Not Me! Monday

Oh, wow, where to begin. I did not spend most of my "have the house to myself" day sitting around reading The Shack and napping. I did not spend Friday night sitting by the fire pit drinking wine and enjoying the company of friends. I did not laugh hysterically as Claire the cat chased a lizard. I did not eat out more than I ate in last week. I certainly did not not leave camp yesterday before Youngest Child was unpacked and set up in her cabin. I could have very well not been the last one to get there and the first one to leave. Oopsie! I did not make my new teammate mad because I did not tell her that I didn't know what I was teaching, what she was teaching, and that I didn't care because I had two weeks of vacation left. I did not forgot to feed the dog one day.

Now, pop on over to MckMama's blog and see what others did not do this week...

Edited to add: I most certainly DID NOT stand by and watch helplessly as Oldest Child carried Claire's new play toy a dead lizard outside.

An Open Letter

Dear Not Me and I Don't Know:

This time you have gone too far. I've been putting this letter off for a long time. Always before, what you took was either (a) replaceable or (b) not so important. But this time, I will not let you get by with it.

When I realized my Microsoft Works installation disk was missing, I figured I'd find it later. When my favorite earrings weren't where I'd last put them, I figured Ms. Donna had put them in a safe place. When I'm looking for a movie that I know I bought, I guessed it would turn up later. When I couldn't find any of the 638 flashlights we'd bought for the camper, no big deal.

Now that you've taken my digital camera, complete with memory card and power supply, I demand an answer. We even had a Family Fun Night that included a Find the Camera party. When that didn't turn up the camera, I knew we were in trouble. When Oldest Child cleaned her entire room and the camera was still missing, I began to panic. Now that it's been over a week and I've wracked my feeble little brain of when I saw the camera last, cleaned places in my house I haven't cleaned since we moved in, and still no camera, I have no other choice than to expose you for what you are...ruth-less.

I am onto you now. You have crossed the line, gone over the limit, and I will make you pay. Or, if I don't find the camera, I guess I'll be the one who's paying.

Sincerely,
fabthemayor

Update

Yesterday was somewhat productive. I cleaned the laundry room (hold your applause, please!) because the new dryer looked out of place amid all the various and sundry clothes piled high on the counters. So now, laundry is caught up, including put away...the counters are cleaned off, the dryer is neat and clean on top. We'll have to see how long it stays that way.

Then I moved to the "bill cabinet". I bought a cute antique-looking cabinet at a yard sale a few years ago that fit perfect in my kitchen. A perfect place to hide things. I have one of my violets sitting on top. I bought one of those clocks/weather predictor/temperature inside and outside thingys at Home Depot over the weekend. It looked out of place amid the piles of bills and other junk that had accumulated. And once I cleaned off the top, I had to clean it out. It became too easy just to throw stuff in there and close the door. I should have taken a before/after picture to show you the progress that was made in the house yesterday. Oh, my, I just go sit and admire the handiwork. DH was impressed, to say the least. He even commented that I am on such a roll I may need to become a Stay Home Mommy again so I can continue my clean-sweeping ways. Don't go overboard, DH...don't go overboard! One project a day is enough...

The Official "To Do" List

I don't think I am the only school teacher who spends the school year making a huge list of things that will be accomplished during the summer. I work in a system that is basically "year round" school which means I go back to school the end of July (the 24th to be exact - not that I'm counting or anything), but I get a fall break in October and a winter break in February. The board says it improves test scores; I just like having a job, given today's economy.

This summer's list included painting the trim on the windows, cleaning out my closet, stripping wall paper and painting the girls' bathroom, putting down "hardwood" floors in Youngest Child's bedroom, cleaning out the cabinets in the kitchen that didn't get cleaned out last summer. Considering how time consuming each of these jobs is, plus how many time-consuming jobs are on the list, coupled with the heat and humidity that is Atlanta, to say I had "high hopes" is a vast understatement.

Add to that the fact that I spend two weeks an enormous amount of time mourning/recalculating because special saints who were close to me went on to their greater reward, I'm ashamed to say that this may be the summer that absolutely nothing on the list gets accomplished. Considering I have less than three weeks of vacation left, I may just take this summer officially off.

I was sitting around tonight reading various blogs I enjoy, and low and behold, it is not a lost summer afterall. I'm stupid . Dawn over at Because I Said So gave away a little, itsy bitty secret about how to cross out words.

So now, even if the girls don't have their new sparkling white bathroom, my windows don't get painted, my witty, wise cracking humor will now be made even more evident because Dawn shared her little secret.

Not Me!

How could I have forgotten it is Monday already! I have been saving up my "not me's" all week so I could share them especially with you!

- I did not keep my best friend's kids so she could accompany her husband to Hilton Head Island on a business trip.
- I did not help organize a 4th of July "block party" in my neighborhood. It just happened to include two dear, sweet neighbors who never get to visit with the neighbors.
- I did not keep avoiding my dogs' scratching; if I avoid the scratching, they don't have fleas. Right???
- I did not go on Friday and buy a new dryer because the other one had officially bit the dust. It wasn't the timer - it was the motor. They don't make dryers like they used to.
- I did not go out to dinner tonight at the Japanese restaurant.
- I did not continuously use my girl friend's laundry room the whole time I was at her house (hey, what can I say - it's the Get What You Pay For Babysitter!
- I did not leave her children with Oldest Child one evening while I went to get my hair done (on top of what it cost to get my hair done, I had to add in babysitting fees!)
- I did not almost forget about "Not Me!" Monday!

Proud to be an American

I wasn't going to post today; after all, what could I say that hasn't already been said before. How could I possibly expound on what freedom is or why we have it. But then I read this, and couldn't stop myself. This happens to be my across-the-street neighbor, and no, I haven't checked it against any of the "scam" web sites. It really doesn't matter if it's true or just a good story, now does it?

From someone who has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, and who is trying vainly to figure out how to give back, it's just good to read how some people still show how proud they are to be American. When we go anywhere with The Dude dressed in his uniform, he is treated with utmost respect. We have been shown appreciation, had our meals bought at restaurants, and saluted, just to name a few. I have been to the airport with The Dude and had people clap and salute him. Unfortunately, it was when he was going to and coming from Iraq. I have also been to the airport when it was my turn to do the clapping and saluting. One of the things I want to do when I retire is volunteer with the USO at the airport. Hopefully by then, there won't be any servicemen and women going to war. Hopefully by then, all the servicemen and women will be shipping off to train, or to keep peace somewhere. Hopefully by the time I retire, the wars will be over and parents won't have to send their sons and daughters in harms way so that we can stay free.

So however you celebrate Independence Day, remember to say an extra special prayer for those who are in harms way and for those they left behind to carry on while they're gone. But for the grace of God go I. Happy Independence Day.

Not Me!

For those of you who haven't read about dear, sweet Stellan, you may not know about Not Me! Monday. Since I have been so lack in blogging lately, I decided it would be a great way to get back into the blogging mode. And as I sit here trying to think of what I didn't do this week, quite a bit comes to mind...

- I did not secretly wish DH couldn't fix the dryer so I could go get another one. (But I must confess, I won that one - he gave in this afternoon when the new timer came it and it still didn't work. I asked him if he couldn't fix it because it couldn't be fixed or because he was too tired to deal with it. When he confessed it was lack of sleep, I agreed to wait until this weekend to see if it, too, needs to go to dryer heaven. That will make THREE dryers we have gone through in 17 years...not sure I like those odds.)
- I did not go pick up Chinese for dinner because when DH works doubles, we have to eat dinner at 3:30 in order to eat as a family. It's not too hot to cook dinner at 3:30 in June in Atlanta.
- I did not hold off cleaning up the camper from the beach (too hot to cook, too hot to clean the camper...)
- I did not sort through the laundry and see what could be hung on the deck to dry, what could wait until the dryer got fixed, and what we had to have for the week
- I certainly did not sit and read blogs instead of doing what needed to be done around the house
- I also did not leave OC at the skating rink after it closed last Monday. We thought it closed at 11 so I was going to pick her up at 10:30. I get a phone call at 9:58 from OC telling me that the rink closes at 10. Guess she forgot the fact that we live, oh, hmmm, 20 minutes from the rink! I send The Dune running out the door to go pick her up and I stayed on the phone with her until he got there. Glad there was a lot of other parents slow in picking up their kids, too.
- and last but certainly not least, I absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt did not spend too much time watching TV last week.