Well, you can tell summer is here....

As anyone who has been in Ocean City in early June knows we are beseiged by June Bugs (high school seniors who don't have the sense God gave a billy goat), so by this time, the end of June, we are exhausted from having to put up with their nonsense...even those of us who won't rent to them have to put up with their crap...but this week most of them have gone back under the rock they crawled out from and we are now dealing with normal people...well, perhaps normal isn't the correct word either. I'm seeing many of my regulars who are on vacation and so I'm thrilled to see stitchers here. Vernon, on the other hand, saw something this week that set him back a bit. He was going up to the house to lay down for his every night siesta so he can work the late shift. He goes up after dinner so it's still light out, around 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. He comes around the building and standing stark naked, yes... nude.... people, taking a shower at the outdoor shower we have for tenants to wash off the sand from the beach was a Mexican adult male as if nothing was unusual. Vernon said, "Hey, put your clothes on and get the hell off the property." That would indicate to the normal person that perhaps they were doing something wrong. But this guy, of course could barely speak or understand English and couldn't figure out what the problem was. Vernon tried explaining that we have families on this property and no one wants to see his "junk" and in this country we don't strip down outside in front of God and the world to take showers, especially when you aren't suppose to be on the property in the first place. He had driven in to town with his family for the day and apparently wanted to take a shower before going home. Honestly people....does this only happen in Ocean City or are the Mexicans taking showers in your yard too? And this wasn't even a holiday weekend when we usually have to watch out for this kind of thing. I'm certainly getting too old to put up with this kind of nonsense. Well, I'm a bit tired this week so I don't know if I can take much more anyway. Mary's step daughter, Ana-age 6, is down for a couple of weeks and she and Solomon (who is usually in daycare) have been at the hotel everyday. Now for those grandmothers who don't get to see their grandchildren everyday I know this sounds like heaven, however...I do get to see my grandchildren everyday and so I have a slightly different take on having them in the office with me. They love to "help" me! I get to work and the first thing I encounter are Solomon and Ana and the first words out of their mouth each morning is "Can I help you work today." Mary and Brian have tried saying I'm not feeling well and they should leave me alone, but when they ask if I feel sick what am I going to do, lie? Well no I'm not. I've tried giving them little jobs and while Solomon does my check stamping quite well, apparently Ana wasn't paying attention and I got the hell out of Dodge only to return to find that she had stamped them wrong. (I just dropped the deposit off at the bank with a smile and told them I'd pick it up later.) I'm sure they think it's time for the girls to relieve me of duty as they probably think I stamped the darn checks myself. Anyway, yesterday I gave up and said, "Let's do something today. Nana's going to do something with you away from the hotel." I was thinking the amusement park but Mary informed me the parks don't open until late in the afternoon. So Coco's Palace was mentioned. I had no idea what that was but I figured it beat having them hanging on me in the office so we got them in the car and I headed to Salisbury with Ana talking a steady stream the entire way. Good news was...with the air conditioning running and the radio on I couldn't hear half of what she said. So 40 minutes later I pulled into Coco's Palace which is a kid's paradise of bouncy houses. So I paid and off they went and I sat at the table and read someone's travel magazine. Unfortunately all they had to eat was trash at Coco's, but at that point I didn't give a damn...I was sitting in air conditioning and all I had to do was smile periodically in their direction, get them crap to eat and hand them dollars for the air hockey table. 3 1/2 hours later they had eaten enough crap to kill a normal kid and I had loaded them with sugar and I had to get back for work so we loaded up and were heading home. Aside from answering the same question a 100 times, "Did the ice cream man come yet," while we were there (They wanted Sponge Bob ice cream pops and the Palace was out of them but told them the ice cream man was due there anytime....someone should have told the ice cream man that). But trust me we had enough junk we really didn't need anything else and they took something else in the end anyway so it wasn't like they didn't get any ice cream. So I delivered them to Mary and Brian full of junk food and sugar. Yes, I did my job and I did it well. So today I arrive and we're eating lunch and Solomon turns to Mary and says, "Mommy, I think Nana's taking us to the rides today." Mary looks at me and says,"Oh, Mom I'm so sorry..you don't have to do that..I'll take them." "No I said, I'll take them...what time does the park open?" Thank God it didn't open until 3:00 so I said, "Well, that won't give us any time because I have to be at work at 4:00, so I'll take you to Walmart and you can get some new toys." I really do need medical attention people, this was the dumbest idea I ever had. No...wait a minute..telling them we'd stop for ice cream was without a doubt the dumbest. After about 1 1/2 hours in Walmart we emerge with toys in hand and I thought..."well that wasn't so bad...the kids were pretty good...Ana was a little annoying at times but we got through it. So we stop for ice cream on what is the hottest day of the year and Ana gets her double scoop in a cone (against my better judgement) and Solomon announces he doesn't want any. I was going to let them eat the ice cream in the car on the way home, but seeing how it was melting I decided we'd sit there and eat it. Honestly Ana took one little lick at a time...it was unbearable to watch and it was dripping all over hells green acre. My frustration was growing and I finally said, "Ana, you have got to eat that faster because you are now wearing most of it as it's melted all over you." She informed me she can't eat it fast because she gets brain freeze, and then began eating slower if that is even possible. By now I was having a melt down and Solomon announced he wanted ice cream. So I got his in a cup and he started to pout and announced he wanted a cone. So back to the window I went...at this point the girl behind the counter was looking at me like perhaps she should call for medical attention for me. I got a cone and put the ice cream in the cup in the cone and Solomon decides he doesn't want it. By now my melt down is almost complete and there is Ana with ice cream on her legs, her nose, her shirt, her skirt and all over her hands and mouth, but still taking little tiny licks of the melting mess. Poor Solomon was about to melt so I told him to get in the car and then told Ana she couldn't get in the car until she finished eating and she better hurry up because I was about done. I had had it...and she perhaps sensed my mood and announced she was done. I poured water over any area of her body that I thought might touch my car seats and finally arrived home. I took one look at Mary and told her to remind me of this day the next time I thought it was a good idea to take them shopping at Walmart. But with their new toys they were happy for the rest of the afternoon (what little there was left of it) and I had an hour to sit at my desk and shuffle papers by myself. Yes the plan worked...well perhaps not as I had envisioned but at least I had some alone time. And then it was off to Salty Yarns...ahhh, air conditioned bliss. We got our new Leigh Designs hand painted needlepoint canvases in. While they are indeed beautiful...perhaps it would help next time if I checked out the price. When I realized the larger ones would sell for close to $300 I looked at Renee and said, "What the hell was I thinking." I'm now envisioning where I want to put these at my house as I'm sure I'll be stitching them for me. I really do need a keeper people. I should not be allowed at the Nashville Market on my own...wait a minute...Sara was there. I tried blaming her for the Leigh Designs, but she reminded me that she bought the exact same canvases 2 years in a row from her (she didn't realize we didn't sell them the first year) so in Nashville she said she wasn't even going into Leigh's with me. Ooops...I guess I'm at fault and can't find anyone to blame. I hate it when that happens. Well, the rain has stopped and people are coming in so I'll end here. I hope your day went better than mine. Have a great evening.