Winter Set

I awoke this morning to find snow falling outside the window (and not inside the window, fortunately). It's almost as if Mother Nature yawned, stretched, glanced at her watch, and then realized with a panic, "Holy crap, it's December already and I haven't put out the snow yet!"

14 Nov

Here we are: Another post for today, so I'm caught up!

First of all, I wish a very happy birthday to my dearest Elizabeth! I lament the fact that she is far away in Texas, but I hope I can see her some time in the next few months.

Second, I must admit that I am very tired. I'm sure everyone is bored reading my lists of "what I did today", but I enjoy posting them because they give me a sense of accomplishment. Today:

• posted on blog twice
• went to church
• went to grocery store
• made lunch and dinner
• put the Little Bug down for his nap
• sorted through some computer files, doing electronic decluttering
• washed dishes and did the dishwasher and put away dishes
• added bedding to my worm compost
• moved compost bins to the garage
• did laundry
• bathed the Bug, clipped his nails, and put him to bed
• baked cinnamon rolls
• made lunches for tomorrow
• folded laundry, put it away
• set out clothes for tomorrow
• showered and got ready for bed
• took out the trash
• called my BFF

I'm sure I did more, but I can't recall. It is nearly midnight here, so you'll have to wait till tomorrow for any more tales of my housewifely splendor.

Today

Some things I did today:
-went to the bank
-went to the costume shop
-cleaned the bathroom
-washed/dried two loads of laundry
-sorted recyclables
-took a bag of stuff to Goodwill
-put gas in the car
-took recycling to dropoff bins
-bought groceries
-went home and put groceries away
-took care of the Little Bug all day
-bathed the Little Bug and put him to bed
Some things I need to finish before I go to bed:
-finish and put away laundry
-tidy kitchen
-tidy front room and Nathan's room
-shower and brush teeth and toss myself into bed

Long Day Infinity

It seems as if every day is a long day, and I'm dead tired at the end. I could try and list all the things I accomplished today, but I'm too tired and can't even remember them all.

The Little Bug actually went to sleep (though not at a decent hour) and is still asleep, which allowed me to pursue many exciting activities during the evening:
-laundry
-taking a shower and brushing my teeth
-scooping the litter
-taking out the trash
-composting (a new venture)
-sorting papers
-sorting recycle and putting it in the car
-washing (and drying some) dishes
-prepping lunch for tomorrow
-setting out clothes for tomorrow
-putting my purse and other stuff all in one place so it is ready to go out the door tomorrow

So there is a list of at least a few of the things I did today. I'm exhausted and hope that I can get to sleep. I hate it when I'm lying in bed, wishing and wishing that sleep would come and take me...

I have some posts planned for this blog that I intend to be fun and funny, but need a larger block of time to get them all together.

Okay, I'll try and write more manana!

Long Day 2

In my previous post, I left off very early in the morning of this day. The Little Bug and I made it to bed around 1 am, but he didn't go to sleep till after 2. I really think that Dante missed out on some great material by neglecting to devote one of his Circles of Hell to the description of people (perhaps the Selfish, or maybe the Intemperate) receiving the ghastly punishment of undergoing The Life of a Single Parent Whose Child Refuses to Sleep... FOR ETERNITY.

Anyway, due to sleep deprivation, I didn't get up super-early, and sort of staggered around getting ready, and then we went to daycare and work quite late. I hate it when that happens. I was so tired, but decided to take control of my day and make it work for me. I accomplished:
Productive work for several hours.
Pay bills and rent.
Bank paperwork.
Go to Target to get some shoes for swing dancing.
Go to Toys R Us to see if they carry toddler beds and bedding. I didn't buy any of those, but I did get a treat for my Little Bug.
Do grocery shopping for the week.
Research compost containers and methods.
Take out trash.
Pick up the Little Bug from daycare
Grab dinner and then meet a friend for frozen yogurt.
Come home to bathe and put the Bug to bed.
Get ready for bed.
Tidy up some of the kitchen and bedroom.
Set out clothes for tomorrow.
Make lunches for tomorrow.
Crash onto couch and wait for fatigue to catch up with me enough that I can finally go to sleep.

Long Day

Today ended up being good, and reasonably productive. At this moment, I am sitting on the couch, blogging, watching a cheesy movie, and drinking a mug of relaxing tea. Soon, I will brush and floss, take some vitamins, set out clothes for tomorrow, and crash into bed.

This morning, I awoke after a late night out dancing with the Newark Swing Kids. I had a nice time snuggling and laughing with the Little Bug. Then we rolled out of bed and the day unfolded thus:
Get us both dressed and ready for the day, although the Bug never did bother to put on pants.
Make breakfast, packed it up.
Go to Caribou Coffee for our nice weekly coffee time. They are used to us there, although I'm not sure how fond they are of having a regular 2-year-old visitor.
Go to church.
Come home from church.
Make and eat lunch-- easy because it was sandwiches.
Try to put Little Bug down for a nap. This always takes a while. No success, but at least I tried.
Watch Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder and play trains with the Little Bug because it is too rainy to go outside.
Skype chat with Little Bug's daddy.
Make dinner-- pretty easy because I'm working on cleaning out the freezer.
Eat dinner, clean up.
Research compost bins and chat online with Willow, while the Little Bug plays some more.
Go out and play in the rain with the Little Bug. Because every kid should do that once in a while.
Put the Little Bug to bed. This always takes a while. He doesn't like to sleep.
Shower.
Start load of laundry.
Scoop cat litter, take out trash.
Wash dishes.
Start dish washer.
Make lunches for tomorrow.
Remember that I need to bring cookies to Little Bug's daycare. Oh noes! No time to bake cookies! But wait-- I had a spate of cookie-making in the past few weeks and actually have homemade cookies stored in the freezer, ready to go. Super-Mom is on the job!!
Make chamomile tea.
Switch laundry to dryer, and hang laundry on clothes rack.
Put in another load of laundry.
Make to-do list for tomorrow.
Give into hunger pangs and eat a spoonful of peanut butter to last me through till morning.
Go to check laundry (it needs a bit more time in the dryer), and floss and brush my teeth.
In the midst of flossing, I hear a sharp cry. @#%$%$^@$^*(%$! Sometimes the Little Bug will wake up in the middle of the night. I don't go rushing in, because he will often roll over and go back to sleep. At the second cry, I go to the bedroom, and he is already out of the bed and staggering to find me, wailing all the while. I pick him up and cuddle him, asking if he is hungry. He asserts that he is, so I get him juice and part of a bagel. He sips the juice and munches part of the bagel, but soon is done with them and wants susu instead. @(%@%^$%()()!!! Oh well, maybe he'll go to sleep. He does relax and fall asleep. It takes more than 20 minutes. I finally slip out of the bed to finish flossing, brush my teeth, and take my vitamins. He wakes up and cries again. #*%)&^! He comes out into the hall and is in no mood to sleep. I ask if he wants to come out and sit with me in the front room. "Watch Thomas Train movie", he insists. At this point, WHY NOT?! We settle down on the couch to watch Thomas (who knows, maybe he'll really fall asleep this time) and I continue writing my ever-crankier blog post.
It's all worth it when he turns to me with a sleepy smile and says, "Thank you, Mommy".
Now all that remains is to set out clothes for tomorrow (might not get to that-- depends on laundry status) and then somehow get us both to bed.

I hope everyone else had a good day and is ready to start another fun-filled week.

Mommy Life

Why yes, there IS a reason why I walked into church an hour late and carrying an unpainted balsa wood toy fire truck. Thanks for asking.

To-Do: Airport Countdown

Store – Buy quart plastic bag, travel size eye stuff
Go to bank
Check mail
Pack bags
Dependent care forms
Clean carpet spots
Vacuum
Take out trash, recycling, compost
Clean bathroom
Dishes
Clean kitchen, fridge
Laundry
Clean out purse
Clean porch
Send out non-resident mail
Feed & water cats
Pack car
Go to Spencer’s place
Go to airport

Sirens

My Day

In an effort to keep the blog posts coming and even increasing, I thought I'd start trying to write about minutiae such as what I did today or what I need to do tomorrow.

This was a very busy day, and I accomplished a lot. It made me wonder how anyone handles it when she is working fulltime in addition to being a mom. The errands and appointments must happen miraculously, or perhaps she borrows Hermione's time-turner. I'll find out soon enough, I guess.

After getting up and getting ready (not only myself, but Nathan too, of course), I was prepared to face my day. I went to:

• Doctor's office - Check-up appointments for Nathan and me. The doctor was very encouraging about Nathan's health and development; he is healthy, alert, intelligent, all those things a parent desires to hear. She was also encouraging about my continued breast-feeding. In fact, she is completely pro-lactation, and refuses to take as patients any infants who are not breast-fed. Now, there's someone who puts her money where her mouth is. I am also in decent health, thank you very much.
• Bank - Depositing some checks, and all that happy stuff. One of the checks I deposited was a rebate from State Farm.
• Gas station - Filled my tank for slightly over $30. The price of gas is creeping upward, unfortunately.
• State Farm office - I had to pay a premium for some insurance. I had a question about the bill, so I stopped in to see my friendly State Farm agent (or rather, to see his office manager), had my question answered, and then paid my bill. The premium I paid was actually about a dollar less than the rebate check I had just deposited. If only State Farm would sort out its Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, there would be much less juggling of paying this versus getting back a portion of that. But their left hand does not seem to know what their right hand is doing.
• Oxnard College Job and Career Center - I drove over to Oxnard to drop off some important paperwork for my county job search program eligibility worker. I'm telling you, the local government is probably single-handedly responsible for the razing of at least one third of the Amazonian rainforest. I don't mind shuffling papers and sending in all my info for them; the county programs are being helpful to me and I appreciate it. However, a lot of times, they get their signals crossed or get caught up in the proverbial red tape. For example, they asked me to send in my completed quarterly report by January 5. But... I didn't even receive the paperwork in the mail until January 5! The mail delivery was probably slowed up due to the holiday and weekend. Technically, the quarterly report was already late by the time I got my hands on the empty form. I've pretty much gotten that one sorted out now, but it's a regular pain.
• Trader Joe's - Grocery shopping! We patronize Trader Joe's because they have, overall, great prices, high quality merchandise, and a corporate philosophy that we can whole-heartedly support. [Speaking of their merchandise, I have stumbled upon a revelation that has transformed my life (being as how I own cats): Silica litter! None of the dust or smell of clay litter, and much less of a mess, as the silica gel crystals do not adhere as much to paws and get scattered around the litter pan. There is also a lot less waste than with regular clay litter. So far, I'm really liking it.] And yes, I brought my own reusable shopping bag in which I carried home my groceries.
• Starbucks - After several hours out and about, doing useful and important things, I decided I needed a little boost and treat as a reward, so I picked up a frappuccino on my home. By the way, Nathan behaved beautifully all day. He is such a darling little boy.

And for tomorrow, my to-do list includes:

• Take my car in to get the engine serviced.
• Go to AAA.
• Take a load of stuff to the storage unit.
• Sort, organize, and file papers.
• Recycle or throw away at least 10 items.
• Do my homework for my career class.
• Make several telephone calls.
• Send a few e-mails.
• Actually get onto Facebook and update and respond to people. I'm so bad about Facebook.
• Two loads of laundry.
• Clean and organize my bookshelf.