Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Week in Review

Hi boys and girls! Did you miss me? My kids have been on Spring Break this week and all kinds of other stuff has been going on, so I'll fill you in with my synopsis-style Week in Review:

Saturday, March 10th - I don't remember.

Sunday, March 11th - The time change threw me for a loop. I started getting ready for my friend Tina's son Cameron's 6th birthday party late. Raced to Walmart, spent too much money, got to the party late, had fun, and walked the track afterward. Then it was off to my mom's in Houston with the two youngest of my children for a few days. We kicked off the visit with an evening of Borat (for me and my Mom - kids shoud NEVER see this movie.) I had the nagging feeling I'd forgotten something.

Monday, March 12th - I slept surprisingly well for a night at Mom's with Savannah. She may only be six, but she has legs that can reach across a bed of any size and kick the crap out of you all night long. One of my best friends in the world, Lorna, and my cousin Marilyn came over and we had a day filled with girl-talk, dominoes, and movies. We took everyone out for a really good dinner and the kids had a great time. Still, the undeniable sensation that something important was being neglected kept knocking on the back door of my brain like a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses on an early weekday morning.

Tuesday, March 13th - I couldn't have gotten more than two hours sleep all night. Between my octopus daughter and not being able to stop worried thoughts everytime I tried to drift off, there was no rest for the weary. I watched some more movies with Mom and got ready to go home with Savannah. Joseph stayed for a few more days. It was a really nice visit with my mom and I realized I've been neglecting her. We got home late Tuesday afternoon and began the process of decontaminating the stuff we took. My mom smokes in her house and everything gets so saturated it takes a week to get the smell out. That evening, I'm contacted by an old friend I haven't seen in 20 years. Her younger sister and I had been BEST FRIENDS through junior high and most of high school until they moved after their mom died. We talked on the phone for over an hour and discovered we live within about 15 minutes of each other. What a treat!

Wednesday, March 14th - I spent the day with one of my favorite people in the world. That night we went to see the friend who'd contacted me and had a great time. It felt wonderful to finally slow down and enjoy life. I haven't spent so much time with family and friends since I started at the radio station. In the midst of everything though, for some reason, the story of the ant who played all summer while the other ants were working kept popping into my mind.

Thursday, March 15th - My re-connected friend came over with her 5 year-old twins and they played with my kids. We chattted and had a nice visit before they had to leave in the afternoon to pick up her older daughter. Then I got to hit the track with Momma T and Jen - hurray! Only my runaway mouth got more exercise than it should have. Tina's birthday is coming up on Tuesday, and I was so relieved because I've been hanging onto her gift since I bought it months ago and it's been pure torture. It's the coolest thing I've ever gotten anybody. A while back, she told me all about the book "Wicked" and how much she loved it. The day I found out the Broadway show was coming to town, I started trying to find tickets - not an easy task, but I got two. And I'd kept it a secret all this time. So while we're walking the track I say, "Thank God your birthday is almost here. I bought those stupid tickets all the way back in January and had to keep it to myself this whole time..." And she says, "Tickets? What tickets?" She guessed they were musical and then Jen says, "Wicked?" "Yes, dammit. To Wicked. And by the way, I think it was actually the end of December when I got them because it was before I put my notice in at the radio station." Then my cell phone rang. It was my dear friend and editor, Trish. She's checking up on me because I've been out of touch, not blogging, etc. And suddenly that nagging little worry that's been plaguing me all week becomes manifest. My deadline for the two articles in this month's Liberty County Outlook was the day before. And there's no leeway, because it's being put together this weekend and going to the printer on Monday. Summer is over, the winter winds are blowing, and the little ant has nothing.

Friday, March 16th - After pulling an all-nighter (I ended up going to bed at 5:30 am) sorting through 178 pictures and sifting through statistics, I finished the first story. A few hours of sleep later I was up making phone calls and hitting brick walls on the second one. I took a break and had lunch with my newly re-found friend (where when I tried to pay, my credit card was declined - yay me), then started again. Somewhere between missing my deadline, having my card declined, and getting the slap down on my second story, I decided I suck and I never want to write another magazine article as long as I live. My last article was finished - as well as it could be - by about 9:30. I put the kids to bed, drank half a bottle of wine, and stuffed myself with pretzels and Reeses Pieces.

The moral of the story is this: If you fiddle while Rome burns, grab a stick and shove a marshmallow on the end. But don't try to pay for it with a credit card, and keep your big fat mouth shut.

2 Comments:

Blogger elysabeth said...

Oh Cas,

You poor dear. Hope the articles turned out okay and I'm sure you don't suck at writing and it is just a phase. Remember you will pick up from this. - Good luck with the articles.

As far as your friend and revealing the secret too soon - that happens to the best of us - even those who are really good about keeping secrets - time changes do that to people - they totally make us do things we don't normally do, especially ones that are so soon in the year (this was a very unusual time change and it occurred in the middle of Mercury's retrograde - so you know what that means - it was bound to happen that you forgot something or slipped up on the secret because of the retrograde)

You have had a much more pleasant week than I have for the time changes - oh well - back to my work - see you all in the postings - E :)

12:22 PM  
Blogger Liberated Momma said...

Chica! you know I love you and I LOVE the tickets. AWESOME!! I cannot imagine a cooler birthday present.

Thank you for being so attentive to thinks I say I like. I try to be that way too. It makes present buying easier. BTW I have a surprise for you!!!! You are going to LOVE it. You have said you wanted it before. he he he...

1:28 PM  

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