It all started last Thursday when CD informed me he'd have to work a bit over the weekend. No biggie, I thought. He squeezes work in at every possible opportunity, anyway. This surely won't be different. (And don't call me "Surely".)
Saturday morning he decided he couldn't come to Gymkhana with us. We had 30 people coming in the afternoon for a potluck so I let that slide. He wouldn't bail on me for that. And he didn't. But jeez-lou-effing-wheeze has he bailed on everything else.
On Sunday he worked some more, and I amused the kids. Knowing I'd have two hours to myself on Monday morning and would get to meet RedPenMama for coffee kept me going. The pin was stuck in that little balloon as I was about to leave, when CD suggested I needed to take the kids or not go. We compromised and I took Eleanor, but it was hardly the kid-free hours I had in mind. Oliver would have been easier, but he's also better able to amuse himself so I got the short straw kid. In a minor fit of pique, I bought new shoes.
Then came the annual neighborhood picnic on Monday afternoon. This is the one day a year we all go out on the street, eat, and socialize. We realize we have hibernated all winter, and the older folks marvel at how the little ones (twenty under 10, at last count) have grown in the last year. It's a pretty good time, especially when we divide and conquer the kids. Nope. Not this year. I was on my own. I finally got tired of Eleanor terrorizing Oliver and both of them screaming at the top of their lungs. I took them home, gave Eleanor a bath (I should get combat pay just for that. It wasn't my turn.), and put her to bed. Oliver and I then rejoined the party for a few more minutes. CD at this point had been working nearly 12 straight hours without a break. He didn't even have breakfast before he started working and that NEVER happens. I know he was still working at 2:30am.
Today he got up an hour early (after getting no more than 3 hours of sleep) and was back at it. He needed me to take both kids to their schools, of course. At this point I was starting to wish he had just gone to California a week early. At least I would know what to expect. He's going to be gone two weeks anyway. After one week, it hardly makes a difference if he's gone two or three more.
Going to work this morning was a relief. My tolerance had been getting shorter and shorter. A few hours without a kid saying "mummy" every 5 seconds was really, really nice. It was quiet, except for the sound of steam pouring out of my ears. Since I had the car I came home at lunch time to get the dry cleaning and do a few other errands. CD didn't hear me come in and started yelling at me when I came out of our bedroom, thinking I was a burglar, apparently. Big fun.
Finally (at least up until now), my plan to go to a study group meeting tonight was also foiled. I was away last month so I was really hoping to go.
At some point on Sunday, with what passes for a shit-eating grin on his face, CD informed me his trip to Stockholm in July was approved. This is after we had talked about it, decided it was unlikely he would go, and I registered for BlogHer in Chicago. Silly me, for thinking I would get three days to myself this summer. I'll be lucky to get three minutes. That was my ENTIRE summer vacation. Poof. Now I get 8 days of flying solo instead. Gee, what's second prize? He also made sure to tell me next year he'd probably be going to the Netherlands. So unless BlogHer '10 had a date change, I'll be SOL for that too. This is the same as last year's Dublin trip. I'm going to start referring to IETF as the Intensely Evil Task Force, unless I can come up with something worse. Does any organization really need to meet three times a year? (Yeah, I'm talking to you, Calconnect, too.)
I've been a bitter old bitch for the last three days, and since I saw my shadow this afternoon, I predict it lasts through the summer. I got CD a book for Stockholm today. A peace offering? Perhaps. Or maybe I feel guilty for my bitchiness. It's not his choice, after all. He loves his work but it's clear he's not having fun. In all likelihood, I will get over this. It is just too much all at once and finding a happy place will take time. I even bit his head off as he tried to give me good news about something in August. Inside that cloud, I found the dark gray lining. Go me!
Would love to share more but I've been asked to clear the guest room for him, so I won't be awakened by his getting up in the middle of the night to do more work. How considerate.
Yeah, I'm gonna be bitter just a leetle bit longer.
1 comment:
Ugh!!
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