Possumblog

The Recap

Friday: Picked up the kids from Grandmom's and took us all over to Wally World to select a gift for the birthday kid for the party on Saturday, and also tried to take my mind off Reba and the girls' northward excursion. Found a TechDeck dude with accessories, and also got a gift bag and card. And milk. And looked both high and low for one of those little tiny handheld televisions, just in case I needed one. Sadly, none to be found--I assume this is because of the upcoming switch to HDTV or something. I don't know. Leaving there, we decided (this being the royal "we") to swing by Kmart to look there for something--of course, they had NOTHING of interest. So, on to Marconi Hut (not the real name, according to certain aardvarks) and they didn't have anything either. Although I will say if you are an attractive single woman feigning trouble with cell phone reception, you get a LOT better customer service than some old portly dude with two kids.

Gave up on that quest and decided I would be fine with my portable radio. On to home, started "supper." I don't know how they manage it, but my kids absolutely LOVE ramen noodle soup. I had so much of that in college I swore I'd never eat another bite of it after I got out, but the kids just can't seem to get enough. So, we had ramen noodle soup. Yes, I did, too. It's actually not too bad. Heard from Reba while I was cooking it up--they'd made it, although her phobia of crossing bridges kicked in with a hearty gusto. Big long George Houston bridge over Lake Guntersville, in the dark, her driving--she had a panic attack and wasn't certain she was going to be able to make it across. Of course, being REQUIRED to make it across tends to make it a bit harder to give up, so they did make it, and made it to the camp with no further drama.

To bed, then, where I tossed and turned all night.

Saturday: Up early. Not because I wanted to be. Despite my inability to sleep well due to the absence of my better half, the children, although I'm sure pining for their siblings and mother, still managed to overcome their misery through the paliative of the television, turned up loud, and through the time-honored implementation of rough-housing.

I tried my best to sleep through all this stuff, but really just couldn't. Besides, the snot fairy had come in the middle of the night and blessed me with sinuses and upper lungal tubes full of the tenaciously sticky stuff they use to glue perfume samples into magazines.

Dressed, then undressed and decided to take a shower, dried off, dressed, shaved, brushed, and started breakfast and a load of laundry. Fed the kids, did a minor repair on the Volvo (dashboard screw-tightening) and got them dressed for the party. BUT FIRST--a trip to Wal-Mart. Why? WHY NOT! Yippee!!

Actually, Reba had gone to the store before she left, and had bought Cat a couple of pairs of jeans. Without taking her along. Meaning, of course, they didn't fit. I didn't know this until Saturday morning, however. SO, back to Wal-Mart to make the exchange. A complete and utter madhouse. I imagine everyone was doing their pre-game shopping, but the place was packed. Got a refund, went and found a couple of pairs of pants that DID fit, and a couple of phone cards. Seems Oldest didn't understand that she runs out of minutes when someone calls HER! Why, the NERVE! She's very close to losing her phone privilege anyway, so it might not matter. And that's all I'll say about that.

Back to the drug store to pick up my medicine, then on back home for a bit, then down to the foot of the hill for the party. I took Rebecca's little slim portable radio with me, mainly because the big yellow Walkman I have is just a little too obtrusive. Hers had great reception, though, until I went into the building, when it went completely dead. THANK GOODNESS, they had a big projection screen set up in one end of the rink. No sound, though, except for the louder-than-a-B-52 music thumping through the place.

Cat brought along her own skates and put them on and then wanted to go play video games. Boy went on to play with his friends, so after explaining to Cat that she could not play the games in her skates, she took them off. Skeeball is her deal, and she did pretty well at it this time, although her aim was a bit off. Then, finally, I was able to pick up the station again after much fidgeting and worry, so as she did her thing, I eased over to the doorway so I could see the action way over on the big television. I only lost her a couple of times.

Then, time for the laser tag session--woo-hoo! I hadn't realized it, but the parents had unlimited access to the place, and I had gotten Catherine a wristband anyway. Oops. But they were very gracious and gave one of the all-access ones to her, so she got to go place tag with the rest of them. While they did that, I walked back out to the main floor to watch the game some more, and became something of a prophet of doom to the poor guy standing beside me who was rooting for Alabama. The CBS feed was on a five second delay--since I was listening to an undelayed radio broadcast, I was reacting to sacks and touchdowns before they took place on screen. Poor guy.

Sometime in there Catherine came and found me and was upset that she'd not known how to play with the new model laser tag guns, so she skated for a minute or two, then we ate pizza and cake and she was fine again. AND THEN IT WAS TIME FOR GO-KARTS!

Out to the track with them all, and Catherine right in the middle. She was determined to drive a go-kart, and I had more important things to do to keep up with the score, so I let them strap her in one and she took off. She had a pretty good time, although she hit the rails a couple of times, and the bouncy surface made her little legs hurt, so she had to whimper about that.

Back inside to spend the rest of their tokens, then cash in the tickets for worthless trinkets, and then to the house again, where I could watch AND listen to the game without interruption. Except for a couple of wrong numbers, which I usually don't mind that much.

Post-game, time for supper, then baths and to bed. Another long night, and another morning yesterday where I woke up being suffocated by tightly-packed sinuses.

SUNDAY: Homecoming day--they were scheduled to arrive at 12:30, didn't get home until 2:30. I was not surprised. Services were lonesome, but at least the two kids I had DID sit with me instead of running off elsewhere. Lunch at the Chinese buffed place, then to home to await the arrival of Mom and Girls. Greeted Mom and Girls when they got home and heard all about their experiences, which from all accounts turned out pretty well.

And I slept much better last night.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at November 21, 2005 11:46 AM