredom jar," had lunch, and drawn the first stick out of the boredom jar. This sent Eric and Mark on a quest to draw a map of the neighborhood and hide some item for me and the little kids to find (and mark it on the map.) 

Now this little quest took some letting go on my part.  I have issues letting them out of my sight.  I did send a phone with them, so we can keep in contact.  And they just walked in so I am breathing a sigh of relief as I type. The first time they went out, Ben followed them.  I called them to see if he was with them, just as they arrived to bring him back home.  Out they went again, and then they called me to say it was raining and ask what they should do. I left it up to them, if the rain is bothersome come home, otherwise stay out. A few minutes later it was pouring and I was gathering up Zack and Ben and our tiny puppy to go pick them up.  Right that minute they walked in the door.  They put on hoodies and headed back out again.  So, now they are once again home and just handed me the map. I'm off to hunt for treasure!

The TEAS Test

I walked out of the testing center with my hands shaking and feeling a little disoriented. Thank goodness for instantaneous results or I would have been even more shaken. Throughout the test, I had to quiet the voice. You know the one... the nagging doubt. The wondering if I should even keep going. I really did not feel like I was doing well in spite of the hours of preparation I had put in. Yet, the slip of paper said I passed, and with a fairly good score. It was tough... but I did it! I scored an 84%. I submitted my application to the nursing program and now all that is left is to wait. I should hear something by the end of June. Fingers crossed!!

Jumping back in

Well, it seems like it's been awhile.  I can't believe my last post was in January.  That's about the time school started back and I had a lot of studying to do.  I pulled through the semester with As in A &P and Nutrition.  Now, for the big, bad, ugly TEAS test. I guess I'll take it Thursday.  Then all that's left is applying to the nursing program. This terrifies me! Not the actual program, but the possibility of NOT getting in, then the figuring out what to do with the boys before and after school. It's a bit overwhelming, but I really feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, so all the details will work themselves out.

ANYWAY, I'm never very good at catching up, but I'm going to jump back in here because I really do enjoy the process of blogging and telling stories, and having such a great way to look back on things. I'll tell some of the stories I missed if they come to me.

Right now, it's time to gear up for the last 3 weeks of the boys' school. Then it's summer which is both thrilling and terrifying!  I'm in an online summer class (Lifespan Development) that started last Monday (the 7th.)  Funny thing, I ordered my book on Amazon because it was super cheap. The seller shipped it on April 20th and it's lost in the mail. SO for this already fast paced class I am behind.  We are in the process of the post office tracking it down, and since I have NO faith in that happening, I ordered another book that should be here tomorrow. Then I get to play catchup, and hopefully actually learn something in the process. Thankfully, even  having to buy 2 books, the cost was less than buying it used anywhere else.  And I can probably sell the extra book back for what I paid for it. I just can't help thinking how funny it is that of all the things we order off of Amazon, the book that I need for a 6 week course ends up getting lost.  Darn post office!

The boys are doing well. We are working on issues because I came to realize that if we don't tweak some behaviors I am going to lose my mind this summer...So operation get the naughtiness under control has commenced.  And they are good boys, so hopefully it will go well. (I am optimistic to a fault!)