New Priorities

Of all the things I prioritized that need to get done, I opt to do something that wasn't even on the list until today. In the past, I have created treasure hunts for my sweetP. Now sweetE is old enough to try one too. So I have been planning a two sided version so both boys will be active participants. These treasure hunts are rapidly becoming those treasured childhood memories we all strive to give our children. I have the photos ready for sweetE's half and the word cards printed for sweetP. I have the treasure, but then I didn't have anything to hide it in. Hence my new priority.

Since I plan to continue creating these hunts for the boys for years to come, I needed a treasure box. I didn't want to go to the store and try to find one. So I decided I needed to make one. For this hunt. Today. New priority. So I have spent the evening covering a shoebox in Elmer's glue, shredded and crumpled lunch bags and gold paint mixed with more Elmer's. My original plan for this evening was to continue organizing and cleaning my room (formerly referred to as the pit of despair and currently on the priority list). But here I am getting gluey to add to the magical quality of tomorrow or Sunday's treasure hunt. All I have left to do is put a coat of sealant over the whole thing and Wa-laa, the golden treasure box. And make a treasure map. And hide the treasure where X marks the spot. And maybe work on that other priority list.

But it will all be worth it when the boys race off excited to find their treasure (Star Wars Lego figures!) in the new treasure box. And at least for a little while I will be "the best mom in the whole world" and all those not so great mommy moments from this crazy week will be forgotten. And one day when they are old (in their 20's or 30's) and they are reminiscing, it will be the treasure hunt that they remember, not that we all had a grouchy week and were snarky with each other.

Contagious Cranky

Have you ever noticed that the state of being cranky is contagious? When you are around someone that is just plain out of sorts, it rubs off on you. Then you rub off on everyone else, until you run into someone that is in too good of a mood to ruin. Then sometimes they can even snap you out of it. When I have a headache I am living on the edge anyway. So then even normal amounts of whining and fighting will tip the scales and look out cranky boys, mommy's had enough.

Today was one of those days where all the little things were off. I went to grab my keys off the counter and they fell on the floor. I went out to go to the store with the wrong keys. I couldn't find the stool I wanted to buy for the bathroom. My head hurt. My sweetE has developed the most obnoxious fake cry. But he does it so sincerely and so often. My sweetP went off the deep end more times that an Olympic diver today. It was just a terrible, very bad, no good kind of day. And it rained. Rain is good, except when a much anticipated playdate at the park has to be canceled.

I wonder why some days I am like a duck and all the foul energy just rolls right off and other days I am a sponge and seem to soak it all in. (Not the headache days, those make perfect sense. People in pain are generally more grouchy.) So here is hoping that tomorrow is the opposite of today. To duckiness!

Jinx

It never fails. Whenever I go a long stretch without a headache, as soon as I notice and think that I must be doing something right. Boom. I get one. And so now I have one.

Another Productive Day?

So another day has come and gone and I feel like there is little to show for it. The problem is that I start the summer with grand plans of all that I will get accomplished and then just end up getting one thing crossed off the list before I have to go back to work. Usually that one thing is getting the latest edition of Harry Potter read. Maybe it is a good thing that this is the last year I will have that on my to do list.

This year I have a few must get done items. The top of the list is the fort that I have promised the boys I will build. With their "help" of course. I have a book, with complete directions, a materials list and pictures. But still, I am building a structure. Exciting, but daunting. It doesn't help that I feel the need to modify the fort to fit our backyard better. Big, big project, not so much free time. I am ordering supplies next week.

Next up is the remodel of our house, phase one. The turning of the stairs. But once we turn the stairs, the new floors have to go in. So now I have to balance the frugal side of me with the can we please just get it done and pay someone side of me. Verdict: Stairs, we pay, floors, we do ourselves. Thank goodness for floating floors.

Then there are the favorites books. Last year I made a book for my sweetP of all of his favorite things at age 5. I loved it, so this year I need to do it again. Oh, but sweetE needs one too. So two books that show the things they love at this age. I realized last year I was forgetting too much.

And lastly, poor sweetE needs his quilt finished. In my ongoing attempts to prevent him from suffering too much second child syndrome, I am sewing him a quilt. SweetP got one before he was born. I love it. It is special and he is special. SweetE didn't get one, but he is still special. So I am making my first quilt and when you work, parent, live and survive that is not an easy task to get completed. Especially when your room is the pit of despair. It needs to finish being organized before I can get anything properly done in there. So that is also on my must get done list for this summer.

Wish me luck, boy am I going to need it. I remember when just getting a shower was all I needed to feel productive. Lest you think I am complaining, I love the majority of the minutes I share with my boys (potty training aside). They just make it more challenging to be productive. I'll try again tomorrow.

Miss Me?

So now that the end of the school year has happened and I have had a week to attempt to recuperate, I can write in my blogs again. But tonight, it is late and I am tired and I have a great case of writers block. AKA I can't think of anything witty to say. So good night.

Forgetful

I had a great topic for my blog earlier today. I have no idea what it was now. I feel like I am getting dementia. If I don't write it down immediately or do the task when I think of it, I forget. The frustrating part is that I used to have a great memory. I never had to write anything down. Now it only seems like I can remember the things that I don't need to, like useless trivia.

It doesn't help that I have been in class for three straight days and my cup runneth over. I realized that I am really only good for about a half of a day and then bam, I'm done. So by the end of the day today, I was pretty loopy. But I say some funny things. While complaining about how slow things are going, I said. "This river needs some rapids." Which to the other loopy people at the table was pretty funny. Less funny now.

I was also reminded of how every class has people that fill all the stereotypical roles. There are the over eager people that irritate the rest of us. There were several of those, and they tend to make things take longer, much, much longer. There are the hams, most likely out of boredom and to entertain themselves as much as everyone else. There are the jokesters, who will say or do anything to amuse themselves. The difference between hams and jokesters is that the hams are generally on task, but when given the chance they perform and jokesters are just out for the entertainment, regardless of what else is going on. And the sponges, those people who just sit and suck it all in. They don't add to what is going on, they just absorb. They are generally excellent note takers.

And while I am as competitive as the best of them, there comes a point when I just stop caring. Today had that moment on redial. But tomorrow I get to go back to my normal life and routine. Yeah! I did jot down ideas of what I might use, so the time was not a complete waste, but like most other things, I think it could have been accomplished a lot faster. I'd tell you what those ideas were, but I forgot. It is a good thing I wrote them down, on a piece of paper, it is yellow, in my bag, somewhere. I'll find it, eventually.

Weekend Blur

Weekends in general seem to fly by so much faster than weekdays. This weekend was particularly bad. I was very productive. I got numerous errands done, several very small but important things crossed off the to do list and got to spend quality time with the boys. Still, my weekends are a one horse town and it seems like most of the time I blink and miss it.

It seems like no good adventure ends easily in our house. After an exhausting (if there was air conditioning, we couldn't tell) afternoon watching the boys run like wild ones through a habitrail for children, we had an injury. A show stopping, great story later, but don't know it now, injury. My sweetP comes back with all of his buddies with a gusher of a head wound. Lucky me. It is a good thing it was me and not Ducky (who tends to over-react) who happened to be the parent in charge of the sweetP. So off we rush to the front to find a restroom and see just how bad it is. Fortunately, I have dealt with head wounds before and know they can seem oh so much worse than they really are. It is very handy to have a former EMT next door to teach you these things, so you don't rush off to the ER when you really don't need to.

In the end, after the blood is washed off, his hand, his hair, his forehead, (I told you it was a gusher) it is just a little puncture wound and good bump. The manager of the habitrail is hovering, making sure that I am not going to flip out, but also produces a bag of ice to help make it better. So we head home to two Tylenol and a Spiderman cold pack and soon life returned to normal. The up side for me, whenever there is an injury, they love to cuddle. Lucky me. My sweetP is fine and back to his usual mostly sweet self.

Guilty Pleasure

So I skipped my book club discussion so I could go shopping. I have two upcoming weddings to attend and no cute, flattering outfit to wear to either of them. When the opportunity to go shopping sans children arose, I had to jump for it. The mere thought of being able to try on clothing without having one cute child open the door before I am fully dressed or having to dash out to capture said cute child. It was meant to be. I got a cute outfit for me and one for each of the cute boys. It was the most successful shopping adventure I have had in a long, long time.

However, I have residual guilt. I had planned to go to my book group. I hadn't read the book, but I was going to go. And who can blame me, it was 600+ pages of classic literature. Not what I would pick up if I had the time, but I didn't even have the time for a 200 page novel of any variety this month. I am one of those people that when I make a commitment, I stick with it. Hence the guilt. It is only the second time I have missed in two years. The other time I was sick or one of my kids was sick, can't remember, but I know it was an excusable absence. I get irritated when others don't exhibit the same sense of commitment that I do. So I should have gone, but my shopping karma was good and obviously meant to be.

So I have every intention of reading the next book. I requested it from the library already. Even though I will have to find time to get it read while finishing up the year in two schools and getting everything ready for the person who takes my place next year and doing a training for next year and tying up all the loose ends that I keep discovering. I will get it done. It is only 383 pages and sleep is overrated. Right?