I have to laugh! I got a very strange look from a guy this afternoon. Today, V picked me up from work and we made a trip to our 'favorite' local home store to pick up some concrete. As we shopped, we engaged in our usual playful banter/bickering. We checked out, I pulled the van around to the loading area and we began loading in our eight 80 lb. bags of concrete mix. As I put one into the van, I remarked that they were heavy. The next bag I was carrying, V attempted to take from me. "I can do this, I'm not a weakling" I protested. V reminded me that I had just complained that they were heavy and I retorted "I didn't say I couldn't do it, I just said that they're heavy!" At that point, the guy who had pulled in next to us, gave me an odd look, glanced at the bags of concrete loaded into the van, nodded and walked away. I'm not quite sure what to make of it but I thought it was funny!! It seems that most guys aren't used to seeing women hauling large heavy items. Hmm....
In other randomness... I got the garden tilled this evening. Well, almost. I ran out of gas with only about nine square feet left. I think I'll do it by hand because it's not worth the effort.
And, an amazing development!! My sacrificial cucumbers that I planted long ago when it was really warm are finally up! It must have gotten too cool for them to germinate quickly. But, that is just fine as hopefully now we are past the freezes that plagued us for a bit not long after I planted them. And I noted while I was out there that my potatoes are beginning to poke through. Hoorah!!
Tonight J17 is at the City High Film Festival. She is one of the co-MCs for the event and she has been working really, really hard for the past few weeks to get ready for this. She will be out until late. Fortunately, they don't have school tomorrow so she can sleep in. But, as long as it isn't raining, V has jobs planned for the children tomorrow.
We've got rain forecast for the weekend. Maybe that's a good thing. I've got lots of inside stuff to do and J17 still hasn't finished her prom dress (prom is on May 5th!) I've suddenly realized that I've only got about three weeks before J17's graduation party. Ack!! I'm not ready!!!! I've got a wall in the living room that still needs painted, the living/dining rooms look like a tornado hit and I've got to finalize the menu. I'm doing all the catering myself so I've got to get on top of this!! Also, in just over two weeks, J17 turns into J18! A legal adult. I'm not ready for THAT either. Isn't she still only five???
I am glad my children did the prom stuff themselves and did not feel the need to burden me with and extra work or expense(which I couldn't have paid for anyway). We also did not bother with graduation parties. We are pretty simple and don't see the need for expensive things like this. The boys knew I was proud of them for graduating, the school held a party and we all relaxed after that.
ReplyDeleteAs for hauling around 80 lb bags, well congratulations. I can sling a 50 lb bag on my shoulder and carry it around the house to the back shed but it is just work and I see no reason to feel accomplished when I do it. I would rather he do it :)
My daughter is making her own prom dress, which I don't see as a burden on me at all. We have fun sewing together and I love it that she is practical enough to select a fabric and pattern that she can actually wear again. As for the planned graduation party, I see nothing wrong with having a celebration for family and friends. We aren't planning anything extravagant and, honestly, I think she is worth the expense and trouble of hosting an open house to mark an important milestone in her life. I may spaz out about it a little, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to. Plus, our school doesn't host any kind of party- there is just the ceremony and they're done. She is also planning to do her senior violin recital during her open house.
DeleteAnd congratulations to you as well. Maybe I didn't come across right- I wasn't trying to brag that I could haul 80 lb bags, I just found the guy's reaction humorous. Oh, and I would much rather V do the heavy work as well, but I'm not about to stand by and watch him do it all alone ;-)
@becky3086- How sad it is that you seem to see your children as a financial burden rather something to celebrate. You should feel blessed to have them and celebrate every moment. You never know when you might lose them and then you regret the little things that you didn't say or do.
Delete-A Grieving Mother.
@becky3068 I feel insulted that you'd say I'm a burden to my mother. We enjoy the time we have together, especially since I'll be leaving in the next coming months. I'm glad my mom is there to help me out when I need it, but that doesn't mean she has to be there every step of the way to make sure I don't sew my hand into the dress (Which would be a bit more "burdening" than help with a prom dress, don't you think?) If she thought it was "to much work" she wouldn't let me make my dress and would buy me one of those disgusting gawdy things they sell in the stores. Which wouldn't make anyone happy at all.
DeleteAnon- I can't even imagine what you are going through. I can't think of anything more devastating than losing a child. Thanks for stopping in and voicing your opinion.
DeleteJustine... play nice!!
DeleteAnd Sweetie- you're not a burden at all!!
DeleteI could always outlift (and still can) my 3 adult girls. I tell them 2/3 is mental! Rock on!
ReplyDeletenancy- good for you. I do think determination is at least half of it!
DeleteI know that feeling! We had a friend come and help us on our latest project--and it was eye-opening both for him and me how much work I do, LOL. (Me because I didn't realize it wasn't normal.) Also D has been helping a neighbor with a DIY project too, and the contrast in spousal assistance is apparently pretty striking, ha. So here's to strong women (and your mc-ing and dressmaking daughter seems she's totally on the same patch as her cool mom).
ReplyDeleteIt is always so amusing when people don't know what to think of a strong woman. I don't know why they find it so odd.... well, maybe I do. I don't think we count among the typical suburbanite soccer moms.
DeleteThose "big" occasions (like graduations and 18th birthdays) always make a parent stop and wonder where all the years have gone. But we would never want them to NOT grow and learn and be able to go out on their own, would we? (But there sure are times when it all seems to happen way too fast!)
ReplyDeleteWait until you get to be my age (69 in a few more days) and men folk see you tossing around bags of feed or loading lumber into the back of a truck. They hardly know how to react, I think.
They do grow too fast! But you're right, I wouldn't want to hold her back from her journey through life. It just seems like last week she was born. It can't really have been almost 18 years.
DeleteHappy Birthday early! I remember years ago (before children) I went to help on the demolition crew disassembling a two-story mahogany/mirror bar back at the place that V had worked for years. The other guys there were so amazed that I was willing to work. I also spent a lot of time high up on ladders because I was the smallest and lightest. I was secretly furious when one of the guys commented to V that I was "A little trooper". AARGH!!
Haha I remember pushing a flatbed of sandbags out to the car (when I had a minivan) and pitching them in one by one, I got some strange looks but only one guy offered to help, of course I only had 2 bags left, I wonder if the others didn't ask because they were in shock LOL! and J17 to J18? WOW!
ReplyDeleteWhen Justine and I went to get bricks a couple of weeks ago, a guy stopped to help us unload. He was actually more of a hindrance than a help because he just kept piling the bricks into the back where we wanted them lined up over the axle to distribute the weight better. sigh..
DeleteI was thinking of this post tonite- we were at costco getting a 40 lb. box of birdfood, when I asked my husband to get out of the way and let me load it in the cart. He had shoulder surgery 3 weeks ago, so no LIFTING. The guy down the aisle had his mouth open watching as I hoisted it into the cart :)
ReplyDeleteYou go girl!!
DeleteI hope you don't get a back ache from hauling concrete sacs around!! THAT, you don't need! We are having a very dark thunderstorm at the moment. Hopefully it will wash away all that hideous pollen!! OMG!! 18!! Now he'll think he knows EVERYTHING!! LOL LOL...debbie
ReplyDeleteLOL! She already thinks she knows EVERYTHING!!
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