All in a Days Work

Okay, so it was two days, but who's counting.

It all started here with a dramatic outburst from Mark. The little ones and I came home for a bit and went to the gym. I was TIRED from staying up too late for the umpteenth night in a row, but I thought I was holding it all together pretty well, until the one of the child care girls (really nice girl) said, "You look like you are having a rough morning." I never have been able to hide my feelings from people. I just smiled and said "Thank goodness for you girls!" I told her that if Ben got fussy not to hesitate to come get me as he has a pretty bad diaper rash and it might bother him if he gets wet. And off I went

10:15 work out, sweat, and in general forget about everything for just a little bit. This is why I go to the gym, well that and the whole weight loss thing, but the forgetting part is a really big deal to me!

11:30 Leave the gym and head to the tile store to pick up the rest of the tile. Drive home hoping that this isn't too much weight for the van to handle. Arrive at my neighborhood, realizing Ben is asleep and Zack is alllllllmost asleep too. A tandem nap situation being very, very appealing, I decide to drive for just a little bit. Somehow while driving, Zack woke Ben up, so home I went.

12:30 Feed the kids.

1:00 Put Ben down for a nap.

1:15 Attempt to get something done around here. Do the dishes, and wipe down kitchen counters and then realize Zack has found the moon sand and it's ALL over my floor. Which is made of concrete at the moment. Not as if that makes moon sand harder to clean up, but I find it necessary to mention my floor is currently CONCRETE as often as possible right now.

1:30 Continue to try to clean up, and successfully get the living room cleaned up. I don't vacuum right now, because seriously, it would just have to be done again later this afternoon again.

1:45 Try to relax for a few minutes and put on a cartoon for Zack. Realize that there is moon sand! on the brand new tile! that Kevin had just laid the night before and remind myself that I MUST clean it off before it gets in the spaces since it's not grouted yet.

2:00 Realize there is no way in the world that Zack is going to sit still and/or let me have a second to relax, so I play with him.

2:30 Realize I never ate lunch and make myself a swiss cheese & tomato sandwich and a very large glass of diet coke. Ahhhh.

2:45 Prepare myself mentally for the big boys to arrive home. Hope that Mark is in a MUCH better mood than he was in the morning.

3:00 Big boys run through the door, about the same time that Ben wakes up. I go through school stuff, to see if there is anything I need to fill out, or sign, or whatever so I don't have to remember later.

3:15 Make muffins for snack at Mark's request. I have 3 helpers. They take turns stirring and life is good.

3:30 Realize I never cleaned the moonsand off the new tile, and get the vacuum out again to do that. I was thinking about also vacuuming the living room now when Zack starts screaming and Eric starts yelling "ZACK'S BLEEEEEEEEEEEDING." I hurry to find out why Zack is bleeding and learn that while I was vacuuming he went in my bathroom and got my razor. I bandage him up and count how many hours until bedtime.

4:00 Decide I'm not going to fold the laundry in the dryer just yet, and instead throw it in the laundry basket and put the washer load in the dryer and a new load in the washer.

4:30 Make one more last ditch effort to clean up, ultimately giving up because it was time to make dinner.

5:00 Prepare taco salad in relative peace. Thank you Noggin.

5:30 Get dinner on the table just as the hubby walks in. Take a deep breath and eat. After, getting up 5000 million times for things I forgot, drinks, etc.

6:00 get the baby ready for bed, change my shirt as it had some sort of goo on it, and run out the door for curriculum night.

6:30 Realize that compared to the other parents, I look dishevelled and wonder if I remembered to put lip gloss on. Also realize that I have mortar on my foot and I'm wearing sandals. Aren't I cute? AND I forgot my pen and paper to take notes if need be, and there's a website I want to write down. Remind myself to write the teacher a note to ask for the url... then realize I can probably google it.

Curriculum night ruled. I love the teachers and staff at this school. Everyone who spoke seemed truly excited about teaching kids. It made me happy. And being alone in a room with adults. Lovely.

7:30 Roll back in the door feeling very relaxed and ready to do the bedtime routine.

7:45 Kids are in jammies (it was a non bath night... we do baths every other day unless circumstances warrant more) we say prayers and I follow the three big ones to their beds. I tuck in, hug and kiss, sing a song and make my exit. Eric complains that he isn't breathing well, but his cough sounds suspiciously fake to me and I don't hear wheezing. I tell him that I will check on him in an hour to see if he needs the nebulizer. This placates him for now. As I walk out of the room Ben starts screaming. I get him settled and just then the power.goes.out. Then it comes back on. Mark flips out because it was DARK and he was SCARED. I work on calming him down and telling him his nightlight was on again, so he didn't need to be afraid anymore. He asks "Well what if it goes out AGAIN?" I told him we have flashlights close by and I will bring one up to him if the lights go out again. This really only makes him feel a little better but we talk and I can finally leave. An HOUR after I started bedtime they are finally almost asleep. Except Eric is now coughing for real and wheezing. So down he comes for a neb. treatment. THEN, finally I was done.

9:00 Come downstairs and help Kevin with tile. Or watch and occasionally check tiles for levelness. That's about the extent of my tiling ability.

10:30 Stand very quietly and still while Kevin realizes there is a mistake in the centering of the tile and he needs to pull up what he's worked on the previous two evenings RIGHT away. I soak the pulled off tiles in the tub and scrub and scrape the dried mortar off while he scrapes mortar off of the floor.

Sometime after midnight I fall into bed and crash like you wouldn't believe.


To Be Continued.