At least that's what I keep telling myself at this point.
I admit that I stayed up way too late last night. I got on the phone with a friend and we chatted until close to 1:30am. Knowing that I had to be up at 5:15, I finally got off the phone and laid down, but it was probably close to 2:00am before I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, my oldest daughter came out to get me telling me that the youngest had thrown up. Huh? What? Who are you? In my fog, I staggered back to his room and the smell woke me up instantly, and I realized that it was about 2:45am.
I got him stripped and into the bathtub, as that was the only hope for him at that point, and took his comforter and pajamas and immediately threw them into the washer. I got him into a fresh pair of jammies and put him in bed with me. By this time, it was close to 3:30am.
He fell asleep, but from that point on, he woke up and puked more about every 30-45 minutes. I knew that I still had to get the 3 older kids to school and so around 6:00am I sent a text to their stepmother asking if she could please come and pick them up, as I didn't want to take the chance of him getting sick on the way to or from, and thankfully she agreed.
In the meantime all of the kids were getting up and getting ready, and the 6 year old just didn't look right. Sure enough, he started saying that his stomach hurt. Fine - I made the executive decision to keep him home as well. I got the pancakes made, got everyone fed who wanted to eat, and sent the girls to school with their stepmother. I dozed off and on while the boys played but then had to get up to get the 5 year old to playschool. About this time, the youngest one's diarrhea started. Fun fun.
As we pulled into the playschool parking lot, a car started backing out of a parking space and came within inches of slamming into my door (ironically, the car had PA tags on it) so I slammed on my brakes and hit the horn. I felt the brakes lock up but didn't think too much about it. I pulled up behind the school, took the 5 year old inside, and when I came back out I noticed that both my "brake" light and my "anti-lock" light were lit up on the dash. I turned the van off and back on thinking that might reset them, but no, the lights stayed on while we drove home. The brakes feel ok, I think - I just don't know why the lights won't go off. Add it to the list of repairs.
Now for the rest of the day it's laundry and cleaning to try to get the smell of vomit out of the house, figure out something for supper (as usual), homework, paperwork - I was going to try to do some grocery shopping but I'm not sure if I can do that with Sir Poopsalot, but I need to figure something out. And maybe at some point I can actually take the time to get a shower. Excitement!!!
I wonder when I'll be able to get a full night's sleep.....Let's see, the youngest will be 18 in June 2025 - I think I can hold out that long.
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Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Buy one, get four free...
Yep, it's Wednesday. Wednesdays are notoriously crazy around this house. It is the first night that the older 3 come back here from their dad's house, and they are always fired up.
It started out as a fairly easy day. I got to sleep in a little bit, and I didn't have any extra kids for the day. I also didn't have to go take care of Connie today, so there was no place that I had to be. After I got the 5 year old on the bus to preschool, I decided to take the youngest and go for a walk - after all, if I am going to do this half-marathon in May, I need to really start working for it. The weather was perfect, so we loaded up the stroller and took off.
I had mapped out my route before we left and was aiming for 6.5-7 miles - I wanted to do at least half of a half-marathon. We stopped at the library to drop off some books, stopped at the post office to check the box, and kept going. 6.63 miles later, I turned off the tracker on the phone because I was getting tired and screwing up my pace, and we stopped to get lunch (I got a salad). We came home and I got a shower and cleaned all of the mud off of me (stupid melting snow) and then started getting supper ready while I cleaned up the house.
In the meantime, I got a call from Social Security about my youngest son's benefits that he'll be receiving from his father - luckily that phone call went very smoothly, thanks to my ex-husband's first wife getting the ball rolling for both of us. The same worker is handling both of the boys' cases so she already had a lot of the information that she needed. I am so very thankful to her for giving me the name of the lady that she had spoken with as it made things so much easier.
The older 3 got home around 5:30 and we had about an hour to eat before they had to leave again to go to church with their father and stepmother. They ate (well, 2 out of the 3 did - the third refused because "it was gross") and played out in the front yard with the football until it was time for them to leave. There was some I Can't Find My Shoes and I'm Still Hungry drama, but no more than usual. After they left, I made the 2 younger ones clean up the toys in the living room under the Don't Make Me Get A Trash Bag And Clean Up The Toys Myself threat.
The younger 2 will be going to bed very shortly - early for them - so that I can finish cleaning up the dinner dishes and do some more laundry in addition to the load that I already had to do because the 5 year old's version of playing football was actually more like throwing himself into a mud puddle and rolling around...*sigh*. Then the older 3 will get home, get ready for bed, and go to bed while I continue to clean and do dishes and do laundry and try to do the reading that I have to do to get my daycare license back.
And of course, my body is feeling every inch of the 6.63 miles that I walked today. I've said it before and I'll say it again - ibuprofen is my friend. Hopefully I can walk in the morning, since I have to be up and running at 5:15am to get everyone up and ready so that I can get the older 3 to school on time. Please let me remember to set both of my alarms AND the timer on the coffee pot - I'm going to need all of the help that I can get in the morning.
It started out as a fairly easy day. I got to sleep in a little bit, and I didn't have any extra kids for the day. I also didn't have to go take care of Connie today, so there was no place that I had to be. After I got the 5 year old on the bus to preschool, I decided to take the youngest and go for a walk - after all, if I am going to do this half-marathon in May, I need to really start working for it. The weather was perfect, so we loaded up the stroller and took off.
I had mapped out my route before we left and was aiming for 6.5-7 miles - I wanted to do at least half of a half-marathon. We stopped at the library to drop off some books, stopped at the post office to check the box, and kept going. 6.63 miles later, I turned off the tracker on the phone because I was getting tired and screwing up my pace, and we stopped to get lunch (I got a salad). We came home and I got a shower and cleaned all of the mud off of me (stupid melting snow) and then started getting supper ready while I cleaned up the house.
In the meantime, I got a call from Social Security about my youngest son's benefits that he'll be receiving from his father - luckily that phone call went very smoothly, thanks to my ex-husband's first wife getting the ball rolling for both of us. The same worker is handling both of the boys' cases so she already had a lot of the information that she needed. I am so very thankful to her for giving me the name of the lady that she had spoken with as it made things so much easier.
The older 3 got home around 5:30 and we had about an hour to eat before they had to leave again to go to church with their father and stepmother. They ate (well, 2 out of the 3 did - the third refused because "it was gross") and played out in the front yard with the football until it was time for them to leave. There was some I Can't Find My Shoes and I'm Still Hungry drama, but no more than usual. After they left, I made the 2 younger ones clean up the toys in the living room under the Don't Make Me Get A Trash Bag And Clean Up The Toys Myself threat.
The younger 2 will be going to bed very shortly - early for them - so that I can finish cleaning up the dinner dishes and do some more laundry in addition to the load that I already had to do because the 5 year old's version of playing football was actually more like throwing himself into a mud puddle and rolling around...*sigh*. Then the older 3 will get home, get ready for bed, and go to bed while I continue to clean and do dishes and do laundry and try to do the reading that I have to do to get my daycare license back.
And of course, my body is feeling every inch of the 6.63 miles that I walked today. I've said it before and I'll say it again - ibuprofen is my friend. Hopefully I can walk in the morning, since I have to be up and running at 5:15am to get everyone up and ready so that I can get the older 3 to school on time. Please let me remember to set both of my alarms AND the timer on the coffee pot - I'm going to need all of the help that I can get in the morning.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Reality Check
So I'm going to say it one more time - Valentine's Day sucks.
(Just in case you missed it, be sure to check out yesterday'srant post.)
Today started out ok. I got to sleep in a little bit, which is a rare treat. My 5 year old was brought back home after spending part of the weekend with his father, and we chilled out until it was time to start getting ready for school.
Then I got the mail. Yup. That's when it all started falling to pieces. Getting a letter from the Internal Revenue Service is never a good thing. NEVER. Long story short, apparently my dead ex-husband drained his 401K sometime in 2008 without my knowledge and then filed our taxes together without claiming that money as income. So now there is a nice chunk of money that *I* am responsible for. Really? The IRS lady that I spoke with was actually really nice (except for that horrendous Boston accent that makes my skin crawl every time I hear it) and she was very understanding. But regardless, the money is coming out of *my* tax refund (you know, the money I was planning on surviving on for a little bit), I have to file for Innocent Spouse Relief, and then if I qualify, they'll give me the money back.
Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but you know, I thought that I was done cleaning up his messes. That's what I get for thinking. Whatever. I'll deal with it. I'll clean this one up too.
I did a little bit of shopping today, and for the first time in probably a decade or more I bought myself a pair of pajamas. Yup. Why? Because they were cute and dammit I wanted them. So there. So I am now sitting here sporting my new St. Patrick's Day pajamas and drinking a beer just because I can. Yep. And no one can stop me. Deal with it.
As I've talked to friends and family about my ex's death, I find myself wondering about the What Could Have Been scenario. You know, I always hoped that he would straighten up and be a decent father. I hoped that he would beat the alcoholism. I hoped, I hoped, I hoped. Then I rented "Charlie St. Cloud" tonight and sat here and watched it. I wasn't impressed by the movie as a whole - ok, it wasn't bad...just wasn't fabulous. But throughout the whole movie I kept thinking about how the little boy, Sam, looked like my ex's older son. And he was into baseball, like my ex. And he always wore a Red Sox ball cap, like my ex. One of Sam's last lines in the movie was "no one ever gets to see what could have been". I can sit here and think about all the potential scenarios of how our lives could have been different had we chosen to do things differently, but the point is that I'll never know. I need to stop beating myself up over it. It is what it is.
Now that I have that food for thought, I believe I am going to go crash. I have an early and long day tomorrow, with extra kids in and out and playschool and preschool and working with Connie and cleaning and laundry and all of the other fun stuff that I do on a daily basis. If I sleep now I can get a good 6 hours in before I *have* to get up.
"No one ever gets to see what could have been." I just can't get it out of my head.
(Just in case you missed it, be sure to check out yesterday's
Today started out ok. I got to sleep in a little bit, which is a rare treat. My 5 year old was brought back home after spending part of the weekend with his father, and we chilled out until it was time to start getting ready for school.
Then I got the mail. Yup. That's when it all started falling to pieces. Getting a letter from the Internal Revenue Service is never a good thing. NEVER. Long story short, apparently my dead ex-husband drained his 401K sometime in 2008 without my knowledge and then filed our taxes together without claiming that money as income. So now there is a nice chunk of money that *I* am responsible for. Really? The IRS lady that I spoke with was actually really nice (except for that horrendous Boston accent that makes my skin crawl every time I hear it) and she was very understanding. But regardless, the money is coming out of *my* tax refund (you know, the money I was planning on surviving on for a little bit), I have to file for Innocent Spouse Relief, and then if I qualify, they'll give me the money back.
Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but you know, I thought that I was done cleaning up his messes. That's what I get for thinking. Whatever. I'll deal with it. I'll clean this one up too.
I did a little bit of shopping today, and for the first time in probably a decade or more I bought myself a pair of pajamas. Yup. Why? Because they were cute and dammit I wanted them. So there. So I am now sitting here sporting my new St. Patrick's Day pajamas and drinking a beer just because I can. Yep. And no one can stop me. Deal with it.
As I've talked to friends and family about my ex's death, I find myself wondering about the What Could Have Been scenario. You know, I always hoped that he would straighten up and be a decent father. I hoped that he would beat the alcoholism. I hoped, I hoped, I hoped. Then I rented "Charlie St. Cloud" tonight and sat here and watched it. I wasn't impressed by the movie as a whole - ok, it wasn't bad...just wasn't fabulous. But throughout the whole movie I kept thinking about how the little boy, Sam, looked like my ex's older son. And he was into baseball, like my ex. And he always wore a Red Sox ball cap, like my ex. One of Sam's last lines in the movie was "no one ever gets to see what could have been". I can sit here and think about all the potential scenarios of how our lives could have been different had we chosen to do things differently, but the point is that I'll never know. I need to stop beating myself up over it. It is what it is.
Now that I have that food for thought, I believe I am going to go crash. I have an early and long day tomorrow, with extra kids in and out and playschool and preschool and working with Connie and cleaning and laundry and all of the other fun stuff that I do on a daily basis. If I sleep now I can get a good 6 hours in before I *have* to get up.
"No one ever gets to see what could have been." I just can't get it out of my head.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Valentine's Day sucks.
Anyone who really knows me knows that I absolutely hate Valentine's Day. I find it utterly annoying that people feel that they have to have a certain day to show their love for someone - shouldn't you do this every day?
I mean really - if you're in a relationship and you love someone, shouldn't you show that person every day? Shouldn't you tell him/her every day, even multiple times a day, that you love him/her? Do you really have to have the multi-bajillion dollar greeting card companies tell you when to be affectionate?
OK, so let's say that you actually "celebrate" this day. You do everything that you are supposed to do - the flowers, the card, the chocolate, the fancy dinner - and then on February 15, things go back to normal. But shouldn't the "normal" be special? Don't "normal" days warrant displays of love and affection? Or is it ok to NOT show love to your significant other just because it's not a (made-up) holiday?
So I might be a little bitter about it just because I'm not even in a relationship, so displays of affection for me consist of kisses from my kids and cards made out of construction paper (which I do love), and this day just rubs my singleness in my face. Do I want to be in a relationship right now? Mmmmmm....maybe, maybe not. The jury is still out on that one. I miss having someone around, but I'm also way too independent to have someone around all the time at this point. I do enjoy my singleness (to a point) but at the same time, I miss being part of a couple.
I just get really aggravated with people who go all out for one day each year. I feel like their significant others are getting shafted every other day. Maybe I'm old-fashioned...but I think that maybe if we treated our "special someone" better every other day of the year, a lot of people would be a lot happier. Just sayin'.
Oh, and for the record - I have felt the same way about this day for as long as I can remember - even when I was in a happy relationship. It's not just me being bitter and single. So there.
I mean really - if you're in a relationship and you love someone, shouldn't you show that person every day? Shouldn't you tell him/her every day, even multiple times a day, that you love him/her? Do you really have to have the multi-bajillion dollar greeting card companies tell you when to be affectionate?
OK, so let's say that you actually "celebrate" this day. You do everything that you are supposed to do - the flowers, the card, the chocolate, the fancy dinner - and then on February 15, things go back to normal. But shouldn't the "normal" be special? Don't "normal" days warrant displays of love and affection? Or is it ok to NOT show love to your significant other just because it's not a (made-up) holiday?
So I might be a little bitter about it just because I'm not even in a relationship, so displays of affection for me consist of kisses from my kids and cards made out of construction paper (which I do love), and this day just rubs my singleness in my face. Do I want to be in a relationship right now? Mmmmmm....maybe, maybe not. The jury is still out on that one. I miss having someone around, but I'm also way too independent to have someone around all the time at this point. I do enjoy my singleness (to a point) but at the same time, I miss being part of a couple.
I just get really aggravated with people who go all out for one day each year. I feel like their significant others are getting shafted every other day. Maybe I'm old-fashioned...but I think that maybe if we treated our "special someone" better every other day of the year, a lot of people would be a lot happier. Just sayin'.
Oh, and for the record - I have felt the same way about this day for as long as I can remember - even when I was in a happy relationship. It's not just me being bitter and single. So there.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Craziness....
Yesterday was Friday. I think. Wasn't it? *scratching head*
All I know is that I ran myself ragged yesterday. Up at 5:30, got all 5 kids up and dressed and fed, out the door and into the She-Beast by 7:15am. I dropped the older 3 off at school and then ran about 15 miles up the road to take care of my lady (I need to come up with a name for her. I feel weird calling her "my lady" but I'm trying not to use real names on here. How about if I call her.....oh my gosh I really can't think of a good name....I'll call her Connie. I don't know why, it just popped into my head, but it sounds good) who shall now be called Connie. I got to her place shortly after 8am and got to work doing her laundry and cleaning her bathroom and doing dishes and stuff. The boys were watching movies in her living room and we actually behaving fairly well for a change. Connie's brother came over with a gentleman who was outside shoveling the snow, and this man was nice enough to put more oil into the She-Beast, as I had mentioned that I was praying the whole way to her house that I was going to make it. Stupid oil leak. Anyway, he got the oil out of the back end and filled her up and she ran ok for the rest of the day.
I worked with Connie until just afternoon and then took my 5 year old to school and stopped and got some lunch for me and the 3 year old before heading back up to her house to finish up some things. I stayed there for another hour and a half or so and then we had to head back to pick up the 5 year old (yep, going to come up with names for the kids now too) from school. I ran to the bank, picked him up, went to pick up some pizzas for supper, and ex#1 met me there with the older three kids.
Back home, pizzas in oven, straighten up, eat supper, load up the She-Beast, head back out to the kids' school for a basketball game (which turned out to be 2 games), try to control 5 kids through 2 basketball games, back home, kids to bed, more laundry, more dishes....then I finally crashed.
3:20am today, I woke up with a leg cramp. Not a normal leg cramp either - you know, the ones in the calf that can be easily stretched out. No, this one had to be up the outside of my leg, from my ankle to my knee. I could't stretch it, and since I was in an exhaustion-induced coma, I really couldn't even figure out what was going on. So I wobbled over to the kitchen, slugged down some ibuprofen and a bottle of water, wobbled back to the futon and passed out again.
Woke up at some point this morning and the 5 year old was snuggled in with me. Cool. At least he wasn't trashing the joint - and I fell back asleep. Then the kids started getting up and I noticed that he was gone. And then I noticed the big wet spot on the futon. Then the 6 year old started screaming that the 5 year old pooped on the floor. Oh good God really? REALLY? So I got up and went to investigate. Sure enough....So the 5 year old got a bath and got dressed, I stripped everything off of the futon, started laundry (imagine that) and got breakfast thrown in the oven.
Fed them all...cleaned up most of the mess....kept doing laundry....broke up a few fist fights between the girls over cleaning their room before their father got her....did more laundry...played around online and read a few blogs....started working on this one....
And it's already 12:30. How is it that I've been running non-stop and still feel like I've gotten nothing done yet? But I do have some plans for some things that I do want to get done today - I just need to get some more caffeine into my system first. And maybe some more ibuprofen too.
All I know is that I ran myself ragged yesterday. Up at 5:30, got all 5 kids up and dressed and fed, out the door and into the She-Beast by 7:15am. I dropped the older 3 off at school and then ran about 15 miles up the road to take care of my lady (I need to come up with a name for her. I feel weird calling her "my lady" but I'm trying not to use real names on here. How about if I call her.....oh my gosh I really can't think of a good name....I'll call her Connie. I don't know why, it just popped into my head, but it sounds good) who shall now be called Connie. I got to her place shortly after 8am and got to work doing her laundry and cleaning her bathroom and doing dishes and stuff. The boys were watching movies in her living room and we actually behaving fairly well for a change. Connie's brother came over with a gentleman who was outside shoveling the snow, and this man was nice enough to put more oil into the She-Beast, as I had mentioned that I was praying the whole way to her house that I was going to make it. Stupid oil leak. Anyway, he got the oil out of the back end and filled her up and she ran ok for the rest of the day.
I worked with Connie until just afternoon and then took my 5 year old to school and stopped and got some lunch for me and the 3 year old before heading back up to her house to finish up some things. I stayed there for another hour and a half or so and then we had to head back to pick up the 5 year old (yep, going to come up with names for the kids now too) from school. I ran to the bank, picked him up, went to pick up some pizzas for supper, and ex#1 met me there with the older three kids.
Back home, pizzas in oven, straighten up, eat supper, load up the She-Beast, head back out to the kids' school for a basketball game (which turned out to be 2 games), try to control 5 kids through 2 basketball games, back home, kids to bed, more laundry, more dishes....then I finally crashed.
3:20am today, I woke up with a leg cramp. Not a normal leg cramp either - you know, the ones in the calf that can be easily stretched out. No, this one had to be up the outside of my leg, from my ankle to my knee. I could't stretch it, and since I was in an exhaustion-induced coma, I really couldn't even figure out what was going on. So I wobbled over to the kitchen, slugged down some ibuprofen and a bottle of water, wobbled back to the futon and passed out again.
Woke up at some point this morning and the 5 year old was snuggled in with me. Cool. At least he wasn't trashing the joint - and I fell back asleep. Then the kids started getting up and I noticed that he was gone. And then I noticed the big wet spot on the futon. Then the 6 year old started screaming that the 5 year old pooped on the floor. Oh good God really? REALLY? So I got up and went to investigate. Sure enough....So the 5 year old got a bath and got dressed, I stripped everything off of the futon, started laundry (imagine that) and got breakfast thrown in the oven.
Fed them all...cleaned up most of the mess....kept doing laundry....broke up a few fist fights between the girls over cleaning their room before their father got her....did more laundry...played around online and read a few blogs....started working on this one....
And it's already 12:30. How is it that I've been running non-stop and still feel like I've gotten nothing done yet? But I do have some plans for some things that I do want to get done today - I just need to get some more caffeine into my system first. And maybe some more ibuprofen too.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
*insert catchy title here*
It's Thursday. On Thursdays, I am supposed to have my two youngest boys at playschool at 9:00am. Since my other kids ended up spending the night with their dad because of the weather, I didn't have to get up as early as I typically do on Thursdays, and I think I set my alarm for 7:30. The boys got up and started playing around, and I continued laying on the futon, which was sooooo incredibly comfortable. And warm.
The next thing I knew, it was 8:39am. I had exactly 21 minutes to get them to school, and by God they were going. These mornings are the ONLY times that I have time to myself and I was not giving it up. I grabbed some clothes for them and got them dressed and then took a quick look at myself. Luckily, I generally sleep in sweats, so if I have to I can make a quick public appearance before actually getting dressed. While it's not my preference, it does occasionally happen. I grabbed some fruit snacks for them to eat on the way and we took off out the door.
I got them to school at 9:05 and was feeling quite pleased with myself for being close to on time, and I went back home. When I got out of the She-Beast, I slammed the door and turned around to walk to the door, and as I did, I bumped into a low-hanging branch on the neighbor's tree. Snow immediately dumped down the back of my bare neck and started melting down inside the back of my shirt. I bolted for the house, got inside, and was in the shower in about 2.5 seconds.
So began my day. I did manage to get my legs shaved with no bloodshed, which was definitely a plus...
I got out of the shower and got dressed and within moments there was a knock at my door. I wasn't expecting anyone and there was not a car in the driveway, so I cautiously opened my door. It was my neighbor lady, who apologetically asked if she could come inside, as she had locked her keys in her car and couldn't get back into her house. She had her cell phone with her so she had called her son to get him to at least let her back into her house and then she was calling her roadside assistance people to get the keys out of her car. We sat and visited for a while before her son arrived and she went back home.
Another knock at the door. What the.....? I opened up and it was the lady from the health department who was here to do the next portion of the inspection for my daycare licensing. Needless to say, I haven't done much of anything over the past week, so I now have a list of things that I *must* do this week.
She left exactly 5 minutes before I had to leave to go get the boys. So much for my me-time. Grrr. I went to get them and then hurried back home so that the 5 year old could get on the bus for preschool. The plan was for me and my youngest to leave as soon as he got on the bus - normally at about 11:20am - so that we could head up the road to work for the lady that I try to work for a few times per week. We waited for his bus, and at about 11:30 I called the school, only to find out that the busses weren't running today. Gee, thanks for letting me know that - NOT. So I told them that he wasn't going to be at school today, as I had plans that I had to get to, and since I DIDN'T KNOW that the busses weren't running, my plans were already screwed up enough.
We ran across town to get gas and some lunch for the boys, and his bus driver called me - she was following me and recognized the She-Beast (who wouldn't?) and was giving me a hard time, but also informed me that the busses weren't running again tomorrow. Ugh. Mess up my day some more, will you?
Anyway, we got gas, got lunch, and headed up to my lady's house. The boys watched a movie and ate lunch while I did some of her laundry and cleaned up around the house a bit. She has spent the past few months in either the hospital or a nursing home and so there is quite a bit of cleaning to do, but she is a lot of fun to work with and I enjoy going to see her.
Once I got done with her, we headed back home to wait for the older 3 to get home from school. Once they did and I visited with their father about stuff (Picture day is tomorrow. I have to take them to a basketball game tomorrow night. Weekend schedule. Homework stuff. Valentine crap.) we started on supper and homework and Valentines. I *hate* Valentine's Day. Always have, even when I wasn't single. But being single just makes me hate it even more. It is annoying. And why on Earth is my 6 year old's VD party tomorrow, when VD actually falls on Monday? Why do I have to deal with helping him fill out these stupid little cards today, when he should have all weekend to do it? Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Bath for the 5 year old, who once again pooped in his pants. Supper. Homework. Bath for the youngest. Valentine crap. Laundry. Dishes. Cleaning. Change the 5 year old into a different pair of pajamas because he pooped in the first pair. Send the 5 year old to bed. Send everyone else to bed. Take some time to type out this mindless drivel.
Now, it's almost 10pm. I still have to pack lunches, empty the dishwasher, pick up toys in the living room, I think there's a load of laundry that needs to be folded, not to mention actually washing the poopy load (it already went through the pre-soak cycle), do some paperwork, try to do some of the reading that I have to do for the daycare licensure, make sure all the backpacks are ready to go for tomorrow morning, and gather up whatever we need to take to my lady's house because I'm taking the younger two up there to work some more in the morning after we drop the older 3 off at school.
Yep. I need a clone. I really do. But then again, it would probably end up like that movie.....I don't remember the name of it, but I think the guy cloned himself, but the clone wasn't quite "right" and so he had to constantly clean up after the clone, and the clone's clone, etc etc etc. That was a movie, right?
Good grief I need sleep.
The next thing I knew, it was 8:39am. I had exactly 21 minutes to get them to school, and by God they were going. These mornings are the ONLY times that I have time to myself and I was not giving it up. I grabbed some clothes for them and got them dressed and then took a quick look at myself. Luckily, I generally sleep in sweats, so if I have to I can make a quick public appearance before actually getting dressed. While it's not my preference, it does occasionally happen. I grabbed some fruit snacks for them to eat on the way and we took off out the door.
I got them to school at 9:05 and was feeling quite pleased with myself for being close to on time, and I went back home. When I got out of the She-Beast, I slammed the door and turned around to walk to the door, and as I did, I bumped into a low-hanging branch on the neighbor's tree. Snow immediately dumped down the back of my bare neck and started melting down inside the back of my shirt. I bolted for the house, got inside, and was in the shower in about 2.5 seconds.
So began my day. I did manage to get my legs shaved with no bloodshed, which was definitely a plus...
I got out of the shower and got dressed and within moments there was a knock at my door. I wasn't expecting anyone and there was not a car in the driveway, so I cautiously opened my door. It was my neighbor lady, who apologetically asked if she could come inside, as she had locked her keys in her car and couldn't get back into her house. She had her cell phone with her so she had called her son to get him to at least let her back into her house and then she was calling her roadside assistance people to get the keys out of her car. We sat and visited for a while before her son arrived and she went back home.
Another knock at the door. What the.....? I opened up and it was the lady from the health department who was here to do the next portion of the inspection for my daycare licensing. Needless to say, I haven't done much of anything over the past week, so I now have a list of things that I *must* do this week.
She left exactly 5 minutes before I had to leave to go get the boys. So much for my me-time. Grrr. I went to get them and then hurried back home so that the 5 year old could get on the bus for preschool. The plan was for me and my youngest to leave as soon as he got on the bus - normally at about 11:20am - so that we could head up the road to work for the lady that I try to work for a few times per week. We waited for his bus, and at about 11:30 I called the school, only to find out that the busses weren't running today. Gee, thanks for letting me know that - NOT. So I told them that he wasn't going to be at school today, as I had plans that I had to get to, and since I DIDN'T KNOW that the busses weren't running, my plans were already screwed up enough.
We ran across town to get gas and some lunch for the boys, and his bus driver called me - she was following me and recognized the She-Beast (who wouldn't?) and was giving me a hard time, but also informed me that the busses weren't running again tomorrow. Ugh. Mess up my day some more, will you?
Anyway, we got gas, got lunch, and headed up to my lady's house. The boys watched a movie and ate lunch while I did some of her laundry and cleaned up around the house a bit. She has spent the past few months in either the hospital or a nursing home and so there is quite a bit of cleaning to do, but she is a lot of fun to work with and I enjoy going to see her.
Once I got done with her, we headed back home to wait for the older 3 to get home from school. Once they did and I visited with their father about stuff (Picture day is tomorrow. I have to take them to a basketball game tomorrow night. Weekend schedule. Homework stuff. Valentine crap.) we started on supper and homework and Valentines. I *hate* Valentine's Day. Always have, even when I wasn't single. But being single just makes me hate it even more. It is annoying. And why on Earth is my 6 year old's VD party tomorrow, when VD actually falls on Monday? Why do I have to deal with helping him fill out these stupid little cards today, when he should have all weekend to do it? Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Bath for the 5 year old, who once again pooped in his pants. Supper. Homework. Bath for the youngest. Valentine crap. Laundry. Dishes. Cleaning. Change the 5 year old into a different pair of pajamas because he pooped in the first pair. Send the 5 year old to bed. Send everyone else to bed. Take some time to type out this mindless drivel.
Now, it's almost 10pm. I still have to pack lunches, empty the dishwasher, pick up toys in the living room, I think there's a load of laundry that needs to be folded, not to mention actually washing the poopy load (it already went through the pre-soak cycle), do some paperwork, try to do some of the reading that I have to do for the daycare licensure, make sure all the backpacks are ready to go for tomorrow morning, and gather up whatever we need to take to my lady's house because I'm taking the younger two up there to work some more in the morning after we drop the older 3 off at school.
Yep. I need a clone. I really do. But then again, it would probably end up like that movie.....I don't remember the name of it, but I think the guy cloned himself, but the clone wasn't quite "right" and so he had to constantly clean up after the clone, and the clone's clone, etc etc etc. That was a movie, right?
Good grief I need sleep.
One of those days
We've all had them - those days where nothing goes right, or nothing gets done, or it's constant chaos, or whatever. Today is more of an "off" day than a "those" day for me...
I think it started at about 1am last night. I was on the phone with a friend, talking about the events of the past week and analyzing things with him - he's always good at giving me a long-distance smack upside the head when I need it, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Anyway, while we were talking, my 5 year old got up out of bed and came out to the living room with "the look" on his face. About a nano-second later, he started puking all over the living room floor. I hung up on my friend and grabbed a trash can to catch any remaining spewage and then got him cleaned up. He seemed to be fine, so we changed his clothes, he brushed his teeth, and went back to bed. I got the mess cleaned up and called my friend back to continue our late-night counseling session.
I finally got to bed around 3am, thankful that the weather had cancelled any plans that we might have had for the day, but bummed that it meant that my older three wouldn't be coming back home - but I'd rather have them stay safe at their father's house than risk driving out here with a foot of snow on the roads. The boys woke me up around 8am and I laid around for a while before I finally decided to get up. I made breakfast for us (double chocolate chip muffins)(out of a box) and then decided that we were going to go outside to play in the snow.
We recently got some hand-me-down clothes from a friend and there was a pair of snow boots in there that would fit my youngest, but I didn't have a pair for the 5 year old. I thought for a minute and then remembered that I had put a bag of shoes (also HMD's) in the garage when we moved, and I thought that there might be some boots in there. So, in order to get into the garage, I had to fire up the She-Beast, back her up about 5 feet away from the garage door, clear the snow away from the base of the door, pry the door open with the shovel, clear away some more snow, pry some more, and finally opened the door. I found the bag of shoes, and whaddya know - the boots were in there! I did a little happy dance and went back into the house clutching my new find.
Of course, in order to actually go outside, I had to get both boys dressed, put on their snow pants, put on their boots, get their coats on, then hats, then gloves, then make them stand around and wait while I put on a second pair of socks, my boots, my coat, a hat, and gloves. Then we could finally go outside. We had exactly 12" of beautiful white powder on the ground - more than I've seen at one time (that I can remember) in the 13+ years that I've lived in Kansas, so I was having a ball! I love snow - but only when it's "real" snow, which I define as a minimum of 12". We played around in the snow and I took a bunch of pictures and then we went back around front so that I could shovel the sidewalks.
I'm not sure why I bother with shoveling. I mean really, no one else does it. I've never bothered with it. But for some reason, after moving into this house, I've been shoveling. It is good exercise - and it is good stress relief. But I can already tell that I'll be feeling it later.
Once we got done playing around outside, we came in and I started uploading the pictures that I had taken. I got a nice hot shower and changed into my official Domestic Goddess Attire - sweats, tshirt, and sweatshirt. The rest of the day up until now has been more of the usual - the never-ending laundry, picking up toys, straightening up, doing dishes, etc etc etc...
But at the same time I've also been processing a lot of things in my head. I've been doing a little bit of online research into some ways to help me to reach the goals that I have, and although I wouldn't say that I'm feeling motivated, I'm at least starting to formulate some plans in my head. My next step will be to get those plans down on paper (or better yet into a document on the computer so that I don't lose the paper) so that I can figure out how to put them into action. My biggest thing right now is getting the house cleaned up - I bought and installed an 8' shelf in my laundry room yesterday, which is helping immensely, but I really just need to get moving - I bet if I seriously focused for one day (or even one long evening), I could have this place done the way that I want it to be done. And then once the house is clean and organized, I'll feel like I can concentrate on the other stuff.
So tonight's plan - find food for the kids (which might involve going out to get a pizza, just so that I can fire up the She-Beast for a while and keep her warm and fuzzy) and then start REALLY working on cleaning up and organizing. If I can get them into bed no later than 9pm, I can easily clean for 3-4 hours and really get a bunch done.
And now that I put it out here for the world to see (or at least my 20-something stalkers) I have no choice but to do it. Yep. It's all a part of the plan......
I think it started at about 1am last night. I was on the phone with a friend, talking about the events of the past week and analyzing things with him - he's always good at giving me a long-distance smack upside the head when I need it, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Anyway, while we were talking, my 5 year old got up out of bed and came out to the living room with "the look" on his face. About a nano-second later, he started puking all over the living room floor. I hung up on my friend and grabbed a trash can to catch any remaining spewage and then got him cleaned up. He seemed to be fine, so we changed his clothes, he brushed his teeth, and went back to bed. I got the mess cleaned up and called my friend back to continue our late-night counseling session.
I finally got to bed around 3am, thankful that the weather had cancelled any plans that we might have had for the day, but bummed that it meant that my older three wouldn't be coming back home - but I'd rather have them stay safe at their father's house than risk driving out here with a foot of snow on the roads. The boys woke me up around 8am and I laid around for a while before I finally decided to get up. I made breakfast for us (double chocolate chip muffins)(out of a box) and then decided that we were going to go outside to play in the snow.
We recently got some hand-me-down clothes from a friend and there was a pair of snow boots in there that would fit my youngest, but I didn't have a pair for the 5 year old. I thought for a minute and then remembered that I had put a bag of shoes (also HMD's) in the garage when we moved, and I thought that there might be some boots in there. So, in order to get into the garage, I had to fire up the She-Beast, back her up about 5 feet away from the garage door, clear the snow away from the base of the door, pry the door open with the shovel, clear away some more snow, pry some more, and finally opened the door. I found the bag of shoes, and whaddya know - the boots were in there! I did a little happy dance and went back into the house clutching my new find.
Of course, in order to actually go outside, I had to get both boys dressed, put on their snow pants, put on their boots, get their coats on, then hats, then gloves, then make them stand around and wait while I put on a second pair of socks, my boots, my coat, a hat, and gloves. Then we could finally go outside. We had exactly 12" of beautiful white powder on the ground - more than I've seen at one time (that I can remember) in the 13+ years that I've lived in Kansas, so I was having a ball! I love snow - but only when it's "real" snow, which I define as a minimum of 12". We played around in the snow and I took a bunch of pictures and then we went back around front so that I could shovel the sidewalks.
I'm not sure why I bother with shoveling. I mean really, no one else does it. I've never bothered with it. But for some reason, after moving into this house, I've been shoveling. It is good exercise - and it is good stress relief. But I can already tell that I'll be feeling it later.
Once we got done playing around outside, we came in and I started uploading the pictures that I had taken. I got a nice hot shower and changed into my official Domestic Goddess Attire - sweats, tshirt, and sweatshirt. The rest of the day up until now has been more of the usual - the never-ending laundry, picking up toys, straightening up, doing dishes, etc etc etc...
But at the same time I've also been processing a lot of things in my head. I've been doing a little bit of online research into some ways to help me to reach the goals that I have, and although I wouldn't say that I'm feeling motivated, I'm at least starting to formulate some plans in my head. My next step will be to get those plans down on paper (or better yet into a document on the computer so that I don't lose the paper) so that I can figure out how to put them into action. My biggest thing right now is getting the house cleaned up - I bought and installed an 8' shelf in my laundry room yesterday, which is helping immensely, but I really just need to get moving - I bet if I seriously focused for one day (or even one long evening), I could have this place done the way that I want it to be done. And then once the house is clean and organized, I'll feel like I can concentrate on the other stuff.
So tonight's plan - find food for the kids (which might involve going out to get a pizza, just so that I can fire up the She-Beast for a while and keep her warm and fuzzy) and then start REALLY working on cleaning up and organizing. If I can get them into bed no later than 9pm, I can easily clean for 3-4 hours and really get a bunch done.
And now that I put it out here for the world to see (or at least my 20-something stalkers) I have no choice but to do it. Yep. It's all a part of the plan......
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