Tweedle Dee and Tweedle DumbAss Go To Washington!

You guys may need to grab a pot of coffee or energy bar or something because this might be a long one!!

So back in February when I booked our hotel, I thought that the rally was going to start late morning and finish in the early afternoon .. or I thought it was going to be an all day thing.. or I thought something. I don’t actually remember because it was back in February but I KNOW I didn’t KNOW that the rally was only from 10am to 1pm..

I also didn’t know THEN that Chief wanted to leave on Friday night after I close the shop.

He’s worse then a kid at Christmas because when he gets excited about something his tail wags worse then a puppy’s.

There was no living with him if we didn’t drive down Friday night so fine.. it didn’t matter that we didn’t have a room for Friday and even if there happened to be one little room available ( which there wasn’t ) we wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway.. But being the industrious man that he is *cough* he figured we would just pack a cooler and sleep in the back of the wagon.

Not as bad as it sounds.. We’ve done that before when we used to do flea markets so ok. I was down with that. It’s an adventure right? A one in a lifetime kinda thing? RIGHT???

So he packs a cooler with waters and juices and stuff to eat and snack on and is bouncy off the walls to CAN. WE. JUST. GET. GOING. ALREADY??? so much so that we forgot his better sneakers and my other sandals and a few other things that really did turn out to be minor but we did remember the toilet paper!!

We had been scrambling all day so you know.. we forgot to eat again and wound up driving through McDonald’s at around 8pm and then we were on our way to DC.

One thing I should tell you about Chief .. you know that saying WWJD? What Would Jesus Do? Yea.. well.. I say WWCS .. What Would Chief Spend? .. because he doesn’t like  paying one penny more then what he thinks something is worth. It’s a pain in the ass for someone who is just like “… just pay it already!!!!”

That would be me.

So when setting the TomTom, there is a question that comes up asking if you want to avoid toll roads. It’s preset to AVOID TOLL ROADS because the cheap son of a bitch I’m married too can’t part with the 15 cent or 40 cent or OH! MY! GOD! NOT 1.10!!!!!! to get on and off the turnpike!

I really DON’T  mind most times because MOST times I’m not driving at night. I hate driving anywhere at night where I’m not familiar because things look differently at night and I don’t see that well. Nice, right?

The first time we got off 95 it wasn’t so bad. We were basically put on a pike that was well lit and I only had two turns to make before getting back on the highway.

But the second time… OMG.. the SECOND time had us driving thru some of the seediest sections of Baltimore late on a Friday night. Now, I’m from Philly originally so there are very few things that will make my chin hit my knees but let me tell you.. yea.. I got re-educated!!

Next time I’m definitely digging under the seat for change to stay on the highway!!

We’re only not even 3 hours outside of Washington so the idea (I refuse to say plan) was to get there around 11, find a place to park the car.. sleep for a few hours.. eat something and then head to The Mall for the rally. Even with the little detour we were on target but that what? Where were we going to park? The hotel we had reservations at charged 42.00 to park even IF you were a guest so that left that out and EVERYTHING in DC is grossly expensive.

Chief wanted to just park on the street but I told him he was out of his fucking mind because there was NO WAY in HELL that I was going to sleep in the car on a street in another city where I didn’t know if it was legal or not.. just wasn’t going to happen. So we drove around and drove around and drove around until we finally found a parking garage that was not only OPEN but had a sign that said $10 Flat Rate.

So we drive in and guess what?

It was an UNDERGROUND parking garage.. I’m thinking it was definitely the third level of Dante’s Inferno because it was soooo freakin’ hot so add that to the exhaustion setting in and it wasn’t a good recipe. So Chief suggests we take a walk down to The Mall.. check things out and maybe find an open air garage where we can move the car to.

I should have known then that he wouldn’t waste the 10 bucks he paid for parking .. but I really wasn’t thinking.. so I set the TomTom to take us to the Lincoln Memorial. One thing that I didn’t consider… the route that popped up was the route we would need to DRIVE to get to the Memorial.. not WALK.

The red arrow is where we were parked.. the blue line is the route we took to get to the Mall. Go ahead. Call us idiots! We deserve it!!

By the time we get to the Memorial we were exhausted and our feet were KILLING us. Neither of us had proper shoes because.. oh.. um.. Tweedle DumbAss couldn’t WAIT to get on the road!!! We plopped ourselves under a tree with the intent of getting some winks. There were maybe about 500 people already there.. WAY more prepared then we were. They  had blankets and pillows and coolers and flashlights and entertainment and coffee!!

We just had a bottle of water and my handbag!!!

I ask Chief if he wants to walk back and get out cooler and stuff and he looked at me like I was NUTS. His feet had started to get really bad blisters.. my feet were feeling the walk too but at least my sneakers were a little bit better then his shoes.

Trying to do ANYTHING even resembling a nap was impossible. Personally, I can’t lay out on grass without thinking of that cable “Monsters Within” and being petrified of Bot Flies laying eggs in my ears. Impossible, I know but did you ever SEE that show??

Chief didn’t have any problems falling asleep but he gave me implicit instructions to wake him up as soon as he started snoring. Which he did.. in the first five minutes.. and every five minutes after he fell back asleep so that was usless.

After a while, a guy named George from California joined us. He came by himself, leaving his wife and kids in Cali because it wasn’t financially possible for them all to come. He was almost as bad off as we were but at least he had the good sense to bring an umbrella!! So we talked and shared and laughed and then we were joined by three ladies from Boston.

THEY were prepared. They had blankets and a cooler and again, we talked and shared and laughed.

Then the four woman from Ohio came.. and then the people from Delaware and Central PA. It was like having a family reunion with strangers.. only they didn’t feel like strangers. Everyone shared what they had with each other and someone even gave us their extra beach blanket to sit on.

Around 4am, we were DYING from caffeine withdrawal. If anything, y’all should know by now that me and Chief ALWAYS have a cup of coffee in our hands and the last cup we had had was like.. six hours prior. So George from Cali pulled out his iphone and used an App to find the nearest Dunkin’ Dounts.

According to his iPhone, the DD was less then a mile away and should only take about 15 minutes to get there.

Oh!! No fucking sweat!!!

Chief was reluctant to go because his feet were hurting so much.. you KNOW the man is hurting if he doI wesn’t want to go for coffee. I told him that I would go on my own.. it wasn’t that far and who cares if it was 4am.. there were so many people milling around the streets of DC that I didn’t think it was an issue. George from Cali didn’t want me to go by myself either but I was like, Please!! I’m from South Philly!!!

In the end, Chief came with. I’m still not sure if he was worried about me OR about getting a hot cup of coffee. I studied George’s iPhone map and knew exactly where we needed to go. Easy, right?

Um..

Have I introduced myself to you yet??

The Black Arrow is where Dunkin Donut's was SUPPOSE to be.. the Star? That's were a vending truck was. The purple path is what we walked going TO and the purple path is coming back

We walked WELL past where the Dunkin’ Donuts was pinned on the iPhone map and nothing.. we walked further.. nothing.. we asked security guards and other people.. NOTHING!!

When we first passed the vending truck, Chief wanted to get coffee there but I was like “… NOOOOOOO!!! I want a CHEDDAR BAGEL TWIST!!!” and so this man who loves me forged ahead on broken feet while I trailed behind swearing that my ass better raise 2 inches with all this uphill walking.

When we figured out that the damn iPhone app was wrong, we made our way back but took another street hoping that maybe the pin had been in the wrong place and we would see the purple and orange glow of their sign.

Nothing.

So we made our way back to the vending truck.. which was deserted when we first passed.. to find a line wrapped half way around the corner.

So we waited and got four cups of coffee ( literally the size of a demi cup).. 2 soft pretzels (which were so hot that it made you believe that they were fresh until you unwrapped the tin foil that was literally STUCK to it and found that they weren’t fresh.. they were stale and just stuck on a steam table to keep them soft until the unsuspecting customer bought it and let the air hit it. I may have broken a tooth trying to gnaw away at it.) .. and 1 skinny grey thing that they SWORE was a hotdog.

Total was 17.50

I kid you not.

We made it back to our spot through hoards of people screaming WHERE DID YOU GET COFFEE?????????????? and settled back in with our new found family.

When I tell you EVERYBODY was friendly… EVERYBODY was polite.. people were sincerely interested in each other.. where they were from.. what they did for a living.. what brought us all here. It was nothing short of amazing.

If you were there, then you know the feeling.. the vibe.. the spirit.. or whatever it is you want to call it that seemed to just hover in the air. I really have no words to describe it.

The people who took buses in started arriving around 7 and they kept on coming.. and coming.. and coming.. we literally watched the whole mall fill up as far as we could see.

By the time the rally started at 10, you could forget about your squatting rights. There was just way too many people with no where to go. And even when our little area became standing room only .. there was no way you could plop on the grass anymore.. and the sun started heating everyone.. people were still mindful of who was standing around them.

One older guy broke through our little group complaining that he felt like he was going to faint. He must have been in his early 80’s. He was there with his daughter who looked to be in her 60’s and she was in a virtual panic. Bottles of water came out from every direction.. someone offered him their lawn chair.. a young guy came through saying that he was studying to be a nurse and how could he help. No one was obnoxious.. no one pushed back.. no one was annoyed even though the rally had already started and people were straining their necks to see the stage or the jumbo-trons.

The speakers were amazing… the message was inspiring.. and even though I’m not going to go into the whole Martin Luther King, Jr. controversy here, I can tell you from someone who was in the thick of it.. that there was nothing said other then committing ourselves to the core principals of Faith, Hope and Charity.

After it was over, people started to leave and believe me.. if you’ve ever left a sports stadium after a game.. imagine that crowd times 10. But there was no pushing or rushing or shoving. Everybody just.. well.. walked.

Our adrenaline started to deplete.. coupled with sore feet, aching bodies, exhaustion, no food or anything to drink. We felt like shit! But we couldn’t do anything walk (again) to find the garage where our car was.

Do you know who Quasimoto is? The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

That was us.

No lie.

All we needed to do was start yelling SANCTUARY!!! as we walked. We looked like two broken down cowboy hunchbacks after a really bad rodeo.

And of course.. we couldn’t figure out how to get to the damn garage.. because if Washington is anything it’s badly planned!! LOL!!

The path we took to get back to the damn parking garage!

So we walked.. and walked.. and walked.. and walked.

And we walked some more.

I think we only stopped once.. across the street from the White House’s Rose Garden but it wasn’t because we wanted to SEE it.. we just didn’t want to collapse in front of it!!

But starting to walk again only made our feet feel worse so we plugged on and on and on until I saw the blinding glow of the Golden Arches.

I told Chief we should go into McDonald’s and ask them for directions. He said he didn’t realize how hungry he was until I pointeen d out the Mickey Dee’s. So we dragged ourselves in.. ordered food.. and then had to CLIMB A FLIGHT OF STAIRS to the seating area. The looks on our faces when we found that our were probably priceless.

But we forged through and sat.. taking off our shoes so that our feet could rest on the cold ceramic tile.

OMG I know what heaven is now!!!

We finished eating and still had about 8 or 9 long.. long.. LONG blocks to go.

Finally we made it to the car and if you ever hear me make fun of my wagon again, please knock me upside the head!! We sat in the wagon and just melted.

But the journey isn’t over yet.. because NOW we had to drive to the hotel which was about 8 blocks away ( actually it was ohsoclose to the McDonald’s we were at ) and before Chief could even THINK about the 42 bucks to park at the hotel, I told him that there was no way in God’s green earth that I was walking anywhere other then to an elevator.

He had the good sense not to argue.

So we got to the hotel and checked in.. made our way up to the room which had a bed that was made from a cloud.

No.. in all seriousness, it was a really nice room with really, REALLY good sheets and pillows and feather top mattress.

He just peeled off his clothes and fell out.. I wanted to take a shower first but then I did the same damn thing.

I don’t remember anything until about midnight when I woke up to Chief staring at me. “.. I’m hungry” he said jumping up and down like a freakin’ monkey in a cage.

My WTF???? expression made him tell me that it was a hotel room bed so of course you had to jump around on it like a freakin’ monkey in a cage.

I was hungry too.

All the sandwiches, potato salad and lunch meat we had brought didn’t hold up to being in the trunk of a hot car in the basement of a parking garage over night and the one bag of potato chips and Welch’s White Grape Peach bottle wasn’t going to cut it. It was too late for room service and neither of us could even dream of walking anywhere so what to do? Go back to sleep, of course.

One thing I need to mention here is that we stayed at the Capital Hilton. I made the reservation and paid for the room via Obitz so I really didn’t know what I was getting into. First of all.. there was no free WiFi. They charged 15.99 a night to access it. Everything on their menu was OBSCENELY priced. Like.. 9.75 for a bowl of oatmeal. 22.00 for a hamburger. 7.50 for a cup of coffee. I hadn’t realized that this was a dignitary hotel and that generally the people that stay there could care less how much anything was. Plus, it was an international menu.

So back to sleep we went and when we got up the next morning, we decided that it was just better off checking out then waiting.. hungry.. until noon. I did.. at one point.. BEG Chief to order room service because I was beyond starving but even I couldn’t justify spending that much money on something that we weren’t even going to be able to split.

So at 8am we checked out and made our way home.. finding yet another McDonald’s where we had breakfast.

I swear I have NEVER eaten McDonald’s so much in my  life!!!

Because it was early.. we had nothing but time in front of us so we made our way back ( again detouring through the seedier side of Baltimore and even continuing the tradition of turning the wrong way down a one way street because of the TomTom ).. we stopped at a fantastic reststop on I95 that was  ( and had bad coffee ) .. found an unbelievable flea market in Nottingham, PA that was in an old barn and had really neat stuff.. we drove the back roads through Maryland.. over the Conowingo Dam.. may have found a place to move to in Darlington.. wondered at Havre De Grace.. checked out used RVs ( come on.. you have to agree that we need one! ) .. drove through a covered bridge and wound up spending a few hours sitting on a rock and hanging our feet in Brandywine Creek watching people drift by on inner tubes with their dogs swimming along side of them.

We finally made it home feeling that after not really doing anything this summer.. doing EVERYTHING.

It was probably the best weekend I’ve had in a long time.. even with the blisters and aches and everything else doing all that with my best friend was awesome.

A Great Day .. And No Pictures To Prove It, Dammit!

… the funny thing is that I had just charged the camera and it was in my handbag the whole day! I just left my handbag in the wagon because I didn’t want to carry it around.

Fuck me.. I’m an idiot.

So considering everything that’s been going on, me and Chief decided to take a ride to a flea market that I found on the internet not that far away in Lambertville, NJ called the Golden Nugget.

I know.. funny name.

But we love flea markets and the two that we usually go to have become less of an actual flea market and more of a .. a.. I don’t know what.. but if you need a new cell phone case.. or fake designer handbag.. or bra and panty sets.. then they’re the place to go.

When I think about flea markets.. I think of someone cleaning out their attic and finding all kinds of old stuff.

That’s exactly the type of place the Golden Nugget turned out to be so we were tickled. And even though it was fucking 44 degrees with NO sun, it was worth freezing for because some of the stuff we saw was freakin’ amazing.

We got there around 8:30 and after about 2 hours, we had seen everything that there was to see. Unfortunately, the weather had kept a lot of sellers home and snuggly warm.

Since Lambertville is less then a mile away from New Hope, we made our way over there.

I love New Hope. If you ever get the opportunity to visit, you have to go. It’s this little town on the river that is eclectic and artsy and unusual and just a really cool freakin’ place.

New Hope is also biker haven because it’s a great ride getting there and then there’s a walking bridge of the river to get to Lambertville.. which is like New Hope Lite.

As we’re walking around, we see all these people in custom. At first, I thought it was a Harry Potter convention .. which Chief laughed at. He’s a Harry fan and I’m SO not so he was like, “.. so when did you ever see Pirates and Wenches in Harry Potter?”

I was just like, “oh.” and then was like, “.. well, I couldn’t tell because I didn’t want to stare in case they WEREN’T in costume”.

You had to be there.

Then this music started to play and he was like, “.. you like big boobed belly dancers, right?”

And I was like, “.. yea, not something that offends me”

So he grabbed my hand and we walked across the street to take a look.

Turns out it was the 1st Annual Reinassence Fair chuck full of Captain Jack Sparrows and wenches with jiggling, over-flowing bosoms. It was a trip and I loved every minute of it.

We went into all kinds of shops and bought hot sauce at Suzie’s Hot Shoppe and organic dog treats at the House of Chews.

Our meter time was running out and we had to get going. Neither of us wanted to leave but we had to. As we were walking  back to the car, Chief said, “.. yknow. We needed this.”

I agreed.

He told me that he wanted us to come up for a weekend.. stay in one of the many bed and breakfasts in the area and just close life off for a while.

Like I said .. it was a great day.

IF LIFE WOULD STOP I’D HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON PART THREE – Sunday

We sleep in. Believe me, THAT’S a novelty.

He suggests going to the flea market we had taken Spaz to the day he was being an obnoxious fuck and ruined everything.

It was going to be perfect weather for hanging out at a flea market so I get ready and we go.. getting there around 10am. We do what you do at flea markets and came away with something for the shop and bones for the dogs. We had seen everything there was to see by noon so I suggested we drive to the flea market that we always go to in the opposite state.

He thinks it’s a great idea so we head down there.

Now mind you.. I :: in no way :: forgot about everything that happened on Friday night. There were moments that I was overcome with such saddness but I was really trying hard to enjoy being able to do what we wanted without having to even think about the kids.

In fact, we had seen a really beautiful chest that someone was selling:

CHIEF: Wow. Look at that hope chest.

ME: Yea.. it’s really nice.

CHIEF: If we had a place to put it I’d get it for you.

ME: But I have no hope.

He let out this hearty laugh that he does when I say something that he doesn’t see coming but he had no clue that I was just being honest and didn’t say it as just a smart ass remark.

We get to the second flea market and while we’re walking around he gave an “OH WOW” at this one spot. I thought he was referring to the telescope the guy was selling but he was actually being sarcastic, referring to the coffee maker with a duct taped wire.

He started to walk away and I asked him if he saw the telescope. He said he didn’t and turned around to took look and then gave an “OH WOW” for real.

The thing was one of the ones that you can hook up to your computer and you can punch in coordinates and the telescope will automatically move there.

NOTE: Chief is REALLY into all things space. The first Christmas we spent together, I bought him a telescope. It was better then most but not one of the ones that cost the same as a mortgage payment. He loved it but never used it and is currently propped up between the desk and dresser in our bedroom with about 7 inches of dust on it. I also bought him a star from the National Star Registry.

He asks the guy how much he wants for it and the guy says 100.00. It is painfully clear to me that he wants it but the miser in him would never buy it. I ask him if he has a hundred on him and he said he did so I told him if he wanted it, then to get it and I would give him the money back if he felt some kind of way about spending it.

Considering everything that was going on, I started to get a knot in my stomach because he was obviously salvating over this thing and yet the one I gave him he never touched.

That may seem childish.. way immature.. and oh-so-girly but I’m only being honest. It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that for the most part I put out this I-AM-WOMAN-HEAR-ME-ROAR vibe but the truth is.. when it comes to him.. I never really feel on solid ground.

It wasn’t alway like that.. in the beginning I had too much confidence because I wasn’t emotionally attached. Now that my guard is down and I’ve given him my heart I’m always afraid of getting hurt. Cause this one would be devastating.

Even though he has more then enough money on him, he tells the guy he only has 80.00 and they guy takes it. He asks him if he could hold it until we finish lunch and the guy was like “sure”. As we’re walking towards the Farmer’s Market, he was like, “.. oh my God, what did we just do?”

Chief does NOT like spending money. At all.

So I said “..well, sometimes you just have to do it.” and continued walking.

Then.. just to see … well, I don’t know what I “just wanted to see” but I said, “I guess Spaz can have your other telescope.”

I WANTED him to say… was HOPING he would say, “… oh no, you gave me that telescope.”

Instead he said nothing and I was fighting harder then I ever did not to let the tears fall.

We go into the buffet place and he’s all blahblahblahblah about this stupid telescope and I can bearly eat. For me, the rest of the day was trashed. I just wanted to go home.

So we drive around to where the guy was and he puts the telescope in the back of my wagon.

As we drive the hour back to our house, I’m not saying nothing. In fact, all I did was drive. He wasn’t saying anything either but here, he fell asleep.

We get back to the house and I tell him I’m going to take a nap. He was like, “.. oh, thank God! I wanted to take on too but thought you’d think I was wussing out.”

I just took my glasses off and put the pillow over my head.

About an hour or so later, Spaz comes home. He knocks on the door and says that the Crack Whore wants to talk to Chief. Chief says that he’s sleeping so Spaz asks for me. Chief tells him that I’m sleeping too and whatever she has to say can wait.

Spaz says something like, “… well, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell her.”

I really don’t care at this point. Or at any point for that matter.

Chief winds up getting up and going out to the kitchen and I think I hear some kind of conversation about the telescope from the flea market that he set down in the dining room.

He gets back into bed and I roll over.. making a human burrito out of the blankets but I can’t fall back to sleep.

He had put the tv on and was flipping though the stations when Spaz knocks on the door again. He asks if he can have the telescope.

So.. obviously.. Chief heard me at the flea market and OBVIOUSLY he had already told Spaz.

I ask Spaz why he lied to me. Both of them looked at me like “.. wha???” and I said, “I asked you if you took a shower yesterday and you said you did. And I know for a fact that you didn’t.”

He put on the face he puts on when you catch him in a lie and he’s scrambling to get out of it. He said he DID take a shower.

I told him that the bathroom was the same way I left if after MY shower :: washcloth hanging on the hook, bottles with their caps on in the hanging shower holder thing, towel hanging on the rack, etc. ::

He doesn’t do anything but starts to lie again but I stopped him. I said, ‘.. you’re not getting the telescope today. I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

He said that was fair and when he closed my bedroom door and noticed Chief looking at me, I was like “.. you got a problem with that?”

He was like “.. absolutely not” or something like that.

He was still flipping through the cable channels and stopped at the movie P.S. I LOVE YOU with Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler.

NOTE: Fantastic movie! Well.. anything with Gerald Butler is fantastic but this one is really really good.

As we’re watching it, Chief says to me, “.. I bet I know what you’re thinking ‘why doesn’t HE [Chief]die so he can send me love letter afterwards.”

I put on my thinking face and after a couple beats said, “Nah.. you’re not going to do something after your dead that you don’t do when your alive.”

He was like HEY!!!

I said, “.. “HEY” what? It’s the truth right?”

After the movie was done, I had to take a ride down to DeeDee’s mom’s house to drop off groceries. He says he’ll take a ride with me. So we go and it doesn’t take that long but I’m still feeling some type of way.

The boys had already had dinner so he suggest we grab something and eat somewhere outside by the river. He said it was too nice out to go back to the house.

I agree.. because I really want to talk to him about how I feel.. and I have to do it before I chicken out.

So we go through McDonald’s drive thru and park down by the river. We eat silently for awhile and then he says something like, “… wonderful view, wonderful company, wonderful night” and I was like, “uh huh”.

Sorry.. but I can’t turn my emotions on and off like a light switch.

He started telling me stories from when he was a kid and I didn’t have the heart to bring up anything to flip the script.

So we drove home.

Bubba was there when we walked in and he started in about giving Spaz the telescope so right away I said, “.. what do you care?” and he said, “.. but he’s only 9.”

I said, “.. one, it’s none of your business and two, he’s 11 you idiot”.

Then I went into my bedroom and started playing on the laptop. The boys kept bickering and Chief kept yelling at them but thankfully, I was able to fall asleep rather quickly because I don’t think my body could keep up with another night of tossing and turning.

When A Weekend Needs A Redo ~ Part Three: Sunday

So Sunday, Chief wakes me up around 9am. He was up at 4 but knows that I like to sleep late at least one day a week. Since the store is closed on Sundays now, that’s usually the day.

We still had to go to the wholesaler but the day was so beautiful that we just wanted to be out in it. And since we both love flea markets, I suggested we try a very large on in the state next to ours. It’s the same distance as the one we normally go to but in a different direction.

He says that we should take Spaz and again, I don’t have a problem with it. But even if I did, come on, he’s 10… you going to leave him alone all day?

So we get done doing what we had to do and went back to the house. I had left my cell phone in the car and when we got back in, I noticed there was a voice mail from the crack whore. Basically, the message was to Chief saying that they had to talk about Bubba.

When Chief got in the car, I told him about the voice mail. I dialed her number and handed him the phone.

I don’t know the exact conversation because I only heard his side and he never elaborated :: I “think” I heard my name but wasn’t sure :: .. apparently, Bubba to her that Chief had thrown him out of the house. Chief told her that that was a lie.. he didn’t… but he was in trouble for the things he was doing / or not doing and gave her examples. He also told her that we work like dogs and he sits around expecting everything to be done for him.

It went like that for awhile and then Chief told her to tell Bubba to be back at the house at 6pm… and then we made our way to the flea market.

At one point, Chief said that we should have taken Bubba. I told him that WE didn’t EXclude him.. he wasn’t around.. didn’t tell anybody where he was.. he EXcludes HIMself.

I’m not going to lie. It was H-O-T. At least 97 degrees. And it was HUGE. There were so many tables to see and so much stuff to look at but right from the get go.. as soon as we left the indoor market for the outdoor market Spaz started whining about how hot he was.. how he just wanted to sit down .. Chief bought him water and told him to wear his garrison cap but nothing could appease the whiny, bratty Spaz.

It got to the point where I just wanted to leave and so I suggested we just go to a diner to eat instead of trying to find a place there where we could sit.

Chief said that was a great idea and as we made our way to the car, he said to me “I’m sorry”.

I knew he meant about Spaz and I said that he had nothing to be sorry for. He said, “I suggested we take him” and I said, “Come on.. he’s your kid”.

I was annoyed though, I won’t lie. But I don’t know what was exactly annoying me so I just sucked it up and tried to put a game face on.

We ate and then we made our way home. We still had to go to the store to jack up one of the joices so we told Spaz that we would drop him off at home first and that we wouldn’t be long.

That’s the kind of stuff that you can’t have Spaz around when you do it because he’ll get in the way and would wind up getting hurt or causing you to get hurt so we told him to just hang tight at the house.

We were gone for no longer then an hour. Chief decided to put some steaks and corn on the grill so we stopped at the market to pick them up and made our way home.

When we walked in.. it was obvious that Bubba was home. There was a bag with his clothes on it thrown on the dining room table.. a trail of clothes leading up the step and the bathroom was a mess.

When I was getting the laundry together, I heard Spaz tell Chief that Bubba was home and got pissed off that he didn’t go to the flea market .. that “.. we never take him anywhere.”

Be home, dude.. and you’d go somewhere. Simple, right?

Anyway.. we sat down to eat and my cell goes off. It was in the bedroom so I didn’t have a chance to reach it before it went to voice mail but it was the crack whore.

I didn’t even listen to the message. I jsut started the voice mail and handed it to Chief. He listened to it and then called her. Not sure what the convo was about because he didn’t tell me but from the gist of it I gathered that she had left a note for Bubba to make sure he was home at 6 but then she went out so didn’t know if he got the message or not.

Chief told her that he had been here but left again and I think that was that.

Until she called again at 830 or 845. The phone rang.. I saw it was her and just handed him the phone. Again, he never told me their conversation.. but I know she said something about Bubba being afraid to come home and that his feelings were hurt.

Chief said something to her about he’s starting to get really pissed off that he wasn’t home but I walked out on the rest of the conversation. I figured he’d clue me in but he never did.

About 930, I was on my way down the basement to switch the laundry and I noticed that Spaz had knocked the shade off the window :: don’t ask :: and while I was putting it up, Bubba walked in and sat on the couch.

Chief came out of the bedroom and started saying stuff to him but I just grabbed the hampers and made my way downstairs. I did hear him say something about the way he treats him and me and Spaz. I wanted to stay out of it.

I brought the laundry up and went into our bedroom to fold it. Chief didn’t say anything to me about Bubba and I didn’t ask.

Spaz went to take a shower and then headed to bed. At 1030 I asked Chief when Bubba’s bedtime is and he said now .. so he told Bubba to “wrap it up”. About 15 minutes later he leaves the bedroom and comes in again.. this time getting ready to go to sleep. I didn’t hear the creaky steps or anyone in Bubba’s room above ours so I went out into the living room and there he is.. sleeping on the couch.

I changed the light in the kichen, put the globe back on the ceiling fan light in the dining room and went back to bed.

Like I said before.. it was HOT and no matter what we did, we couldn’t get air through the house. Chief was especailly suffering so I offered to take the air conditioner out of the closet. At first he said no, he didn’t want me to go through all that but that later became “.. if you want to”.

So I pulled it out of the closet and while I was swining it over from the closet to the desk under the window Chief said to me , “.. you really don’t know how beautiful you are.”

I was like, “.. yea, ok.”

And he was like, “no really, your hairs all messed up sticking out all over the place.”

That was sweet.

Unfortunately, the air conditioner didn’t work. I don’t know why. He tried to explain it to me but honestly, I didn’t care .. all I knew was that now I was hotter then I was before! Talk about mind over matter.

He wound up taking the air conditioner from Bubba’s room :: that being the ONLY working one in the house now :: and said that we were to figure out how we could afford 3 new units. I told him that since they are always sleeping in the living room anyway, that we should just get one unit for their first and then get the room ones later. He agreed .. saying, “I encourage them sleeping in the living room during the summer”… which is actually news to me because that wasn’t his feeling last summer.

But anyway.. so that was the weekend.

And there’s something gnawing at the back of my brain and I just can’t put my finger on it.