Hades has a disco ball

We're staying at Corrine's.  A wonderland where the televisions stays off, children are engaged and entertain each other and the juice flows freely and the peanut butter and jelly comes like manna from heaven.  It's been a week and the honeymoon is still going on. But as soon as the girls start calling Corrine Mommy again, we're out of here.

There is going to be a party tomorrow. Beth wanted to say good bye and have a surprise party for us, but Donna insisted that it involved husbands and neighbors and what began as a small get together turned into a bouncy castle nightmare due to a wayward Facebook message.  I hate parties. Okay, I don't hate parties, but I dislike parties for me.  In this area, people just don't show up. There's no malice or hatred,  just apathy and laziness. And tomorrow the weather is supposed to be over 100 and the drive is a solid twenty to twenty five minutes for almost everyone. At the least. Of the dozen or so families invited, I expect to see three. Maybe.

Never wanted a good bye party. Honestly, I'd like to take my time saying my farewells by going out to coffee and spending time with people who I have cared for.  The insistence of others that we turn it into a family affair, when your dad isn't here, is just strange. I don't know many of these husbands and they will probably be motivated to enjoy their air conditioning and a cold beer at home rather than run out here and sit in the heat.

There was a birthday party last fall for a girl in Grace's class- Nami. Her mom sent out invitations and asked for RSVPs so that she could book a roller skating party.  The whole place was dark and filled with eighties music- my idea of the seventh level of hell with a disco ball.  While we waited in line I saw that eleven people had responded-  I was glad we weren't going to be the only ones there on this lovely Saturday. But when we got inside, there was no one there. Eleven families had responded that they were bringing their kid skating, so Nami's mom had paid for the skating rink entrance, the skate rentals, pizza and drinks. She'd bought a lovely cake AND NO ONE SHOWED UP.  We stayed the whole time, I went and got skates and skated with the girls but this was awful and akward. Nami didn't really know the difference, but Nami's mom was quietly raging. Me? I would have been furious and hurt for my kid.

So this is what I think is going to happen tomorrow. Ms. Corrine has rented a bouncy castle for "all the kids" and I think it will just be us. My ego will be bruised and I will foolishly worry that my friend will think me the biggest loser of all that my other "friends" couldn't be bothered to show.  Logical or not, that's still in my thoughts.

Seems that every place we go, I get to know quite a few people. Your dad and I have a wide circle of acquaintances and people we spend time with. But friends, the people we really talk to and enjoy, are few. That's not a complaint. I just think it's rare to find someone who can accept you as you are.  The others are just there for the food and bouncy castle while it lasts.   If they show.

Quotes of the day

We stayed at Michelle's for a few days and came back to recharge and head down to Ms. Corrine's.  Mm and Dad's offer to use their place is very generous, but the mac-n-cheese painting on Mom's mirror convinced me that their time is not quite occupied.  We came down here to let the girls run free and not have the hazard of stepping into Dad's garden hanging over thier heads.

Three hours later- results!  Juice drunk, exhausted, non-yelling, and happy. Corrine and I went shopping for noodles. I have a crazy idea of building a raft floaty with the noodles. The prototype was less than successful. With the stunning exception of almost making Corrine laugh so hard she almost peed her pants when the center of the raft separated and left me dangling.

So the girls were riding on the sharks in the pool. Notable quotes:

Look Mommy, I'm riding him.
I'm blowing him, Mama. Now you blow him. I'm blowing him hard.

Yeah. That's one for the baby books.

How many times a day can you say, "Don't shoot your sister." At least I only had to tell them once, "You do NOT stick the American flag up your nose."

We're in the middle of moving. Actually, the girls and I are in the middle of moving. Todd is moving us to Oman and Sumeyye left this morning to go back to Turkey. More later on all that.

Lord love a duck. Let's add "Do not shoot your mother." to that list.