Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Just Waiting for the Excedrin to Kick In

3 weeks.

We have 3 weeks left of summer - well, the kids do anyway. Us grown-ups can continue to wade in the kiddie pool, eat popsicles and run around in our bathing suits until September 21st, if we so desire. Right now, that is looking like a mighty fine idea.

Some of my friends are coping by drinking lemonade with vodka. I won't mention any names.

Me? I tried to sit down to dinner last night (while my husband is in Napa on an all inclusive, paid for wine weekend with his brother) with a nice glass of wine. Normally, I don't drink white wine, but I found this bottle in the refrigerator and figured, hey - since he's probably drinking wine, I'll join him in spirit.

So I uncorked the bottle and filled up a glass. I noticed a little crack on the bottle, but since I couldn't actually feel it, I decided that the wine had not been exposed to air and spoiled. I know, my logic - it is amazing!

Maybe it had gone bad, maybe I just don't drink enough white wine to tell, but it was horrible. By the time I made the decision not to drink it, my caprese salad was almost finished and although opening one of my favorite bottles of red was enticing, I didn't think pinot would pair very well with the ice cream sandwiches my kids were waiting to share with me.

Sigh.

Wyatt stands over my shoulder. I ask him what he's doing, and he says, "Just waiting for something to happen."

McRae has complained that his sister is breaking all of his "things." When I asked him what things he was talking about - note that he is in her room the whole time - he said, "My legos." He is talking about the Duplo starter legos that all of the kids have enjoyed and have been passed down to his sister ever since she stopped putting each and every object she encountered into her mouth.

Katie insists on wearing a pair of roller blades 3 sizes too big, and then tromping through the house with them on.

People are locking other people out of rooms.

In a weak moment last spring, I bought a Tim McGraw cd because I was feeling nostalgic (or was it crazy?) for my college days in hick town when I saw him perform at a rodeo. Now, my son has found it and insists on playing it on his cd player as loud as he can. It is my own personal hell.

The hose keeps getting turned on, even though I've threatened to take the kids savings and use it to pay the water bill.

I am thinking I should contact some of you who live in The South, since your kids have already gone back to school, and see if we can come up with some kind of a trade. I'll take your kids in the beginning of summer, when mine are still in school - to give you a little break and a few weeks of sanity. In return, you take my kids at the end of summer when your kids are at school, providing me with some much needed down time. Of course, our children would attend school with each other - so that you wouldn't have to bear witness to these "I'm bored!" "He touched me!" "She breathed my air!" days that make up the dog days of summer.

It's a win-win situation.

So I'll sit and I'll wait. I'll stare longingly at my wine rack and I just might take my friends advice and make up a batch of lemonade. . .

Let's just hope I don't end up giving the kids the spiked one. Because right now, anything is possible.

Perhaps I'm just a wee bit annoyed that my husband is in Napa, being chauffeured around, dining in caves, learning about grapes, tasting wine, getting massages and staying in a 5-star hotel.

Ya think?

Perhaps if he would not call me eleventy times a day to rub it all in, I would be coping better, I would be less grumpy and I would be enjoying the end of summer and my time as a single parent a little bit more.

All I can say is that he better bring home a bottle of wine . . . or two.

And they better not be white!

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

A few words from your older (and admittedly child-free) cousin... Pinot goes with everything.

Valarie Lea said...

I do believe in three weeks someone might need to take a little vacation of her own. :)

Ann(ie) said...

I cannot even begin to envision the curses I would be putting on my husband if he went on a WINE vacation without me. Now a beer tasting gig with a golf chaser I could swallow, but a wine weekend in NAPA????? You are one kind soul my friend.

He'd best be bringing you a case of the good stuff. And I'm with your wise cousin....Pinot goes with EVERYTHING!!!

Anonymous said...

Just got home. Will open any wine you need.

xxxooomom

Nauntie Lush said...

You know maybe they would be quiet if you 'accidentally' gave them a spiked lemonade. You know for a couple of hours.

Anonymous said...

And this is why it's always so tempting for me to start drinking before the closing credits of Sesame Street roll!

Heather said...

I am with Mrs. Tantrum...would spiked Lemonade be "that" bad. Just think the next day would be quiet as well, with the hangovers and all. (I didn't just say that out loud did I?)

Counting the days down here as well. Hubby and I are going out for a celebration as he has the first day of school off!

Shania said...

Question: why do we have to stop running around in our bathing suits on Sept 21?

and my kids don't have to go back until Aug 26. Want me to send them up to keep your kids busy? They can be packed in 10 minutes.

Kellan said...

You are so cute! I don't think I could have explained how our summer has gone - is going - as well as this! I love summer - but ... I can not wait for some time to myself! I wish you lived next door and we'd plan a day to drink some wine - after THE KIDS ARE BACK IN SCHOOL!

So nice to see you Carrie - take care - Kellan

Anonymous said...

12 days and counting for me!! Can I just tell you how excited I am for school to start. I'll take a glass of that spiked lemonade.

painted maypole said...

well blame it on sirius, i just learned these are called the dog days of summer because of that star's prominence in the sky during this time, and he is to blame for the heat and general crabbiness

i find it always helps to have someone to blame

LindaJ said...

I told you the other day I was not ready to pull my hair out yet, IT'S THE LEMONADE!!!!

Just a little buzz never hurt anyone. Hell, we were drunk for a week in Chelan and that was acceptable. Why can't being drunk for three weeks be acceptable?

I promise to be sober by Ground hogs day.

flutter said...

no martinis?

Cynthia said...

I like me some white wine with parenting;)

BusyDad said...

"Just waiting for something to happen" - now that is funny! That kid is destined to be a blogger.

Birdie said...

Bad wine is just WRONG. I say go ahead and drink some red! (I'm a poet...)
The lemonade sounds good too...

Anonymous said...

I'm tempted to just shut our water off completely and go without showering, just so the hose isn't turned on fifty times a day.

And I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the "she breathed my air" comments I'm sure to endure in the not-to-distant future. Although, if none of us is showering at that point, maybe it will be, "she reeked my air" instead.

Kyla said...

Wine for whine, I always say. ;)

My kids start back next week and the following week, so we aren't too much ahead of you.

Laural Out Loud said...

I think you need to pour yourself a glass of lemonade with vodka!

AGSoccerMom said...

Vodka Lemonaide Sounds wonderful, My kids aren't back to school either.
Might have to go make some.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

There are those days . . .

a Tonggu Momma said...

Have I ever told you that I can't drink wine? That I have an allergy that prohibits me from drinking wine?

Please feel sorry for me.

20 days to go...

Queen of the Mayhem said...

I am TOTALLY in for the trade! Let's get together and hash out the details!


Pray that I survive tomorrow...as it is Junior Mayhem's first day of kindergarten!

Pray HARDER for his teacher! :)

Good luck with the survival!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the lemonade vodka tip on my blog. Now I see where it stems from...

Hehehe. Can you see I'm still catching up on my blog reader?!

So, lemonade has it merits, but why foul all that good vodka with so much lemonade?! Check out lemon drops, my friend. This triple lemon drop in particular helped me get through my summer:

http://flickr.com/photos/beauraines/2736744366/