May 27, 2007

May 27, 2007

Life of leisure

So, I'm officially on vacation now. My stress level has become so high however, that my body has not caught up with the notion of relaxation yet. I'm hoping sometime in the next two weeks I'll actually begin to relax.

So far, we have two trips planned this summer. One I want to take, and one I don't want to take, but I'm going to because I need to. That stresses me out. Actually the idea of preparing to travel is stressful in itself. Traveling is stressful. Especially traveling outside of the U.S. Very stressful. What is intended to be a relaxing event becomes a very stress-filled event. The idea of packing gives me panic attacks. Not because it's difficult to pack for myself, but because I have to make sure all of my family is properly packed. If I don't oversee everyone's packing, they will take a pair of flip-flops and maybe a clean pair of underwear and ....well...a video game maybe. MAYBE. Forget toothbrushes, clothing, toiletries, etc. When we went to Paris last year, (in March), my daughter insisted she would be fine with flip flops, and sulked and pouted for a week when I told her she had to bring actual enclosed shoes. Once we got there and the temperature never got above freezing, she was thankful, but before that, she thought I was the biggest bitch on the planet.

Once we arrived, my children refused to eat when we stopped to eat and kept saying, "We'll wait...we're not hungry yet..." even when my husband and I told them that this is mealtime, and we won't be stopping at McDonald's even if we see one on a corner later. Therefore, my children tell everyone that when we travel, they starve. We don't travel to different continents to go to McDonald's, and my kids keep believing we'll give in, although we don't. My youngest found the only bottle of ketchup in Paris, though. Evidently big blue eyes, freckles and a charming smile translate to any language. Even thought I had just told my son that they didn't have ketchup (after the waiter and I had conversed in French,) the waiter told me he would go and see what he could find in the kitchen. Sure enough, he came back with a tiny bottle of ketchup. My son ate it on what that restaurant called a 'hot dog' which was really a sausage on a baguette.

Anyhow, a summer filled with ungrateful children, and uncomfortable flights and beautiful art and fascinating history awaits us. Right now, our area is experiencing frightening weather. So far 6 people have died in our city from flooding. A house in our neighborhood was struck by lightning last week in the middle of the night and literally burned to the ground. Two days ago there was a tornado downtown. There is no end in sight to the bad weather according to the National Weather Service, so the kids are stuck inside as summer begins. My dogs are perpetually wet and muddy-pawed and bark at the thunder all day and night. I'm out of things to read and have taken to re-reading classics like "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell about a minister in the South of England who gives up his church to move to the North of England to a milltown with this young daughter and wife in the 1800s. Meh. I've read it, but am reading it again.

We saw the 3rd "Pirates of the Carribean" today. It was good. Better than the 2nd, but I still liked the 1st best.

This is even boring to me.
Currently reading:
North and South (Penguin Classics)
By Elizabeth Gaskell
Release date: 01 June, 1996