Oh, hi!

So, it's Thursday, and you've yet to see a post from me.  Well, technically, you are seeing one now, but it's probably Friday.  I'm such a creature of habit-I don't really have a specific topic in mind, and I'm too tired to come up with one, but it's killing me to not have a Thursday post!

Whew-it's been a busy week! My daughter's softball tournament was this week, which went well, then got rained out, then went well, then went badly, but still kind of good, and then turned out reeaaaaallllyyyy bad. Sorry, I know that makes no sense.  Did I mention I was tired? We are also preparing for vacation, which means I'm constantly doing laundry in order to pack, and then yelling at calmly and rationally chiding my family for wearing the stuff, so that I have to wash it AGAIN.  Actually, the kids knew better, my husband gave them clothing out of the "to pack" stack to put on today. Argh.  Don't screw with my organization. 

Packing for 3 people is a daunting task, but one that my control issues won't allow me to give over to my kids or husband.  Actually, I may be packing for my husband, as well.  On a trip a couple of years ago, we reached our destination before he realized that he "forgot" to pack his clothes.  Conveniently for him, there were lots of nice outlet malls nearby, so he bought all new clothes.  If I pulled that, with my luck, there'd be nothing but a Dollar General or a farm supply store within 50 miles to shop at.  Which means that I'd be wearing tube tops, overalls, cheap flip flops and a John Deere hat everywhere.  Another time, he forgot all of his socks and underwear, so our first order of vacation business was undies shopping at Walmart. Yeah, I think I'll pack for him-I already tell him what he likes to eat when we go to restaurants, and remind him to take his medicine, so, why not?

We're going on a 13 hour road trip, and I'm halfway wishing I could send them along without me.  Did I just admit that out loud? Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and kids, I really, really do.  Pinky swear. I could wax poetic about how much, or write some nauseating, public love letters, or post some softly lit, artsy fartsy pictures of us frolicking around a field in coordinating clothing with goofy smiles in order to prove it, but...yeah.  I don't do that crap here, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Your welcome. It's just the whole, cooped up in either a minivan or a small hotel room together for 7 days thing that concerns me. Once we are there, I'm sure it'll be good-it's just the getting there that mostly concerns me.  Vacations (at least the preparation and travel parts) stress me out-anyone know what I mean? I always get stressed and grouchy before a trip, and then we have a wonderful time, after all (except for that one horrible trip to Chicago which I may share someday).

Anyhow, it's not storming here for once! We've had storms nearly everyday for the past several weeks-bad ones, too.  My poor son is both fascinated and terrified of storms. His little eyes get huge when he sees storm warnings scrolling along the bottom of the tv screen, and he flinches and cries out when he hears thunder.  He worries that every lightning strike will hit us, and that every tornado watch will send a tornado right to our house.  During the second storm that forced us to run off the softball field and to our cars last week, Tot kept telling me through clenched teeth, "Mom, I NEED to see a radar.  I won't freak out, Mom, but I NEED to see it." I have a weather radar ap on my phone, and he knows more about what all the radar colors mean than any 7 year old should.  Poor kid, we try to convince him that he is safe, and everything is ok, but he is such a worrier. My husband was teaching the kids how to read the maps for our vacation route in mini-atlases in great detail, and before my eyes glazed over, I heard my son ask whether there would be a Tsunami there. (Trust me, if we can drive there from Indiana in a day, there can't be a tsunami there.)  Any tips for helping Tot not be so afraid?

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. My posting may be a bit more sporadic than usual for a while, but I'll be back!