My First Blog!

Well, not totally true. I have blogged in the past, on Yahoo and Myspace. But, I think that this blog will be different. I know it will be as I always told myself that when I got my laptop I would start blogging again and I would be very disciplined about it.

So, here I am. Where should I start? First of all, it is 8a.m. and I have had another sleepless night. This will be a common factor in my blog, hence the title. Why do I not sleep? I have no idea, neither does my doctor. I’ve been like this for twenty years now, so who am I to try and change it? Just kidding….I have tried. Yes, everything. If there is a remedy, odds are I have attempted it at some point. Nothing  works, so like I said, I just have learned to live with it.

Having said all that, you will find that with the lack of sleep comes random thoughts, crazy emotions and some general silly babbling. It can be sad, logical or down right funny. The people you want to ask are the ones who get my early morning phone calls. Those are the people who know I have been up all night, and have waited patiently until the exact appropriate hour to call them without worrying if I woke them up.  

Now you know the what and the why the existence of this blog came to be. So, now I can actually write about something exciting. If I had something exciting to write about. I guess I can start with my holiday and how it went down. But in order to truly appreciate the story, we’ll have to back up a few days. Let’s start with the ride to California because it’s a good place to start.

The Thursday before last, I had to drive Aaron to California to spend time with his grandparents. He missed the trip there Thanksgiving  weekend because he is not talking to his dad. I have tried to fix that problem, but you can’t fix something  that is not recognized. Oscar doesn’t see that the fact that his oldest son doesn’t want anything to do with him is a problem.

Well, Aaron wanted to still see his grandparents, and I agreed. Oscar’s mom and I decided that we would meet halfway between Vegas and Visalia, which is Barstow. I didn’t want to drive myself, so I asked Marisa to make the trip with me. Thank goodness I did, as I started running a fever on the way there. I was in full chills and sweats by the time we got there, but I managed to stay and chat for an hour or so. Marisa drove us home, and despite being nervous, she did a fine job!

So, that weekend was the first time I have been without any kids since August. Normally, I would have every other weekend to myself, but since Aaron hasn’t been going to Oscar’s, it’s been awhile. And I don’t mind at all. I love having Aaron here, he is turning into such a smart young man, although the teenager in him pokes through every once in a while. I have determined that no matter how well mannered you raise a child, once they hit the teen years, there is an area in the brain that is just wired for rebellion and smartassiness.  Luciano was born with that area activated, Colin is wired for early activation but Aaron is just random. But it’s there, and comes out with a vengeance.

All was quiet over the weekend, we played the tournament at Rounder’s, I did get a little sleep and ate some really good Chinese food.  It wasn’t until Tuesday that all hell broke loose. I had been out running errands, and had stopped home to take a nap and get something to eat. I had been to the doctor earlier in the day and didn’t get any sleep that night, so I was tired. Well, I noticed that the toilet was leaking. I  went to turn the water off and the  valve broke.  Water was leaking everywhere. I called Bret to come help, and he came, but it didn’t help. I went to the office to have them shut off the water to our building, but the guy who runs the HOA refused. This meant that the water continued to come out of the pipe and there was nothing I could do about it.

I left the house and went to Bret and Marisa’s. I just couldn’t sit there and watch the house fill with water.  The handyman for our landlord said that what the HOA was doing was illegal and to call the police, but really, what would they have done?  The handyman wasn’t in town, so he couldn’t help. At some point though, the landlord got them to shut off the water, and she dispatched a plumber to our house. He and I took turns with the shop vac, getting up most of the water, so that he could get down near the toilet without drowning.  It was a 5 minute fix too! Yet, there is tons of damage. Needless to say, we are getting new carpet in there. We really needed it anyway, as it was the original carpet from when the condo was an apartment, over 10 years old.

Colin and Luciano got here on Wednesday.  Tom decided that I needed a break and we stayed at the Orleans for two nights. The boys went to the movies, bowled and got to enjoy the late night specials at the café. I got to relax and I actually slept while I was there. It was nice.

But, I got the best gift on Christmas Eve. I walked up to Walgreen’s with the kids, to pick up some soda and cigarettes. I decided to check the mail on my way home. Well, in the mail was a check that I was not expecting. I mean, I knew it was coming, but not for a few months. I was in total shock the rest of the walk home.

So yesterday, I went out and did a little shopping. I broke down and bought the Wii, Colin got an IPOD, Luciano and I got matching laptops. Tom and I got some much needed new clothes, the boys got new shoes. And I didn’t even get too tired.

So here we are back at today….and I did it all in an hour. No life lessons in this blog, seeing as it’s my first we’ll take it easy on each other. Like I said before, I am going to be disciplined about blogging, so if you see me slacking off, call me out, would you?