Ruts...and a trip to Florida...

My youngest has had braces for about a year.  Last week, he came into the house and told me I needed to call the Orthodontist because the bracket on his front tooth "came off."  Because it was Friday and it was after 5, (if you know what I mean), I didn't ask and put it on my mental ongoing list of things to do.  Today, the appointment was at 8:15.  We raced to the ortho, walked in and they took him back...great, I thought.  I picked up my favorite magazine to read at the ortho, MORE, and started reading.  Before I was done with the article on "Losing the muffin top" ...out came my son with the gal who works on him.  "I'll let you know if the x-ray shows some damage to the tooth," she said.  "Wait, whaaat?" I said.  "Oh, he didn't tell you how the bracket came off?" she said.  "Well, he just said it came off," I replied.  "His brother accidentally kicked him in the face when the were playing football, and the doctor thinks the tooth is a little loose, so we x-rayed it."  Ignorance is bliss.

So like the title...more of the same.  I feel like I am in a rut.  I take the youngest to school, workout or not, and sometimes work or sometimes come home and "straighten up" the house.  I am sick to death of all of that, to be honest.  I am sick of working out...what good does it do?  I am as big as a house.  Cleaning...every day, the house is a pit...I load the dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, load the washer, unload the washer and put it in the dryer, throw the dry ones on the bed to fold...which never gets done.  The boys get home and I start the "nag-fest"..."What homework do you have?" to the usual reply, "I don't have any" to which I feel like my head is going to blow up.  "No homework" I say.  "Come on, you gotta have something" and the oldest replies, "Let me think" and then comes up with homework but "I have a free period tommorrow" to which at that point,  I notice the clock, and say to myself...it's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere...and pour a drink.

We tend to wait until the last minute to do anything...anything.   The youngest had a mini-hotel to make out of balsa wood.  Last night, he was still working on the thing and it was due today.  At 11:00 last night, as I was sitting at the kitchen table, I thought, I am going to kill this kid...why doesn't he do things earlier and get things done before the last minute?  I'm so tired and I just want to go to bed.  I can't go to bed because he needs company or he will just stop doing it and not finish...and then what?  He finally finished and it looked pretty good.  Then he decided he needed to come up and sleep on his father's side of the bed...and snore all night.

So, guess what?  I'm going to Florida on Saturday.  I am getting on an airplane without anyone and going to Florida.  I cannot wait.  My sisters and I call it the "Ya Ya sisterhood" and my oldest sister even makes T-shirts some visits.  We get together, chop each other the pieces and then build each other up.  We do the litany of "always"..."Mommy always liked you the best", "Daddy always liked you the best" and "You, Terry were spoiled" and we go on from there.  Then we do the "remember when's"...I say to my sister, "remember when you and I went rollerskating at the rink after Mommy made roast beef and you had the DJ dedicate the song, "Brick House" to me?"  I would say.  By this time, we are usually in the hot tub, our bellies full of some great meal and have had a few adult beverages.  We discuss the jets in the hot tub and who likes the bubbles and who doesn't.  We start with the "Oh you should sit here...these bubbles feel good" and we start moving around the hot tub to get a different place.  When we are settled, we usually can't find our drink and have to switch places to find our drinks.  We laugh and laugh and of course, have to go to the bathroom.  We talk about just peeing in the hot tub, where my sister will make a remark about just adding more chemicals and decide that we should not.  Then we laugh some more.  Then we get comfortable and I, since after a few drinks, I get lovable..."I miss Mommy or I miss Daddy" and we all end up in tears.  If you had a video camera...I am sure it would be a great episode out of Seinfeld.

I cannot wait...I love my sisters and I love going to visit them.  We are all so different, yet so alike.  We all see our childhoods differently and our parents differently.  It is just the nature of a family.  We also see how attached we are to each other, even if we don't talk that much.  We don't always agree on things and I can even say, at times in our lives, we didn't even communicate for one reason or another...but we are family.  As we age, we realize how important that is to us and how our family is special.  Not problem free but special.

We'll tawk tommorrow,
I love you all,
Terry