Tomorrow

Our plane leaves in 36 hours.  I haven’t packed.  I haven’t cleaned.  I haven’t rented the car.  I haven’t stocked the fridge for the two remaining kids.

I’m scheduled to work for most of the day tomorrow, leaving tomorrow night to get it all done.  I have a plan though. To make it easier on myself, I’m gonna leave out the cleaning.  Yeah, that sounds good.  Link and Chip wouldn’t keep it clean anyway.  They’d more appreciate a stocked fridge. But if I’m honest, that probably won’t get done either, so I’ll just throw a few twenties on the counter before we go.

I’ve done the research on cheap rental cars, but I haven’t pulled the trigger. I’ll do that tomorrow night, since I’m blogging right now, and I’ve already talked myself out of cleaning and shopping, so that’ll free up some time.

The kids and Hubby are in charge of their own packing, so all I have to do is unload my closet and drawers into the remaining spaces of the suitcases.  I’m not high maintenance, at least not in comparison to some people I know, but I do not travel lightly.  I’d rather have too much stuff than wish I had brought a certain something with me.

We’ve arranged for the oldest kids to take us to and from the Metro Link since I don’t want them driving through the city to get to the airport.  We’ll leave the house at 4:30 AM on Friday.  Link chose to do this one.  It’s considered early for most of us, but for him, it’s late at night.  He’ll just go to bed when he gets home.

Only when we’re settled on the plane will I finally feel the stress melt away.  It would help if I was being productive right now, but I’m tired, and I want some ice cream, and the mind-numbing-ness of the computer is too tempting.  Besides I do my best work under pressure.

So tomorrow, you might not see too much of me, because what’s due tomorrow I’ll actually have to do tomorrow.

But…

 

 

 

My Seventh Day

What does working six days in a row get you?

The right to spend your 7th day doin’ what you like!

And what I like is:

1.  Running in my new shoes…..

I still love them!

I’ve only put 13 miles on them in three runs so far, but I’m excited about trying a longer run tomorrow.  I think they’ll treat me well.

2. Baking…..

Banana Muffins

I’ve had bananas in my freezer for a few months now, and this evening I decided it was time to bake with them.  These will stay with the family. They make better breakfasts than pop-tarts.

3. Riding my Shadow.

Me and My Shadow…riding down the river road.

I convinced Hubby to take the day off too, and we traveled to Grafton, Illinois just to ride up and down the Great River Road.  We stopped off for breakfast first, then continued North.  We parked the bikes for a while and walked through the little stores in Grafton.  It’s great to see this little town growing.  Lots of antique stores, wineries, and cafes right along the river.   We headed home in the early afternoon, putting 150 miles on the bikes today.  Haven’t done that since we went to Grumpy’s.

Topped the day off with a quick vacuum of golden hairs, and a bowl of ice cream on the couch!

Gotta love “Saturdays”!

 

At Long Last

So this is what it’s like.

I’d almost forgotten.

I mean, it’s been at least three weeks, since I’ve experienced this, this, …what’s it called?

Oh, yeah.

Weekend!

I’m finally getting a real weekend.

Real to me means two days in a row.

Since I’ve been back from Colorado, I’ve worked 5 days, had 1 off, worked 4 days, had 1 off, worked 3 days and finally… I have two off in a row.

And it has been heavenly.

I finally was able to take Mario school shopping.  Yes, I know.  School has started already.  I’ve never aspired to be Mother of the Year.  I’m just tryin’ to keep us afloat until she can legally take care of herself. In my defense, she had the basics by her first day – a pencil, notebooks, a few folders and a bag to carry it all in.

But now she has the proper attire.  Shorts that come down past her fingertips, jeans that aren’t too short for her ever growing legs, and lotsa t-shirts.  For years I would succumb to cute little outfits that she wanted so bad, but then she’d end up wearing shorts and a t-shirt every day. This year, I told her I would buy her shorts and t-shirts.  And she was happy!

We drove home a few hours later in pouring rain.  You heard that right.  Pouring Rain!  It has not rained since the last time I blogged about it.  Our satellite was out most of the night, the lights were flickering, and I was thrilled about it all.  We received about 1.5 inches, and I’m quite sure the trees and grass guzzled it down. Many of the pine trees in the area are completely brown.  The corn is shriveled and dry.  The grass is…. well, sadly, I think ours isn’t going to make it.  So the rain was a welcome relief.  I spent the stormy night in front of my computer, researching cupcakes for a co-worker’s son’s birthday.  I told her I would bake some, because after all…

I had two days off!

I didn’t want to waste a minute of my second day,  so I woke at 5:30am, hopped on my elliptical (to give my sore ankle a rest), downed some coffee, and got the kids to school by 7:30.  Then I raced to the store to restock the fridge and purchase cupcake supplies.  I was home by 9, ate breakfast, did some laundry, washed my car, scrubbed the floor, and baked the cakes – all before lunch time!

When hubby got back from his business trip, I easily convinced him to go out for a ride.  Last night’s rain made for a beautiful 80 degree day today, and my Shadow was calling. We rode by the lake near our house, and commented on how nobody seems to use it anymore.  It’s sad to see it so empty.  We reminisced (I spelled that right the first try!) about our old camping and boating days, sighed, then got back on the bikes and continued to ride around the county for an hour or so.

I spent the rest of the day making single serve dinners for the kids to heat up. Sloppy Joe meat, Taco meat, and grilled chicken strips. We’re rarely all on the same schedule, so easy to heat meals are great for them.  (Hmmm… maybe I should apply for Mother of the Year. Except that last week we had absolutely no food in the house, so I did this mostly out of guilt…)

I finished up the night decorating the cupcakes.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a 10 year old boy. I’m hoping this one likes dirt and worms.

Then I cozied up on the couch with my computer, my ice cream, and Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the tube.

A perfect “Sunday” night.

 

WARNING

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Be careful what you wish for.

.
Ever since I wrote about the need to earn my couch time – either physically or mentally – I have been given multiple ways to do just that.

After posting that blog I have had 4 very busy, somewhat stressful days at work.  Two of those days were followed by chaotic evenings with errands, kids’ conflicting schedules, homework and a few arguments.  Each night I collapsed on the couch, mentally and physically exhausted, but almost too stressed.  The couch (and ice cream and my computer) worked its magic, however, so by bed time I was relaxed and feeling better.

I expected today to be somewhat relaxing, and was looking forward to it after 4 really long days.  (Sunday I left the house at 5:45am and did not return until 9:30pm, but remember, I wished for “couch earning” time.)
I slept in til 6am and eagerly went for a run – 30 degrees and slightly windy, but not awful.  That’s where the fun ended.  While trying to organize my children’s after school schedules and get them out the door on time, I discovered my #3 son did not have all his homework completed as promised.  **BIG sigh**  I reinforced AGAIN with him that if he’s going to stay after school for all these activities, he MUST finish his homework.  If this can’t be done, then he will be forced to quit one or more of the extra-curriculars.  They left for school, and I buried my head in my hands.  Will this ever get easier?

Then my husband asked me to stop by the tax assessor’s office located in the Courthouse to drop off some papers.  Being very unfamiliar with the courthouse, I was a little hesitant to go, but I did.  Before entering I read through all the offices located in the building to make sure I was in the right place.  I didn’t see it, but entered anyway.  I met the guard right away.

Guard (sternly):  Can I help you?

Me (friendly, hotel clerky like):  I’m looking for the tax assessor’s office.  Am I in the right place?

Guard (sternly): Down the stairs to the right.  Do you have a cell phone on you?

Me (becoming intimidated, not wanting to cause trouble, so still friendly): Yes. Right here. (I show it to him)

Guard (sternly-ER):  Didn’t you see the sign on the door?

Me (scared):  No, Sir.

Guard (disgusted): That big red sign on the door.  The one that says NO cell phones.

Me (scared-er): Oh, I’m sorry… <long pause while I waited to see what I should do> …Um, Should I leave it with you?

Guard (still disgusted and bothered by the trouble I’m causing him): I’m not supposed to hold on to them here.

Me (very apologetic) Oh, okay.  I’ll take it back to my car.

Guard (interrupting me, still with an authoritative tone): But I will hold it this time.

Me (in a ‘forget-it-now’ tone): That’s alright.  I’ll take it out.

Guard (condescendingly):  If you’re going to the tax assessor’s office, you’re going to be in there a long time.

Me: Well, I’ll just come back then.

I go to the car, and text my husband.  “I am not going into a place that is run by asses.  Sorry.”

I brought the papers back home, and related the story to him.

“I don’t think he had the right to talk to me that way,”  I whined to him.

He nodded in agreement, “Yes.  You’re right.  What did he look like?”

The relief I felt was overwhelming.  Not only was he not upset that he would have to turn the papers in himself, but I have a feeling he’s going to address the issue with the guard.

So I happily told him what I could remember of his looks – which wasn’t much because I was afraid to look at the guy, but it doesn’t really matter now.  My husband’s got my back, and I love it.

I continued on with my day in a much better mood.  I got some laundry done, and the grocery shopping done.  I vacuumed the floors and carpooled a few of the kids.  I’m on the couch and feel okay about being here.

And I know life is hard sometimes, but that just makes couch time even sweeter.  I’d much rather have it this way, than not have earned it at all.