The people on the bus

I took the bus today. Not a big deal in and of itself but for a dork like me, it is.
I had been thinking about it for quite some time. I even bought one of those bus pass cards. I bought it before the kids were born and it has been collecting dust on my shelf. Until today.

My Jeep is the only car that can hold 2 car seats. DH has a truck. A truck that I loathe. A truck that I cannot drive because of the ridiculous way it was designed. And it was not designed for short people. I have to adjust the seat all the way up to the steering wheel, then the back has to be angled at a 45 degree angle and I sit on a pillow. When I look over my left shoulder to check for traffic, I can't see anything. Nothing. I don't see oncoming traffic from the left side because of the stupid safety belt device and the door blocks my view. I know this makes no sense but trust me when I say, the whole left side is a blind side. This is why I have to lean the seat back so I can see out of the back window.

When I say I loathe this car, it is an understatement. I cannot stand this truck. I ask him if we can sell it and get a bigger family car, he refuses and says he needs to haul stuff around. Well, if we get a bigger car, he can haul the kids around and haul stuff around. But he is steadfast. So now, if something were to happen to the Jeep, we would not be able to take the kids anywhere. We would be stuck until we bought a car. This scare me because my car is slowly dying and I don not want us to be stuck without a means for us to take the kids anywhere.

But does he listen to me and plan ahead? Of course not, he likes to wait until something happens before he will deal with it. But I digress.

So I have decided to take the bus. I spent all last week online, planning my bus trips. I kid you not when I say all week. I have 2 people in my department who ride the bus and I kept bugging them to interpret all the routes and transfers and times and locations. I was really stressing. I printed several routes as plans B, C and D. I had a traumatic experience many years ago and have been nervous about it ever since.

I was a goob this morning. Weather.com said it was going to rain all week so I debated taking the bus. I don't want to be stuck out in the rain waiting for a ride. But at the last minute, I decided to do it. I rushed over to the part and ride and found my bus to downtown. I got on, said good morning to the driver and asked him what to do with my card. He gave me a look to which I replied, this is my first time. I found a seat next to a gentleman hugging his backpack to his chest. After several awkward minutes of both of us clutching our belongings and trying not to touch legs, I asked him some questions about riding the bus. He said he sometimes hitches rides with people who want to take the HOV lane. I couldn't believe that folks would drive to the station looking for people to hitch with but to each his own. He said if was free for him and he takes the bus home. He said he had done that for years and had not had a problem. I mean what if I got in the front passenger seat and the driver tried to stab me. What if I was in the backseat and another passenger tried to stab me. Or what if I was in the back seat and someone hiding in the trunk, tried to stab me through the seat. It was all too much to think about on my first day on the bus.

Take this job and ...

My husband called me last week and told me he was let go from his job. It's a bad time right now for a lot of people. Hopefully, with unemployment rates in Houston better than most places, hubby can find a job fast.

I won't divulge the details of what happened but I will say that people who are immature, stupid and emotionally volatile should not be the boss of people. If you get pissed at someone who isn't doing their job and you take it out on someone who is, by publicly berating him and humiliating him in front of his coworkers, you are the biggest asshat on the face of the planet. Have fun driving that bus to hell you wanker.

Sorry for the vulgar language but I am so pissed about what happened. And yes, I still kiss my babies with my potty mouth but I use a baby wipe first.

When a spouse gets laid off, you really find out there is a big difference between men and women. I have been laid off 3 times. Whenever I have lost a job, I immediately get on the ball to find a new one. Do I have time to mourn and boo-hoo? I know that sometimes it is business and not personal and I can still be mad about it but I have bills to pay. I don't have the luxury of time to cry about something that I can't control.

The day after the layoff, I asked hubby if he was going to start updating his resume. He tells me he was going to talk to his old boss to see if he could get his job back. WTH? Why? The job payed crap and the boss was a jerk. Move forward and find a better job.

When the begging proved unsuccessful, I asked hubby if he was going to go home and get the process going on filing for unemployment. His response? "I will do it Monday because my head is still messed up and I need the weekend to recover." Are you kidding me? You are not living a bachelor life anymore. You have a family to support and two kids to worry about. Get it together.

I don't care if I am coming across a cold hearted bitty but don't cater to mamby pambys. He wasn't trying to get his head together, he had a game day with the boys on Saturday and didn't want to strain his brain thinking about unemployment. So what does he do all weekend? Play his RPG on Saturday and on Sunday, played Wii with his friend. This is why I am so irritated. He plays all weekend when there is so much stuff to do around the house. I did the grocery shopping, the laundry, and other household chores in addition to taking care of the boys while he fiddle farted. I finally was on the verge of blowing up and told him he had enough time recovering and needed to help me.

He finally finished his resume today and I sent it to a recruiter. I am hoping she can find something fast. I am already feeling the strain of being the sole breadwinner.

Working 9-5

I went back to work last week and have been super busy. I certainly did not miss the traffic or the money spent on gas and tolls but I did miss work. Just a little. I love my job and like the people I work with. Everyone said they were glad I was back and that I was missed. That is always nice to hear. I am just glad I have a job to go back to in this economy. Middle management is the first to go. Thankfully, we are busy. We have some projects that are being bid on and we need to win them. That will keep me (hopefully) in a job for awhile.

My mom is watching the boys and has been a big help while Rod and I go about bringing home the bacon. She takes Dean at night and takes care of him so that leaves Sam for us to handle. At first we were going to split the duties but I decided Rod could feed while I pumped, that would shave off 3-45 minutes off the time I was up. Thirty more minutes of sleep is pretty great.

As far as personalities, Sam is definitely high maintenance. He demands constant attention and likes to be held. He fusses a lot still and his reflux makes him so cranky. He can no longer wear newborn clothes and has been out of NB diapers for over a week. Sam's hair has rubbed off in a weird pattern. He has a strip that goes from one ear to the other that is missing hair. Then he has some on the top. His chinky eyes are opening up. He always looked so squinty.

Dean is more laid back. He is not as fussy as Sam. He screams when he is hungry and fusses when he is gassy or very tired. He can sit in the swing and fall asleep for hours. He loves the Baby Einstein play mat and can last for almost half an hour before he gets bored.

Both boys can sit up and are holding their heads up. I try to nurse at least once a day but I still pump so that I can distribute the milk to them equally. I am not able to produce enough for both of them so we supplement with formula. They can track human movements with their eyes very well. If we check on them and they are away, they will see us so we have to be careful if we do not want them to get up. They don't projectile vomit like they used to. In fact, it is stealth spit-up. Before, we had some sort of warning in the form of a gurgle or cough. Now the spit up just rolls out of their mouth like lava. Slow and steady.

The rough part about going back to work has been the leaving the house and dealing with the commute. The traffic is horrendous. I miss the boys terribly but I have a digital photo holder that slideshows their pictures. It helps keep them with me even though they aren't with me.