It’s been a busy weekend, and it’s not over yet! Preston was up with what I can only describe as night terrors last night. He doesn’t remember anything. Poor Mike slept on his floor for a few hours.  Sadly, Sunday stopped becoming a day of rest for me once I had kids.  On today’s agenda:

• Post office to finally mail out birthday presents that are so late it’s embarrassing!
• Laundry…no kitchen towels and no underwear for P ? Not good.
• Possible trip to Dunham’s to return soccer shin guards and get the right size (sizes are so inconsistent and my boys change so quick that I actually had to buy small, medium and large to figure out which would work!!)
• Possible trip to IKEA to return a lamp shade
• Possible trip to WalFart (blergh) to find some fake but very real looking lemons for a bowl in my kitchen
• Trip across the street to the pond to take some pictures of the boys fishing
• Clean my bathroom
• Hang pictures

What’s on tap for you today?

Case in point, on Saturday, I went golfing with a couple of neighbors.  There was/is a ton of stuff to do around the house – redoing the kitchen and the boys’ rooms has resulted in the cleaning out of rooms, closets and cupboards – which means stuff gets moved from one place to another in the meantime. Which results in a gigantic mess EVERYWHERE.  Add in everyday living and you get a disaster of epic proportions.  I went golfing anyway – and I had a really good time. After, a bunch of us went to dinner, which was also a lot of fun. But nothing got done.

I can’t clean every free moment I have.  I can’t organize every free moment I have.  Because I have these little things called kids. And a husband. And a dog. And a job. So my house is a literal disaster.  Sure, you can say, oh, I’m sure it’s not THAT bad! Honestly though, it is.  And I’m overwhelmed.  We’re trying to get things done before the boys’ birthday party (things I want to get done, but the party gives us a time frame to get them accomplished).

Yet, I am still trying to live and enjoy my boys.  Last night, P and I played Toy Story 3 on the PS3 for a couple of hours and had dinner together (nothing got done) and while we were laughing and cuddling and being silly, it was great. This morning, however, looking around the house, I have a hard time not thinking that I should have been cleaning.  I KNOW it’s more important to spend time with him, but I also am the kind of person that NEEDS a clean house.  Not sparkling, mind you, just picked up and clean.

I need to find a balance.

It’s not going to be today though.  We all slept in and have to leave in a little while to go to the pre-op appointment for P’s surgery next week. Plus we have to pick up drugs for itchy dog.  Add to that, my dad wants to take the boys out on the boat and the weather today is finally going to work for that.  It’s like the day is over before it even begins.

I would love to try the one thing each day (you know, laundry on Sunday, Bathrooms on Monday, etc) but in order to do that, the whole house needs to be clean first.

Balance.  Do they sell that on amazon?

This morning I pulled everything out of my car. Then, being the blogger that I am, decided to share with you the stuff….I give you….the contents of my car!

And just for fun, here are some of the things I found:

1. Plastic dog bowl
2. ONE shoe
3. umbrella (3a=another umbrella)
4. 3 packs of gum, one thing of orange tic tacs (who knows how old those are!)
5. Nuvi
6. packing tape
7. assorted winter and ball caps
8. Map of Michigan that is probably older than both of my kids
9. bag from Cracker Barrel which has forgotten Valentine’s Day presents for the boys in it
10. assorted glasses
11. Random Objects: Change, Kleenex holder (no kleenex), one matchbox car, receipts, a straw, some taco bell mild sauce, not currently used iphone case, various cords.
12. Cases for aforementioned eyeglasses
13. snow scraper
14. eye drops (and ear drops for the dog in another spot)
15. credit card paper rolls that need to be returned to Office Max
16. Reusable grocery bags

Not labeled but there – the blanket all the stuff is sitting on, a bottle of water, a thermos of juice (eww), fake money, gloves, a library book, 2 pens and a pencil, and an old napkin. Of course, having kids, there was also random food stuff – a cracker, wrappers, a petrified timbit. You know, the usual. Plus 2 booster seats, a leash for the dog, shredded paper to take to the recycle bin.

What would you find if you cleaned out YOUR car today?

Finally got the boys to school (late) to find the doors we’re supposed to drop off at locked. Annoying.

Decide to try to talk myself out of bad mood with McDonald’s for breakfast, including one of their lovely McCafe Frappes and very loud Glee music.

McDonald’s drive-thru inexplicably closed; they requested (at the speaker) for people to come in to order. Uh, no. Not getting out of the car.

Had BK for breakfast instead and was wholly unsatisfied.

Finally get into the groove at work – inventory, talking frame lines, discussing how to revamp, what to put on sale, etc. Look at watch and realize I have to go get boys (stupid 1/2 day).

Am late getting to boys. Preston with Latchkey group, Matt no where to be found so I race around the school to find him out front with the principal.

Try to talk boys out of going to my mom’s to have lunch and help her get new printer. No dice. Have very long annoying discussion about eating on the way or eating out with her.

Get lost trying a new way to mom’s house.  (But finally have some laughs while realizing that I suck at directions)

Get to mom’s, go to lunch (late and again, wholly unsatisfying, with boys that are being brats), go get new printer.

Go back to mom’s, setup new printer (thankfully easy), try to remember how to play the piano, listen to the boys try harder.

Still cranky.

Bo gets home, and while the boys are occupied with my mom, I had a nice, adult conversation.

Amazingly, turned my mood right around.  Intelligent conversation as mood booster – who’d a thunk it?!

(Of course, the kids were nuts after we got home again, didn’t listen, etc. But Molly (our old nanny/babysitter) came to visit, so that was nice).

And now, to bed.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

RIGHT?!?!

Today was a kind of rough day for me and I don’t really know why.  Of course there are the usual work-related money things weighing on me heavily, which of course results in home money things weighing on me and Mike, which of course weighs even heavier because Christmas is rapidly approaching and I LOVE to buy and give presents, which of course is difficult with money issues – not impossible, just harder and I have to be more creative.

Plus the boys have been horrible listeners for me lately and they are driving me nuts.  They push and push and push until I finally snap at them and then they apologize and then I feel guilty…I don’t know if it’s the upcoming holiday break, Christmas coming, or just the cold weather and lack of outside time that is causing them to be crazy, but it’s a struggle in the morning AND in the evening at bedtime.  Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day – I’m going to try to adjust my attitude and maybe that will help as well.

Plus my leg has been bothering me today – very twingey, a little sore and slightly swollen feeling all day.  I have my last PT appointment tomorrow, during which I am hoping to get a compression stocking that actually fits and stays up.  I tried to do some exercise yesterday – did 20 minutes of Wii Fit before I felt like I was overdoing it without my stocking on; plus we walked all over the place for a couple hours, then did some baking, so I’m sure it’s just that.  I’ve been doing my own massaging, so hopefully that is helping.

And now that I’ve been whining about everything, enjoying the quiet and aloneness of everyone else being in bed, I’m feeling a wee bit better, as it usually happens.

It’s late, but I think I’ll read some blogs and then head up to bed. The solitary and quiet is hard to find around here sometimes, you know?