Renata's Top OCD Tendencies

Just for fun...I thought I'd list my top OCD tendencies because they are goofy and I'm goofy and I was just thinking about this the other day and I thought it'd be a funny blog.

When I eat fast food, I have to use the napkin from that place to wipe my mouth. I discovered this one recently when I had Arby's napkins in my car, but I had to dig through the bag to find my Wendy's napkins since I was eating Wendy's food. Strange I know!

When I erase the board in my classroom, I can't stand stray marks on the board. I have to get every spot.

To go along with the previous, I can't have the overhead string hanging down in the middle of the board. It drives me CRAZY.

My car keys have to be in my right pocket, and my school keys have to be in my left. Something I've always done. I added the left pocket-school keys when I started teaching.

When I eat a sandwich or burger, I flip it and eat from the opposite side. Some people do both, some people eat it the other way, I don't.

When I eat a sandwich, I eat about halfway through, and then I eat around the outside until I finish the crust, only then do I eat the rest of the sandwich. WHY? Because I don't like the crust as much and I don't want that to be the last thing I taste.

I like things symmetrical, so I have been known to rehang picture frames in peoples offices or houses.

Well, that's enough for now......Later taters

Ferry NIGHTMARE Part 2

*****SPOILER ALERT**** If you haven't read part one, you gotta read it first.

So, I decide to call Tim with the only dollar I have left. I pray that he answers, and he does. SUCCESS! The only problem is I didn't really plan out what to say, so I said, "You gotta call my dad and tell him to come back. He has my wallet and phone. I'll wait by the ferry. Bye."

I walk up to the visitors center and plop down. The only thing left to do is wait. I eat my snack and just sit and ponder, while I watch my 5 o'clock ferry, my ride back home, pull out into the sound. Then, I start thinking. If there really is no cell phone service on the island, my dad won't get my message until after he gets back to Hatteras. The next ferry here doesn't come until 10, so I can't go anywhere anyway, but my dad doesn't know that. He doesn't know that I would still be sitting there. There's no way for him to call me, and I can't call Tim back to tell him that I'll just sit and wait. What am I going to do if he doesn't make it back? I can't just sleep here, but I also don't have any money to get on the ferry even if I did give up and try to go home. I'm stuck here with no money, no food, and no way to talk to anyone! What a crazy deseparate feeling!!!

SO.......I waited. And about 5 minutes of worrying later, my dad pulled back up! PRAISE THE LORD!!! Just in time to see the ferry pull on out into the ocean! Fortunately, Tim was able to reach him, but unfortunately he got pulled over by a cop on his way back to bring me my stuff. He might have made it if it wasn't for that.

My dad and the boys hung out for a little while to keep me company. I bought a souvenir to remember my wonderful trip. I got home at 1:00 AM. I did have 7 1/2 hours to THINK about what I wanted to pack. I had time to read my tear jerking novel, which only added to my tears of frustration.

I did learn a few things from this event. Other than the obvious, I also learned that its nice to have a little compassion for people. I was reminded what it was like to feel lost, lonely, and helpless.

Ferry NIGHTMARE!

So, the plan was to take the boys over to Ocracoke to meet my dad, who would then take them back home with him to Hatteras, because I have to be in Durham from Sunday-Wednesday and my parents were generous enough to watch them for us. Pretty simple plan I'd say. The boys and I would take the 2 o'clock ferry to Ocracoke, which would arrive around 4:30 on the island. We'd get off, my dad would be there, and he'd take the boys and I'd jump on the 5 o'clock back to Cedar Island, and be back home by 8:15. That would give me time to pack my stuff for Durham and get a good night's sleep for my trip. My dad would drive back across the island of Ocracoke and catch the Hatteras ferry (they're 10 miles apart) and they'd be home in Hatteras by 6 (Their ferry was only 40 minutes.)

Everything was going really well. The boys were doing great. Roman asked a billion questions about things that live in the ocean and why there were boats out in the water, and insisted on sitting in the upper deck of the ferry, even though we had to climb up and down the stairs 3 times with the laptop in tow (I don't trust strangers, too much.) to go to the bathroom. Raiden was saying HI to everyone who came by, going in circles around the tables to make himself dizzy, and even rubbed his head and laughed when a man who was balding came by. Things were going great. I looked like the bag lady with my big sweatshirt on because it might be cold on the ferry and there's no way to carry it with my 3 bags in tow (diaper bag, their overnight bag, and the laptop), it was pouring down rain when we boarded in Cedar Island, so I had the big umbrella, and a 4 year old who walks only 2 inches in front of you, while carrying a 20 month old who would jump in the ocean if I put him down. But still, things were great compartively speaking.

So, we arrive in Ocracoke. It's not raining, PRAISE THE LORD! Roman agrees to carry the umbrella and my dad meets us half way across the loading bridge of the ferry. Things are good. We take the boys over to the car, and get the strapped in. I grab the laptop, and kiss the boys goodbye. My dad offers me money to grab something from the snack machine, and I say, "Nah, I'm good. Tim gave me some ones." So, as they drive off, I think "Oh, where did I put my car keys?" I put them in the computer bag, "WHEW!" found them. I'd put them there when we got our of the car at Cedar Island, just in case I forgot about them later. Better be safe than sorry, I thought.

Anyway, I walk over to the snack machines, about a tenth of a mile up the loading area for the ferry. There's this guy from the ferry system standing there. He's already pushed the button for his drink to come out of the drink machine, and he's busy selecting his 2 items from the snack machine, and I'm thinking, "No biggie! I've got time. So what if I'm the last to board on the 5 o'clock ferry? I don't care too much where I'm going to sit." The guy finally finishes, and I reach into my pocket to grab the 2 dollars in quarters that I had safely tucked away that morning. I use those to buy my snacks, and I reach back in my pocket for the couple ones I had in my pocket to buy my Mt. Dew. And I think, "Hmm, this is my last one. Do I have another dollar? I don't want to break my twenty dollar bill to buy my ferry ticket." My next thought was normal too, "Sure, I have those ones Tim gave me. They are right in front on my twenty in my wallet." Then suddenly, "MY WALLET!!!! IT'S IN THE DIAPER BAG!!!! IN MY DAD'S CAR!!!!" Oh, no biggie, I'll call my dad and have him come back, they might miss the 5 o'clock ferry, but there's another one at 5:30 going to Hatteras, no big deal. "MY PHONE WAS WITH MY WALLET IN MY DIAPER BAG!!!"

By this point I began to panic. The people walking outside of their cars waiting on the ferry to load have now began moving back to their cars. "Quick Renata! Think! What's the best thing to do? Do I really need my wallet and my phone? Could I just go home on this ferry and get them on Thursday when I come back to get the boys?" Pause. "NO, I am going all the way to Durham. I'm staying in a hotel. They're going to ask for ID." Pause. "Could I take this ferry back home and come back with my car tomorrow?" Pause. "No, I have to be in Durham by Noon and the first ferry doesn't leave until 7. There's no way to make that." Pause. "IDEA! I can call my dad using someone else's phone." So, I ask the nice looking couple who's walking hand in hand with a little boy who looks about 2. They very sympathetically said, "We don't have one with us." I then remember that I don't have my kids with me, so the sympathy factor has decreased. I move to the ferry line, where I ask this lady who had been pushing a kid in a stroller had left the kid waaaayyy over in the parking lot to hand some guy in their truck a quarter she had found on the ground. Again, a no. The motorcycle guy at the front says, "There's no cell phone reception on the island."

So, I think, hmm, maybe a pay phone. So I see one down by the ferry loading dock, and I head down there. One dollar for long distance. I reach in my pocket and find 75 cents. That Stinks! I need some more change. Of course no one has dropped any on the ground. So I ask these ladies saying their goodbyes at the ferry if they have any change and one graciously grabs her purse out of her car and gives me a quarter! YES! I have a dollar to call! NO! I have no idea what my dad' s cell number is!

Stay tuned for the rest of the story....

Camping--SUPER AWESOME!

Other than our neighbors letting their kids run around screaming while they drank and laughed obnoxiously loud until after midnight, our camping trip was GREAT! As Tim said, as the beer went down, their voices went UP!! Our kids slept through it though. PRAISE THE LORD!

Maybe we are just getting OLD?!? When we were little our parents made us be quiet during the campground's quiet hours, maybe its just the dawn of a new, rude generation!?!

Summer TIME!!

So, in case you haven't heard, we are now living in Beaufort. Well, our mailing address is Beaufort, the little town (not really a town, more like several houses in a row with a little green sign in front of them, one of those that you'd miss if you weren't looking for it) we are part of is called Bettie. On a side note, funny story, the first time Tim brought me home to meet his family, we had been out on the boat with one of his friends and had went back to Tim's house to freshen up before heading to his grandparents. He said something about, well, let's hurry up so we can get to Bettie and I asked who she was, thinking she was some aunt that he hadn't introduced me to.

Anyway, things are good. Tim is enjoying his job. It's lots of work, but it's really nice to see him doing something that's more his thing. He's really good at it. I start my volleyball summer workouts next week which I'm really excited about. I have TONS of work to do for teaching Social Studies in the fall, but I'm going to take a weekend off this weekend and just relax with the family.

The boys are great. We had the best day ever today. They were just so good.

Here's some pics I thought I'd share:

This is Tim and Raiden at the beach on Memorial Day.

This is Roman and me. I absolutely adore this picture.

This year was actually the first year we've been to the beach on Memorial Day, and it was super AWESOME!