wasting my days in a caravan

Hi! This is Julie of Honeysuckle Faire. I am a guest poster today, due in large part to these muddy Wellies and a teal coloured mini-van. What?! Here is the fun story:

My grandmother gave me and my family a mini-van three years ago. It had low mileage and was a unique aqua shade. Ubiquitous, yet practical, we were in no position to decline this generous gift. This month, my parents kindly bestowed upon us another mini-van, with even lower mileage! Yes, it is true. We are mini-van magnets. They fall from the sky into our drive. We could not keep both so my husband, Brian, took some photos and listed the teal van on Craigslist. He walked into the house from his office and the phone started ringing. It was Andi, owner of this blog, inquiring about the van. This was 2 minutes after Brian had posted the listing! Andi and her daughters immediately set off on the 45 minute trek from their house to ours to check out the van. (Read her post here about having to settle for the very practical, yet unanimously un-sexy mini-van.) We loved Andi and her effervescent personality instantly. That was last Saturday afternoon. On Wednesday, Andi, her husband and daughters, and Brian and I and our daughter, Maizie, all met at the home of a poor, unsuspecting notary somewhere in the outskirts of Dillsburg to transfer the van title. We crowded in this man's tiny, tiny, tiny home notary "office" - Andi's family of four, ours of three, the notary and my crazy green Wellies. Someone commented about the Wellies. I had just turned out the horses, I explained. (Wellies are a horse conversation magnet, I know this from past experience. If you want to talk about horses, wear Wellies!) Well, Andi and I just started bubbling out of control in conversations about owning Thoroughbreds and blogging and farms and England and all our amazing commonalities! (We didn't even know at that point that we were both artists!) Our families were equally involved in the wild exchange of coincidental facts and we all were laughing and talking at the same time. The very patient notary was calmly trying to obtain the necessary signatures amid all the confusion. After we were concluded with the paperwork, our families and conversations spilled out into this man's driveway. There were just so many uncanny similarities and we couldn't talk fast enough! The man came outside because he needed to go somewhere. We were still talking as he drove away, shaking his head!

Isn't life wonderful? You just never know when you are going to meet other people who are living similar existences with common interests and philosophies.

How to Get Crickets and Neighbors to Leave You Alone

A typical day in the summer for our family starts out something like this:

I get up around 5 a.m. with my husband; he leaves for work, and I have some quiet time to do catch up and get organized in my home office. I am an independent contractor for a lady who needs assistance with some of her administrative duties. It's a temporary position and she has guaranteed me work through the end of this year, but after that, I will be exploring new opportunities. (This is one of the many reasons I began blogging.) I should also add that I occasionally fill in at the local hardware store , as well as a lovely bed and breakfast down the road from us as a hostess. (So, if you thought that any part of my day included sitting in front of the tv or eating bonbons and talking on the phone, well, one out of three is better than nothing.)

My girls, M and E, age 8 and 11 respectively,(I will argue with anyone here that they are actually going on 18 and 21),usually start waking up about 7a.m., regardless of what time they went to bed the night before. The fight for who will go on the computer first, or for what show will be watched on television commences. At this point, I am still in wake up mode and am trying my best to tune out the arguing, which quickly becomes a frenzied crescendo. I try the calm, loving approach. "Goodmorning girls, how are you doing today? Lets go make the beds, get dressed and have some breakfast. Its going to be a wonderful day!" I say this sweetly and full of as much enthusiasm as I can muster while bracing myself for what I know will be coming in about one minute,ten seconds.....

Oldest:"I never get to go on the computer first!"

Youngest:"Yes you do, you stupid head!."

Me: "We do not say the word stupid." This is stated in a monotone voice as I am trying to navigate through the mountainous paperwork on my desk.

Youngest to Oldest: "You always get to do everything first! I never get to do anything first-you were born first, you got to eat first, you got to get hugged first....."

Me to youngest: "This morning you're going to get your bottom smacked first if you don't stop whining!"

The argument ensues until both are sobbing and crying and the youngest is chasing the oldest around the room and trying to hit her. At this point I stand up and scream "ENOUGH! I AM TIRED OF OUR DAY STARTING OUT LIKE THIS!!!! GO GET DRESSED AND GET DOWN STAIRS FOR BREAKFAST!" At this point, any birds that were singing, or crickets that were chirping, or neighbors that were trying to have a nice, quiet start to their morning have all promptly stopped doing what they were doing, attempting desperately to regain the use of their hearing and retreat as far out of range as possible. This is the downside of living right in town. Often, in the early morning, before things heat up, I have the windows open (we have A/C units, not central air.) This leaves most of my life open to interpretation for anyone within earshot.

Minutes later, while I am trying to locate my head which detached from my body shortly after it began spinning and shooting flames in every direction, I hear the girls giggling in the other room, like nothing ever happened.

I can't help but wonder if I will end up somewhat like that guy in the movie Groundhog Day, who relives the same scenes over and over....its not even 8 a.m. and I am totally worn out already.