How I spent my summer
My son goes back to school tomorrow, so in honor of that, I thought I’d do a little summer update since it has been MONTHS since I last posted. Here’s what’s been going on:
Life
I’ve been in a huge funk for the past few months. I get up, go to work, pick up my kids, go home, rinse, repeat. I’m feeling the need for a life change. I’ve been staying up way too late each night reading after the kids go to bed, and I think that is part of my problem. I love escaping my own world by immersing myself into the books I read and becoming part of the characters’ worlds. Even though I know how very blessed I am, I still manage to find my own life lacking. I’m not even enjoying my usual hobbies. What’s up with that?
Death
I had two deaths to deal with this summer. My 18 year-old cousin, Mandy, in Ohio passed away in June, and then my BFF Kim’s 19 year-old nephew, Chase, passed away just a little over 2 weeks ago. Both of them passed away from infections that came on very suddenly. They were both taken from this world way too soon and left behind a huge number of broken hearts.
Vacation
The one thing I actually wanted to do this summer was take a vacation. It didn’t happen. The closest thing we got to a vacation was the mini-family reunion weekend we had back in May at Greenleaf State Park. By the way, I have pictures HERE if you want to see them. We are now considering going somewhere sans kids in October to celebrate our anniversary and birthdays. Maybe Vegas…
The husband
He got neutered. I’m sure he will greatly appreciate me telling the internet something very private, but hey, how often can you joke about getting your husband neutered? Please, like I’m going to pass up that opportunity. But seriously, a pregnancy scare when you are 37 is no less terrifying than when you are 17, only at 37 you really should know better. We both decided that we are perfectly happy with the children we currently have, and don’t think we could mentally or physically handle any more, hence the neutering. Sorry, I just had to say it one more time.
The kids
Oh, how they like to push my buttons. I have moments where I love them so much my heart aches and I can’t imagine not having them in my life. Then there are the moments where I ask my husband, “Why did we have kids?” Sometimes these moments occur within minutes of each other. The boy got in trouble at daycare last week for fighting, and when his dad asked him what the fight was about, he said, “Noel said that the 5 masters on Kung Fu Panda aren’t really masters.” I had to leave the room so he wouldn’t see me laugh. Then he asked him, “You hit the other kid for THAT?” The boy replied, “OH YEAH!” like it was the greatest thing he had ever done. We are awesome parents.
Also, the novelty of having a little sister has finally worn off for the boy since she lives to pester him. LIVES for it. There is nothing greater to her than making him scream in frustration. I envision lots of calls from the school principal once she starts school. I was putting her pajamas on her one night and she stood up, got right in my face, and with a mean expression asked me, “You want a piece of me?” Of course, both the boy and I just cracked up laughing, which delighted her to no end. I found out later that her daddy taught her to do that, so now I think I’ll let him handle the phone calls from the principal.
My sister
Some of you just read that and said, “HUH?” Yep. I was raised an only child and about 4 years ago, I found out that I had a half sister. She was given up for adoption as an infant and my dad is listed as her birth father on her birth certificate. This actually deserves its own post, and hopefully I will get to that soon. Anyway, we have been talking a lot via email and instant messaging lately, and I spent this past weekend with her and got to meet her husband and kids. They are awesome. At this point, no DNA test has been done to confirm anything, but I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, she’s my sister regardless of what any DNA test says. We have too much in common and I just love her to pieces.
My dad
I’ve been struggling with my dad’s issues here lately. Two years ago he was diagnosed with clinical depression, but actually exhibits what I would call severe social anxiety. He can’t even go to the grocery store because “there are people there.” But he can go to work because he has a lot to do to keep him busy and doesn’t have to interact with anyone much. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but whatever. The part I’ve been struggling with is the fact that he comes to OKC for work ALL THE TIME and he never calls. He used to call me whenever he came to the city and we would go to dinner or if he was tired, we’d just talk on the phone for a few minutes. Now I don’t even get a phone call. My daughter has no idea who he is, and I’m sure my son barely remembers him, and it makes me so sad. I understand that he’s not well, but I really hate this. He’s been on medication for 2 years now and even though he says he feels better, he doesn’t ACT like he’s better. So I’m a little torn now as to what to do. Do I just leave him be and let him initiate contact when he feels better? Or do I continue to call and pester him when he really wants to be left alone? Is there even a right answer?
The dog
We still have our puppy, Socks. I took her to puppy classes, where she tried to play with and be all submissive to the other dogs. I can’t tell you how nice that was. After having a dominant, aggressive dog like Oscar, all I wanted was a dog that was sweet, and she definitely hasn’t disappointed. She is finally crate trained, and now we just have to get our gate fixed so we can take her out in the back yard at night and throw balls and let her burn off some of that puppy energy. I think she’s going to be a great dog once she’s older and not so exuberant.
The weather
WTF is up with the weather in OKC? It’s in the 60’s and 70’s here lately. In AUGUST. It’s usually 90’s and 100’s. At this point, we’re going to have to close the pool early because I don’t think it’s going to warm up enough where we’ll be able to swim before the official end of summer. The kids are going to be very sad about that. And I only bought shorts for the boy for school…
So that’s my summer so far. I hope everyone else is having a good one!
Life
I’ve been in a huge funk for the past few months. I get up, go to work, pick up my kids, go home, rinse, repeat. I’m feeling the need for a life change. I’ve been staying up way too late each night reading after the kids go to bed, and I think that is part of my problem. I love escaping my own world by immersing myself into the books I read and becoming part of the characters’ worlds. Even though I know how very blessed I am, I still manage to find my own life lacking. I’m not even enjoying my usual hobbies. What’s up with that?
Death
I had two deaths to deal with this summer. My 18 year-old cousin, Mandy, in Ohio passed away in June, and then my BFF Kim’s 19 year-old nephew, Chase, passed away just a little over 2 weeks ago. Both of them passed away from infections that came on very suddenly. They were both taken from this world way too soon and left behind a huge number of broken hearts.
Vacation
The one thing I actually wanted to do this summer was take a vacation. It didn’t happen. The closest thing we got to a vacation was the mini-family reunion weekend we had back in May at Greenleaf State Park. By the way, I have pictures HERE if you want to see them. We are now considering going somewhere sans kids in October to celebrate our anniversary and birthdays. Maybe Vegas…
The husband
He got neutered. I’m sure he will greatly appreciate me telling the internet something very private, but hey, how often can you joke about getting your husband neutered? Please, like I’m going to pass up that opportunity. But seriously, a pregnancy scare when you are 37 is no less terrifying than when you are 17, only at 37 you really should know better. We both decided that we are perfectly happy with the children we currently have, and don’t think we could mentally or physically handle any more, hence the neutering. Sorry, I just had to say it one more time.
The kids
Oh, how they like to push my buttons. I have moments where I love them so much my heart aches and I can’t imagine not having them in my life. Then there are the moments where I ask my husband, “Why did we have kids?” Sometimes these moments occur within minutes of each other. The boy got in trouble at daycare last week for fighting, and when his dad asked him what the fight was about, he said, “Noel said that the 5 masters on Kung Fu Panda aren’t really masters.” I had to leave the room so he wouldn’t see me laugh. Then he asked him, “You hit the other kid for THAT?” The boy replied, “OH YEAH!” like it was the greatest thing he had ever done. We are awesome parents.
Also, the novelty of having a little sister has finally worn off for the boy since she lives to pester him. LIVES for it. There is nothing greater to her than making him scream in frustration. I envision lots of calls from the school principal once she starts school. I was putting her pajamas on her one night and she stood up, got right in my face, and with a mean expression asked me, “You want a piece of me?” Of course, both the boy and I just cracked up laughing, which delighted her to no end. I found out later that her daddy taught her to do that, so now I think I’ll let him handle the phone calls from the principal.
My sister
Some of you just read that and said, “HUH?” Yep. I was raised an only child and about 4 years ago, I found out that I had a half sister. She was given up for adoption as an infant and my dad is listed as her birth father on her birth certificate. This actually deserves its own post, and hopefully I will get to that soon. Anyway, we have been talking a lot via email and instant messaging lately, and I spent this past weekend with her and got to meet her husband and kids. They are awesome. At this point, no DNA test has been done to confirm anything, but I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, she’s my sister regardless of what any DNA test says. We have too much in common and I just love her to pieces.
My dad
I’ve been struggling with my dad’s issues here lately. Two years ago he was diagnosed with clinical depression, but actually exhibits what I would call severe social anxiety. He can’t even go to the grocery store because “there are people there.” But he can go to work because he has a lot to do to keep him busy and doesn’t have to interact with anyone much. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but whatever. The part I’ve been struggling with is the fact that he comes to OKC for work ALL THE TIME and he never calls. He used to call me whenever he came to the city and we would go to dinner or if he was tired, we’d just talk on the phone for a few minutes. Now I don’t even get a phone call. My daughter has no idea who he is, and I’m sure my son barely remembers him, and it makes me so sad. I understand that he’s not well, but I really hate this. He’s been on medication for 2 years now and even though he says he feels better, he doesn’t ACT like he’s better. So I’m a little torn now as to what to do. Do I just leave him be and let him initiate contact when he feels better? Or do I continue to call and pester him when he really wants to be left alone? Is there even a right answer?
The dog
We still have our puppy, Socks. I took her to puppy classes, where she tried to play with and be all submissive to the other dogs. I can’t tell you how nice that was. After having a dominant, aggressive dog like Oscar, all I wanted was a dog that was sweet, and she definitely hasn’t disappointed. She is finally crate trained, and now we just have to get our gate fixed so we can take her out in the back yard at night and throw balls and let her burn off some of that puppy energy. I think she’s going to be a great dog once she’s older and not so exuberant.
The weather
WTF is up with the weather in OKC? It’s in the 60’s and 70’s here lately. In AUGUST. It’s usually 90’s and 100’s. At this point, we’re going to have to close the pool early because I don’t think it’s going to warm up enough where we’ll be able to swim before the official end of summer. The kids are going to be very sad about that. And I only bought shorts for the boy for school…
So that’s my summer so far. I hope everyone else is having a good one!
posted by Missy at 11:15 AM
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