Thursday, August 21, 2008

T, C, & C ...oh my....CONCLUSION

Welcome Back.

Note: Make sure you didn't miss part 4. It was posted this morning.

Our first 24 hours recap has almost come to the end. What else could possibly have happened in such a short time span?

As I sit here typing, I can understand how the writers and producers of the TV show Happy Days felt. I have "Jumped the Shark". But, I have signed a contract for 5 episodes of "T,C, & C....oh my....... " , so here I go.

We arrived, had unpacking issues, alcohol has been hidden, had toilet plunger near emergencies, made it through the mole emergency and have gone bowling. I fixed dinner.....slaved away for hours over Hot Pockets and Rammen noodles. By the time I cleaned up the kitchen (ok, I straightened it but will clean it tomorrow....really I will.) I was exhausted. I climbed the stairs to the bedroom and lay down in the bed.....reminding the kids to turn off the lights when they went to bed....if they went to bed.

Next morning when I wake up, every light in the house is still on,. The tv is on and there is a teenager sprawled out asleep on the sofa, one asleep in another bedroom and a 12 year old curled up next to me.

The kitchen, although it wasn't spotlessly clean when I went to bed, had been straighted the night before. Well, it now looked like a military group had posted command there and had to leave in the middle to go fight a war. It looks like the entire weeks worth of food has been eaten. Hhhmmm, how odd, the cans of veggies are still here.

Did they not know that the white rectangular object next to the refrigerator is called a trash can? Did they not know that Pizza Roles, Toquitoes and Hot Pockets are very hard to scrape off the plates if they aren't rinsed afterwards? Don't they even know that if you don't feel like putting dished in the dishwasher, that you can at least put them in the sink? Do they know that it isn't necessary to open every snack on the first day? Do I need to explain-again-the meaning and use of a "chip-clip"? Also, I KNOW I started out with a case of soft drinks AND a gallon pitcher of Tea, a gallon of milk and a pitcher of kool-aid and at least 12 water bottles. It doesn't bother me so much at the incredible decrease in available beverages but I am a bit annoyed at the number of half full drinks that are sitting around. There will be a discussion about that today when they wake up-----whenever that will be. On a brighter side, the hidden alcohol is all still intact......minus 2 glasses of wine....but that was for me.

Ok, even though this is about the next day, it is still in the first 24 hour period....although I must confess that by the end of this story we will have passed the 24 hour time frame. Just think of it as a Bonus Extra like they have on DVD's.

Everyone is awake, there have been discussions of picking up after yourself and not wasting and also the threat of "do you want to eat nothing but canned veggies the last 4 days we are here?"

The big boys want to go to the mall. Alberquando wants to stay here and play on the computer. Due to the car "mishaps" that recently took place, I need to chauffeur them. No problem. Alberquando and I drive them to the mall, listening to loud awful "grind core" music, laughing and talking. We drop them off and go home without incident.

When it's time to go back and pick them up I have no idea how I got there in the first place. (duh). I call JM and feeling rather foolish, ask him for directions to get back to the mall. (he drove last year). 2 turns. That's all. Turn left at the CVS and turn right on a street I'll just call Elm street. No problem. We drive and drive and drive. FINALLY, I see CVS but I have a yucky feeling that I've gone way too far. I turn left and end up at a dead end. I call JM. After much discussion, we realize that the CVS he was talking about had changed into a Walgreens since the last time we were here. So Alberquando and I back track. We drive and we drive and we drive....(kind of reminds me of "they rocked back and forth and back and forth"....ooopps, sorry, I said I wasn't going to talk about that anymore). We get to Walgreens and make the appropriate turn.

Then we drive looking for Elm street. We drive and we drive and we drive (ha). WHERE IS ELM STREET?!! I KNOW I didn't pass it. I KNOW that Elm Street is the correct name because it is one of the few things I did notice when I dropped them off earlier. I call JM again......(you're right "On Purpose", he is definitely being primed for major counseling). He can't figure out what I did wrong. So I back track AGAIN! Finally I turn down "Green Street" on a whim. 2 blocks later in the distance I see the mall!! I look at the street sign and of course now it says Elm Street. Only in my world does the street name change right in the middle from one name to another, (yes, I know this happens in other worlds also but this is my story so I can say that if I want to).

I am not normally normal. Opps, what I meant to say is I am not normally ditzy, dizzy, or airheaded but I felt completely foolish as I finally drove up and picked them up. (I'm just glad it wasn't late or that the mall had closed). That 20-25 minute round trip ended up taking about an hour and a half. I am exhausted....where did I hide that alcohol?

Well, my story is reaching the end. My 24 hour recap is almost over as is our week here. Soon it will be time to pack up and head across the country to make that 45 minute drive home.

Ladies and Gentlemen......Fonzie has jumped the shark!

15 comments:

Kelly said...

Just so you know, the cultural reference is "Jumped the shark." Not Over. Just "jumped the shark." Of course now it is called "jumping the couch" in reference to Tom Cruise and his pyschotic appearance on The Oprah Show.

You are too funny. Your blog is a fun visit. Keep it up!

Edie said...

I'm laughing my head off over here. You are so funny girl, even without pictures! I love the bonus frame too. Now that was a nice addition so it makes up for no pictures. :)

I'm looking forward to your next big adventure. Goodnight!

My ADHD Me said...

Don't know what Chatty Kelly meant as I did write "jumped the shark", not over.....ok, not really,,,,Love that edit button!!

edie--Please go find your head, we cannot have any loose heads rolling around. HHmmm, wonder if any one ever really did laugh their head off. What a spectacle that would be. When I get home I am going to try again with the pics.

Kelly said...

Maybe I should have just emailed you that fact? We could both erase our comments, and then no one would know?? Oh bother!

Sorry.

Sue J. said...

"Heeyyyyyyyyyyyy......"

Driving to your mall is much like driving anywhere in Massachusetts, in the dark, with a temporarily fried GPS. All of the streets are named the same thing, and you can't see the signs anyway because of all the unpruned trees.

Then there was the problem of driving with instructions that had the street name wrong anyway (Drive, Road, what's the difference, right? WRONG!)

I hope you GET home! Maybe there's an uneaten Hot Pocket in a sofa cushion that you could use for car rations (assuming the mole didn't "jump the shark," and sneak out of your glove compartment for some rations of his own.)

And, when you do come home--because I know you will--I'll be standing by to read your 13-part fall season of the new "Joanie Loves Chachi."

The Patterson 5 said...

This is so funny! Even all the comments! I can't wait for the Joanie and Chachi episodes! You make life with teenagers seem like such a hoot! You truly have a love and zest for life! Thanks for sharing your funny and quirky adventures!

My ADHD Me said...

Kelly, e-mail? Who has time to check e-mail now that you've introduced us into the blogging world. Last time I did check i had something like 350 unread emails.
Don't be sorry you silly goose.

My ADHD Me said...

Kelly, also I could keep posting responses here and it looks like I have tons of readers.

Mrs P and Sue-Joanie Loves Chachi? Come on, they jumped the shark before the first episode. And Sue, Believe me, if there was a hot pocket lost in the sofa cushions, they would have found it and eaten it by now!

Kelly said...

8 comments! Now 9 with this one. Wow - you are getting popular aren't you? heehee. That's like my 25 yesterday, most people commented twice. But it is still excited to look and go "wow look at all my comments - so what if I wrote all of them."

Meet you at Arnold's, I'll bring quarters for the jukebox..."I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill."

Rebecca Ingram Powell said...

Hey!

Thanks for your comment! CK sent me a link to one of your Roseanna posts and it was wonderful! Finally--someone who can relate! I didn't start appreciating my hair until I was in college and big hair was in. (Those were the days sigh)

Teenage boys can eat--Mine wants to know what's for lunch while he's still eating breakfast!

Roxie said...

The house sounds like mine every morning-LOL! Teenage boys.

And it's a good thing you don't live in Baton Rouge, where streets change names as you drive down them. Like for me to go to the mall from my house - you could start on O'Neal, which then turns into George O'Neal, take a right on Coursey and go until it turns into Bluebonnet-eventually you'll come to the mall...and that's the easy streets-some change names three times. My young driver 15 (almost 16) is having a problem with all the name changes-LOL!
And for someone who has lived here all his life is a ditz about where he's going. Oh but that's a different story.

Love your post. Roxie

HisPrincess said...

Thanks for this post! I needed a good laugh!

Although, I think I may be a little young to get all the Happy Days references (snigger!).

My ADHD Me said...

I just knew that everyone wouldn't get the "jumped the shark". I didn't realize it was so well known until recently.
Happy Days was one of the top shows of its time. It was incredible! As hard as it is to believe now, we all REALLY did think Fonzie was as cool as a person could possible be....yes, I even had his poster in my room. He was a man of few words, wore a leather jacket, drove a motorcycle and made thumbs up and the phrase AAAyyyy a house hold term.
The show ran for years. They got older and the rating dropped a bit but not significantly. Well, they had an episode in which they went to California. Fonzie had to prove his "coolness" by water skiing and jumping over a shark that had been corralled at the ocean. Well, he did it. He even worn his leather jacket while he did it and for the first time. alot of people said "what a nerd" (nerd was from Happy Days too.). After that episode, the ratings plummeted. Happy Days had over stayed their welcome and now when a show starts to go downhill, it is termed that they have "jumped the Shark" or as Chatty Kelly said "Jumping the couch!" aka Tom Cruise.

HisPrincess said...

I do remember Happy Days, just obviously not the shark episode!

I did see the couch jumping on Oprah though...

Whatever happened to the "Risky Business" Tom Cruise?

Kelly said...

Picked up TV guide* at the grocery. Kevin Bacon was interviewed about his wife's show (the closer) which he directed an episode of. They asked him if he'd ever act in the show against her. His response? "I think that would be jump-the-shark time." I just had to laugh!!

*(page 56, Aug. 25 issue)