The Return of The Housewife..

Oh, hi there! I'm back! Did you just roll your eyes? How dare you? Ok, fine. I guess I do deserve it. I've "come back" several times and not stuck with it. But this time I meant it! (seriously, again with the eye roll? Not cool.) So, what's gonna make this time different from the others? Um..well.. I don't really have a plan for success.. I'm just gonna cross my fingers and hope for the best.

In all honesty, I have really missed blogging and writing in general. I've definitely let that side of me fall dormant the past few months. My psyche has suffered for it! I mean where else can all these voices in my head find a better outlet than the Internet? I'm kidding. There are no voices. OK, maybe a few, but I haven't named them or anything so they don't really count.

What has everyone been up to? How's your summer been? Are you all laying in the sun, tanned and thin in your bikini's, doing nothing but eating fruit and flipping sides every 30 minutes? Are you out sailing, in cute little white outfits, drinking champagne and talking about fancy pants subjects like caviar and Ralph Lauren's fall fashion line? Or are you struggling not to cry every time you don your one-piece, old lady bathing suit? Are you suffering from a blazing hot sunburn after you used last years leftover sunscreen because you were too cheap to buy new? Are you whining about the heat and cursing your damn air conditioner that is slowly dying a slow and painful death? Yea.. me too.

But, I guess I can't complain. I've got it better than most. I work at home for now. (Although my job is slowly being fazed out.. and I am anxiously awaiting my last day of this boring crap! But I'll save that subject for another day..) Most afternoons are spent with my best friends and their kids. We hang at a friend's pool from noon to 3 or so. The kids play, we read trashy magazines and yap till our jaws are tired. Our children are as close as siblings and they get along great for the most part. On a calm day we have at least ten kids in the pool. We give them swimming lessons, a snack and some goggles and they are ready to go. I cannot even explain to you in words just how much I adore these children, every single one of them. I am insanely lucky to have such wonderful friends who are raising some amazing kids!

Other than the pool, Ros and I have been reading like crazy. Now that she is 8 (yes, 8! Can you believe it?) she is quite content to sit with a chapter book and a cold drink in the afternoon for an hour or more. I suppose I could use this time to clean the house, or prep dinner, but most afternoons, I sit and read myself. The housework isn't going anywhere, but my little girl will not be willing to snuggle with me on a weekday afternoon for much longer. So, I'm making the most of it while I can.

My evenings are spent working or cleaning up. Laundry is a never ending battle, and I am ill equipped with a washing machine on it's dying legs and a dryer that takes 3 cycles to dry the smallest load. I've been slowing working my way through the house, painting rooms white. Yea, it's weird, but I prefer white walls. We have a tiny, cottage style house and white makes it look clean and slightly bigger. Now, if I could only find a way to afford new carpets and furniture...

So, that's my summer so far. Tell me about yours. I know this is quite possibly the most boring post in the history of lame blog posts, but it's something. I've got to start somewhere!

I'm Here.. I'm Alive.. But, just barely.

I won't even give the usual excuses...I haven't been posting. I have neglected this blog for too long and it's time to get back to it. I don't think I even realized how much I needed this outlet.

So, let's get you up to speed on this exciting life of mine, shall we? It's been a busy summer. We spend lots of time with our friends, chillin' at the pool and gossiping (not about you, I swear.) It's great to have a group of friends that I can totally be myself with and not have to worry about judgement and cattiness. I adore my friends, life would be miserable without them.

We had a few dramatic weeks with Craig last month. It all began on Saturday morning, during a yard sale we were having with some friends. Craig had gotten up at 5am or so, and went to help set up. I went over around 7. Everything seemed fine. Then at 8am , he walks up to me and whispers in my ear, "Um, I've been peeing blood all night."

My reaction was, of course, anger. (what? that's not normal?) You see, this is an ongoing thing with Craig. He likes to pretend things are fine when they aren't. And it literally takes hours to get anything out of him when something is bothering him. We've have major fights over this. Why the hell hadn't he told me last night? Why did he come over and set up the yard sale? And then waited another hour to tell me after that? Ok, yeah, I was concerned.... but I was more mad. His excuse was, "I didn't want to worry you." And my response to that lovely sentiment was, "God dammit! Why can't you ever just do things the easy way?" Again, I was a shining example of the caring wife.

So, we left the yard sale (leaving our friends with our crap and a huge crowd of people). The Er was amazingly empty and we were in and out with a diagnosis of kidney stones within a few hours. That was just the beginning.

I had no idea just how painful kidney stones are! I mean, they took down my 240 pound husband and had him in the fetal position for days. They gave him Percocet and it didn't even touch the pain. (And yes, just so you know, my wife and motherly instincts did kick in and I took care of him. Not even one kick in the kidneys, thank you very much.) It turns out he had a 8x7mm stone! (that's pretty impressive in the kidney stone scene.) He had surgery last Tuesday and all is well now. (fingers crossed.) He had to strain his pee and keep the stones for analysis. And let me just say that nothing adds to the bathroom decor like a pee strainer and specimen jars filled with sediment.

Hmmm... what else? Not much actually. We helped some friends move, had a few date nights, my birthday, Ros made orange belt in Karate. That's it really. I have read tons of books and really need to get my butt in gear with the reviews.

There is one more month of summer of here, so I am sure my postings will be erratic for August but I plan on doing a blog challenge for September. (anyone do NABLOPOMO?)

So, I guess that's it for now.I will try and post more if I can ever get my kid off of ClubPenguin.com. I'll start back with Would You Rather Wednesdays next week. Hope you are all having a great summer!