Monday blues

ei34

My weekend was nice- got my grading out of the way on Friday, tried my first ever grocery store pickup order (went well, i definitely saved money), the kids got a kick out of seeing exH cross the finish line.

The Halloween party at my parents’ was fun but hectic/chaotic.  My sisters and I are kind of annoyed bc it’s eight kids between the ages of 21mos-9 years, it’s going to be loud due to the sheer number of cousins. None of them jump on the couch, run inside the house, anything naughty…it’s just loud. (And the eight adults are louder, volume-wise, than the kids.) Our brother brought a ton of candy (which is fine, it’s Halloween), brought a fog machine, was blasting music, and kind of led the accusations along with my mom in our family text that the party was too crazy. Like…let’s just not do it again? I was just a bit irked the next day at the complaints, and I’m thankful to have two sisters to side text with. And feel stressed about Thanksgiving together with. /vent over 

ei34

TW car accident 

I saw the worst car accident on my way to work, I’m in a total brain fog and just going through motions now. Sorry to start the week so down  I didn’t want to put it in the main discussion thread but it was scary and sad. And at an intersection i’m at all the time.  Thankful I’d already dropped the kids at school bc it would’ve been a lot for them to see.  I hope everyone is okay. Sorry to even put it here I just had to say it.  I told a few coworkers but started to cry and I don’t like crying at work. 

VarunaTT

That's 16 folx in one house, right?  I'm not sure how controlled it's supposed to be. As long as nothing was broken (including people), I'd call it a win and tell them to STFU nicely. 

Weekend was good.  I chopped all my hair off on Saturday.  I don't know what I had stored up in that hair, but I was crying happy tears to get it off my head when he brought out the shaver and started buzzing it off.  I feel so much better in my skin now.  Sunday I was supposed to WFH, but I decided I was annoyed instead and just chilled out at my place.  Harley is definitely going through some attitude growing pains and finally broke something.  It was a cool little garden sculpture I had that I did really like.

Back to the work grind.  This week and next week are moving prep and moving.  I'm looking forward to the new space and I'm just ready to be there.

banana468

16 people in a house for Halloween with candy and special effects??   Does your brother not have kids or is he not used to kids parties?

Years ago when Chiquita was 1 we had a Friendsgiving at our house.  It was not quiet and DH and I went to bed finding wooden blocks stuffed in our pillow cases.  I'm with you - if a Halloween party for kids makes the house too loud then...maybe next year no party.     Kids with costumes and candy are going to be amped up.

Was it inside or outside?

Casadena

@ei34 that is horrific way to start the day. *hugs*

Casadena

Weekend was pretty good. Saturday the boys had their last sports class and played soccer. They tried to play a little scrimmage at the end and it was hilarious because they were all too nice to take the ball from each other. I guess the 3-4 years of pounding "he's playing with that, you can use it when he's done" sunk in more than we all thought. It was adorable. 

The get together at IL's was actually really fun. I think it was the absence of one SIL and one of H's cousins who are usually the instigators of the very loud conversations and gossip. Kids got to meet some 2nd cousins and had a lot of fun playing. It will be even better when our kids are old enough to not have one of us following them pretty much all the time - especially when it's usually me. 

Yesterday I think the boys were just out of control bc they held it together with no outburts and good manners all day saturday. I ended up taking N for a bunch of errands with me then to the park while H was with G all afternoon. It worked out nicely and was fun to have some solo time. 

short+sassy

@ei34, sometimes I'm jealous of your big, close family.  And sometimes I'm not, lol.  But yeah, maybe don't have blaring music when it's already a loud atmosphere and then complain about the chaos later.  At least you and your sister are on the same page and can vent to each other.

My previous job had some toxic elements.  Me and one of my coworkers became good friends.  It definitely made it easier to survive having someone who understood and to complain with.  

I'm sorry you witnessed a bad accident on the way to work.  Take it easy on yourself today.

@VarunaTT, I'm glad you like your new haircut!  I've had long hair my whole life and, up until a couple years ago, would never have dreamed of cutting it.  But I've started thinking about it.  I would never cut it short, I think that style would look horrible on me.  Maybe shoulder length?  I at least need a new style, but something easy to maintain.  But it's hard to take the plunge.

I didn't do much purging around the house over the weekend like I had wanted to.  But we had a busy day grocery shopping yesterday and trying to find me a desk chair.  Didn't see anything I liked, so back to the internet I went.  I found a great one on Amazon for $40, free shipping, and it will be here on Wednesday.  It has 60K positive reviews.  Where was it the other gazillion times I looked over the last couple weeks?  Ugh!  But at least I finally found a good choice and made a decision.

There was a gaming/office chair at Costco for $170 that was NICE.  So comfy.  Very tempting.  But an office chair is the kind of thing that might get left behind if there isn't room in the future moving truck, so I had to be responsible and get something cheaper.  Good adulting can be such a drag, lol.

short+sassy

Casadena said:

Weekend was pretty good. Saturday the boys had their last sports class and played soccer. They tried to play a little scrimmage at the end and it was hilarious because they were all too nice to take the ball from each other. I guess the 3-4 years of pounding "he's playing with that, you can use it when he's done" sunk in more than we all thought. It was adorable. 

The get together at IL's was actually really fun. I think it was the absence of one SIL and one of H's cousins who are usually the instigators of the very loud conversations and gossip. Kids got to meet some 2nd cousins and had a lot of fun playing. It will be even better when our kids are old enough to not have one of us following them pretty much all the time - especially when it's usually me. 

Yesterday I think the boys were just out of control bc they held it together with no outburts and good manners all day saturday. I ended up taking N for a bunch of errands with me then to the park while H was with G all afternoon. It worked out nicely and was fun to have some solo time. 

So sweet and cute!

The "pet" version of this.  When we first brought our dog Izzy home, we knew our cat Nip would not be pleased and might be upset and scared.  She was the only pet for years.  We were very diligent in those first few weeks to "tsk" at Izzy if she approached Nip and trained her to leave the cat alone.

But then Nip got used to Izzy and we could tell was comfortable around her, so we stopped correcting the dog.  Nip would even deign to play chase games with her sometimes.  Izzy would be super excited if Nip acknowledged her at all, even to hiss at her, lol.

We have a weird opening between our living room and the rest of the house.  It's a "doorway", but you can't put a door there because one side of it goes to an open closet instead of a wall.  So we hang a blanket there to help with heating/cooling.

Their chase route was often through that doorway.  Nip would slow way down as she navigated going through the curtain.  And Izzy who was excitedly right at her heels, would stop.  And wait for 20-30 seconds for Nip to finish going through the curtain.  Then start up the frantic chase again.  It would make me laugh and warm my heart every time!

charlotte989875

I mean what do they expect with kids, Halloween candy, and a fog machine? Chaos is the only thing to be expected. 

We had a great weekend; M and I met up with H’s sisters family (they have a son the same age as M and a 1.5 year old) for a trunk or treat while H was at camp. The kids probably ate 10 lollipops each in the hour we were there. Then they ran around SILs house and ate pizza. All the way home M said “but I wanted to stay at Cousin’s house”. 

Yesterday was a terrible Bills game followed by my Aunt’s 60th birthday party. I was basically falling asleep at dinner and so ready to be home. 

I’m currently waiting at my doctor’s office for them to do a Glucose test. Really hoping I pass and this is it. We’re down to appointments every two weeks and things are feelin REAL. 

banana468

I *think* I'm fighting an early cold.    I'm going to try to pump myself full of fluids.

Weekend was low key.  Saturday was soccer photos and then as we got into the car for Chiquita's game it was canceled.   She met some friends at the local Starbucks and then we had a quiet afternoon.  I've started to make headway going through kids old toys and think by Thursday I should have two garbage bags of stuff to toss and a few more things to throw on Buy Nothing.  

Sunday we had a double header game for Chiquito starting at 9 and then 11 and his team won both.   DH still battles with the effects of antibiotics and the NP he saw likes how his foot looks.  If there's no improvement by mid week he's calling and insisting on seeing the original doctor pushing that this is now going on close to 4 weeks off and on.  He's WFH today. 

I woke up when DH woke up in the middle of the night which didn't help sleeping so some calming tea is in order before bed.  Chiquito wants to play basketball this winter so we have try outs tonight. 

CharmedPam

@e134, sounds like an awful accident I’m also glad the kids weren’t there.  But the Halloween party sounds fun! Next year - DO IT - but don’t invite bro with “oh, you didn’t seem to care for it last year?”
@VarunaTT yay new hairs!
@Casadena, glad your party went well too!

Had a low key weekend.  Drama pursued on Friday night with meetup members and honestly it’s all highschool sh!t I’m too old for.  Saturday I went to a small town for local boutique shopping with another meetup.  My friend took some pictures of me around town (they had fall and halloween backdrops set up) and I noticed my coat is ridiculously small. Last year adding “cuffs” worked to the arms, but I need a jacket made for someone with freakishly long arms.  I tried the Long Tall Sally site , American Tall site but actually Eddie Bauer won out with their 50% off sale.  Someone once mentioned their Tall’s were good for arm length. So fingers crossed they work!
Sunday the weathers was awesome.  I went shopping for a bit and then saw Haunting in Venice.  I came home to do a dry run of my costume. It technically takes two people to get into, it’s best with four hands on deck. I think I did it pretty well with 2 though. I think it’ll work!! If not, I’ll ask the hostess for some help the day of. I’m pretty excited for it! 

levioosa

I’m sorry @ei34. That’s awful. Also I don’t know what anyone expects from 8 young children playing together. It’s gonna be chaotic. 

H surprised me with a beach trip on Saturday. We ended up taking the train down and had a really good time. Such a good time that we spent most of yesterday recovering. It’s definitely something fun we can do more often though. 

Your weekends sound really cute! @charlotte989875 and @Casadena

ILoveBeachMusic

I sorry you had to see that @ei34. Hopefully the people were ok.

I've just been doing stuff around the house today. I'm knitting snowmen for my kids and grandkids. That's a total of five and I have about half the pieces knitted. Then I need to stuff them and put them together. I've bought snowman decorating pieces (tiny hats, scarves and buttons)so that will be a craft project with the grandsons. 

H is fixing crab cakes for dinner and I'm doing the Brussel sprouts. That should all be yummy.

ei34

Bro does not have kids but he likes to play the role of fun uncle.  All well and good, who doesn't love a fun uncle, but don't complain the next day when they act their age.  And again, the adults were louder than the kids.  

The rain stopped a couple of hours before the party so we all had our kids in rain boots and raincoats, as much of it was outside as possible.  It's a pattern- gatherings most of spring and all summer are outdoors.  Once it begins to cool off and we are inside more than out, the reality of "wow, there are 16 of us" hits. 

Unrelated to this weekend but my family definitely has a weird all or nothing vibe.  I'd love to bring my kids by to have a nice visit with my parents on a Saturday without my mom calling my sisters and brother to have them too.  The four of us totally understand our parents wanting their down time, they don't want one set of grandkids Saturday morning and another Saturday afternoon and another Sunday morning and my brother (who is well-meaning but has a larger than life presence that the rest of us feel, strongly) has a standing Sunday-night-dinner at their house each week.  My middle sister and I are extremely close and her older two are close in age/good friends with my kids, and we live near each other...sometimes we try to have a simple playdate where we catch up and the kids can go play...if other family gets wind of it it becomes us excluding them.  All to say there's a lot of love but also a lot of things to roll my eyes at.

edit- spelling

short+sassy

@ei34, I will give my mom credit for encouraging me and my sister to hang out together just us, when I go home to visit.  I'll often fly into the San Diego airport and my sister will pick me up.  Plus that is usually a cheaper airport than the OC one.  She lives in north San Diego county.  I'll spend a few days there and then she'll drive me up or I'll take the train to my mom's house in southern Orange County.

My sister and mom live about 45 minutes away from each other.  There are also times where all of us will spend time together.  Usually my sister coming to our mom's house.

I love my mom and enjoy spending time with her but she can be...a lot.  I'm definitely more relaxed and really enjoy just spending time with my sister and her family. 

banana468

@ei34 that sounds like.....too much.   But FWIW I see a similar dynamic in other families.  However I'd greet the childless brother with howls of laughter if he thought it was too loud.    Howls.  Like a werewolf.

Casadena

oh @ei34 my IL's are very much like that too. We invited them to watch the boys sports class and go out for breakfast afterward a few weeks ago and as soon as they got there they told us they had invited SIL/BIL and their 2 kids too...um, what? It was not your invitation to add on to! 

Or we had made plans for them to come over a couple months ago and SIL ended up in labor a couple days before so they had to babysit their 18mo old. Totally fine we can reschedule, but they had the gall to invite us over to BIL/SIL's house the day they were coming home from the hospital with their new baby. Um, excuse me? No. Not your house to invite people to and certainly not the time. 

They're lovely and generous and totally clueless sometimes. 

VarunaTT

ei34 said:

Bro does not have kids but he likes to play the role of fun uncle.  All well and good, who doesn't love a fun uncle, but don't complain the next day when they act their age.  And again, the adults were louder than the kids.  

Um, part of the "fun" aunt/uncle role is to get them all riled up and then send them home to crash.  If you can't handle getting them riled up, don't do it!  Jeez.  I can see how he might be difficult to handle sometimes.

banana468

VarunaTT said:

ei34 said:

Bro does not have kids but he likes to play the role of fun uncle.  All well and good, who doesn't love a fun uncle, but don't complain the next day when they act their age.  And again, the adults were louder than the kids.  

Um, part of the "fun" aunt/uncle role is to get them all riled up and then send them home to crash.  If you can't handle getting them riled up, don't do it!  Jeez.  I can see how he might be difficult to handle sometimes.

Right?!

Like, most kids don't see a smoke machine and just want to silently break out into the Thriller dance. Add any layer of something different and the kids are getting closer to off the walls antics.

ei34

banana468 said:

@ei34 that sounds like.....too much.   But FWIW I see a similar dynamic in other families.  However I'd greet the childless brother with howls of laughter if he thought it was too loud.    Howls.  Like a werewolf.

The irony is he’s the loudest of all.  You know people where if they’re in the room, you know? We joke that if he’s in the state everyone knows. I try not to complain about him here but yeah, he’s a strong presence.

banana468

ei34 said:

banana468 said:

@ei34 that sounds like.....too much.   But FWIW I see a similar dynamic in other families.  However I'd greet the childless brother with howls of laughter if he thought it was too loud.    Howls.  Like a werewolf.

The irony is he’s the loudest of all.  You know people where if they’re in the room, you know? We joke that if he’s in the state everyone knows. I try not to complain about him here but yeah, he’s a strong presence.

So he's not a fan of the pint-sized competition.