Sunday, July 26, 2009

I was so trying to figure out why we had nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon when I realized I forgot about a big piece of the puzzle. Lani heard all about it, but I'll share it with everyone else as well. On Friday, Mike brought home an invitation for Alisa to attend the birthday party of the daughter of one of his coworkers on Saturday. Years ago, Alisa attended the same girl's b-day party at Chuck E. Cheese. We discovered at that time that the girls were polar opposites, Alisa being very quiet and reserved and Rosslyn being outgoing and talkative. Mike & Rossi kept talking about getting the girls together for play dates with the hopes that Alisa would temper Rosslyn's excessive energy and Rosslyn would coax Alisa out of her quiet little shell. Well, that (meaning the play date) never happened. I can't remember a single "play date" Mike has taken either of his kids to...just not in his nature. Anyway, all of that history is to now tell you this. The invitation was for America's Incredible Pizza Company (AIPC), a place in Euless I'd heard a little bit about but to which we'd never visited. I thought it was something like Chuck E. Cheese. I called Rossi to RSVP saying that Mike & I would bring Alisa to the party. Then, I went online to find out how to get to the place. The invitation said only: "You're invited to an INCREDIBLE Birthday Party!" and all of the typical for, date, time, from & RSVP lines. Nothing else-no website, telephone number or anything. I found their website online without difficulty and discovered that this is a buffet and anyone entering the facility must purchase a buffet and drink! The adult buffet was $8.49, kids ages 8-12 were $6.49, and drinks (including water!) were $1.89. Here, I was thinking we would take Alisa to the party and Mike, Aaron & I could sit nearby and order a pizza (which by my coupon-loving standards would probably be expensive anyway) and visit with Rossi & his family while the girls played a while. I wasn't planning on spending $30 on pizza and drinks and have to purchase a gift as well. I absolutely hate that everything comes down to "can't afford it" or "not in the budget," but I knew I'd be kicking myself in the butt when I was short about $50 for paying bills in the next couple of weeks. I'd think back to the extra money we spent to attend the birthday party and feel as if I'd been bamboozled. So, I told Mike to take Alisa, just the two of them. At least Mike could eat $9.00 worth of pizza (the "discounted" rate for those attending a party was $8.66, including the drink, for adults). He refused to go, so I had to call Rossi back and inform him that Alisa would not be attending the party afterall in case there was someone else who could use her spot. Alisa really didn't mind. I think she only agreed to go to be polite in the first place--it's not as if she was jumping up and down about attending a party for someone she only met briefly a few years ago. I really think the invitations should at the very least have a note printed (even if in fine print) instructing invitees to see their website for more details. More appropriately, they should inform invitees of the buffet & drink purchase requirement and offer the discounted rate for those attending the party. What about people like me who rarely carry cash on them, and who may or may not have even remembered to toss their purse/wallet in the car and may or may not have put their debit card back in their purse after pumping gas the day before? What then?
Then, I was a little perturbed with Mike. I felt like he should've taken Alisa anyway. His excuse is always, "She'll be more comfortable if you're there." He turned down the opportunity to work extra hours in order to be home in time to accompany Alisa and me to the party. Then, he decides not to go at all?! I accept that I should have checked out the website for AIPC before I RSVP'd for the party-that was my fault. I suppose I should be happy that he didn't go and spend extra money on a gift and pizza buffet if he hadn't worked the extra hours. In essence, he would have given up money-making potential and spent extra money. Now, however, it's the principle of the thing. I really didn't want to call Rossi back and tell him Alisa wasn't coming after I'd just called earlier the same day to say she was. What kind of wishy-washy people will he take us to be? I didn't want to take Alisa by myself because then I'd be vexed for paying $9.00 for 2-3 slices of pizza and a glass of water or I'd be miserable from trying to force down extra slices of pizza to try to justify paying the $9 for the buffet and have to suffer for that the rest of the evening (from a GI perspective). Mike slept clean past 7:00 p.m., so it would've been a chore to get him up and dressed for the 6:30 party anyway. Even if his original intention was to go with us, he probably would have bowed out at the last minute anyway. Sleep would have prevailed. NOTE TO PARENTS EVERYWHERE: Please, please, please make it known on invitations that out of pocket expenses are a part of your child's party. It is helpful to parents like me who are always a day late and a dollar short wherever we go!
I knew there was something on the calendar for yesterday. When we decided not to attend the party, it seemed like a "do-nothing day."
Today has been pleasant. I awoke and ventured outside to check on the pool. The water is much clearer. It could use a vacuum, but I didn't have time for that this morning. I came in, washed dishes and started breakfast. Alisa's flat iron was already pre-heating because I just couldn't manage to tackle her hair last night. For some reason I was on the brink of exhaustion by 10 o'clock-ish last night and couldn't pull myself out of it. Usually, I can catch a second wind after 10:30 or 11, but not last night. We had waffles, bacon and juice for breakfast, fixed Alisa's hair, dressed, fed the dog and fish, and headed off to church. I thought I was serving as a Eucharistic minister for mom so she would serve for me next week when I'm off on the RCIA retreat, but wires were crossed somewhere because there were already 3 Eucharistic ministers lined up. That was okay. I sat back and enjoyed Fr. Angelo from the Comboni Missions preach on our commission to spread the word of Jesus and help our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world through prayer, missions and monetary support. I just know that one day I, too, will be a missionary of some sort. I think I will start with accompanying Doctors without Borders somewhere once the kids are out of high school. Who knows where the Lord will lead me from there?
We gave Edward Briscoe and his son Leonard a ride to Starbucks after church, then we dropped Tia off at her house and arrived home ourselves. We were hungry, so I fixed nachos with tortilla chips with refried beans mixed with taco seasoning and topped with shredded cheese placed under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until the cheese was hot and bubbly. Mmmm they were yummy.
My two big goals for the day were to pay bills and make it to the grocery store. Gotta pay the bills first to see what would be left for groceries. That entailed more than a notion, however, as I would first have to take inventory, plan a menu for the week, consult with recipes for ingredients needed, write out a list, locate my grocery ads and check them to see who had what on sale, etc…I decided to get on that as soon as I got up from my nap. I crawled in bed with Waking with Enemies and read a few pages before asking the kids to wake me if I wasn’t up by 4:00.
After I got up from my nap I did find my grocery ads and begin the list. I took a little detour to begin this blog, then received a phone call from my good friend CB. I hadn’t spoken to her since we commiserated over the death of our former future husband, Michael Jackson, last month. Somehow the time has skipped to 7:55, and I must go and finish preparing dinner. I spotted two cans of tuna in the cupboard while I was in there getting a snack and decided on tuna noodle casserole for dinner. It doesn’t exactly fit with “Soul food Sunday,” but I have what I need without a trip to the store, so it will have to do. It’s pouring down rain and thundering and everything else outside, so the grocery store will have to wait. I will go ahead and pay bills and get my list together tonight so I can get my shopping done first thing in the morning while Mike is home with the kids.
Other things to do this week include a trip to the library, taking Alisa shopping (her birthday money and gift cards are burning a hole in her pocket and we have to get her sizes for school uniforms), planning Aaron’s birthday celebration (it’s right around the corner), visiting B’s place so he can give me instructions for what do to in his absence, and cooking up some stuff for Mike for this coming weekend while I’m gone on the retreat. With his mom being ill, there’s no sending him to her house to eat when I’m away like we did in the "good old days." I told Sasha she could spend the night one day this week, too. I'd better set that up because she will not forget! It will be another busy summer week, but I guess I really just wouldn’t have it any other way.