The Lost Weekend

Maybe you remember the old Ray Milland movie where he's an alcoholic and has this nightmarish weekend (Mindy, you might want to check it out to see what happens if you over-imbibe too much). Wellllll, I just had my own "lost weekend" of sorts. Steph and the girls came in---need I say more? Seriously, it was good having them and one-on-one time with Steph is rare. But, here's how it was supposed to go down.

The girls called me in the fall (Morgan to be specific) and asked if they could come for the Overbrook school play in April. She made it clear that they wanted to spend the weekend with their friends "and would I be upset if they didn't see me much?" I was totally okay with that. In January, when I brought them to Nashville for the play, "High School Musical", I found out that they are technically considered "unaccompanied minors" and it costs an extra $100 each way. I decided to spend another 42 bucks and let Steph come too.

Fast forward to this past Thursday night when they were supposed to arrive at 7:20 p.m. I was then to drop them off at Overbrook where they would meet up with friends and not see them the rest of the weekend. Those plans were immediately foiled when their plane was late. By the time I picked them up, it was nearing 10 p.m. Morgan couldn't reach any of her friends, but was sure that they were all at Mellow Mushroom in HIllsboro Village. Nope, no one was there. We ended up going directly to her friends house and picking her up to spend the night with us. We were home by 10:30 and pretty much called it a night.

Friday morning, I was back in "mom" mode and cooking breakfast for all at 6:30 a.m., only to discover that Butch had "false-fronted" the eggs. (You know, when you leave the eggs in front that you see while taking from the rear, therefore leading the next "cook" to think there are more eggs than are actually there. Of course this leads one to recognize that Butch regularly makes eggs--and I must admit, he makes a mean soft-boiled one!) As it turns out, sharing 3 eggs amongst 5 people isn't all that hard when you add potatoes, sausage and toast (okay, had to ditch the toast due to mold). Still a satisfying breakfast for a last minute venture. Oh, and I French-braided Blair's (friend) and Morgan's hair. Cooking, eating and hair all before 7 a.m.

Okay, this is already getting way too long. Let's just cut out all the in-between crap and say that the entire weekend consisted of coming and going regarding the girls---school, friends, pick ups, drop offs, etc. and Steph---lunches, hair appointment, and shopping. Hard to believe that with 5 cars in the family we'd have car issues, but we did.

I'm used to a much more calm existence now. When weekenders (or even weekdayers) are in the house. It completely throws me off schedule. I realize that everything I do in the morning is noisy. I try to be considerate, so that means, no treadmill, no going in my scrapbook room prior to 8 a.m. (a time I've negotiated with Mindy), no unloading the dishwasher and no "un-compacting" the trash compactor. That leaves reading and getting on the computer. That's okay, but to me those are "fun" and somehow "naughty" activities to do before the work is done. Plus, once I start to play, it's harder to return to the work. I'm learning how "old" and "set in their ways" really comes to be. I certainly don't feel old (and I resent Steph's friend Merrill using the term "geezer" when referring to me and my friends), but I am definitely set in my ways!

About those "false-fronted eggs"---I couldn't even yell at Butch because he was at the Masters in Augusta. He had a great time. I asked him if he learned anything from the pros and he said "yeah, I learned that I don't know how in the hell to play this game"! Maybe he better stick to the eggs.