z’s bubbles 2

So even though the first week of my mother being here went fairly smooth, this week is drastically different. Susprisingly so since we aren’t seeing them and hopefully will get out of the dinner engagement tonight.
The first thing that went wrong is the relationship between Gilky-bear and my mother. The latter insists on speaking only German to her. This is not a bad thing really, but it seems to not only mentally exhaust Gillian, it also frustrates her to no end that her grandma a) doesn’t understand her and b) doesn’t make sense to her either.
Add to this that Gillian pointed out that “Oma” doesn’t even close her eyes during prayers but appearantly stares at the kids.
Not to mention that she doesn’t believe in A/C (she has it completely turned off in her house, even though it’s been pretty close to or at three-digit temperatures) and seems to have forgotten all she ever tried to teach me about good nutrition. The last two times she had Gillian for a long period of time, she either fed her cinammon rolls and candy or enough strawberries to make Gillian’s mouth break out.
If you add that to the fact that they tried to make us lie to the US customs saying all their stuff is ours and to the headache of explaining to the IRS that the money they gave us was to buy a car for them, not for us, sure doesn’t make me want to see them much.
In essence, they seem to be a lot like the Mafia: if you ask them for a favor, they -will- ask for one in return. And probably one you wont like to return.
*sigh*
And then on the other side you have the return of the prodigal son on Roo’s side of the family. They even are redoing a bathroom and bedroom just for his visit. If I were one of their children, I would feel severly unappreciated as he seemingly can do no wrong whereas all the others can do very little right.
So we have a shaken up Gillian, a pouty Liam (who gets very confused if he has to skip his nap!), the mob-family in town, the return of the prodigal son, and all the “usual” head- and heartaches (and bodyaches!) associated with the birth of a new child.
It would seem that the summer of 2006 will actually top summer 2005 as the “most stressful” summer to date.

So…
my mother arrived this week to move into her house… and it went fairly well except for Ruth wearing herself completely out!
It was interesting to note the differences in her way of doing things and our way of doing things: we would focus more on getting something done quickly so we can move on (like buying a bed…). She on the other hand seems to enjoy the process more: she’d rather stand in line for an hour at a store, rather than try to beat the crowd.
Also, it became blatantly obvious where my tendency to procrastinate came from (Not just her, my father too).
The one big challenge this week was Liam. He’s in his independent phase where he likes to challenge authority and tries to make things go his own way. He insist on wanting to sit in the driver’s seat of the car, or wants to go somewhere before anyone else had a chance to even think about getting ready. And of course the only way he can find to express his disappointment that things are not going to be his way, is by throwing himself on the floor, or becoming a floppy dead fish in your arms, or even attempting to wiggle his legs free (which, if you’re a guy, can be quite painful as his feet are at a very sensitive height…). Anyway, it is definately an indicator that children can be extremely good actors!
But Gillian went through something similar, so there’s hope

… and I’d like to add “so little time”, but it’s not exactly true…
But there is still so much to do it feels completely overwhelming which in turn encourages procrastinationas it’s hard to get started on something when you don’t really know where and/or what (and even how in some cases!)
And it’s not just work, it’s everything! Where to fit exercise in a day? Or reading? or contacting? or focusing on growing our business? When to build something that would hold all the data Doug would so love to see?
And how does one get started on all of the above?
And then Ruth needs some time, and Liam wants to be held, and Gillian wants to play with me, and all these things that Ruth would take care of in a heartbeat. It’s nice to be so popular and all, but sometimes things just fall short…
And then there’s my desk with a pile of papers that screams “take care of us” every time I come into the office but in the end, it wont get taken care of unless it has a due date, and even then it’s usually the day before that date if not the day of!
And then there are the pending “changes”… With our new arrival which is due soon, the house is almost too small. Not to mention we need a new car, lots of new clothes, at least one fitness membership for Roo and we’re still lacking furniture.
Oh, and my mother moves to town tomorrow. No idea how that is going to work out. Especially after hearing how dreadfully excited she sounded today on the phone…
But it’s not all that bad either. Liam is the cutest giggle monster lately, even though sometimes he bears a striking resemblance with Dennis The Menace (mostly due to his size and blonde messy hair). Gillian is an awesome helper and definately the sweetest little girl. Ruth is such a trooper, bearing the burden of pregnancy and of being a full time mom (which we tend to forget does not come with a paid vacation or any vacation at all for that matter). Nobody is really sick, everyone is well fed (especially my growing waistline)… Even work is alright.
The saddest part is, most of what is stressful or troublesome could be solved with more money. Which brings us back to the first point: where to start… *sigh*