Zombie Mom and the Dreaded Pay Day

Zombie mom here again. Yes, this time I truly do feel like Night of the Living Dead. I wish I could tell you that this is a hangover, but even I don't get hung over after a cranberry juice and vodka or two (good for bladder health or so they tell me).

I was a bad bad girl last night. No, I didn't stay up late pleasing my husband or anything fun like that. I was a bad bad girl because I stayed up late sewing for Gulf Wars and catching up on LOST and American Idol, WITH the light on because I needed it for sewing, while Hubby tried to sleep.

Gulf Wars is a big SCA Event down near Lumberton, Mississippi every spring. We have been in the SCA for 2 1/2 or so years and have never gone. It is a week-long melee battle or series of battles, but there are also classes, shopping, children's activites--you name it. For a WEEK!! Sometimes it does not coincide with our spring break but this year it does. The girls have been begging to go for more than a year so we are going to give it a try.

Now, this getting ready for WAR (in the middle of Destination Imagination, Cookie season and Girl Scout Thinking Day, not to mention the big spring Consignment Sale) is going to KILL me!!! I am literally working every minute of every day on something. Cleaning up the barbies, getting the stuff done to present the WAGGS patch, researching Coloumbian food for Thinking Day, talking people into buying cookies (hope I can talk them into paying on time too)..you name it but Supermom, who is turning into Zombie Mom by the minute, is doing it. A friend said I am overcompensating for not working as a lawyer. Well, I don't have time to see a shrink, but maybe she is right.

Another friend is kindly helping me by doing a lot of sewing of garb for the family. "Garb" is the name for the costumes that we will wear during Gulf War--at least one per day unless it pours rain like two years ago. Having been to Scarby over an extremely rainy Memorial Day weekend (but having a nice hotel at the end of the day, not a tent), I wholeheartedly agree--take all the clothes we have and then add as much as we can possibly afford to make between now and then. My friend works full time and takes on too much because she's one of these incredibly talented people, and maybe she is overcompensating for something in her life too. Anyway, I am doing the handsewing and I will help her in any way I can, but if I have to sew them together it will be a miracle if we are ready for Gulf War 2011. Seriously.

I am not a seamstress and I really hate sewing machines. I don't like noisy machines anyway, including vaccuums. I even dislike motorcycles and have never been on one (and probably never will). Leafblowers. Snowblowers. Ick Ick Ick. Hate noise pollution, HATE it. Only watch tv during the day or have it on if there's an ice storm or I am doing laundry; otherwise, I MIGHT listen to a little music, but I love silence. I have other reasons why I don't like sewing, mostly relating to the fact that my mom is a wonderful seamstress and I could just never get the hang of it (or felt like I couldn't, or felt like what I did wasn't good enough, so I gave up). I wish I could tell you that this was my mom's fault but it probably wasn't-- I don't specifically remember any criticisms at all, and in fact I remember her telling me after I took a class that I was a good seamstress and should stick with it. Since I did this class about the same time I took typing and I am a really excellent typist, she was probably right. I probably just deep down don't like the noise.

So Zombie Mom did hand sewing from 10 pm to 2 am on a gauze dress. Love gauze for the faire; hate sewing on it by hand. It's thin and light and my pins won's stay in it, plus I am not very good at hemming these very wide and long skirts. But it's an underdress for the girls, and it's in Ansteorra gold, and my friend even gave me the fabric, so I really can't complain. I just wish the damned thing was done this morning so I could move on to something that is easier for me to sew on. I started with it first because I knew I was going to hate it but I didn't think I'd still be working on it today.

It's also the Dreaded Pay Day. Now, Pay Day is nice because then you get money. But Dreaded Pay Day is tough because I have to run around like a maniac all day doing errands and using up my husband's paycheck before there isn't enough left to buy groceries. It's so much pressure!!! I think he really felt it last time when he got stuck doing all the Dreaded Pay Day errands while I was on Scrapbook Retreat. He had 9 errands to do, and no, they did not all get done--now, 2 weeks later, I am still doing them, AND getting fleece for cloaks and blankets, and going grocery shopping at Wally World (read Wal-Mart), and going to the liquor store (about time--this errand has been skipped for about three paychecks). And I have a church luncheon at 11 on how to keep God in my marriage (why? Did he leave? I thought three in a marriage was a bit crowded, as Princess Diana said).

Sorry to be sacreligious--I wouldn't be going if I didn't think it would be good. These luncheons at my church are excellent and good for the soul. And I don't have any objection to keeping God in my marriage, although I don't know if my husband wants him there. Is God there during sex? I am not sure I want to think of this in the middle of...well, anyway, time to sign off and drink some coffee.

Pleasant Valley Mom