Oh Dear.

Today I am frustrated. It is as if I have reached max capacity for complaints. These children are the most ungrateful beasts. Everyday I make them lunch and there is a complaint. Someone is unhappy. Someone doesnt want their homemade biscuit. Someone doesnt like tomatoe sauce. Someone would have rather had ramen noodles. I mean HONEST TO GOD...Shut the F UP! I really yell that (in my head of course) some days. I cannot stand to hear it one more time.

What is frustrating is that it isnt just me. Poor Jen gets it all the time and she is getting fed up as well. It is as if 3 years of being raised only by their father and being taken out to McDonald's every night has made them into animals that will settle for nothing less....not to say that my food doesnt beat McDonalds, but they want the free toy and the soda and the CRAP food.

Jen and I have talked about it a number of times. She LOVES to cook like I do....and she is really really good at it (she has like every gadget in the world...from a cheese grater to a salad spinner to an avocado scraper) but she is giving up because these kids just pick apart and criticize everything.

To add to my frustration...something that happened yesterday...I had this great idea for something nice to do for Brian before he left (hes in Baltimore until after I leave). Toward the beginning of my stay I made my famous Chocolate Chip cookies and he loved them, so I thought it would be nice to make them again. I told the kids the idea. We would put them in a big ziploc bag that the kids decorated and wrote notes on. I wrote a small note and labeled the bag "Brian's Airplane Goodies." Well...the kids wrote their notes and then sat down to eat lunch. I told them to hurry up so that they could help me make cookies. I went back into the kitchen to start getting things ready. I checked back in with them every 15 minutes to see how they were coming along, and after an hour they were arguing and had hardly put a dent in the food I made them. I finally went and picked up all of their plates...dumped the food...and started working on the cookies. None of them helped, until the very end when they argued about who would pour in the chocolate chips. I was so damn frustrated I couldnt get over it. And to make matters worse, when their dad got home courtnie said, "DADDY, LOOK WHAT WE MADE FOR YOU!!" Ugh. Whatever. I guess I just miss you old roomies that never complained about what I made and all you guys that would devour any food product that sat in front of you. Where you at?? I cant wait to be around my good 'ol grateful friends and family. Daddyo...I know you would have loved those cookies--I would have much rather been making them for you.

Anyway, on the bright side (kinda) its been rainy for over 24 hours now and has therefore put me in a Christmas mood. This is my favorite kind of day. While I love the sun, I also love snuggling up with a blanket and a good book---or without a good book---and just relaxing. I have been listening to Christmas carols for the last few hours with the kids. But their idea of Christmas is just classic kid-like. They say, "why do you like christmas so much? because its Jesus' birthday? or the presents?" When I explained about how you can like Christmas without presents...like my family does...they got so confused! I guess I would too if I was a kid, but for some reason it seems like material things are so much more important to these kids. Like they said, "I cant wait for daddy to come home so that I can get my present!" --He brings them presents every time he comes home from a trip. That comment alone made me want to vomit.

I have always said that I have to take lessons from my parents before I decide to have any kids. Now, I definetly know I do--if I end up with kids like this, I will go crazy. They are sooo ridiculous. I dont know if any of you remeber the show "Tiny Toons," but if you do, there is one character--Elvira (or maybe its Elmira) that is the biggest brat and destroys everything in her wake. That is kind of how these kids are...all combined. We watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory the other day and I decided that they are like a mix between Veruca and Mike Radio. Camerin is actually EXACTLY Mike Radio...and actually looks like him too. Weird.

Anyway, these are my latest frustrations. Dont worry though, I'll get over it. I have always said that I need to work on my patience, and this summer is definetly my time to do so.

I signed up for the Bavaria trip again...although I think it will be canceled again because of the lack of people taking the trip. We'll see. If they cancel it this time, I will just plan on taking the train to Munich myself.

I guess that is all I have to say for now. I'm not sure that anyone actually reads these things, but I'm over it. Its a nice way for me to just let it all out on the page.

Take Care
Beth O.