The Peaceable Kingdom...NOT

Don't mind me, I'm just here to vent.

Leapin' lizards, what a day. This was the kind of day that makes me glad I don't own a gun. Cuz I'd kill someone. In fact, there were a couple of people today that I might have killed twice just for the sweet pleasure of their no longer existing.

I quit drinking booze for this?

I swear, dealing with these other people made me feel like the only sane person on the planet.

Started out with MySpouse getting up at his usual time, 4:30 AM. He had today off from work and he was looking forward to spending time with his computer. Except that his computer wouldn't cooperate. All he could get were sites that were on Google servers. My computer wouldn't cooperate either (no Scrabble site) but I wasn't as upset about it as he was.

He tried some things and no go. Called the ISP and found out they weren't open until 2:00 PM. then he proceeded to obsess and fuss. He wouldn't listen to me, basically ignored me.

Let me tell you, hell hath no fury like a woman ignored. First I was angry, then I was hurt, and finally PISSED OFF.

He realized he was tired by 9:30 AM and went up to bed for a nap. I think he'd been in bed maybe 20 minutes when I decided that I was peeved. I went upstairs and sat on the bed and asked him "So, do I look like chopped liver to you?"

Guys, there is no right answer when a woman asks you that. Just go ahead and apologize. At some point she'll tell you what you're apologizing for...

We talked. I explained. He apologized. Even though we love each other, we are two different people. We have different viewpoints and different priorities sometimes. Truthfully, we seldom fight and when we do it's usually becuz one of us is tired.

Today was going to be a busy day and I didn't want to start it out in such a negative way. I hate when that happens. We each have an Advertiser route that we do on Wednesday. For me, Avon delivery every other Wednesday, Lions Club two Wednesday evenings a month. This Wednesday was the one in which all three things landed. In between the paper route and Lions Club we were going to take time to cut up a fallen tree branch.

We did our paper routes. Cooked a frozen pizza for dinner. Went outside and cut up the tree branch. Busy morning, but with a couple hours available for a nap in the afternoon. MySpouse laid down for a nap and I told him I would lay down after I bathed.

I didn't want to go to bed until my hair was partially dry, so I came downstairs to work on a sign-up sheet for the Lions Club fundraiser. Take about 20 minutes, I figured. Time enough for my hair to dry a bit. I don't like that Bride-of-Frankenstein look that I get from sleeping on wet hair.

I'm typing away, wearing only a bathrobe and a frown, when the dogs start barking. I thought 'Please don't let it be the young gal from down the street stopping by. I'm too tired to be social'
And hey, whadda ya know, it wasn't the young gal from down the street.

It was my rapscallion BrotherTwo followed by five other people. One of the people, a young man, walked in carrying a cigarette in his hand. I told the young man with the cigarette "If you light that up in my house I'll shove it up your nose." I think all six of them smoke, but I don't, and they're in my house. I really was too tired to be social, and frankly, too tired to be nice.

My brother took it upon himself to make coffee. I hunted up some pop and snacks for the other members of his party. BrotherTwo has worked in construction for 20-odd years now. He may do some roofing for us. Toward that end, and to smoke, we went outside to look at the house. I'm willing to let him know all about construction, but when he mentioned landscaping, I cut him off straightaway.

He's talking about landscaping, I said very firmly "I'll take care of the landscaping. Don't say another word." He made a sound of protest, kind of shuffled around a bit and I took him by the elbow "Now get your size 10's out of my iris bed. Stand by your friend on the sidewalk and stop killing my plants."

He may not lecture me about landscaping. I have always been interested in growing plants and gardening. I had the opportunity to attend a community college for two years and I chose the Commercial Horticulture curriculum. I kept all my textbooks. When MySpouse isn't on the Internet he is also interested in gardening and plants.

Both MySpouse and I really like rocks. Spring of 2006 we built ourselves a little rock wall out front. It won't win any prizes for landscaping but we like it.

By the time BrotherTwo and his entourage departed it was too late for a nap. I finished the sign-up sheet.

Then off to the Lions Club meeting. The president of the club this year is a guy who is old enough to be my father. He treats me like a 1950's bimbo cheerleader. I'm overweight, opinionated, outgoing, outspoken...but I have never been a cheerleader.

President Twit has no experience with retail sales, promotion, or running a business . He gives me no credit for my experience in those areas, which results in my feeling really frustrated. When I go to area businesses and solicit donations on behalf of Lions Club I know what I'm asking of them.

At the board meeting on March 5th the organizing of a fundraiser to be held March 18th was given to me. It's a fundraiser that the club has done for many years so having less than two weeks to put it together isn't a huge deal. Really.

One of the things I've done for the fundraiser was to go and order sausage from a local business.
I've known the receptionist casually for years. That helps with communication. She asked at least three times if the business was donating the sausage to Lions Club. I told her no, in the past we had paid for it. I know; I wrote the check for it last year when I was treasurer. I told her the club would pay for it this year, but I would get an opinion from club members about accepting a donation next year.

If I had kept my yap shut at Wednesday's meeting President Twit wouldn't have insulted me in front of everyone present. He started out by asking the man who was no longer in charge of the fundraiser for a status report. At least the former organizer had the grace to be embarrassed. He referred President Twit to me.

I gave a report. Began passing the sign-up sheet around. Then my big mistake, I asked for input about accepting a donation next year. President Twit said to me, "That's a no-brainer. Take the donation. Go back and tell them we want a donation." Does he realize that representing the club does not give me blanket authority? It was not my decision to make. It's something that the members need to know about, discuss, and decide.

He has no idea how stupid that would make his Lions Club look. I told him no. I'd made a deal with them on behalf of the club and we needed to stick to it. For next year we can make a different deal with them.

I'd like the local businesses to have a good opinion of Lions Club.
Toward that end, I wait impatiently for President Twit's term to be finished.