advertisement
-
Emily Parnell
on May 25 2013 - 06:00 AM
Do you want something great to happen? You better start doing something.
- read more
Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
- read more
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
I will admit it, I am a people watcher. It doesn't matter whether I know the person or if they are just people in the mall. I watch and wonder, in my head mostly. Why do they do what they do, why do they say that, what is their circumstance? I don't do it so much to judge, as I just am curious. I just think people are amazing most of the time, though there are times I am truly stumped by someone's behavior, attitude, etc.
I turn this around though, and I wonder if people are watching me and what do they really think. Case in point: I am a divorced mom with my four children, ages 14, 12, 10 and 8. I have been on my own with them since my youngest was 1. Being the breadwinner, nurse, activity director, bill payer, counselor (I know I could go on) is like no other. The one thing I wish I could pass on to someone else is decision maker. Frankly, decision making is quite overrated.
Last night I woke up around 10:30, everyone but my older daughter, the night owl, was asleep. I'm not even sure what woke me up, but when I walked in the hall I smelled a very unfamiliar smell, like something burning maybe. I found my daughter, inquiring if she could smell it...yes, she could.."What is it?" I just didn't know. But I know, it didn't belong there. Panic mode sets in, I think my house is going to burn down, there is a gas leak, the furnace is going to blow up! Don't even think about the fact that I have perfectly working smoke detectors and a CO2 detector. I do what only what I know, I call 911. Drag the kids to a neighbor I haven't even met yet (I haven't even mentioned yet that I just recently moved in to this house, the first house I have purchased..Yeah! I think..)
The fire dept. comes. They go inside the house and look and look. Nothing. They have their little handheld CO2 detectors, and nothing shows. They said it smelled like someone had a candle burning, but I didn't. I had been asleep. They even, God Bless them, went into the crawl space to check the furnace, which checked out fine. I apologized so many times, feeling like I was wasting their time. Of course they reassured me, but in my head I know that inside they were probably thinking I was just a little looney. They left, I gathered my children, put them back to bed and then I slept fitfully on my recliner, hoping maybe they would have a day off because of subzero degree temperatures (NSL!)
I wonder what do the firemen do when they go back to the station. Do they sit around the TV or table and do what I do when I people watch. Do they laugh at the memory of that crazy blonde lady who that thought her house was going to blow up! That crazy, crazy lady!
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagslife (7)
christmas (3)
divorce (3)
growing up (3)
lessons (3)
single parenting (3)
teenagers (3)
accomplishments (2)
back to school (2)
boy scouts (2)
boys (2)
chaos (2)
family time (2)
gratitude (2)
home ownership (2)
kids (2)
motherhood (2)
new year (2)
resolutions (2)
sanity (2)
togetherness (2)
vacation (2)
yard work (2)
(1)
2012 (1)
active teens (1)
activities (1)
adult bully (1)
adventures (1)
age (1)
alright (1)
archery (1)
baby steps (1)
bad examples (1)
best friends (1)
birds (1)
birthday (1)
boys to men (1)
busy-ness (1)
calendar (1)
camp (1)
canoeing (1)
carpentry (1)
challenges (1)
child rearing (1)
children (1)
choice (1)
choices (1)
christmas tree (1)
cleaning room (1)
clubs (1)
coffee (1)
college (1)
college break (1)
coming out (1)
complicated life (1)
confirmation (1)
confused (1)
cookies (1)
cooking (1)
courage (1)
crawlspace (1)
cruise (1)
dance (1)
dead trees (1)
december (1)
decision making (1)
dentist (1)
dinner (1)
disappointment (1)
diy (1)
dogs barking (1)
drug abuse (1)
elections (1)
encouragement (1)
events (1)
facebook (1)
fall funfest (1)
family (1)
family table (1)
fearlessness (1)
fighting (1)
fired (1)
first jobs (1)
forgetfullness (1)
friends (1)
friendship (1)
fun (1)
funny anecdotes (1)
games (1)
goals (1)
good examples (1)
goodness (1)
grace (1)
grin (1)
happy birthday (1)
happy hour (1)
health (1)
help (1)
helping others (1)
holiday (1)
holidays (1)
homosexuality (1)
house projects (1)
housework (1)
hugs (1)
humanity (1)
independence (1)
independent (1)
individual attention (1)
joy (1)
jumbled mind (1)
kid=stories (1)
kids cooking (1)
kids saving (1)
kis growing up (1)
labels (1)
last goodby (1)
laughter (1)
laundry anarchy (1)
lemons and lemonade (1)
less hate (1)
living outside box (1)
lonely (1)
mac and cheese (1)
magazine surveys (1)
maintenance free (1)
manuals (1)
may (1)
me time (1)
medication (1)
mediocre homemaker (1)
memories (1)
mental health (1)
merit badges (1)
middle school (1)
milestones (1)
milk (1)
miss you (1)
mom meetups (1)
mom support (1)
moms dating (1)
money (1)
moral support (1)
more love (1)
neighbors (1)
nervous mom (1)
networking (1)
new years eve (1)
normalcy (1)
not a hugger (1)
numbers (1)
okay with the world (1)
oldest daughter (1)
opportunities (1)
parenting (1)
parenting more than one (1)
people are people (1)
people watching (1)
personal finance (1)
pets (1)
picky eater (1)
plants (1)
play (1)
plays (1)
poetry (1)
raising children (1)
relief (1)
rough patches (1)
sacraments (1)
sad (1)
scaredy cat (1)
self improvement (1)
sick pets (1)
snow (1)
social (1)
social media (1)
spouse (1)
stars (1)
summer break (1)
surreal (1)
surveying life (1)
symmetry (1)
tadpoles (1)
talents (1)
teaching (1)
teen angst (1)
teen bully (1)
teens dating (1)
teens driving (1)
thanks (1)
the big picture (1)
thinking (1)
thoughts (1)
time (1)
tolerance (1)
too many things to do (1)
tooth fairy (1)
traditions (1)
travel (1)
turning sixteen (1)
tweens (1)
unexpected (1)
valentines (1)
village (1)
virtual life (1)
weekend home (1)
weight loss (1)
westport (1)
wood floors (1)
working together (1)
worry (1)
wrestling (1)
writing (1)