The Holidays, Part 2 - The Day After Christmas

Waking up the day after Christmas, I was excited.  The big kids, Kyle and I were going up to Mad River to try out the new snowboards.  We also took Tara’s daughter Lizzy with us because she had a free pass to go to the tubing park.  Only in Ohio, I swear.  Who the hell pays to go sledding?  Ohio people, that’s who.  I’d never heard of such a thing until I visited Mad River for the first time.  It makes sense though.  This place is flat as hell, so kids need somewhere to go.  Plus, they charge $25 a person, no matter how young or old you are to go tubing for 3 hours.  Yeah, they’re making some huge cash in that place….

Anyways, sorry, got a little off topic there.  Once I got up, I made everyone a YUMMY breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, oven bacon (which in my opinion is the only way to cook bacon now) and sausage.  It rocked.  I’m pretty sure I was a domestic goddess in a previous life.  Though I don’t cook much, when I do, especially here lately, it’s been some pretty fucking awesome meals.  After everyone had full bellies, we dropped Ev off with Tara and were on our way.

The drive over was boring, but what drive isn’t when all you have to look at is flat, dead grass?  Luckily it only takes about 45 minutes to get over there.  We pulled up, K rented his skis and we dropped Lizzy and Gavin off at the tubing park.  Gavin decided on the way there that he’d rather go tubing with Lizzy.  No big deal, I have to pay for his life pass and since it was a holiday weekend, it was $42 a person to go.  I’d much rather pay the $25 for tubing.

We got over to the ski slopes and I immediately froze up.  I knew I wasn’t ready for the big hills, but I didn’t even think I was ready for the bunny hills.  Kyle and Brandon were good sports and hung out with me for quite awhile.  Brandon has picked up snowboarding so quickly, I’m really impressed with him.  Let’s see, how to put this…… I SUCKED…..  Yeah, that’s put mildly.  There was a 5 year old doing better than me.  I fell no less than 4 times during each trip down the bunny hill.  Maybe I should have taken a lesson or two…..  Oh well, get up and do it again…..and again…..and again…..  I thought at one point I was getting better, but then I fell hard on my shoulder.  Real hard.  Brandon and Kyle came to my aid and got me back up.  I told him and B to go have some fun and that I’d be there when they were done.  They left and I went back to the top of the hill and sat.  My arm hurt bad.  Kyle texted me about a half an hour later asking where I was and I told him the same place you left me.  He and Brandon came back up the bunny hill.  I was going to give it one more go.  My snowboard goes too fast….  That’s what the problem is.  This time I land hard on my ass.  I can feel my spine crack all the way up into my neck and am paralyzed for a minute.  Brandon & Kyle come and retrieve me.  I am finally able to get up and decide I’m done for the day.  They go off on their own and actually have some fun.  I walked around the lodge perusing their selection behind the bar, but ultimately deciding that probably wasn’t a good idea……

The Louie Vito Rail Jam was going on that day, so there were kids running all over the place.  I made mental notes of how much older kids look these days than they really are and DID NOT troll for boys.  Those that looked at least 18, I’m sure were actually only about 14…..  I watched some of them compete, it was really freaking cool.  They make the jumps and rails and all that look soooooo easy.  I’m jealous.  I go back inside, get a Red Bull and sulk a bit more.  Finally I get summoned back to the big red truck because the boys are taking a break.  We head down to the tubing park to pick up Gavin & Lizzy.  They’re done, Brandon takes Gavin’s jacket and goes down the hill a couple of times.

We go back over to the ski park to watch some more of the Rail Jam.  L decides she wants to try snowboarding and takes my pass along with my boots and snowboard and her and B are off to hit the slopes.  K, G and I go check out some more of the competition telling them to come over and meet up with us when they get bored.  We have to leave the park around 6:30 because K and I have plans later that night.

6:45, I can’t locate Brandon or Lizzy.  WTF?  Her mom’s gonna be pissed because we’ll be late.  I text Tara and let her know I lost her kid.  She seems fairly unconcerned.  Eventually we find them coming down the bunny hill. Lizzy kicked ass and didn’t even fall.  I’m insanely jealous…..  We pack up and get back to the hood.

Plans for tonight include drinking it up at the local watering hole.  Sweet.  A Vicodin and a couple of drinks later and I should be good to go.  I get Ev to bed, get a shower, come out and Kyle is sleeping.  He’s still not adjusted to being awake normal hours.  I leave him there telling him to call me when he wakes up and I’ll come get him.

Several drinks and retarded pictures later (I NEED my damn camera) Kyle calls and I go to get him.  He comes back with me and Tara hands him a beer.   Not cool.  He doesn’t drink when we’re out for the most part.  If he does, it’s shots standing in the bathroom so he doesn’t get caught.  Sure as shit, he gets caught and kicked out.  That’s ok, I’m drunk and it’s only like 11:30.  We go back home and Tara keeps texting me over the rat bastard that told on Kyle drinking.  I tell her it’s cool, no big deal, but she’s pissed.  She’s drunk so she doesn’t see that it was HER that was in the wrong with this whole thing.  Oh well.  More drinks at home and then we pass out.

The Holidays, Part 1 - Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

This is kinda boring, well to me it is, but I swear it'll all end with some drama once I get everything up and posted.  Stick with me....

Where did we leave off? It seems like it’s been so long…… Oh wait, it has…… Ok, so the last time we talked, I was here at work while my boy was snuggled up in my bed, fresh off the boat. He didn’t get to stay long. He still had shopping to finish and his mom’s all weird about him getting home. It was ok with me that he had to go because I couldn’t stay home like I REALLY wanted to. We said good morning and I got ready to head out the door. Apparently I didn’t realize when you’ve been on a boat for a month; you get all weird walking on solid ground. He stumbled around the bedroom like he was drunk. It made me laugh.

I did my time at work, finally getting out around 1:00 on Christmas Eve. I ran around and got the rest of my shit together and went home to wrap gifts. Once I got that done, it was already time to get Ev to his grandma’s house and the big kids and I went to church with my mom. I’m not a religious person by any means, but there is something moving about the Christmas Eve service. After that was over, we went to Nicole’s parents house because they have an open house every year and quite honestly, I’m not gonna turn down free food and drink….

There were a lot of people there. Most of them I didn’t know. Oh well, I was just chillin until it was time to pick Ev up. When it was time, I took Brandon with me, I wasn’t going over there by myself and having them create drama. If I took a kid with me, I knew that wouldn’t happen.

I picked him up and everything went smoothly. She had gifts for the boys and me, as well as a ton of stuff for Ev. My car was packed full. I thanked them for everything and went back to the open house.

My allergies got the best of me and I really wanted to get home around 9 because Tara and I had plans to hang out since her family ditched her. When I got there, I got Ev into bed and Tara and April came down, kids in tow to hang out. We laid around back in my room chillin, listening to music and drinking far too much till like midnight. At that point we figured we better actually get some sleep. Everyone left and I texted Kyle for awhile. I was a lil sad that he wasn’t there, being as he was back in town and all, but I understand family shit…. After 3 on Christmas Day I’d have him to myself for the next 27 days.

Christmas Morning

What to say about this? It sucked. My kids had one present each from me to open because they’ve already gotten so much of their stuff and it didn’t make sense to wrap all the shit back up. Ev helped them out by eating the wrapping paper. All in all, it was pretty gay. They had gotten Rock Band from Ev’s grandma, so they busted that out and messed around until it was time to go to my mom’s house.

Over at mom’s, there were plenty of presents for everyone. So much for it being a “simple, scaled back” Christmas. The kids got me the super cute new coat I wanted and some other stuff. I got my ski pass from my parents like I wanted, and a bunch of little other stuff.

The kids got DJ Hero, clothes and so much other shit, my house would be practically bursting with Christmas shit. After presents, we had a wonderful dinner of the stolen Honey Baked Ham that UPS had left for the ex-husband on my doorstep. My mom cooked me a pot roast because I hate ham. The meal was fantastic as usual. After that I spent a little time in a food coma and around 3 headed home.

Later on Kyle made his appearance needing wrapping paper to wrap my gift. That made me laugh. He is soooooo not a planner. He got me a Fossil watch. It’s pretty sweet. If Tara would give me my fucking camera back I’d show ya. He also said he went to get me something else, but they were closed, so it’d have to wait till Monday. Whatever, I was just happy to get a gift. I’m like a little kid about presents.

The rest of Christmas night was spent curled up with him, enjoying the fact I have him back for a month……….

I'm Still Breathing

I've got a ton of stuff to say, I just need to figure out what I want to put into which post and I'll get it all out there for you.  I'm going to need you guys to weigh in on something because I'm not sure what my next steps are going to be.  Once I get it all sorted out, I'll probably have like 5 posts for ya.

XOXO
Tara

I've Got Nothing But A Lost Camera

As soon as I find it, I'll post something more interesting.  Tara claims she has it, but she was as drunk as I was, so who knows..... Plus, idiots at work are breaking their computers left and right, so I'm actually pretty busy right now.  We'll try to return to your regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday :)

All Is Right With My World....

Kyle arrived in my bed at 6:30 this morning.  Too bad that was exactly 15 minutes before I had to get up and go to work.  I wanted to lay there all day, but, there isn't anyone else in the house bringin home the bacon, so I'm at work doing absolutely nothing until 1:00.  Then I must get home and wrap gifts.  It took me a super long time to decide on a gift for him last night, but Tara made me get drinks beforehand, which coulda made is slightly harder to pick something out.  It actually went a little something like this:
(I'm bolding Tara's dialogue because she literally was yelling she was so drunk)

T: HEY YOU, WHAT ARE YOU, LIKE 19 OR SOMETHING?
Guy: Uhh, I'm 35...
T: FUCK NO YOU'RE NOT
Guy: Ok you got me, I'm 24.
T: OK, SO IF YOU WERE A THIRD OF THE SIZE YOU ARE, AND 19, WOULD YOU WEAR THIS? (she holds up the gray t-shirt material hoodie I picked out for Kyle)
Guy: Uhh yeah, if I weighed a hundred pounds I'd totally rock it.  Is your guy skinny?
Me: Uhh yeah
Guy: I'd totally get it
Me: Awesome
T: SEE I TOLD YOU IF WE COULD FIND A STRAIGHT BOY AROUND HERE HE'D TELL US THE TRUTH.  NOW, YOU, TELL HER THAT THIS OTHER HOODIE IS GIRLY!!!

I point out the other hoodie that I liked.

Guy: Uhh, that's not girly.  It's actually pretty sweet
T: BUT IT HAS FUCKING STRIPES AROUND THE BOTTOM, THAT'S GAAAAAAAAAAY!
Me: Maybe I should pay for this shit and get outta here.
Guy: Probably a good idea, you don't wanna get kicked outta the mall, but you girls seem like a lot of fun.
Me: Oh, if you only knew

Just In Case

I'm incredibly busy with work tomorrow (lol, that's super funny...I haven't been busy in weeks), I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, or Happy whatever-it-is-you-celebrate.  I'm hoping for some nice quiet time with the kids and Kyle, without much interference from others..... We'll see how that goes.  I'll leave you with some goofy kid Christmas pics and I wanna hear what you got for Christmas or whatever-it-is-you-celebrate next week :)

Gavin sporting his new USC mini helmet for his collection.  Thank God this kid's head has grown into his ears and he doesn't look so goofy anymore.....

 

Gavin again looking "pimp" as he says.... There's only a one year difference between this pic and the one before it.

Lol, Brandon's first Christmas and my mom with bad hair....

Gavin's first Christmas... He looks a lil retarded.....

Have a good one peeps :)

A Little Less Conversation....

Uhh yeah, a little more action......  Mikey wanted to know what Kyle and I could possibly talk about....  Well, I don't know, stuff.  What you have to remember is that when he's home, I'm at work all day and he doesn't get to my house until around 8 or so, depending on if I'm cooking or not.  By then, I'm ready to settle in and watch my shows, which he asks a million questions about because he's missed episodes, or piss around on the computer for a bit, then well, there's not much talking going on if ya know what I mean....

He's actually incredibly mature for his age and has a lot going on for him.  He's not interested in the party, party, party all the time like your typical 20 year old.  His friends barely hold jobs, and he's out working harder for those 28 days that he's gone than most of them do all year, so when he comes home, he's not interested in getting tangled up with all their drama.  Kind of like Dave caused last time Kyle was here.  He hasn't talked to either of us since then, and though it sucks cause Dave was cool to hang out with, Kyle realizes that's not the kind of people he wants to be associated with.

For some reason, I've never been with someone who you would consider my intellectual equal or even smarter than me.  It's not that I don't enjoy a deep conversation about this or that, I can often find that at work or even at the bar, I just prefer to keep things simple right now.  We talk about work, what the kids are doing, what his next steps are with his job, hell sometimes with his life, what the hell I'm doing with my life, things of the sort.

I guess the reason I enjoy him is because it's not complicated.  Sure, there are aspects of the relationship that kind of are, but those are things that in the grand scheme of things don't matter.  Do I care that he won't tell his family that he's seeing me?  Not really.  Do I care that my mother has a huge stick up her ass about me seeing him?  Not really.  I know it may seem like it by the way I talk, but in all honesty, NOBODY would be good enough for me the way she sees things.  To her, my life has been a series of bad decisions, similar to the first 35 years of her life.  Anything that I do now to try and make up for that just doesn't matter.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that normal and uncomplicated are what I need right now, and that's what I've got.  There are too many other things going on in my life right now for me to have to worry about getting to know someone new and all that's involved with that.  Do you have any clue how hard it is to meet somebody who can cast aside the fact that you have 3 kids and actually get to know you?