Lovin' Every Minute of It

Here are some trays of corn.

My day was so much different than I thought it would be. Since I'm not a structure person, it didn't stress me out. I kind of like going for a ride and seeing where it takes me.

My friend e-mailed me early in the day to tell me that happy hour would have to be postponed on account of her allergies acting up. I've had many friends with that very same affliction, and they have all assured me that this time of year can really fuck a person up bad. We've rescheduled, and hopefully, the elements will behave a little better next week.

Just a little before two, I got a call from the school nurse at Stinky's junior high to tell me to pick up a certain teenage girl who had a temperature close to 102. So, I got out of work 2 1/2 hours early, walked home, got my car and drove up to see Stinky lying on the bench outside the school. Poor baby. She had the chills and she was all different kinds of dizzy. We made a quick stop at the store to buy chicken noodle soup and rent .99 videos.

If you're into stats, I was just given the gift of about four extra hours today. How sweet is that? I got some business stuff taken care of before 5, I cleaned, I sat with Stinky and watched a movie and I extended my run to seven miles. Now, all I have to do is get through tomorrow and I'm off on Friday. Yea me!

It seems I hardly ever talk about Coadster on here, and that's because I rarely see her anymore. Lately, I've been walking past her room, and noticing her TV sitting on its perch all lonely and abandoned, and I started coveting it. I know that technically, it's my television so I'm actually coveting my own possession, but you know what I mean. I've been thinking how nice it would be to have it in my room where I could love it and give it my full attention.

I know I've detailed all the difficult things about having teenage daughters on here, but I don't talk about the bonuses - of which I can only think of two right off the top of my head. Number one is that they're so easy to embarrass. Apparently, all you have to do is drive past them when they are running down the street with a gaggle of other girls during cross country practice and honk and yell woooo-hooooo! out your car window very, very loudly. I've never seen anyone run and roll their eyes that hard at the same time before. (I'm sure that bit works better if you're wearing your robe and have curlers in your hair, but I haven't had that pleasure yet)

Number two, is that by the time you've raised them to that point, you learn exactly how to work them. So, say you want to move the television set from their room, into yours, you just have to figure out how to set it up to your advantage.

Me: Coadster, I'm going to propose something, and you're probably not going to like it. Are you ready? (If you prepare them for something really horrible, they'll be almost relieved when you tell them the tiny, little thing you want)

Coadster: What is it?

Me: You know how you're almost never home, and I'm a loser so I'm always home?

Coadster: silence

Me: Do you agree that you're almost never home? (I'm still setting the stage here. Sure, it's a little manipulative, but the pay-off is usually worth the guilt)

Coadster: I don't know. Maybe...

Me: (going in for the kill) I was thinking that maybe we could move your TV into my room. If you wanted some alone time to veg-out and watch a movie or something, you could always visit it and hang out on my amazingly comfortable bed. (At this point, I was trying to think of other things I could use to argue my point after she would almost assuredly shoot me down)

Coadster: Okay. Sure.

Me: Wait. Really? Last time we talked about moving the TV in the other room, you were totally against it.

Coadster: I know, but that's because it was for Stinky. It's not that I wanted the television so much, I just didn't want her to have it.

Me: I can't believe you treat your sister that way. When did you get so mean?

Coadster: It's something I perfected in junior high.