A sure sign I spend too much time alone

The weekend's not over yet, but it has been a wake-up call that I don't spend enough time around people. Paige even pointed this out.

Friday night was Mom's birthday. Peyton called over to my parents' house once they got off of work to come pick them up to spend the night. They knew the girls were coming over on Saturday morning at some point to help get ready for Mom's party, but the Friday night thing was somewhat of a surprise. Probably shouldn't have been, all things considered, but it probably should have been discussed prior to Friday night.

Anyway, I met them to ride over to Kerens to go eat at a place that has supposedly good catfish on Friday night (I ate something else, so I don't know). Paige was in rare form, using strange voices and couldn't keep her hands to herself. She was driving me bonkers. At one time I slapped her arm out of reflex from her fingers crawling on my leg like a bug, and I'm pretty sure someone was ready to call me for child abuse or something.

While we were there, they had Friday night entertainment. Two guys (one my mother went to high school with and another in his 80s) were singing some really old country music really off key. I did recognize "Does Ft. Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" which was the most recent hit. It was worse than Branson. It grated on my nerves.

After pestering me the whole ride home, I went over to my parents for a while. Dad was making mom anxious because he over plans and wanted to get some stuff done. Add to the anxiety of a couple of eager young helpers who were getting underfoot, and I was ready to head home. 

Yesterday, I got up semi-early for me on a Saturday because I had trouble sleeping for some reason and was up what seemed like half the night. I took my time getting over to Mom and Dad's even though I had been summoned earlier in the week to arrive somewhat early. 

We'll we hung out all day trying to kill time because there wasn't much that needed to be done ahead of time. 

I went ahead and gave Mom her photo book early so that she could look at it, then pass it around at the party. She could have gone through it who knows how many times, but Peyton was rushing her out the door to go pick up my Grandmother in Kemp.

Dad and I took the girls to Dollar General to find something (struck out), then picked up a nasty Cici's pizza to hold them over until party time. 

Then, because my dad wanted these M&M snacks to put around, and he had a coupon for buy 2 get 1 free, and because Dollar General didn't have hamburger deal slices, against all my better judgment, I took the girls to Walmart.

This is why it was so bad:

• Going to Walmart is almost against my religion anyway.
• Going on a Saturday is definitely against my moral values.
• Going with my nieces who aren't good shoppers is not a good idea.
• Going with my nieces who about had to be attached to me and under foot like a puppy and asking a million questions was about more than I could handle. 

Oh, and more so than usual, Peyton has been on a question asking frenzy. Questions she had already asked. Questions I sure didn't know the answers to. Questions that didn't amount to anything. I think I upset her one time when I told her I had enough questions and was done. I told her this more than once, but the time I was really over the edge, I snapped and told her to quit.

I love her to death, you all know I do, but she has to be within inches around you when walking through a store, etc. and I've about had to push her out of the way the past two weekends. 

Once that was done, we went back to the house to kill more time hanging out. I turned on the computer to do something with Paige, but needed to try to fix Peyton's hair first. While I was doing this, Dad took over the computer and started playing Spider solitaire or Majong. Paige and I were fine in the living room until Peyton snatched the remote, turned it to the Hannah Montana movie, then the Disney channel and ran Paige and I out. 

Dad had shut off the computer, then just as Paige and I were starting to work on something, Grandmother and Mom got back. About that time, it was time to get stuff ready for everyone to come over.

Paige called her father to tell him we (mainly me) voted him grill king and would he be over in time to start working on the burgers. He came, but he was unimpressed with plain Omaha steak patties and found all sorts of things in the cabinet to doctor them up. And being around him in general sadly causes me anxiety, especially when he is high strung. 

Dad and I had parked cars at a house that is for sell two doors down. Sometimes during the weekends, the people come down to check the house. We didn't know they were home when we parked in the driveway. Paige came in at one point to tell me I needed to move my car. I thought maybe they had just showed up.

As I'm walking down the street, Peyton asks, "where did they park?" 

I just walked outside. How was I supposed to know? "Peyton, I DO NOT KNOW. Stop asking so many questions," as I almost trip over her. 

There were 20+ people at my mom's party, and I didn't come home to solitude until late last night.

Today, after church, me, my parents and my grandmother had leftovers. The combination of the other three would make anyone as anxious as a cat in a room full of rockers. And someone cannot allow a moment to be quiet. Coupled with my mother never listening or paying attention to what I just said. 

We all went over (me and my dad followed my Grandmother and my mom a few minutes later) to see the townhouse I'm thinking of buying again. Dad made me drive around town looking for other possible places so he wouldn't have to go home quite yet.

Once I did get home, I took a nap, but woke up groggy. I admit to skipping church because I was just ready to not be around people. 

That's so sad though. 

I need to get out more.