Where Did That Rascally Weekend Go?

Friday Noodle and I left Cousin K8's after an action packed week at her house. I commuted to and from work everyday and Noodle entertained Cousin C and Cousin S. I feel like I spent as much time in traffic as I did at work. I would leave the house no later than 6:30 and I would spend and hour in traffic and then I would leave no later than 5 and it basically took 2 hours to get back to their house. everyday. I understand road rage now. I was only driving about 23 miles. And my car radio couldn't get NPR all that well (it could however get horrible conservative AM radio... I smell a conspiracy). Staying at my cousin's was GREAT! Noodle asked last night if she could go to work with me this week. I said soon, but not yet. She doesn't think it is fair I get to go play with the cousins but she doesn't.
We got on the road Friday morning and then proceeded to take 8 hours to get back to Asheville. We hit traffic on Rte 20 in Atlanta, we stopped at the J to get sunglasses for me, we stopped at a chicken joint to eat in Clayton, GA (which is the town I lived near when I started raft guiding). If you click that link and look at the slide show you will see a guy with a big grey beard. That guy is my friend Snuffy, he gave me my 14 year old cat, Rabun. That is a funny story for another time. We then went to Franklin, NC and stopped at place called the Fun Factory and had fun and didn't get force fed religion like some of the other 'fun places' in the southeast. We then stopped to get Hubby a father's day present which we already gave him because I thought father's day was last Sunday. We finally got home to at about 7 pm. It was a long drive and there was no food in the house and the house was a disaster.
One of the reason's Noodle was going to Atlanta with me last week was so that Hubby could open up the ceiling in our kitchen, find the leak coming from the upstairs bathrom, fix the leak, patch the ceiling and maybe even paint the ceiling. It would have been great if the kitchen had also been cleaned. I was being starry eyed and dreamy thinking all that would happen and there would be a bottle of champagne in the fridge to boot. I would have even been happy with the ceiling opened, the leak fixed, the ceiling patched and the kitchen cleaned (with champagne in the fridge). I would have tolerated a hole in the ceiling, the leak fixed and the kitchen clean and champagne in the fridge. I came home to very messy kitchen and a gaping hole in the ceiling. The leak wasn't patched (although it is better) and there was no champagne in the fridge. And it is actually ok that there is still a hole because there is still a leak so there is no point in patching a 3 foot by 2 foot hole in the ceiling yet. Hubby gets to try to figure out where the remaining leak is after Noodle goes to sleep which isn't his best time of day. He (like all of us) like to watch TV and read in the evening because we are exhausted. But he promised me after our last house I wouldn't have to live in a house that is being 'improved' because, I have a gentle disposition and it stresses me out too much to come home to chaos so he HAS to get it fixed so I don't have a breakdown. (a breakdown. really. please. fix it. please. ASAP. please. I am not whining, really).

All this took place in 2 minutes of arriving home, we have another hour to go people, bear with me.

So I went upstairs to check blog work email and as I was walking back down the stairs I smelled a horrible smell. I was amazed at how bad Hubby had made the house smell in such a short time. This is a totally unfair statement about Hubby. His feet smell better than mine and he is a fairly neat person. It was a totally unfair statement to think and it made me happy to know there aren't thought police. I went back downstairs and told Noodle to go play in her room because I didn't want her to watch TV. She disappears and we quickly hear a wailing coming from her play room. We run upstairs to find dog diarrhea all over the opening of her room, all over a ballon she had and all over one of the throw rugs. We quickly diverted her to the computer to go play PBSkids.org and started cleaning. When we walked downstairs to get cleaning supplies Hubby said 'there seems to be some dog poop on the rug in the dining room too.' Our dear sweet 100 pound german shepherd had the runs on Wednesday morning and this was Friday night. Hubby had gotten some of the ick cleaned up on Wednesday but had missed some of it too. It had sat on the carpet and in the play room for 36 hours and Hubby DIDN'T notice. Since I still had no sense of smell from that frigging cold I told Hubby to shower while I cleaned. She is my dog too, I don't mind cleaning up dog pooh but I mind cleaning up 36 hour dog pooh but it was a logical decision for me to clean (no sense of smell), him to take a shower and Noodle to play on the computer. I scrubbed the finish off the wood floor and the stain is still there. Nasty. Most of the stains on the carpet are gone.
Now we have a clean Hubby, a hungry daughter and not really amused Arwen. So we decide to go for sushi for dinner, at Noodle's favorite haunt, the place where the celebrity seems to be stalking me (and yes, I was prepared to say hi to her if we saw her). On the way to the car Noodle tripped over a hose and took a header. She has bruises and cuts up the entire right side of her body. We brought her back inside and comforted her. Hubby brought her a chocolate milk (nothing makes boo boos feel better than a milk box of Horizon organic chocolate milk) and he got me a liter glass of white wine. She is fine now. We then ordered take out and he went to get it. Before he left we sat down on the couch and he looked at me lovingly and said 'welcome home.' I looked at him and said 'I want a do over.'
Saturday I cleaned the kitchen and cried my way through trying on bathing suits (I shoved myself into a Land's End Tankini 2 sizes bigger than last year). Mariah lost 32 pounds in 4 weeks. Kara thinks it is because she paid someone to smack her hand everytime she tried to put something in her mouth and then forced marched her through the desert for 15 miles a day. I think I believe her.

On Saturday I realized I am the only person in the world who can get the house as clean as I want.
End of discussion.

We went to a birthday party and the pool so we had some fun on Saturday. And I cooked which always makes me happy. I like cooking and I like cleaning and I like gardening, none of which you can do when you travel for work. I am a walking oxymoron.

Sunday I did laundry and gardened. In memory of my mother I bought a rose (on mother's day) and finally got around to planting it. It is called a Chrysler Imperial Tea Rose and it is very fragrant and a beautiful shade of red. I planted it next to a pink Hollyhock (singles, not doubles). I also figured out that the last people who lived in our house planted Gooseneck loosestrife, a horibbly invasive flowering plant. I wouldn't give this plant to my worst enemy and now it is taking over my perennial garden. I think nothing short of a small nuclear incindiary device will kill the stuff.
I think the spirit of my mother noticed that I finally planted the rose. It started raining while I was working out (for the first time since I got sick and I think I am back to square one on the whole running thing). It rained and rained and rained and rained so we went to see Cars. It was cute. I am not sure why John Lassater can import wonderful complex anime movies from Studio Ghibli (example: Spirited Away) but can't create kid movies with complex story lines. This story line was about compassion and there were good cars and bad cars, nothing ambiguous. I will say it was great supporting media for teaching compassion, which we have been drilling into Noodle's unfortunate skull teaching Noodle about.
And now I am back at work (at least there is free Starbuck's) and wishing I had a day to recover from the non-stop weekend.