Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Garden report


I was embarrassed to show Mom my yard last weekend because everything was so withered and dry. We'd had three or four days of record-breaking heat and no time to water properly, but there've been a couple of good soaking rains since then and everything is lush and green again.

My daylilies and rose-of-Sharon are blooming already, along with kazillions of golden-yellow coreopsis. The pinks and clematis are just dropping their last petals and the sweet Williams are fading, but the lantanas and four o'clocks are just kicking in and the Shasta daisies are loaded with buds. Got hydrangeas going out front; the new pink ones are just about finished, but the Nikko blue just started.

This year I'm really enjoying ice plant, which I never tried before, and my spider flower, which has at least ten new flower heads on it; there were only three when I got it for Mother's Day.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Arrrrg--I hate going to the doctor


Finally went yesterday to see about the pain in my hipbone, pelvic bone, whatever you want to call it, and it was a complete waste of time. It always is.

Called my regular doctor first and found out he'd retired, so I had to find a new general practitioner, right? So I made an appointment with another doctor in the same building, who waited until I was on his examining table to say, "I'm not the one to tell you what's wrong with your hip." Didn't take an x-ray, poke around on it, or nothin'. Instead, he referred me to an orthopedist. I was like, "Well, crap, what did I come here for then?"

Besides, he got a little frosty when I mentioned my pharmaceutical phobia. I don't think I want this guy to be my new general practitioner.

So now I'm right back where I was. Less my $20 co-pay.

I have had it with those two


Jeez Louise! How much is a reasonable person supposed to take?

Went over to pick up the baby this morning and saw Bob's van, which should've been at work. Then I couldn't get anyone to answer the door. People in the apartments next door and across the way opened their doors, and I asked them, "How is it that you-all can hear me knocking and they can't?" Shrugs all around.

Bob finally opened the door and I asked what the hell was going on. He said he'd burned his eyes welding and I said, "Dammit, Bob! You know how not to do that!"

Ran upstairs and found Sarah in bed. Yelled at her that it was 9:00 and she was gonna be late. She stirred, so I went back downstairs and asked Bob what his plan was. He didn't know. Got tired of looking at him sitting there, so I told Kayla to go wake her momma up and I told Bob, "Well, I'll be at the house when you decide what you want to do."

And so I split.

Now it's almost noon and I haven't heard from either one, so I'm just going to enjoy my day off. Ain't no tellin' when I'll get another one.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Plumbing new depths


To recap the weekend, Bob and Sarah got into it Friday night, Sarah shoved Bob against the wall in front of the kids, Bob called 911 and Sarah called us. We rushed over, the cops didn't arrest anybody, and Sarah sent Bob and the girls home with us because she needed to think.

Bob went by the apartment after work on Saturday and said Sarah must've left right after we did, because nothing had been touched and she didn't spend the night there. He talked to her Saturday before the wedding, but they got into it again and she hung up on him. He said she never asked about the kids.

Bob and the girls went home with us Saturday night after the wedding and we all went straight to bed. Never heard from Sarah until about 3:00pm yesterday. She came over and they went home with the kids around 5:00.

While Sarah was here, she mentioned that she felt bad because her dad's birthday was Saturday and she hadn't even called him.

Mmm, okay...so if she wasn't with her parents, where did she spend Friday night? And what is it with Friday nights anyway? Because it was a week ago Friday night (Friday the 13th, in fact) that she went out for groceries and came home at 5:00 in the morning without any groceries. She told Bob it had been raining so hard that she couldn't see, so she'd pulled over and fell asleep in her car. What a load of crap.

Anyway, Bob called about two hours after they left our house last night and said they'd been talking and decided there was something he and Sarah needed to do. I listened eagerly, thinking they were finally ready for marriage couseling, but no.

No, what they decided they needed to do was to get me and Mikey and her parents together for a ceremony in which Bob and Sarah would renew their vows.

Because Sarah didn't get to have a big beautiful wedding like Sherri just had, because they eloped.

(Okay, he didn't say that last part, but I know damn well that's what the deal is.)

I was dumbfounded, so I gave Bob a minute or so of stunned silence before letting him know that any such ceremony was not a priority at this time and instead they both needed to get into some serious counseling, pronto. I asked where his wife spent Friday night, and he said he didn't know. I asked if he didn't have a right to know, and he got off the phone pretty quick.

I don't know that I have a right to know where Sarah's spending her nights away from home, but I just took care of her kids for two days right in the middle of helping my niece with her wedding, and she never called once to see how they were doing. Just dumped them on me and ran.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Congrats to


Phil, who earned a 4.0 and made the President's Honor Roll. Way to go, Bro!

And to Bridgie, who is now a loan officer! She passed her test on Tuesday and has the potential to make more money, but without the security of a salary. Just straight commission, so if anybody needs any home loans or refinancing, you know who to call.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Just spent a very nice evening


with people I love, and I'm feeling relaxed and peaceful, for the moment. Downright giddy, in fact. Mikey's eying me warily because I've been dancing little happy jigs at odd moments ever since we got home.

Got to meet Kyra finally, and she is a doll. Big blue eyes and curly white-blonde hair--she's Lesley all over again.

I asked Jearold and Linda if Brittany didn't look just like my dad, and they agreed that she certainly does.

So anyway, we rehearsed and had a great dinner and the chapel is very nice and it will be a beautiful wedding and we'll be gathered together shortly to get our oldest old maid married off and Sherri's gonna hit me when she reads that. Hee-hee-heee...

And now I must dance.

Lord help me


to be gracious and kind, always. Just not in a doormat kind of way, okay?

Yesterday was Sarah's half-day so she asked me to take Kayla for two hours. I knew the "two hours" part was bullshit, but I didn't know it would be seven and a half.

Then Kayla was sick so I tried to call Sarah at work but she wasn't there. Called Bob's cell phone (she spilled Coke on hers so it's out-of-order) on the off-chance she might have it with her, but no. She smelled like suntan lotion when she finally did show up. Took me all evening to quit twitching with rage.

If you say you're gonna do something, do it. If you're not gonna do it, just keep your mouth shut. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Anyway, I woke Sarah up this morning when I went to get the baby at 9:00. This is a daily thing, because she stays up all night and can't wake up in the morning and gets repeatedly reprimanded because she doesn't make it to work on time, which is even more embarrassing than it oughta be because she doesn't have to be there until 10:00.

So who do you think rang my doorbell at 10:00?

Uh-huh. Wanting to know if I could keep Kayla today, because she didn't have time to take her to day care, which is in a whole 'nother town that neither she nor Bob goes to except to drop off and pick up Kayla from day care. I've asked her repeatedly to enroll Kayla in a facility closer to home, but Sarah's mother pays half and that's where her mother wants her so that's where she is, and I say her mother can just damn well chauffeur Kayla to and fro then, but...oh, never mind.

So I had to explain to Sarah that no, I could not do it because Sherri's coming over to do some last-minute wedding stuff, plus we have to leave for the rehearsal and dinner at 4:00 and we'll have to take Brittany with us because nobody will be off work yet and if I kept Kayla I'd have to take her along, too, and keeping Kayla entertained doesn't just fit into my schedule today. Plus I'm tired of bending over backward.

You've seen that sign that says, "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part"? Yep, that's how I feel about it.

She acted totally exasperated with me when she left, but you know what? I didn't create her problem. She did. And if she loses her job, it won't be because she was late today; it'll be because she's late nearly every day.

(**sigh**)

Sorry, y'all, but I just get so aggravated, you know?

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Ever notice


how people who use the word "classy" usually aren't?

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Head Cheese


Grandma used to make head cheese, so whenever we'd get a hog butchered Mom would save the head in a clear plastic bag in the big freezer until we could take it to her.

It was a bit startling to open our freezer door sometimes, if one hadn't been properly briefed beforehand.

I don't remember eating any head cheese, though. Do you?

(Link via Biomes Blog)

Bridal finery


Picked up Sherri's gown from the seamstress yesterday, and it looks just gorgeous on her. She's going to be a beautiful bride.

Found my matron-of-honor dress--it's lilac and lovely and not terribly matronly, so I'm pretty happy with it. Plus I only had to pay 1/3 of its original price, so Mikey's pretty happy with it, too.

Got shoes, jewels and undergarments, so we're almost all set. Still have to decide what to do with our hair, though--I vote beauty shop.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Monday, May 09, 2005

Eight months old today


Image hosted by Photobucket.com

I asked Brittany today if she was the cutest thing in two counties and, right on cue, she said, "Uh-huh."

Bluejay tragedy


One day two years ago there were two fledgling bluejay chicks running around my backyard with their parents hovering nearby; I took a few pictures and left them to their flying lessons:

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

The next day there were no longer any bluejay chicks running around my yard; just a pile of little blue feathers, courtesy of the local stray cats.

(By the way, if you like to adopt stray cats: for Pete's sake, take them in! Don't just feed 'em and let 'em wander the 'hood like my neighbors do--it's damned inconsiderate. Either keep them inside or don't feed them at all.)

Anyway, there were three or four little bluejay chicks running around the backyard yesterday with their parents hovering nearby. Thinking of that pile of little blue feathers and the cats we regularly chase out of our yard, we debated on whether or not to do anything.

This one looked like it hurt its neck falling out of the tree:

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

It just sat there instead of darting around the yard like its siblings were doing, so Mikey put it back in the nest (and got dive-bombed by angry parents in the process), but the poor thing was soon back on the ground again. It was dead this morning.

There's still one chick running around back there; I sure hope it learns how to fly before the cats find it.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

What a screwed-up day


I'm tellin' ya, I was not in the mood to be holidayed today.

Finally shook off my inertia this afternoon and went out and found a nice planterful of purple petunias and helichrysum for Sarah's front porch. It was too late to get anything for Mom, so I just called her.

Mikey did pretty good--he bought me a nice dinner and gave me one of these; it's about 3 feet tall and looks almost like a pot plant. Seriously, check out the leaves.

Waited all day to hear from Bridgie. Finally called her about 9:30 and she said, "Oh, I was just about to call you." Uh-huh.

Sarah called earlier and said they would be over after they went to her mom's. She finally came alone around 10:00 bringing cards and a vase of flowers, so I didn't get to lay eyes on any of my offspring today.

Love my flowers and all but, really, I wish this had been just any other Sunday: no guilt, no expectations, no stress. I'm so glad it's over.

Mother's Day


I've let Grandma's birthday, Daddy's birthday, and Mom and Daddy's wedding anniversary pass without comment here on my family blog. Now it's Mother's Day and I've managed to do exactly nothing for Mom or for Sarah.

(**sigh**)

Add a layer of guilt to my current bout of depression.

No cellin'


The Defective Yeti says:

Just for the record, I, Matthew Baldwin, as of 7:30 AM, May 04, 2005, still do not own a cell phone.

I want to document this fact in case, at some future point, there's a dispute about who exactly was the last person on Earth to acquire one.

He's got some formidable competition, then. I don't have a cell phone because I hate talking on the phone, period. No way will I carry a portable one that's liable to ring at me anytime, anywhere.

(**shudder**)

The very thought of it gives me the willies.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

I know my blog's been


pretty boring lately. Sorry about that, but I've been too agitated and distracted to do much about it.

Bob got his job back, starting Tuesday, so that should help; he's had me tied in knots.

I finally have some time to myself today, which will help more than anything, prob'ly.

(Oh, dang. The phone just rang and my heart dropped. Thought I spoke too soon, but it was a wrong number. Oh, thank you, Lord.)

Just went outside for a smoke break and was serenaded by a mockingbird, which was a delight. One of the rose bushes Bridgie gave me has produced a single perfect red bloom, beautifully scented.

So, you know, life's not all bleak or nothin'. I just need everybody around me to get their angst worked out so I can be peaceful again.

UPDATE: I did speak too soon. The doorbell rang at 11:30 and I spat and cussed all the way to the door. It was Bob with baby in tow, and it took an hour (and several not-so-subtle hints) to get him on his way again, baby in tow.

Jeez Louise! Now I'm feeling all jangled up again. Thanks a lot, son.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Uh, Sher...?


It's only two weeks until the wedding and I still have no matron-of-honor dress.

Whatever shall we do about that?

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Sorry I haven't


been blogging more; I just haven't felt very talkative lately. You know how I get.

Anyway, in my few moments of computer time this week, I listened to bird songs and figured out it was a great-tailed grackle that serenaded Mikey and me the other night; looked at other people's garden blogs; read up on the Girl Scout murders because somebody (was it Phil?) asked if I ever figured out what really happened there; and played with the Big Red Button, which was mildly amusing.

That's all for now; I am seriously bummed out and finally have a chance for some quiet time, so I'll holler at you guys later.