Wednesday insanity

The day stayed true to form....

Constant running from 7:00am until 10:00pm, and I'm not done yet.

Between running kids back and forth to school, I also did just over 5 miles today for the first time in a couple of weeks (ouch), worked on some sewing that I *have* to get done in the next few days, did a crapload of laundry, tackled yet another seemingly unending pile of dishes, ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things, ran to the hardware store to do a return, made supper and cleaned up most of the mess, dropped Jared off at his father's church on the way to get Emily to her basketball practice.....

I still have so much crap to do too...

The rest of the week is going to be just as bad too. I remembered today that the Christmas parade in town is tomorrow night - and yes, the kids and I are supposed to be in it for our church. But, Sarah has basketball practice after school and so the kids might not even get home in time for it.

Friday night is Jared's Christmas program at school.

Saturday morning is basketball games.

I can't wait until Saturday afternoon, when I can theoretically sit down and breathe for a few minutes.

Maybe I'll even get to spend some time with The Dude at some point over the next few days. That would be a good thing!

Emily actually ran her butt off at practice - this was a rare moment tonight.

I tried to keep Alex busy during practice, but he really wasn't focusing well.

Daniel was thrilled to pieces at practice.
Yes, he's sound asleep.

Now, to finish up some more laundry, empty the dishwasher, start packing lunches for tomorrow, pick up the crap laying around the house...

Have I mentioned how much I hate Wednesdays lately?

Being sick sucks

Apparently last night, the stomach flu decided to slam into me like a fully loaded freight train. I was relatively fine one minute, and the next minute I wanted to die. I spent most of today sleeping, in between running kids back and forth to school.

I've been wanting to get all of the trash picked up out of the van for the past few weeks and just haven't had a chance to do it. So after I picked Alex up from school, we went to get Daniel but had about 20 minutes to kill before we could go in to get him.

I used that time (and Alex's unending energy) to my advantage - and he picked up all of the trash for me, including stuff that had found its way into the very back end.

After we got back from school, The Dude came over for a while to check on me and make sure that I was ok. I have to admit - it's nice to have someone do that. It's been a long time, and I think that I could probably get used to this pretty quickly!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And another one from the My Children Can Sleep Anywhere files....

As I was playing around on the computer after supper, I became aware of snoring sounds.

I don't know what they do to this kid at school, but he is about worn out every day when he comes home. I plucked him up off of the floor and tossed him into bed at about 6:45, and he'll sleep through the night.

Feral Socks

It never fails. Every time I do laundry, I end up with stray socks. So at some point, I got the brilliant idea to turn an old laundry detergent container into the "Runaway Sock Bucket". Every time there's a stray, it goes in the bucket. And when it starts to overflow and irritate the crap out of me, I dump it and attempt to match all of the strays.

Today, after it overflowed on me YET AGAIN, I decided to go through it and get them all matched. And I was reminded once again about how much I loathe socks. More specifically, I loathe socks in the laundry. It doesn't matter how careful I am - there are always strays. And I am convinced that the stray socks become feral and reproduce, turning into these strange varieties of socks that I have never seen before, like the small white ankle sock with a blue sole - I know for a fact that no one in this house has ever owned a pair of socks like that, so where did it come from?

But, I got the ones that had matches matched back up into pairs...threw away the feral ones that have been residing in the bottom of the bucket for the last few times that I have gone through this process, and ended up with only a small pile that are still strays. Hopefully as I continue to do laundry every day for the rest of my life over the next few days, I can get them matched up too.

Seriously - if someone were to invent disposable socks that didn't cost a fortune, I would SO be in the market for them. Buy them, wear them once, throw them away. End of my feral sock issue. And if they were one-size-fits-all and I could buy them by the case, I would be thrilled beyond belief.

Someone get on that, please.

Life happens!

In case you didn't notice, I didn't post anything yesterday - first time since (I think) May 29 that I've missed a day.

I don't write my posts ahead of time - I wish that I could be that organized. Instead, you get whatever is on my mind at that particular moment on that particular day.

So, what happened yesterday? Remember how I was trying to get myself out there?

It sort of happened.

That's right, I met someone. And so far, he claims that he's not scared of my crazy life. So he's either crazy himself, or he could be a really good guy...or maybe a little of both.

But that's all you get for now.

Yep, that's right. Not going to spill the beans yet. I'm going to see where this goes first.




But at least now, if I seem a little more distracted than usual, you have an idea why! ;)

I get to share my bed with someone special tonight!

All of the kids except for Daniel are gone for the weekend. Although I miss them like crazy when they're gone, I do enjoy the peace and quiet.

Daniel and I went out for a bit this evening, and he was worn out by the time we got home. I gave him a bath and got him into his pajamas, and then he started watching a movie. Then he looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said "Mom, can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

How could I resist?

I don't usually let them sleep with me. The main reason is that they are all bed hogs. They like to sleep diagonally or in some other contorted position that leads to me being incredibly uncomfortable. But, we don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, so we can sleep in as late as we want to - so I'm going for it tonight.

Honestly, how can anyone say no to this much cuteness?

However, I will be dumping the trains before I lay down. Cute or not, I draw the line at sleeping with trains.

I'm actually seriously considering crawling into bed with him right about now. I'm tired and it's not often that I get to go to bed early. I need to clean, but I just don't feel like it. The mess will still be here tomorrow, and I can deal with it then. Every now and then, I just need to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.

Turkey and the tree

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...

Ours was pretty laid-back. Lots of food...and a second attempt at the peanut butter pie. At least I finally got a piece (or two) of it this time, and yes, it was worth it.

Then it was time to do the unthinkable. I headed out into the ghetto-garage and dug out the Christmas stuff and we got to work. I have to admit - I believe that this is the first time that I have ever decorated the Christmas tree while I was wearing shorts.

Daniel got the honor of hanging the first ornament, and then it was a free-for-all. But it's pretty much done (of course I had to send the girls to the store to get more lights since half of mine decided to die) and now I just have to 'adjust' some of it and clean up the aftermath.

I still have to put the garland in the big doorway and get the stockings hung up and hang up the lights outside....

Where are the outside lights? I didn't see them in the boxes tonight....

So much to do....and although I hated doing it this early, I'm glad that I still have a month to get everything done. At some point I'll start doing some shopping, after the initial crazies get done doing their thing over the next few days. There is no way in hell I'll go shopping tomorrow. No way. Nope.

Tomorrow we get to get up early to get Sarah to basketball practice, then the older 3 are gone until Wednesday....Alex is supposed to go to his father's for the weekend....so I'm looking forward to some quiet time with just Daniel for a few days. Maybe I'll get some more stuff done around the house, including a sewing project or two that I *need* to get done.

My mother is now supposed to have surgery on her shoulder tomorrow morning, and then should be able to go home. Hoping and praying that all goes well in that department.....

Crap. I'm turning into one of "them".

*sigh*

I don't know how it happened, to be honest.

I've always been the person who laughed at people who put their Christmas trees up early. Not that I waited until the last minute, but I'd usually wait until about a week before Christmas to get one.

I refuse to do anything Christmas-related until after Thanksgiving. I believe in dealing with one holiday at a time.

But tonight, the kids and I had to go to the grocery store (mistake) to get some stuff. I wouldn't have waited until today, but only having income once a month kind of dictates when I can do that. So we went.

And they had trees there. I scoffed when the kids asked if we were going to get one.

Then I looked at them. And they looked really good. And they weren't crispy-dead. I mean, they were really green and soft and fluffy. And the price wasn't too bad.

Ugh. Really?

In the meantime, Daniel was having a meltdown because all he wanted to do was get in the car cart and go shopping. People were staring at him as The Kid Who Never Throws A Tantrum totally lost it.

I did it. I grabbed the tag off of the tree, ran inside, paid for it, and ran back out to move the van up to the front of the store to load it in, still not quite sure how we were going to do that.

But we did it.

Had to do some minor surgery on the tree stand...

Trim some of the bottom branches off...

Tighten...

And voila.

That's 8'3" of wonderful smelling Christmas goodness right there. But, in order to avoid fully becoming one of "them" I refuse to decorate it until at least tomorrow night. Alex won't be back until evening, and then the older 3 are leaving Friday morning, so we'll at least start it tomorrow while they're all here.

Yes, I know it's a little lopsided on the bottom. It won't be by the time I'm done. Trust me.

I can't believe I have a tree already.

Yet another busy day

Started out at an open house for Alex's class...

Then a drive to Wichita with Daniel for a playdate. The day started out pretty overcast but got nice and sunny later...

Then my first attempt at replicating Mom's peanut butter pie....and my first attempt at making meringue, which was almost declared a disaster. But it worked. I had to make something to take to a Boy Scout dinner for Jared...

Sadly, I have no idea how the pie tasted, as I didn't get a piece of it.

Then a drive to the Boy Scout thing....get a load of (a) how tiny Jared is compared to other kids his age, and (b) the other kid's shirt:

Dinner there was good - especially since I didn't have to cook it or clean up after it - but by the time that we were done eating, I just wanted to come home and crash. Of course, now that we're home and I have the opportunity to do exactly that, I have a million things to do.

We have to get up early tomorrow - on a non-school day - to get Sarah to basketball practice. Not really happy about her having practice when there's no school, but there's not much I can do about it. She's got it Friday morning too. :( We're also going to attempt to do a little bit of shopping tomorrow to get Sarah something for her birthday.

One thing I can say for sure is that I *WILL NOT* be stepping foot inside any store on Friday. I refuse. I hate to shop, and I hate crowds. I don't care how much money I can save by shopping that day - the legal fees that I would have to pay to defend myself from killing someone stupid would negate any savings at that point. I am not a patient person when it comes to shopping - I want to go in, get what I need, and leave. I don't want to have to beat someone up in the process.

One of these years, I'll actually do my Christmas shopping throughout the year, like I always say that I'm going to do.

Haha. Yeah, right.

To Sarah

Today is Sarah's 12th birthday. Hard to believe that my firstborn is that old. I know, those of you with older kids are laughing at me right now, but seriously...it seems like just yesterday that she was born.

And now, she is 12. She'll be a teenager next year.

So to her, I say this:

My dear, sweet Sarah...

I love you with all of my heart. I know that we have our disagreements, more often than I'd like to admit. You are so strong-willed and so determined, and it is hard for me to let go and let you 'do your thing'. No matter how old you are, you are still my baby.

I want you to know that no matter what, you can always talk to me about anything. I would rather have you talk to me about a problem than to try to deal with it yourself. Believe it or not, I was 12 years old once - and chances are that I've felt the same way about things that you do now. Please know that no matter how angry you think that I might get about something, I still love you and I will always love you.

You are beautiful. You are smart. You are funny. You care so much about other people and how they feel. You have so many things going for you, but I still see you struggle at times. I know that you worry about feeling like you don't 'fit in' with the other kids at school. Honey, please don't worry about what other people think. You have so many friends who love you and you need to focus on those people.

If you are having a problem, please tell me about it. Whether it's with a teacher or something in school or a bully or anything - please, talk to me. I want you to know that I will always listen and I don't want you to ever feel like you can't talk to me about anything.

I wish I could have seen you today for your birthday but I'm glad that I got to talk to you for a little bit. I love you so very much and I am so proud of the young lady you are becoming.

Love,
Mom

Broken Stuff and Unidentified Objects

Welcome to another day in my life.

Sometimes I seriously wonder if I'm not being secretly videotaped for some reality show. I mean really....

It's not that it was necessarily a bad day. I had a horrible time getting up this morning - finally crawled out of bed at 9:30 (I was awake - just in no mood to move) and grabbed a quick shower before the boys and I headed for church. After the service we had lunch there and then helped to decorate the sanctuary for Christmas. I hadn't planned on doing that, but it was a nice distraction for a couple of hours.

We came back here and hung out for a while. I started some laundry and just kind of putzed around the house. Made a couple of phone calls to get updates on Mom's condition (surgery tomorrow) and to talk to Ex1 about scheduling for this week.

Which, by the way, let me ask this....if school is closed for a holiday, should sports teams practice? Curious to see opinions on that one...

Then I went to clean the boys' room a little bit and get their laundry and discovered this little gem. Luckily, it doesn't usually hold anything, but still....I wasn't really planning on doing any repair work today.

The boys had an "accident" with the eggs in the fridge. OK, I can accept the first 2 being an accident, because I knock them out of the little egg holes in the fridge door occasionally if I open the door too fast (or more often, slam the bottom of the door into the top of my foot as I try to open it) but I'm pretty sure that all 6ish of them didn't just 'accidentally' fall out of the egg holes.

Yeah, don't even get me started on this one....I mopped the floor and had it almost sparkling yesterday. I say "almost" because it's just an ugly floor, and it will never sparkle, no matter what I do. And I'm ok with that, because I don't *own* said floor.

Anyway...Alex came to me with this lovely mystery object tonight. As of right now, it is still unidentified.

If you would like to participate in the "Name This Object" game that I am currently having, go to my facebook page to see more specific information about the mystery object.

Until it is identified (or I give up and throw it in the trash) and on the off-chance that it is actually something important, I have located a very safe place to keep it. Right inside my desk with Tigger's chin and the Tooth Fairy Pillow.

This part of my desk is starting to get full. That's telling me something about my (lack of) organizational skills.

But for now, I'm going to go plant my butt on the couch and watch a movie and fold laundry. After I finish cleaning up the living room and sweeping all the rest of the crap off of the floor. Maybe I'll find some more mystery objects to add to the collection in my desk.

Mom

I got one of *those* phone calls tonight. You know the kind - the phone rings and you see that it's a family member, and you're not expecting a call - and your heart jumps into your throat before you even answer it. And you can tell by the tone of the voice on the other end that it's not good.

And it wasn't good.

It was my sister, letting me know that our mother is in the hospital. She fell this afternoon and broke her shoulder. I don't have a lot of details at this point, but apparently she was helping Dad to split some firewood, and she was heading back into or toward the house. Dad heard her scream and found her where she had fallen.

She somehow got to the hospital - I assume that he took her and didn't call an ambulance. She's been admitted and will be having surgery sometime in the next day or two. They're also doing some tests on some other issues while she's there.

Dad will be 85 next week, and Mom will be 83 the week after that. Not a good time in her life to be dealing with a severe injury - not that there is ever a good time.

So, here I am, stuck in Kansas while she's in the hospital in Pennsylvania.

Waiting for the phone to ring.

Waiting for updates.

Just....waiting.

Stepping out of the box.

Or in this case, the house.

I was with some of my mom-friends last week, and the couple of us who are single were talking about how hard it can be to "get out there" and meet guys. Decent guys. Nice guys. I keep being told that they exist, but I have yet to discover one...not that I'm ready to jump into a relationship or anything, but a date once in a while would be nice.

One of my friends pointed out to me that I have to actually get out of my house in order to meet someone. I laughed, but realized just how true it really was - other than taking kids to and from school and running errands, I really never *go* anywhere.

So today I decided to do something about it. No, I didn't go out with the intention of finding Mr. Right, but I went out. Just me. No kids.

It was odd. But it was a good odd.

I went to a local coffee shop with a couple of books, ordered some extremely overpriced food and a vanilla cappucino and just sat and enjoyed. The place was packed when I got there (thanks to dropping Daniel off at school at 12:30 and then heading right over) but I sat there and I ate and I watched people and I read my books, and enjoyed that I was (a) not in the house, (b) not running errands, (c) kid-free, and (d) not cleaning. I have enjoyed my kid-free time since the kids have been in school, but I don't know that I've done anything just for myself with the free time.

It was nice. The coffee shop was nice. After the lunch rush, it emptied out. Like, totally emptied out. And was quiet. I was the only person there. So yeah, it's not like it was a meeting ground for singles, but still - I got myself out of the house. And I did something totally for me.

I love this lamp. Not enough that I would want it in my house, but I love it anyway.

I sat there for about an hour and a half, and just absorbed everything around me. And I enjoyed myself so much that I might just have to make it at least a weekly outing. The nice thing with it being right here in town is that it only takes a few minutes to get there so I don't have to rush like I do when I go to Wichita to do stuff.

I don't know why I've never done this before. Fear, maybe? Regardless, I did it. I can't just hide away in my house forever.

And after I got done there, I took a stroll through a used bookstore nearby - all of the books (thousands upon thousands of them) are donated, and the money that they make goes to charity. They had books in literally every category that I could think of, and I could have spent hours in there - but instead, I'm going to go back next week and pick up some books for the kids for Christmas - inexpensive gifts and helping charities at the same time. Bonus!

All in all, I'd say that it was an ok day. It started out rough with some major attitude issues - and a few more this evening - but nothing that we can't work around and get past (I hope). Tomorrow morning we have to be up early to get the girls to basketball practice, and then the older 3 are with their father for the rest of the weekend. I have no idea if Alex's father is planning on seeing him or not (go figure) so it'll just be me and Alex and Daniel for the weekend. We have nothing planned, and I like it that way!

A calmer day...for the most part.

After the complete and utter chaos that was yesterday, today was a welcomed calm.

The morning started out cold (and frosty) but the kids actually got up with only minimal airhorn action. We all managed to eat breakfast and I even got a shower *gasp* before we left to go to school.

I got the older 3 to school on time and then dropped Alex off at his school, and Daniel and I came home and hung out for a while. I did some cleaning and stuff (of course) and then took him to school. Then I had to run back out to the girls' school to take some stuff that they had forgotten this morning (grrr.) and some stuff that they didn't know that they needed.

I happened to stumble upon this scenario and sat and watched them for a few minutes - just long enough to determine that I am very happy that I do not live in that house. Seriously, watching these guys work was interesting. It's hard to tell from this angle, but that pole was within a couple of feet of the roof of that house. I'm sure that they're professionals and all that, but.....yeah.

A perk of the day was remembering that I didn't have to make supper tonight! *happy dance* There was a preschool function for us to go to where we would be served "stone soup" that was made by the kids. The soup was absolutely delicious - and probably tasted just a smidge better because I didn't have to make it.

But of course we couldn't get through even a 45 minute meal without at least one attitude problem - so once we all got done eating, we piled back into the van and came home and the boys went to bed early. Very early.

Sucks, but I can't deal with them when they act like total spazzes out somewhere. One of these days, they'll figure out that they're not going to get away with it. At least, I hope that they will.

It's times like this that my singleness comes back and slaps me in the face. When we first got there, of course the boys had to go to the bathroom. One at a time. I swear, it was like they plotted against me - as soon as one got done, another one had to go. By the time I got them all taken care of, my soup was lukewarm at best. Then on the way out of the building, they all decided that they wanted to run off in different directions - another reason why they went to bed early.

But still, while being single sucks (at times), I'm also grateful that I'm not in a crappy relationship. I know that there are good guys out there, but I haven't found one yet, and I'm ok with that. For now. Sort of.

Ok, maybe I'm starting to get tired of it. A little. Or a lot.

But I'll live.