Writers Workshop: Stall Her!

Growing up my sister and I babysat all the time.  I don't want to toot my own horn but we would get booked months in advance.  We were the kind of sitters that played with the kids and made sure the house was clean when the parents came home.  Most kids didn't cry when their parents left and if they did, they didn't do it for long.  Our business grew by word of mouth and we never had any complaints from parents or kids. 

I did have complaints sometimes.  There was one family who just wasn't right.  The first time I babysat for them, they told their 11 year-old that I was not there for her, just the rest of the kids, basically license to be a brat.  Then their home decor was early dead African animal.  I am not kidding.  There were mounted animal heads everywhere from Africa and pics of the Dad with his kills.  (Sidebar: I don't have a problem with hunting if the hunter is choosy with his kills AND eats the animal as well.  Killing for killing sake is not a sport in my opinion.)  The first time I ever babysat for them they started freaking out about the baby ducks in the barn (it was a horse farm) that were bleeding and kept throwing the ducks at me.  I went home, my new pink Gap collared shirt covered in duck blood (this was the 80's). (Note: the ducks were fine, the ends of their feathers were scratching them.  Normal when the flying feathers are growing in...I think they knew that).

I always tried to come up with excuses as to why I could not sit for this family.  Unfortunately, if the Mom got my Mom on the phone, my Mom would usually accept the engagement without asking me (oh, YES you did, Mom!). 

One time, the last time, I was there babysitting during the day and we walked down to the barn.  The 11 year-old went into an empty stall and said, 'Oh, no!' and pointed at the corner where she was on the ground. I along with the younger girls went to look what she was worried about.  The 11 year old ran out of the stall door, slammed the door shut and locked us in, laughing, then ran away.  The girls got scared and started to cry a little bit.  I gave them hugs and told them it was ok and we'd figure a way out.  Luckily, there was a small window not far off the ground.  I turned a bucket over and was able to lower the older of the two girls out of the window and to the ground.  She ran around and opened the stall door.  As we were walking back up to the house and I was telling the girls how helpful they were, the Mom came in the driveway.  I did not see the oldest girl but told the Mom what happened.  She wasn't even that apologetic.  She kind of laughed it off. 

The next time she called (cannot even believe she called), I declined her offer and told my Mother I was never going back there and if she accepted a job then SHE could go and get locked in a stall.

Caption It!

It seems like some of you really liked my "Caption it!" idea from last week so here's another one.  This is from our vacation this summer.  I think this pic tells a story.  Look closely.

Have fun!

Finally Have My House Back

I did not blog last week really because...well...I barely wanted to breathe.  You see, our house has been in a state of disarray for about about two months now.  This was a combination of piles of stuff in the living room that was for a yard sale.  We were having a yard sale because we cleaned out the room we were using for storage because that room was getting finished to be used as a combo dining and 'Masterpiece Theatre' area.  Then, we also had been waiting for a fridge for a long time from Best Buy and then needed to be cut and sanded down, blah, blah, blah.

For me, it was a nightmare.  I have issues.  I know, who doesn't?  Unfortunately, my issues lead me to Crazytown when I can't get a handle on the condition of my home.  I tend to spiral off into rants that make no sense and lose all focus when my house is in the condition it was a few days ago.  Mostly, it is my husband who gets the brunt of it.  I don't need the house spotless (although that makes me very happy) I just need it tidy.  Last week there was a conspiracy against me.  Between the cluttered crap, the curtains being closed ALL the time to hide the crap and the fruit flies I started to seriously lose it. I remembered the feelings of anxiety and they frightened me.  The more I got scared, the worse I felt.  It was a big nasty circle.

Now, the yard sale (which I will write about later) took care of the crap in the living room, the kitchen is clean and free of (almost) all fruit flies, the fridge is in and working great.  I was finally able to make dinner in my kitchen without having to scrounge for counter space.   I have my house back and I feel so much better. 

The reason I am writing about this is because, looking back on how I felt and the way I handled it all tells me that I need to do somethings to help myself out.  I am not handling my anxiety/depression well and I think it's time I went back to someone to talk about it or get something medicinal to help me focus.  At times I feel like I am weak for needing this but then other times I see that at least I can recognize the warning signs rather than letting get as bad as it got several years ago.  This time I am choosing to get some help and it feels better.  Hopefully soon, I will get back to feeling really good...one step at a time. 

Getting my house in order in this case means not only my physical house but my mental one as well.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

So you probably read that last week was a Craptastic one.  Yesterday one of my monitors at word died too (for me it is like having an eye patch over one eye) so I think that's 3...as in the 3 things that go wrong then you are out of the woods.

Car
Phone
Monitor

Today on Facebook I said "I really would like to say something positive with all the bad luck I have had over the past week...still trying to come up with something."  I really hated to say it but that is what I felt like.  I had a bloggy friend from across the pond that gently reminded me that I do have a few things to be positive or thankful that I have.  


house
warmth
clean water
two doggies
democracy

He of course was right and as I thought a little about those things, my fog lifted a little, enough for me to make my lunch.  Then the fog lifted a little more and then I thought about writing about it and now, I am bright(er) eyed and a little more ready to crawl out from under the black cloud that has been hanging around for too many days...partially my fault, partially fate. 

So today I am going to ask you, even though it might sound a little Pollyanna-ish, especially from a cynic like me, If you see someone under a dark cloud, say something nice.  It doesn't have to be annoyingly cheerful, just an acknowledgment that you 'see' them and there is a light out there beyond the black cloud.


Thank you BS5. :)

Craptastic Day

I really wanted to write a good post today.  Instead you are getting a letter I sent to my girlfriends (edited for my blog) because I am so done with this day.

So I was in an accident today.  My new 2011 (notice it is not even
2011) baby was hit by a woman coming out of a school parking lot
(after dropping off her kids thank goodness).  It is not drivable.

Also, my phone keeps dying on me for no other reason than I believe
all phone have a suicide code that when they hit over 2 and a half
years they are programmed to die so you have to get a new phone.  This
caused problems between me and P whose phone I had to use to deal
with insurance.  He was giving his 2 weeks today and was late for that
meeting because of my accident.

Also, KoP Plaza first floor flooded in case you did not know.  Our
beautiful new Lottery Yarn store now is sopping wet with water and mud.

I am picking up my rental in an an hour or so then going back to bed.

That is all