I had some dreams ... they were klowns in my koffee.


(With apologies to Carly Simon)


This is my journey through job transition from a toxic environment to a better life. Join me for a few thoughts and a few laughs along the way.
What are "klowns in my koffee"? They are the factors large and small that make you less than you are. A "klown" can be a grossly incompetent boss,
a short-sighted policy or a moronic coworker. They won't kill you, at least not immediately, but they abrade the soul
as you scrape past them to get through the day. Sometimes it's best to dump them out of the cup.


Monday

Day 219 - The Joy of Housework

Daily Kup (My Life. It's Funny 'cause It's True)
In our school district, kids have two days off from school so that parents can attend a half-hour conference with the teacher some time during those two days. The other 47-1/2 hours, the kids repeatedly ask to play video games, interspersed with saying, "This is boring."

I didn't fully appreciate the psychic stress that went along with this until I entered the room with the cast of multiple teachers that is my son's 'intervention group.' Princess Potatohead emitted a throaty-sounding greeting to the classroom teacher. The teacher asked her if she had a cold and I rejoined, "No, it's just the cigarettes and whiskey." The speech teacher beamed her approval and piped, "We are going to get along just fine."

Dustless in Seattle
My husband sidled up to me last week, caressed my neck and throatily stammered, "Would you like me to do something for you that I haven't done in a long, long time?"

My heart jumped and I felt my face go all warm. Could it be possible? After all this time?

"Pick up your socks yourself?"

It could be a dream come true. A whole side of the bed with no dirty socks on the floor.

He looked disappointed. I guess that wasn't it. I was disappointed too.

"Vacuum?" "Put the toilet paper roll on the spindle?" "Close a cupboard door?" "Put dirty clothes IN the hamper, not ON or AROUND it?"

When we were first married, he used to vacuum all the time. Sometimes, there would be vacuuming before we left for work and then again at bedtime. On weekends, we slept in and then vacuumed. Vacuuming was a terrific stress reliever and also great exercise.

As time went by, vacuuming seemed to happen less and less. Either he would be tired or I would be. And, Lord knows, all the energy required to take care of the kids really reduces the time and energy that a couple has for vacuuming.

Still, I think the old spark is still there. Last week, I caught him folding a towel and turning off the lights in an empty room.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

He actually shut off a light in an empty room??? Tell me, what is that like? I have been following L around since the day we married, shutting off lights and tv's behind him.

Burning Khrome said...

It took a while to get to that point but it is AWESOME. The truly odd thing is that he will do it when he can yell at the kids for leaving it on but not when he leaves it on himself. And we are still working on the two TVs that are on "because I was coming right back."

Kim Barron said...

My Dad would leave the TV on when he went to the grocery store, then get annoyed when we changed the channel while he was gone.

Burning Khrome said...

Ouch!

Corsair, The Mostly Harmless said...

That's all right. I leave the lights on so I can find and return Tracey's beverages. Tea on the counter. Ice water on the railing. Milk poured and left by the fridge, etc. it's harder to do that in the dark. ;) Fetching forgotten sodas, and getting things of high shelves are the only real reason she keeps me around, I think.

Burning Khrome said...

I'm not stepping into this one. I don't need that kind of drama in my life.

Tall people are kind of handy though ...

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