Saturday, March 13, 2010

Boastful - or - What a Full Day

I'm going to indulge myself and be boastful today. That was one really long day. We got up early, and I walked the kids down to the school. We spent the morning with the cub scouts, walking all over the neighborhood putting flyers on doors announcing our intention to have a food drive (we'll walk around picking up the food next week). Now, I think that alone should have been enough. Surely I could have come home and relaxed.

But, no, I don't seem destined for relaxation. After the morning of walking with multiple kids (each kid expands the energy draining affect by 2. In affect, the energy leaves you body exponentially by a factor of how many kids you have with you. The amount of adults you have along does nothing to aleave this. Kids are draining, and that's all there is to it). Let's see, where was I, before my tirade? Oh, right...

After the morning of walking with multiple kids all over the neighborhood, I took my kids plus one neighbor kid to the library, for the Tech-Fair. We attended storytimes, talked with librarians, learned about databases and had a good time. Tiring time as well. Any event that involves kids is tiring, no matter how interesting. Still, the two boys earned credits toward a cub scout badge.

Done yet? No, of course not. It was only 1:00 by then. I took the kids and my wife to McDonalds and then back to my house, where the kids had a play date. (For the uninitiated, a play date consists of kids playing, arguing, having fun, arguing, making a mess and, of course, arguing. Yet, despite all the arguing, they confess to having a great time and hate to see it end. Once again, this is a massive draw on my energy (because, of course, it's all about me).

So once the play date is over, can I finally relax? Are you kidding? Now it's time to get my weekend chores started. Plumbing comes first. This is always true because you have to get the plumbing done before the hardware store closes. It is always a mistake to be working on plumbing when every place that sells parts is closed. You can work on a car and leave it until tomorrow. You can rewire a lamp and leave it until next week. But you have to have plumbing.
So, once I had reassembled the sink, you would think I would be done, eh? HA! I'll say it again... HA!

Don't get me wrong. The sink is fixed (except that I noticed some parts starting to fail, so I need to remember to buy them this week so I can fix that problem next weekend before it becomes a real problem. A house is never really finished, is it?). Where was I, again? Dang, I tend to wander, don't I?

Okay, so I walked the kids around the neighborhood, took them to a program, let them have a play date and then did some plumbing. What was next? Well, it was dinner time, so I had to cook. I admit, food is my downfall, my obsession. That's not to say that I enjoy cooking. I hate cooking. I really enjoy eating. So I cook so that I can eat. This time I decided to have a breakfast for dinner. Homemade waffles, bacon and eggs. Oooooo, life is good.

Done? Please, don't make me laugh. Tonight is daylight savings time and I don't dare leave it for tomorrow. I hate waking up, having a leisurely breakfast and suddenly finding out I'm later than I thought I was. So I went around the house systematically changing every clock in the house. (This did have the added benefit of making the kids think it was later than it really was. That on top of all the fresh air they got today helped them fall asleep earlier than normal). Then, of course, you have to change all the batteries in the smoke detectors and Carbon Monoxide detector.

Finally done? No?

Almost. The kids had homework and Awana homework to do. Then there's the nightly reading (which has evolved. I don't just read to them each night now. I read one book, they each read one book, and then I read a chapter from a chapter book). This is followed by chasing kids around the house (which is really conducive to helping a kid fall asleep) getting them to brush their teeth, clean up toys and get ready for bed.

Then, I get to rest. HA! Fooled you. One more task to do.

This is midterms week. I needed to write up my final draft for my mid-term essay exam. Eight stinking pages that make up a quarter of my grade. But, by 11:00, that is finally finished and proof read and then uploaded to the instructor.

Done.

What a day. Then I decided to write about it. Guess I hope to remember it, some day in the future, when I'm retired and board. Then again, I'll probably be walking my grandkids around the neighborhood delivering flyers. And doing plumbing. Sigh.

But I'm done for now.

Finally rest.


I just need to take the dog outside for her last potty-break, feed the cat, get ready for bed and get everything ready for church tomorrow.
Um, rest?