Cheating, Peaking, and Smelting

Don’t worry.  I’m not in a deep funk brought on by my last post.  I’ve been supa busy… this week is the LAST week of school for my kids and my two older boys are taking finals.

Monday, I had to run out to the store to get lunch food because #2 son brought home with him 3 boys.  That made 6 (5 teenagers plus 1 whiny and annoying 5 year old) boys in my house.  Ouch.  And, the food’s gone.

Tuesday, #1 son asked if he could bring a friend home to study with.  She is a very nice girl (who has a boyfriend, so stop speculating… I’ve already TOLD him that if she breaks up with him, that if he (my son) doesn’t ask her out, I’ll disown him) who helped him out with his one class… and I swear to you, if she ever decides to be a teacher, she’d be FANTASTIC.  She stayed for lunch (#1 son bought everyone pizza because he’s a WORKING MAN now… heh) and dinner.  In between the two meals, they studied at the kitchen table, well within my earshot.  I like her a lot.  #1 son came home today and said, “She thinks you’re really cool.”  And, my response was, “Yeah, I’m cool like one time a month.”  He agreed. 

Today, I swore off any visitors because, to be frank, I’m tired of entertaining.

The tally for the week THUS far:
2 lbs of cold cuts, 2 LONG French breads, 4 tomatoes, 1 head of lettuce, a dozen brownies, two bags of chips, 1 pizza, 7 bottles of soda and “ade” drinks, and a partridge in a pear tree…

In other words… I’M DONE BUYING FOOD FOR KIDS.  I need to go get veggies for US… and plan on ignoring the tomato ban (because I heard on the news this morning that JERSEY TOMATOES are not targeted for salmonella poisoning.  BOOYAH!  That’s right, Jersey-grown tomatoes are FABULOUS!  And, you can take THAT to the bank…  HOWEVER, the tomatoes that I have in my fridge are NOT from California.  I served them Sunday and Monday, and so far… no one’s sick.  So, here’s to living life on the wild side…) as well as the studies that claim eating a lot of lettuce can monkey with a person’s thyroid.

Next week… lettuce will be the cure for toe fungus, tomatoes will try to take over the world, and radishes will grow eyeballs and sound like a Fraggle.

 

 

 

 

 

And, I’ll be the next president of the United States…

Yesterday, during the NASTY heatwave (98 degrees by 10am, thank you), I needed to get gas in my car… NATURALLY.  I picked up #3 son from school and drove past the cheapest gas in town, which is across from the credit/cash gas station… I can’t pull into the station with the cheapest gas because of the way that the driveways sit awkwardly at or near the major intersection… so I drove south, looking to hit a HESS or something along those lines, because the last I noticed, HESS had the cheaper gas.

WRONG-O

I ended up driving 10 miles in three different directions, stopped at McD’s for chicken nuggets for #3 son, before eventually returning to the cheapest gas in town… this time, able to pull into the station because I was coming from a different direction.

I paid $37 to fill my car from between 1/2 and 1/4 to full.  THIRTY-SEVEN-DOLLARS for barely 3/4 tank.  *silent scream while pulling hair out*

DOES ANYONE FIND THIS GAS THING TO BE JUST AS ANNOYING AS I FIND IT TO BE?  I’m just FLOORED that no one in government seems to be mildly twitchy about paying nearly $5 a gallon.  I mean, REALLY this gas thing needs to be addressed… most immediately, in fact.  I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people making minimum wage or a low hourly rate… especially if they have to drive a bit to get to and from work.  I mean, in the fall, I’ll be driving 45 minutes West (opposite traffic) and then 45 minutes back three times a week (at best). 

I’m trying to conserve on gas… and when I decided to try to conserve we get hit with a horrific heat wave (it was 101 on Monday WITH 98% humidity)… I end up having to run here and there and over there and under there and by there and past there and the like.  I’m TIRED of going to the store.  I’m TIRED of driving to the bank.  I’m SUPER TIRED of running errands.  And, there’s something twinky going on because I like to consolidate my trips.  If I can hit things in order from furthest to closest to my house, then I’m going to do it.  I’m a straight line connecting two points sort of person.  I don’t like the ROUND-ABOUT way of driving…

START HERE ———> then go here but, forgot that you needed something THERE, so you backtrack<—- however, once you get there, you realize that SOMEONE was already THERE for you, so you go back past the FIRST place because you have to run another errand in the vicinity————–> but then SOMEONE calls you and tells you that you HAVE to pick up this thing at the place you just left, so you turn around and go back before ever reaching your pre-planned 2nd destination<———–.

CONFUSING YET?

I can’t do that.  It irritates me.  I have to go where I have to go, sequentially, and work my way back home.  I REFUSE to go WEST for 20 minutes then go back towards my house and drive 20 minutes EAST of my house… unless it’s extremely important.  Why?  GAS PRICES, my friend, GASSSS PRICESSS!

 

I told my husband yesterday that I’d opt for a VESPA, but wasn’t sure where to put the carseat. 

Nix THAT idea… *sighs*

I’d probably get run down by the errant tractor-trailer trucks that careen through my town like their trailer’s on fire.  Not how I want to end my life, thank you…

 

 

Then, I thought about perhaps a SMART CAR.  Have you seen one of those?  Unless it has the magical qualities of a clown car, there’s no way I can drive it.  But, then again, I thought to myself, if I could CONNECT THREE SMART CARS together by a tether or chain or ziptie, that I could accommodate EVERYONE in my family AND probably STILL be able to conserve SOMETHING.  But, then it hit me… I LIVE IN NEW JERSEY.  I’d have to be NUTS to drive one– if the trucks don’t kill you, the other drivers will.  Driving a SMART CAR would be akin to sitting on a skateboard and being towed behind a car on the highway.  I can’t see how they’d be… safe… especially in a collision.  I guess when a person DRIVES a SMART CAR, they have to be… smart.  (Makes sense.)

Hmm… I’m going to have to THINK about this more.  I’d ideally like to get a 4-door sedan again, however, with only working full-time/part-time in the fall (and only the fall at this point), there’s not enough economic stability to make me want to pay car payments at this point.

 

 

Plus, I still love my Escape… all 20/24 mpg of it.  At least, for now.