Baby Daddy Drama and gray hair August 19, 2009

I’m going to be brief: because I don’t want this light-hearted blog to turn into a page out of Debbie Downer’s Diary.  BUT-I’m having serious Baby Daddy Drama and feel the need to write about it. So, here goes:

  A year ago, I moved back after being away for almost 5 years.  Although it was hard because I was so far away from family, it was easier being a mom.  Let me elaborate a bit on that. 

There was no negotiation, conference, or family meetings.  What I said was the law.  And I liked it that way.  Being alone made me a grown-up.  I was finally independent.  I didn’t need anyone to do it for me-I did it myself!  We wanted to go on a  road trip-we packed up and went.  No need to wait for anyone else.  During the summer, and on the weekends, we were like Thelma and Louise (without the law-breakin’) on the roads of Texas.  We made a great team.  It was wonderful.  But,ultimately, my girl was unhappy. 

She missed her daddy very much-not to mention family and friends that were not around.  She got to see him as much as possible.  I either drove  to meet him half way, or delivered her to him every other weekend.  No matter how many activities, friends, or fun times she was involved in, nothing took the place of him being there everyday.  Naturally.  So, we came back.

Hooray!  Everyone is happy, right? 

Not so fast…I’m not.  Don’t’ misunderstand me-I love being able to go out to dinner with friends on a week night, go to an Astros game whenever I want, or to a last minute outing with friends or family.   I also love that the Baby Daddy can see our girl at a school play or program, go to a teacher conference, or take her with him to family events.  BUT, after doing it all myself her entire life (seriously-a whole other blog) it’s hard to share the responsibility with someone that  has never been involved at that capacity. 

So, my job.  I love it.  It’s challenging, exciting, and I feel like a real professional.  Let me explain why that is important to me.  I have finally found something that I want to do for the rest of my life.  Not just something that pays the bills.  A real job-that I like, HELLO!   And it makes me feel important-in a world that puts so much emphasis on how you look and who you are married to, or dating.  And-I’m good at it!  As a single mom, I struggle every day to fit into an affluent community that considers “Leave It To Beaver”, the ideal family.  I disagree completely.  I want to be successful.  I want to have my own thoughts.  I want to make my own money.   I’m not against marriage-at all.  But, I don’t’ think that just because I’m a single mom,  I should only work at a job that has the same schedule as my daughter’s school.  Why is that I should only work in a profession that is limited to a school teacher, day care worker, or part time cashier?

Why can’t the father help out a little bit?  Is it too much to ask for him to abstain from one of many midnight fishing trips with his buddies to watch his own daughter once in a while, no questions asked?  Why is that out of his job description?  And why should my job choice be questioned or considered selfish?  His job-that keeps him away from his kids while he’s on call every other week does the same.  How is that any different?  Oh, I know-because he has a penis.

Besides, if it wasn’t for that penis, I wouldn’t be a single mom.

And-after all this, my girl looks up at me this morning, and tells me, “Wow, mom, you have a lot of gray hair right there, time to get to the salon”.

One Week Away, a friends’ Voyer-adventure, and more… August 17, 2009

Just one week from today, and my little angel will be a 5th grader.  It’s hard to believe sometimes how big she’s gotten.  I can remember how sweet she was at 18 months old, when we were at the photographers, and she put her in a wash basin, naked(because it was cute and not weird at that age) …so adorable with her hair in pig tails, the cutest look on her face. 🙂  So sweet…It’s still my favorite picture of her.  Say it with me, “AHHHHHH”. 

Don’t be fooled, the nostalgia wears off quickly. This weekend, she spent most of it with her father.  The following was our conversation when he arrived to drop her off: (and the satisfaction of his comments almost overwhelmed me).

“She got in trouble a bit this weekend,” he said.

“Really? What happened?” I asked.

“She was a little too sassy… She answered everything with ‘Why’ and ‘Uumphhh,” he replied.

“Ooohhh,” I said.  (with a tiny smirk-I’m sure he didn’t notice) ______________________________________________________

I am very lucky.  I have many friends, many good friends, that I have had for a very long time that I regularly talk to-some for almost 20 years.  I really am blessed to have them in my life. 

Every once in a while, one of them shares a story with me that sends me to the floor laughing.  This is one of those stories.  We’ll call her “Susie”. 

So, Susie lives pretty far out of town, and makes an hour drive everyday to and from work.  One evening, as she made her way back home, she noticed an older man in a car next to her.  Assuming he was an “out-of-town-er” because of his Mississippi plates, she looked in to see what he was doing because he was swerving in his lane.  Now, “Susie” drives a larger SUV-so she could easily look into his vehicle. 

Mr. Mississippi kept taking his right had off the wheel, and holding it up to his mouth, as if he was shushing someone.  “Susie” was perplexed.  “What was he doing?” she thought, and ” who was he shushing”?  Because she’s a super experienced driver, (I know this because we text and Facebook each other sometimes while driving, and I’m an experienced driver too), She leaned in a little more to see what he was doing with his left hand that was not allowing him to drive safely.  And as he turned to look at her with a creepy smile on his face, and proceeded to shush her, she saw it!         

And she had wished she wasn’t so nosey.

Mr. Mississippi was pleasuring himself while driving on the busiest, most traffic-ridden, construction everywhere, part of Interstate-10!  Seriously!  What in the world? She was so disgusted and angry!  “Susie” was not going to take this!       

Especially since he shushed her-and no one does that to her! 

So, she did what every person should do when someone is driving recklessly-called 9-1-1.  She embellished a bit-telling the dispatcher Mr. Mississippi was swirving dangerously into her lane.  She told the dispatcher what she saw.  “Excuse me, Maam, uh, what is he doing”? the dispatcher said, uncomfortably.  “Susie” repeated herself again-very clearly so she wouldn’t be misunderstood.  The police promised to send someone out right away. 

So, because she is a super-citizen, “Susie” followed Mr. Mississippi-of course.   Police finally caught up withhim and pulled him over-but not before “Susie” and Mr. Mississippi almost made it an hour past her destination.  Mr. Mississippi’s excuse was that he was protected with the privacy act, and whatever he does in his vehicle is ok.  But-one thing he wasn’t prepared for was “Susie” seeing his little party, making it a public display, and  therefore not private.

So boys and girls, next time you feel the need to release stress-or whatever-in the privacy of your own car-make sure your windows are tinted…please!  For the love of God!

And what was “Susie’s” husband’s response, when she told him what she saw and that she was going to call the cops?  “Oh, leave him alone.  He’s probably got a date waitin’ for him in Louisiana and he’s getting ready”. 

Men.

Hello Blogging World! August 14, 2009

So, I’m blogging. As I weighed the pros and cons of why to start a blog, it hit me-whose life is more entertaining than mine these days? UM…no one!

That’s right boys and girls-life is continuing to play sick jokes on me and because you are so lucky, you get to hear all about it. Doesn’t this sound like a train wreck that you can’t stop watching? Can you feel the excitement? Well, you will-just sit tight, we’ll get there. Together.

So, about me…I’m a single mom of a really great kid who continues to surprise me with her 10 year old “spunk”. Yeah, “spunk” is the word I used. It’s a nice way of saying attitude. Her eye-rolling, hand on hip hanging, foot tapping is so fun that I look forward to it on a daily basis. And her dad denies that everyday. She must love him more.
School will start soon, so at least I’m not the only one that gets to enjoy the pleasure. Then we’ll all be called into the Principal’s office. Her dad included.  That’s the pleasure I get to take from it…Stay Tuned!

Hello world!

Be sure and check my About Me…and subscribe!  Thanks for reading! Share the love-let others enjoy by linking this blog to you on FB, Twitter, or your blog. 

Jeanette