Grumpy

Crappiest week ever...   

Monday started out really bad and things have just gotten progressively more frustrating as the week has continued.  

And it's only Wednesday...

I woke up this morning grumpy and irritated thinking about that guy who used to own our house and when Craig texted me his usual Good Morning, I responded with a long list of things I wanted him to do...  

I want the locks on the house changed.  I don't want that guy to have my phone number or to know my name or any of the kids' names.  I don't want him setting foot in the house.  I don't want to meet him.  We will not be using the boat he has conveniently left parked in the backyard until he makes arrangements for it in the fall since he has no lake at his new house and there is nowhere for him to store it.  I will be happy to put all the food he accidentally left in the basement freezer that he "gifted" us, out in a cooler on the front porch that he can pick up in exchange for the remote control to the subdivision entrance gate that he conveniently did not leave us.  And some kind of date needs to be determined for the removal of his pool table because if he doesn't have someone come and get it soon, I will be happy to arrange for it's departure.  

That's an exact quote.  Nice, huh?  Aren't you so glad you don't have to wake up with me on a grumpy morning?  I don't wake up that way very often.    

Here's how the rest of the day went...   

Thing #1 (...this is actually Thing 7 or 8, but the others happen every day of #hotellife so they've become part of the routine and don't qualify as official Things.)

So a month ago, I called the new schools the kids would be going to in Birmingham and got a list of registration requirements...immunization records, proof of residency, birth certificates, withdrawal records, custody documents...wait, what?  Do you have custody records if you're married, because I don't have those and I'm pretty sure I never have had them.  The lady on the phone clarified that no, if my current husband is the only husband I've ever had and also the kids' actual dad, then custody documents would not be required.  Phew...  

I have all the other stuff, but I wrote a little reminder on my calendar to get an official withdrawal form sometime during the kids' last week of school.  Since tomorrow is their last day of school, I went today to officially withdraw them and collect whatever forms came with that process.  There isn't a form.  Because they don't need to be withdrawn when they complete the whole year which they will after tomorrow.  That must be one of those extra little things the Birmingham lady thought I would need, like the custody documents.  

Thing #2
I went to get gas in the car for the second time this week because driving everyone everywhere from this hotel requires significantly more gas than a typical week living in our house used to.  But Craig changed the address on our bank account today, which I didn't know, so when I swiped my card and put in the Allen zip code I always use, it said SALE TERMINATED.  Twice.  And when I finally realized that the address was the problem, I also realized that I don't even know my new zip code yet.  I have it written down.  Somewhere.  But I was already frustrated and had left the gas station by then.  

Thing #3
Then I went to the post office to pick up the mail I had put on hold two weeks ago when we officially moved out of our other house.  I did it online on USPS.com so I could specifically request to PICK UP the mail that was on hold TODAY before the forwarding date which starts TOMORROW.  So Emma and I waited ten minutes in the parking lot for a parking space to open.  And then we waited another 25 minutes in an extraordinarily long line to ask for our mail...only to be told by the post office lady that there was no mail on hold for us.  When I insisted that there should be, she checked again and came back to happily report that it was on the mail truck and that the carrier would be delivering it to my house shortly.  Unfortunately, since we don't live in that house anymore I was not as elated about that news as she hoped I would be.  She called the mail carrier on the radio and caught him before he delivered our mail and then reported the next best happy news to me...and said that I could come back anytime tomorrow to pick it up.  Great.  I wasn't as happy as she was when I left there.

That's it.  That's the worst of it, anyway.  Any more complaining and I'm going to sound a lot like a spoiled three year old.  Except for all this infernal driving.  ugh...when I get to Birmingham, I'm not going to set foot outside my new house and I will definitely not be getting in a car for at least a week!  

The day got slightly better later in the afternoon when I got a text from my friend saying that she had a couple of gift cards and did I want to meet her for a pedicure.  um...heck yes!

And then it was better still when I realized I had two whole hours before I had to drive anyone anywhere again.  I turned the music up really loud in the hotel room, admired my pedicure and sang the crap out of those songs that have preserved my sanity this week...in between eating a cookie or two.  Oh, what would I do without that music...!?

The kids all had a great last night of mutual.  Craig's entourage of fans young men came running out to the car to give me one more round of gifts they made for him...holy cow!  How does this man not have an ego the size of Nevada?  The girls' YW leaders all cried and hugged them for a really long time before letting them get in the car.  And then they gave them a HUGE card they had all signed. 

There was a movie on late tonight that had an unexpected pelican in it, and I love pelicans so I made everyone watch it with me.  It was worth it.  

So, once again the day ended better than it started and I am not as grumpy writing this as I was blasting out that text to Craig this morning.  Poor Craig.  He endures a lot.  It's a good thing there is an end in sight because I'm not sure I can manage many more days like the last three...nor can he.  

1 day, 20 hours, and 27 minutes until we get to Birmingham.  Hanging on...