This kind of sucks, but not in a really bad way

I had to go back to work today. My one week of "vacation" was way too short. I almost cried myself to sleep last night thinking about waking up at 5am, dropping off the kids after praying they will be nice to grandma, and crawling though traffic. After tossing about for half an hour, I took two melatonin tabs and fell asleep in less than 15 minutes.

I started off the day in a crabby mood. My email inbox had 105 new messages. Sometimes being on a listserv is such a bother, especially when replies that should go to the original sender ONLY gets blasted to everyone on the list. Take it offline, people! Did I mention I was crabby?

Most of my day was spent catching up on STUFF! One of my coworkers insisted my business card layout was off and when printed, went beyond the margins. After checking and double checking my specs, I finally discovered she had not selected the correct print settings on the dinky little ink jet printer we all pretend is worth keeping. That was what caused all the ink issues (the green is too light! why is the font not bold enough?) and the runaway margins. I actually ended up writing printing procedures. You know, life would be so much easier if people just thought things through - and did everything to my specifications. Did that sound narcissistic? Then my job here is done.

Our administrative assistant quit two weeks ago, so I have to pick up errant phone calls with the rest of our staff. It is amazing to me how many people do not know the name of their credit union! I work at the Hawaii Credit Union League. The LEAGUE. The TRADE ASSOCIATION for credit unions. I get so many calls from people saying, "I like know the balance of my loan" or "Can you tell me how much money I get in my account?" When I tell them they have called the Hawaii Credit Union LEAGUE and that we are not a CREDIT UNION, it confuses them to no end. Now granted, there are many credit unions in this state with names that start with "Hawaii" but, puleeezh! I know EXACTLY where my money is deposited. I know the phone numbers, the websites, the physical addresses. It scares the crap out of me that some people can walk around in life absolutely CLUELESS! Did I mention I was crabby. More like premenstrual.

I'm going to take a shower now and then collapse on my bed. That is, if I can move kids and cat out of the way. Whose bed is this anyway?

School break 101: How to keep your kids happy when school is out. (Without bloodshed)

October 7, 2008

I remember back in my B.C. days (before children) a vacation meant something relaxing. Vacations meant a short jaunt to a neighbor island for some much needed R&R. I remember a couple of vacations that simply involved playing tourist in Waikiki with just me and my spouse.Although I am still allowed to take "vacation" days off from work, the meaning of vacation has changed drastically since I became a card-carrying Ubermom.

This week, I am officially on "vacation" with my kids, who are home for their school Fall Intersession. This translates into a never ending quest to find fun and interesting activities for my 12 year old Alex and 8 year old Mikaela that does not require me to draw on my home equity loan. (That takes away all trips to the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, Sea Life Park, and Bishop Museum. Movies barely make the cut. And thank goodness they have outgrown the Children's Discovery Center.)

Yesterday I tried to fit in a service call for my ailing automobile. I enticed the kids with a trip to IHOP for breakfast if they would not complain about having to walk from the repair shop to the mall. Unfortunately, we were 20 minutes too late for the early bird specials, so I ended up paying full price for breakfast, which was unbudgeted. Three hours later, the kids were crabby and my car was still in the shop. By the time we got home, we were all a bit tense.

Once at home, Alex decided it would be fun to play on the Eye Toy - Sony's initial attempt at motion activated gaming. A poor man's Wii. Glad to say, Ubermom still kicks butt in Kung Fu, boxing, and Wishy Washy. Unfortunately, it all went downhill when Mikaela noticed she was always at the bottom of the win list. She burst into tears when her fervent arm flailing failed to score in Rocket Launch.

It's a good thing Monopoly is still a good old stand-by. Mikaela beat the crap out of her high spending Ubermom. (What is a gal to do when landing on prime real estate?? Buy! Buy! Buy!) I ended up with a lot of expensive property and very little in the bank account. Mikaela bought two pieces of land and one house. All it took was for me to land on her property with the house and I ended up more bankrupt than the U.S. economy. The win was good for my 8 year old's self esteem, so it was worth it.

Today will be much simpler. We are going to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua at Regal Theatre - at matinee prices, of course. This was Mikaela's activity choice. Alex is going for the over priced concession stand food. Ubermom is going for the cold air conditioning and dark ambience. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to catch a quick nap before the credits roll!