Meanwhile, Back at Home...

My Mom called tonight three different times.  I didn't really mind, but it was sort of strange because we sometimes go a long time without speaking to each other, not because we're fighting or anything, but just because she's so busy. 
Among other things, the basement is apparently flooded.  Or flooding right now.  It was a little hard to tell, and from the way my Mom was talking, she was clearly upset about it.  She spent a ton of time last week cleaning the basement up, and now it's managed to be a mess in a totally different way, and I can understand why that would be frustrating.  She started sobbing a little on the phone.  I hate hearing her cry, not because I'm angry at her crying but because I wish the things that made her cry would disappear.  I want her to be happy.  She didn't cry for more than a minute and then she pulled herself together to continue the conversation. 
Also upsetting her is that my Dad was asked to help take care of the flooding while she took care of some business she had to do, and he apparently did nothing. 

This Chaos Could or Couldn't Work

Paul and I were walking out of this restaurant.  We had spent the entire evening drinking. 
As we drove home, we talked about him.  Things are really rough with him.  He failed a class last year and now he's gotten kicked out of the Honors College.  He hasn't told him parents yet.  There's no way that's not going to be bad.  His mother will probably be angry.  His Dad will go nuts on him. 
"If you need to, I can probably arrange it so that you can come sleep at my house," I said. 
"Thanks." 
We talked about music.  I told him that I liked this new indie thing, but that I still loved some good rock and roll.
Admitting this is a big deal for me, because for years I've been trying not to get sucked in.  I think part of my reservation was that it came in and swept great rock aside, and I missed that.  I think the other thing was Dan.  Dan loves it so much, and despite loving Dan, I was suspicious of it.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize I should love it.  The aesthetic encourages the annihilation of gender.  It allows guys to be more gentle and show when they're sad.  It allows both some aspects of hard rock and more mellow music.  I logically, given my own musical history, love it.
I'm still a little reluctant about some things, like the hardcore who bash everything else in comparison to it.  But that's a small group, and well, I would ignore them for other reasons.
When I got home, I said goodbye to Paul.  I was sorry we had to end the night early, but it turned out to be a good thing, because when I got in, my Mom asked me if I could go babysit my Grandma in the morning and early afternoon.  I said sure, but that I wanted to spend the afternoon in the library.  Deal.
Then I went to check my email.  There's a ton of stuff going on.  Jennifer is going back to Lansing, would I like to come along?
I've been invited back up next week, and I want to go, but right before that I have a party in Ann Arbor that I a maybe attending.  If I go to the party in Ann Arbor (which I really want to go to), then I won't be able to hop that ride with Jenn.  On the other hand, it looks like my family is going to be in chaos next week because my Mom is going to a business conference, and whenever that happens, it's craziness.  This chaos could work for or against me.  If my sister takes the car and disappears, then I'll be out of luck.  If my Dad is looking for any excuse to get out of town, he'll be more than happy for me to give it to him.  So, maybe. 
When it rains it pours, etc. 
I also got an email from Ashley.  That lucky girl is in China and writing me emails from her trip.  (She's out there to learn Chinese.)  She told me all about her latest adventures, including going to a mosque.  I've sent back a bunch of questions asking about it, because I was under the impression that China was not into religion. 
And then I did the whole lay down and try to sleep thing.  Again, no luck.  I was hoping the alcohol I had would make me more sleepy, since I've been told that's one of the things it does, but no.  I laid in bed for hours without much luck.  Bah. 
I fell asleep sometime around five.  My alarm rang at eight.  I was suppose to get up for Grandma, but I totally didn't get up.  Maybe I would be lucky and my Mom wouldn't wake me? 

They Don't Pay Me Enough to Do This

My Mom, among other things, runs her own business.  This apparently means that I am required to help out with it.  Not my sister or Dad, of course, but me. 
Yesterday, I was trying to eat some thin crusted pizza, and my Mom was upset that I wasn't helping her at that moment.  I had spent the morning visiting my Grandma and taking care of her.  It was 4:30 and I hadn't had anything to eat since 9:30 that morning.  It annoys me a little that she was like that, but I decided to treat her with the sort of patience I suspect elementary school teachers use on a particularly bad kid: ignoring her as much as possible. 
Once I got done, I did start helping her with stuff.  She asked me to stuff envelopes.  She has all this stuff she wants me to put in each one, and that's fine, I can do that, but of course I need all the materials.  She flew around trying to find all of them.  I turned on the tv and watched some nature program about predators on the African Serengeti.  I'm glad no one gave me a hard time about what I was watching.
As I was working on that, my Mom's friend Elizabeth came over.  I don't really like Elizabeth.  There's something off about her that I'm still struggling to put my finger on.  I get the distinct impression she wishes she was my Mom, or at least her daughter.  She has my Mom's same terrible haircut and runs everything in her life like my Mom does. 
One of the other things that irks me about her is that she brought her toddler over.  I don't really like kids, but every time that she comes over she almost always brings her toddler over, and it doesn't matter what I am doing, my Mom plops her down in front of me with the directions to "watch her."  I hate that because they treat me like I'm at beck and call for unpaid babysitting time.  In addition to that, when I actually go over to Elizabeth's house to babysit her kid, I get paid about 2.20 an hour, which for those of you not up on babysitting wages, it's terrible.  Normal babysitting is at least seven, honestly, and when you count the impromptu time, I deserve so much more than 2.20 an hour.  So when I saw the toddler come into the house, my heart fell.  Oh please, I thought, don't make me watch her. 

Luckily, my Mom had other tasks for me.  I found myself more than happy to do those.  I stuffed more envelopes and switched to Doctor Who, which was showing the finale to season three.  I love Doctor Who, and my favorite companion (so far!) is Martha, so this cheered my up considerably.
I texted Matt, telling him that it was on (he's a fan too).  We haven't talked since last week, on our dinner that was almost certainly a date.  He told me he was out but that he'd look into it. 
Other friends of my Mom's started coming into the house.  There are very few of her friends that I like, and she seems to get closer to one's I particularly dislike.  Several of those women came in.  One of them asked what I was watching.  "Doctor Who," I answered.  They were mostly too busy with some stuff they were helping my Mom out with, including making some food.  My Dad was baking some kind of Raspberry Crumble Cake, which meant he was going to ask me three or four times if I tried it and what I thought of it.  One of the few good things about my Mom's business is that she usually has some food around when people come by, and that always means I'm allowed to have some of it too. 
After I finished stuffing envelopes, she had all these prizes she was giving away, so would I please stuff those too?  Okay.  I began doing that.  As I did, Elizabeth's daughter bounced around on our couch's headboard.  Elizabeth yelled at her a few times to no avail.