Just As Busy

I realize that I tend to write in my blog when I am at the end. The final straw when I can't even complain to Brian any more. Not that Brian wants to hear the complaints during the day anyway. He of the compartmentalized brain. So I write. I get it out and sound pathetic. I know I feel pathetic. But it does tide me over until the next time.

I am feeling better even though my life is just as busy as it has been:

• I take Lily to school every day by 7:40am. When I follow my "schedule", I usually get her there by 7:30am. A huge accomplishment. Of course, it has taken me a whole year to figure out how the morning has to go in order to get it done. She has to have her backpack, her folder signed (even though the teacher never writes a single thing in it), be appropriately dressed for weather, presentably groomed and fed. Like her mother, Lily is hard to wake up, slow to get moving and cranky in the morning. She would rather sleep. Except of course, on Saturdays, when she could sleep in, but doesn't.
• When we arrive back home, the other 3 children (and the stupid dog) want their breakfasts. Reagan and Darcy start out at each other's throats and it does not stop until one of them is in bed. Reagan requires more sleep and is usually back in bed for a morning nap no later than 9:30am. That goes for Bubba. That just leaves me and Darcy.
• I try to stay on top of laundry. Day-by-day, it is completely doable. Some days I am very accomplished and even manage to iron the few things that may have ended up in the laundry. I feel like I am on top of the world on those days. I do set my timer lots of times a la FlyLady and that really helps me stay on task, especially when I am doing something I don't want to do. That technique did help me to organize my out-of-order, overwhelming closet over a period of a few days by working for 20 minutes at a time.
• Then there's lunch for 3 little people again. Bubba doesn't really like baby food. He either nurses or eats big people food. I try to clean up the kitchen as I go from meals, but it's hard because someone is always demanding my attention, or I'm trying to do something else.
• Pick up Lily. Picking up is worse than dropping off. No matter what time I get there, I'm going to be waiting in line for 15 minutes. I have learned to accept it. Not really. I just know there isn't anything that can be done about it. Most of the time, she is not glad to see me. She wanted someone else to pick her up. As if I want to sit in the truck for 15 minutes (or more) and wait while listening to Reagan and Darcy literally arguing about the color of the sky.
• Back home and make everyone go to bed. All the people must lie (lay?) down for a nap after school. Every.single.day someone asks if they can "go all day and not take a snooze". And the answer is always no. I can tell within 2 minutes of Lily in the car that Miss Fussypants needs a nap if she wants to continue living in the same world as me. As usual, Lily is next to impossible to wake up after nap.
• On Monday, this schedule is suspended because my girls become Dancing Girls and someone is taking a dance class from 2:45pm until 4:30pm. I usually make them lay (lie?) down when we get home anyway.

Most nights, my husband does prefer I cook dinner. Lots of times dinner doesn't even cross my mind until about 3:30 and then I remain confused as to what I'm going to do. I really don't want to do anything. I want to live in a world where I am not the party responsible for making the menu, buying the groceries, cooking the food or the majority of the time, cleaning it up.

I haven't mentioned the fact that we are in outage right now which means my husband who usually works 4-10s is now working 6 or 7-12s. He's not around to get help get the kids up, loaded and unloaded at Saturday morning soccer games. Or Sunday morning church. I am finding I am much more capable than I give myself credit. But I am totally lazy.

I haven't mentioned trying to keep my Close To My Heart business afloat when I never allot time to work on it or even prepare very well for my classes. I always wait until the last minute and then I am very sad and unprepared. My creative process is very time consuming. Living on the edge is no way to live.

I have recently signed up to become an ombudsman for nursing home residents in my area. I begin my training next month to be certified by the state as an advocate for the elderly. I really don't have time, but I think this kind of work would be wonderful for me. I think I would really be good at it. I have even signed up to be a part of the homebound ministry at our church. This is not a ministry that gets a lot of press like nursery duty or Awana verse-listeners, but I think it is every bit as important. I am just waiting for the outage to be over so I can go back to my regularly scheduled life.

And next weekend, I am going to see Auntie Jo. Alone. With no kids. Not even Bubba. *sigh* That's going to be da bomb diggity. Feel free to be so jealous.

So, definitely busy, but better.