Let's Compare Days

This voicemail transcription is from June, 2002 from my sister. My how things have changed. I received this voicemail while in Hawaii with our good friends the Chapmans. Daniel and I were newly married, just 11 months in, and were on vacation in Hawaii. Niki had just had her second child, Trey, in May. It's hysterical for me to re-read this, and thankfully I wrote every word down before I deleted it. What brought this to my attention is that as I sit here at home on this Friday night, tracking Daniel's intercontinental flight, I compared our days in my head. He's been in Paris under the Eiffel Tower, I've been in Social Circle. He's flown 11 hours non-stop to Salt Lake City, had dinner and a movie with adults, I've taught 7 third graders 5 days straight. He's walked in to a nice, clean hotel room and I've herded cats, I mean kids, out the door and left many a trail. So comparing days is JUST NOT REALLY IDEAL, is it??? I'm not jealous, I mean that. I just am observant. Just aware of the situation, that's all. He's been gone since Tuesday and won't be home till Sunday.



Here it is:



"Okay it's Niki, it's Monday morning about 9. Let's compare days: So far, I got up at midnight, I got up at 3. I've been up since 6. I've put a whiny child (big sister Kate, age 5) back to bed already because she's been whining my head off. I've started a load of laundry, I've cleaned up my kitchen, and now I'm about to sit down and make a grocery list. YOU on the other hand, oh, and it looks like it's about to rain. It's nasty and you know Macon stinks when it rains. You on the other hand probably haven't gotten up yet, but if you have you're enjoying a leisurely breakfast I'm sure at a nice hotel IN HAWAII and probably going to spend some time out in the sun or something fun & romantic, maybe a nice brunch with friends, no children involved, then at your leisure you'll fly back to Atlanta and come back to your home where there again are no children involved and you will enjoy a relaxing summer. So I have an idea to prepare you for what might one day be your life: Next Thursday...."



Yeah, she was right about how we were spending our days in Hawaii. She then went on to describe how she needed my help running a day camp at her house where she and her friends had come up with a way to have 8 summer days kid free at the expense of one full day of all eight kids at your house. Well, of course I did it and "life guarded" all 8 of the "rugrats" as she called them, helped with crafts and lunch, and they went home happy and tired. It was a great idea that I intend to copy next summer, call me to sign yours up! But oh how quickly that one day became my life and I began to do the same thing. I began to compare days. We all do. It's a bad habit we should all break, because when it comes down to it, we generally compare our day to someone we think has it better than we do. Why don't we compare our day to someone who doesn't. Maybe then we'll become a little more grateful, not that we aren't most days.



I just thought about that conversation/message tonight as I was tempted to "compare days." Mine is minutes from ending. Daniel's still flying; he has 6 hours to go. I'm going to get in bed, where there is a cute red head waiting for me! His name is Cameron, and he's 5, is wearing shark pj's and has 3 band aids on his knees over which he's protecting small suspected ringworm sites from spreading.

Nitey nite!

Beach Countdown

We're on the countdown to our annual beach trip! Yes, on October 4th, we'll be driving the long drive down to Destin....in two cars.....with only 3 people in each car!

It dates back about 15 years ago, maybe more. The first trip I remember taking was with my parents and I took a friend, but my sister didn't go. We went to the small town of Seagrove Beach, Florida, and we rented a small condo there. It was nice, quiet, and extremely relaxing. Through the years, we've changed members of the family that could go, for some reason or another. There were years I stayed home because I was working and couldn't get off, a trip where it was the original Slaughter Family of 4, and then began the additions to the family in the way of kids! I remember several years where just my sister and her daughter Kate went with my parents, and again, I couldn't because of work. But we always went in semi-celebration of both of my parents birthdays. Daddy's is on the 6th of September, Mama's on the 10th. So we always left the first Saturday in September, and stayed through the week until the next Saturday. There were trips that were shortened due to hurricanes, and the infamous ruined trip the week of September 11, 2001. I didn't go that year; Daniel and I were newlyweds and I was teaching my first year in Social Circle. It was horrific. Daniel was actually in New York, but not in the city, and my parents were at the beach. For days. Daniel was grounded for about 4 days, my parents didn't come home until Saturday.

But the trip remains a much anticipated one, nonetheless. We moved our condo to the big city of Destin. Yeah, it's a little too busy for me, little too crowded; I prefer Sea Island, my dad prefers a high-rise. He wins. He also wins in the car situation. One year we flew Delta; once in our Cessna-182. In fact, it was the year of Hurricane Katrina and we were dropping off Daniel's aunt after she evacuated Mississippi that we thought if we were going to be at the airport, why not jump on an airplane? That was the time Daniel dropped me at curbside, with a baby, a toddler, two carseats, a double stroller, 4 suitcases, and an elderly aunt who stops to smell the roses.

Yet most years we've driven two cars, no matter that both vehicles seat 7. Each. Yes, together the cars that we drive down could seat 14 people! But don't try to convince my daddy that we could save on gas, that we could enjoy each other's company, and that it would be less stressful on everyone if we carpooled. WHO DOESN'T CARPOOL TO THE BEACH??? We've gone round and round. He wins, every time. They claim they take too much stuff, that he wants to be able to jump in his own car at any given time and drive to Wal-Mart! OH! That's another hilarious part of this trip! We go to Wal-Mart almost EVERY DAY! How foolish is that? But just knowing that it's a block away keeps you from packing everything because you think, "I'll get it at Wal-Mart?"

One year my sister and I joked that the other one better not get pregnant and ruin the trip. Well, guess who got pregnant? Yes, me. With Sarah, and due on July 31st meaning infant at the beach less than 6 weeks old. Maybe you would've done it, but we didn't.

Luckily, this year and last year, Daniel has been awarded the time off. There were a few years he came late, left early, or didn't get to go at all.

So we're getting up early Saturday the 4th morning, we're going to tell the kids to go get the stuff they want to take to the beach, and we're telling them that we're going right NOW!!! They're going to go nuts, and we can't wait to see their faces! Just tonight I was talking with Cameron, age 5, about how much he likes to swim in the ocean and he asked me when we were to do that again. I casually said I didn't know; he didn't press it! Oh how I'd love to tell him, but I really believe he'll be ecstatic! So am I! I'll post more on the trip when we return! I can't wait to see how they've grown in comparison to this picture from last year!

This is Pa-Pa! We pronounced it "paw-paw" and we loved this man vvvvvery much! I got this picture a few days ago from my sweet cousin Marti, whose sister is his arms. I'm the other toddler! The one with the red and yellow striped shirt. Pa-Pa passed away when I was a freshman in college, 1991. He was my dad's dad. He and my grandmother, "Granny Slaughter" lived in Conyers on a small farm that was a little piece of heaven to us 9 grandchildren. We had the time of our lives there! Every Sunday, we ate lunch with my mother's side of the family, and then about 4:00, we would make the drive to Conyers to be with my father's side for dinner and cousin fun. I don't think we missed a Sunday! If we did, it was rare. I could ramble on and on about why this grandfather of mine has part of my heart, responsible for many of my memories, and left a huge legacy to our family. But perhaps the sweetest thing I get to remember on a daily basis is that his nickname was "Red." In fact, to most of his friends, and anyone for that matter, they never knew his real name. He was Red Slaughter. And it's because he had red hair! So for those of you who have said to us, "Where'd they get that red hair?" I can tell you it goes way back! I used to wonder myself, since it wasn't mine or Daniel's hair color. It wasn't even my parents, or his parents, or even our sibling's. It's from Pa-Pa. His real name was Theodore Mateson Slaughter, T.M. for short, but Red for all. By the way, Cameron's middle name is Theodore! I love you, Pa-Pa! Thank you Marti for this flashback! Love you, too!

Voices Carry

Have you ever sat down to a quiet conversation, only to realize there are others listening? Or, have you ever listened to a conversation from the table next to yours? Would you change what you said if you knew somebody was listening? Obviously, blogging is an open book, but there are some conversations you want to be private and not interrupted. Yet there's always the knock at the door, the child that finds you locked in the closet on the phone, or the hush of conversation in a crowded room that leaves you public. Where can you go to get a little piece of quiet? Trust me, it's not the bathroom, the closet, or the back deck. They find you. So hush, hush, keep it down, down, voices carry.

Our Web Cam

This is me and Cameron showing Daddy his tattoo, and me below sitting in front of the computer, talking to Daniel on the Skype thing I've blogged about before. You have to sit really still in order for the picture not to be jumbled up, but once you get comfortable , it's not so bad. The kids can't begin to be seen as they can't be still for a second! Daniel's off to Rio today, for a 9 or so hour flight there, and a 60 something hour layover, then 9 back. Kinda hard to feel sorry for him laying over in Rio for 3 days, huh? Don't feel sorry for me, laboring over the house and kids, shuttling a mini van loaded with back-packs, papers to grade, and whiny kids after a 5 a.m. wake up. Actually, I joke about it, but I do love getting up early! I love it being dark when I hit the off button on the alarm, evidence that I haven't missed a beat of the daylight! I love getting in the shower groggy, then going through a dark and quiet house to the kitchen where my coffee awaits me. I love the lamp in my kitchen, the warm light that comes from the glow of the bulb and mixes with the yellow walls behind it. It's like my own little sunrise. I'm okay with the fogginess of my head, the minutes that go by unproductive until the caffeine kicks in. And I love it when the pitter patter of little feet turns my head and I see the sweet morning face of one of my kids. Or better than that, beating them to the wake up call and kissing their faces awake. I love mornings, and for a while, I had missed that whole 2 hours I've just described. I am now grateful for a purpose, a reason that gets me up that early. Yeah, it's hard not to hit the snooze. But that's a path I don't dare take myself down! Thanks to the long weekend, I'm rejuvenated and ready to finish the week! Plus, this begins the countdown to our beach trip!