Nerves

We've had a great weekend with the kids: Hanging out at the wading pool, where Demi tried to wax Richard's legs with Silly Putty and Aaron and his dad had a heart-to-heart talk about their religious beliefs; laughing over that very uptight kid in Trekkies; having a fun dinner even after the egg-or-nothing debacle; taking walks to Tim Hortons; and countless other goofy things.

But there are those moments...

At 3:30 AM I was drifting nicely off to sleep, dreaming of dolls with dollhouses inside their heads (their eyes and ears were the windows), when Demi and Aaron began their bickering in the bedroom. Aaron's sleeping on a camp mattress on the floor and Demi's on the bed, but even that arrangement caused some weird arguments around 2:30 AM: "Turn that noise machine off! What are you doing? Did you hit the wall? What if a plane crashes into this building and the neighbor doesn't save her chihuahua?" Etc. I asked them three times to leave each other alone. I tried to switch places with Aaron, but he grumbled, "NO. M'sleep!" And Richard refused to sleep on the sofa bed with Demi because she kicks. So, the kids had to stay in the bedroom together no matter what.
My solution: Noise machine off, and a furious warning to shut up immediately or else NOBODY sleeps; I'll keep y'all up till sunrise so you'll know what it's like to be sleep-deprived, so help me God!! This settled everybody down fast, though Demi is still mildly concerned about airplanes careening into the building (Richard's taking care of that concern).

Me, on other hand: I'm wide awake now. I know I'll be exhausted and low on energy tomorrow, yet I have to get up early to shower, take Aaron to the electronics store where my friend A. works, get a haircut, go to the grocery store, make two dinners (spinich cutlets and veggies for Demi and me, Chinese Hotdish for Richard and Aaron), etc. On a day when I've slept AT ALL this is just routine stuff, but on 3 hours of sleep or less it's not going to be enjoyable - and I want this time with the kids to be very enjoyable, for all of us.

Now, since I can't sleep, doubts and concerns about Paul and Juliet's arrival here on Wednesday are cropping up in my mind like weeds. I know they're excited to see us all, but how will they feel about spending a week in a 550 sq ft condo with cement floors, an unifinished ceiling, and a chair that Richard salvaged from outside the dumpster?

For Richard and myself it's all charmingly simple and Bohemian, but will a successful young couple with a three-bedroom home, several vehicles, and the time and money to take exotic vacations find our living situation a bit distasteful, even pathetic? I mean, we're not a young couple starting out. Richard's in his 50s, I'm approaching 30. It's not exactly "cute" to live in a teeny Bohemian space at our ages, in the eyes of the more successful people who aren't yet paying child support. I mean, we don't even have a gym memberships! Visitors to this condo might feel nothing but sadness and pity, just like Richard and I feel when we see a bum crawling into dumpsters for the night.

Paul and Juliet are adventurous, kind, and open-minded people, but c'mon...who, serioulsy, would want to spend their vacation nights in a concrete shoebox with 4 other people? I just hope they can close their eyes and pretend it's a hostel: Noisy, crowded, a little seedy, but clean and comfortable with lots of interesting people.

I'm far too keyed up and nervous to sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be tough. But at least I'll sleep like a rock tomorrow night!