Life is Like a Circus

Do you ever have days, no WEEKS!, where you think you are living in the midst of a 3 Ring Circus?

That's my life this week for ya.......a big old Big Top Circus.

And in honor of that, here is a song for y'all.
One of my favs but one of my favorite singers.....well, not really a singer. lol
Turn it up and sing along won't you?

Enjoy and I'll be back later after I keep all the plates in the air and spinning today.

Sluggy

Circumstantial Pomp 2011

So I've been MIA from the Blogging Universe for the last couple of days.....ok, the last THREE Days!

I plead Insanity your Honor.

In the last 8 days I've half-assedly cleaned the house from top to bottom, had 3 relatives & a kid and his GF come to stay-over for various lengths of time, thrown a party and done all the cooking(Sis-IL did help with some of the prep work), helped pack a kid up to work across state for 2 months, fed various relatives various meals besides the party along with all the usual crap I do here.  And I fit in a couple of blog posts last week, as well as 1 trip to the grocery store, 1 trip to Kmart and 3 trips to Rite-Aid.....like you even considered I'd NOT go to Rite-Aid??? HA!

I so wish I had more of a stack of photos to share from my week.
But there are 2 reasons I don't.
1--I don't have a camera growing out of my hand like some people do cough *mark* cough and....
2--My camera sucks.  It's old and not very powerful and doesn't have good features beyond your basics.
And add in a #3 that I don't take very good photos either.  I just don't have 'the eye'.

With that said, here is how the last week went down......

The Sis-IL arrived last Sunday with her teddy bear companions(don't ask!).  I was so busy the first few days with cleaning and staying cool(it was almost 90 here for most of the week!)and not going insane that I didn't think to snap a photo of anything besides my Rite-Aid booty until Thursday when #1 son arrived with his Girl Friend.
Here is is trying to turn her to face the camera for a photo and her smacking him in the face.
Ain't love grand?

Here's a better shot of them with a couple of old fogies(Hubs and Sis-IL) in the way....

We decided to play Boggle that evening for fun.
Let me explain that I am the Master of the Boggle Universe....at least in our family.
None of them has ever beaten me at Boggle...ever.
Not just NOT beaten me in points for the whole game, but NOT beaten me in points for a single Round either.
Wow.....the secret is out now.  I blew my chance at ever being a World Boggle Shark, haven't I?!

Anyhow, we started a friendly game of Boggle.
#1 son had the great idea to level the playing field by spiking my lemonade with SoCo(aka Southern Comfort).
He was really probably trying to sneak himself a drink of it and when I caught him he came up with the leveling the field idea.

Either way, he didn't get any and I still won at Boggle, again! ;-)
Granted I couldn't stand up afterwords....

On Friday around noon my Brother and my other Sis-IL arrived, Hubs went to get BIL and the Nephew and Daughter brought her Boyfriend over.  After #2 son got home from school, his 2 buddies from down the street wandered over about the time the food was ready.  It's amazing how teenage boys have food radar like that, huh?lol

We had a family preGraduation cook-out from 2ish until 4.
I would have loved to share gorgeous shots of us all cramming our mouths with food but I was too busy manning the grill on the back deck and the smoker on the driveway out front.
Of course no one else took any pictures.

After we ate people found comfortable places to lounge and some of us snoozed.....

This is my Brother's wife.  They had an 8 hr. ride to get here and her everyday life is even more Crazy Busy then my life was this past week.  She deserves to nap any damn time/place she feels like it.
Don't judge.....

Everyone was feeling full and relaxed.
Here's the future Graduate and her BF goofing off for the camera.....

Then it was time to get to the Arena for the Commencement exercises.
I won't bore you with how I went over and dressed down some rude, young adults in the audience by us who were there to talk loudly amongst themselves through all the speeches and the kids' performances so no one around them could hear anything and then only SHUT UP doing that long enough to scream and yell at the top of their lungs when their buddies' names were called.  Hubs held me back from swinging at them with my big heavy black cane too.
I guess with all the money we will be spending next month on college tuition there isn't much left to pay my bail.

Here is one shot Hubs took of Daughter leaving the Arena....

She was the 5th one in the processional in and one of the last in the recessional out.
My, my.....another awkward sentence.lol

And here are a slew of the obligatory Graduation photos of the newly diploma'ed with her family....

First the boyfriend.
Daughter is tall which makes the BF a giant......

Then with soon to be broke Mom & Dad.
And no, I am NOT bald.  I don't know where my hair was....

Then with Uncle and Aunt from VA.....

Then with Hubs family--another Uncle, the Cousin and another Aunt from IL.....

Then again with Mom & Dad.
My hair is still MIA and I look like a happy lunatic.
I was probably asking for an adult beverage by that point.....

And finally with her 2 Brothers.
Yes her older brother really went all out dressing up for the occasion.
And I actually got the hair out of #2 son's face long enough to get a photo.  He is giving me the stink eye.  I didn't push it and try for a second take because he just finished playing Pomp & Circumstance with the School Band a bazillion times inside the Arena.

Then we asked Daughter to pose alone.....the elegant Graduation shot for posterity, and this is what we got.

And Sis-IL's arm too boot.

Then it was back to the house for cake.....or as Sis-IL from VA kept pronouncing it, "keck".  She's been on a "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" movie kick lately.
Here's the Graduation Cake, er Keck......

 Daughter ordered the cake herself.  The school colors are red and black.  Not very festive a combination unless it's a wake or Halloween.  The least she could have done is had them put flowers on it.  Big old Black icing roses would have perked that baby up, ya think?

She also ordered a half yellow, half chocolate cake.
I kept referring to it as the diversity cake.
All the grown-ups got a big laugh out of that.
All the young'uns groaned and rolled their eyes at me.
Yes, I am so witty when I am exhausted and sleep deprived.

I made Daughter cut and serve everyone a slice.  She was very methodical and deliberate about it and took forever.
I think she should concentrate on cutting instead of loony bin once she gets to medical school since she dissected that cake with the skill of a surgeon.

After cake and gifts Daughter left for the Senior Lock-In and we old folks all collapsed into our respective beds.

On Saturday Sis-IL from IL hit the road for the trip home.
The young'uns all went off to see friends and do various fun stuff.

The grown-ups?
We laid around and napped and ate and napped some more.

Then we took everyone who was left out for Chinese.
We sat out on the deck and talked.
Then we all went to bed early again.

On Sunday morning #1 Son, GF and Daughter left for camp....

Brother and Sis-IL followed suit a half-hour later and left for their trip back to VA.
And I went back to bed and slept a good part of Sunday away.

Which leads us to this fine Monday morning.
The unseasonably hot weather has abated, the house is finally quite(at least until noon when #2 Son returns home from school)and I can begin contemplating my summer plans.

And I can begin boring you with posts again.
Aren't you one lucky devil?

Sluggy

Chaotic Times.....The World Isn't Ending Yet!

First, I am SO glad that the world did not end last Saturday.
I just don't have time for that to happen right now....ya know? 8-)

Here are a couple of photos from a couple of weeks back.
First my daughter before she left for Prom......

She had a frugal-ish Prom.  The dress is the same one she wore/bought last year.  No multiple dresses were bought by the parents in preparation for Prom like some girls & parents do.  And it's a style she can wear and has worn outside of Prom occasions.  The shoes she already had and the necklace she bought last year.

Unfrugal would be the amount of money she spent on having her hair did.  She paid that bill herself and her eyes about bugged out at the price tag for some curling and hairspray. ;-)

Daughter has legs that go on for days.  Thankfully she didn't inherit my genetic code for short stumpy stumps.

And here is #2 son a few Saturdays ago when his musical friends came over to jam.....

The neighborhood got serenaded briefly.
Those tiny little amps sure ratchet up the volume....

Now this is where I apologize to all my readers and blogging friends for my lack of posts, effort and commenting/reading their posts this past week.
The accident threw a complication into my already falling apart plans for the week.  We've been dealing with insurance companies(notably an especially unfriendly-dare I say hostile-adjuster for the other driver's insuror), towing companies, hospital reports/forms and salvage yards.  Between jumping through these hoops and my elevated stress level, I've been a tad distracted.

The forecast kept saying RAIN on Saturday so I backed off of holding the Garage Sale and didn't advertise it at all.  Of course, Saturday morning the sun is shining and it's a glorious rain-free day.
Ugh.
Man makes plans and God laughs.....

We did get the Garage clean-out DONE....yay!  But since the Garage Sale didn't happen, I still have many boxes of HBA stockpile in the living room still.  After #1 son goes through it today to extract what he needs for the summer, we'll have to get it all moved to the garage....so there goes the cleaned garage.
Ugh.
But at least once the Garage Sale does happen, everything will already be there, organized, ready for me to set up the tables, put it all out and price.  Of course until I have the sale, the garage will be less navigate-able.
So I am hopeful that by this evening I'll have a mostly cleared out living/dining room, except for the furniture, and it will be ready for the 'relatives' onslaught which begins on June 5th.

Presently, I'm buried in Salvation and Salvation Army wannabee stuff.  Hubs trunk is almost full again, I've got items to take pictures of and I've got boxes of stuff to finish going through today.

Oh, and I have to drive #1 son across the state on Friday to his summer job since their car is totaled and IF we ever see any money for it from the responsible party's insurance company it won't be soon enough to get another vehicle for them before they both leave for the summer.   This accident has totally jacked up our plans for the summer but at least we all survived it. ;-)

Add in the end of the year regular craziness and it's full blown Pandimonium here!

And I need to go back to Rite-Aid today but nothing new about that.lol

So that's why I've been MIA lately.
More on this story as it develops.....

Sluggy

Can I Breathe Now?!?!...Transformers, the Czech Republic, Kid Social Life & Mangled Cars

No matter how much planning I do and simplifying and organizing and doing things ahead when I can, it never fails that I end up with one crisis after another at the Holidays.
Something unforeseen always throws a big ol' monkey wrench into the works and the metaphorical wheels come flying off the cart!

Is it just me or does this happen to all of y'all too?

I don't think I would know how to behave it everything went smoothly and nothing came up.

I've been like a Jack Russell Terrier chasing his tail for the last few days.
It's been one thing after another with no down time whatsoever......I am plum wore out!

Nothing major, just the usual day-to-day stuff with some psuedo-major complications thrown in and then a big heaping pile of Holiday time stuff on top.

Why is is that every danged group, team, club, class, society and organization that your kids are a part of feel the need to hold some special event at the Holidays?  My kids aren't way over scheduled like most of the kids in this country are.....you know, the kids who are on 3 kinds of sports teams per season, take some kind of physical activity lesssons, then take music/art/theatre lessons every week, then belong to scouts or 4H or some other group, belong to a band or choir or chorus or are in a play, etc, etc., etc.
And then there are the religious affiliation groups/clubs they participate in.  No wonder the kids in this country are burning out and developing ulcers at 10 yrs. old!

Why do every single one of these entities have to have something going on at the Holidays?....Some thing that you have to "do" something for?......bake for, organize for, fundraise for, sell tickets for, donate things for, give money to, haul kids around for.
And each kids has multiple groups/clubs that need you to do for them.....and times the number of committments by how many kids you have and the demand on your time, energy, resources and sanity is MIND NUMBING!
And then add on top of all that, the things YOU as a family want to partake in/do/fund/organize personally and you just need to give up sleeping for the entire month of December to find the hours to get it all accomplished.

Am I the only one who just feels squashed like this at the Holidays??
Tell me I am not......please!


*Friday we got hit with a very large "car maintenance" list of repairs for Hub's car.
*We are dealing with some financial issues with a relative....again after he totaled his car.
*Running ragged toting #2 son to rehearsals/practices.
*Trying to keep track of the comings and goings of Daughter.
*Delivering fruit and candy orders from fundraiser.
*Spending time putting Rite-Aid pillage items away.
*Going through things to donate to the Salvation Army and the Food Bank.
*Standing in the excruciatingly long lines at the PO because people show up CLUELESS about how to pack a box(or pack it right there at the counter!)and can't decide on WHICH RATE to ship it!argh!!! For gosh sakes, step out of line and figure out what the heck you are doing BEFORE you get to the counter!
*Digging through the storage unit to find things I sold and forgetting to bring my flashlight!
*Daughter wanting cookies for her French class party.
*#2 Son wanting brownies for his Band Xmas party.
*Band parents wanting baked goods to sell at the School play....that makes 3 different baking chores within a 3 day stretch!
*STILL trying to get the Xmas tree put up.....we are on Week #2 now.lol
*Trying to keep up with the eBay work.   I got hit with a massive amount of sales yesterday(ok, so this is a GOOD problem to have!)so I was up until 4:30 last night packing orders that had to go out today.
*If I am selling and shipping stuff, I also don't have time to list new stuff to replace what I sold....but trying to list stuff anyway.
*Driving relative around to do his errands because his car is totaled.
*Having to work in a Cookie Exchange and Giveaway during this insanely busy time.
*Trying to throw together & or order our Xmas gifts.
*Getting Hubs ready for a business trip this week.

And this is all on top the usual chores....like cooking, cleaning, laundry, pet care, grocery shopping, errands, and of course!....running to Rite-Aid!lolol

Just to tell you how improbable my life is sometimes, listen to what happened this weekend.....
I sold a Transformers toy to a guy in the Czech Republic.  Stood in line for a full 1/2 hr on Sat. morning to mail it off to him.
Saturday night I realize at 2am that I shipped him the WRONG TRANSFORMER!!!
(I had 2 different ones for sale on eBay.)
So even though I am going to loose money now because I have to send him the correct one on my own dime, I pack it up and get it ready to go Monday morning and I go to bed.
Sunday morning after I get up, I go online to end the listing for the toy I sent him by mistake(since I don't have it anymore to sell).
And guess what???
I find out that while I was sleeping SOMEBODY in SPAIN bought it!
Seriously.....I have had that toy for 8 years and NO ONE has even looked at the thing on eBay.....I send it to the Czech Republic and suddenly, someone in Spain buys it!LOLOLOLOL


Yes, this is my life......


Luckily(I think I mean luckily?!lol), I do have a 2nd of that toy I sold.  So Hubs and I go to the storage unit Sunday and after ONLY going through HALF of the boxes there, we find it.....well, "I" found it. ;-)
But the package is less than perfect.
So I have to email the guy in Spain and tell him the whole sordid tale, and that I have another one I can ship him but the package is not pristine, if he still wants this one....and I hope that he is fairly fluent in English and understands what exactly I am saying, because I KNOW that my writing is ESPECIALLY understandable after I haven't slept for 3 days!!lol
And I send him photos of the item's condition.
And now I sit and wait....and wait.....and wait some more until he decides if he still wants it or not.

Heck, I should have just canceled the transaction and let him leave me a negative.
But instead I invest even more precious time in this suck-hole situation in the name of  "doing the right thing".
Sometimes it pays to just be an unethical heathen instead.....lol

I've run the relative to do their errands, gone to the PO again to mail the international packages I can't pay for online, hit Rite-Aid, hit the grocery store, gotten Daughter's Birthday Ice Cream Cake, I've reconciled my bank statement and fed & put out the doggies.
I am now going to sit down and relaxing for the first time in 3 days.....well, I will after I finish writing this post.
I'm cooking an easy dinner(leftover shrimp I had boiled and I'll add them to a side dish package of Noodles and Alfredo Sauce and heat up a box of frozen veggies)and then I may go take a hot bath and go to bed before 7pm.

And I will come up for air and breathe.

Sluggy