Jeanneology: I'm Exhausted.
Hi There! It’s Rebecca. I’m back home from Vegas and tonight, Jeanne shares her perspective on her very looooooooooooong four days without me. All our teasing aside, Jason and I couldn’t appreciate her more for all of her help this week with our kids and pets…not to mention PJP. She’s the best. Enjoy - Rebecca.
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What a week! Rebecca left on Monday for Las Vegas. Good for her, she needed some time with her husband and away from the kids. I was happy to stay with the kids, feeding their livestock, (three indoor cats, one dog, and nine outdoor cats!) Rebecca editing to add: this makes us sound worse than we actually are, animal wise. We live on seven acres, so that is like 1.2 cats per acre. Ahem.
I thought my energy level was great, that is until you take care of two teenagers. Fixing them dinner and also feeding my husband and our two dogs wore me out. It seemed I burned the road between our home and Rebecca's home. By the time eight p.m. arrived, I was so tired that sleep came quickly. One night the cats keep waking me by trying to sleep on my head. One night their dog Sparky couldn't decide if he wanted to be outside or inside. His constant barking kept me guessing. Rebecca editing to add: Yep, that all sounds right. And by road between our houses, she means our driveways.
Leaving the house really early for school drop off was the worst. I didn't get a chance for a full cup of coffee before hustling my granddaughter out the house. I think I drove to school in a daze. Once at the shop, trying to get the baking schedule done before any employees showed up was taxing. Rebecca takes on this task every day, thank God! I think I did fairly well in her absence, except at one point when anyone called about weddings, media events, corporate orders and such. I told our employees that I was not available to talk and take a message. Maybe that was wise because someone called and when one of our employees said Rebecca was out of the shop until Friday and would they like to speak with me, they said no. They would call back later. I had numerous calls for advertising opportunities, web design opportunities, party requests, wedding bookings, Google opportunities, callers claiming they could lower our insurance and finally, someone called about funeral insurance. I almost took that phone call because surviving the chaos without Rebecca felt like death to me! Rebecca editing to add: Welp, I can’t wait to see the stack of Post-It notes with messages for me that are likely piled on our front counter. That said, I’m not returning any calls about funeral insurance…because NO.
If you have a cleaning question, call me. If you have a meringue problem, call me. Dough problems, call me. Those type of questions I could easily answer half asleep. Rebecca's absence really brought home the thought that she and I together make one great person. She handles all the social media, wedding requests, upcoming events, etc.. Thank goodness, if she left the pie shop, I would close it down in a quick minute. Rebecca editing to add: Huh, that’s deep.
One last thing, I am so thankful that she arrived home safely. I am too old to take on teenagers. For instance, my granddaughter wanted me to wash my SUV before picking her up at school. She was sooooo embarrassed to have her Mawmaw pick her up in a dusty vehicle. I told her to be glad she had a Mawmaw willing to pick her up and be glad I wasn't in a junker. Besides who cares what other people think? I do, she said. That is because you are thirteen, immature and let other people determine who you should be. She never said another word on the way home. (Rebecca editing to add: That all sounds remarkably like my life in 1988.)
My husband was very supportive during this week. Maybe that is due to me making sure I also cooked for him also, fed our dogs and kept the laundry going.
In all seriousness, husband and wives need time alone away from the kids. It is good for the kids to stay with a grandmother who is not up to par on the latest trends. They will appreciate their mom and dad a lot more once they realize that mom and dad are a great set of parents, after all. It is also great for me to take on Rebecca's responsibilities at the pie shop. I know she does a lot, but realizing that and actually picking up her duties was eye opening. Maybe my husband realized that he depends on me more than he cares to admit. Families are so important, we do things for each other even if it is a major inconveniences. It shows how strong love is between us.
Bottom line, I AM GLAD REBECCA IS BACK!!