Thursdays Blursdays

There's an old saying that says you can't truly understand someone until you've walked a day in their shoes.  Really, I feel like a day wouldn't be enough for someone to understand my crazy life, but if I was able to give a day to someone so that I could just lay back in bad and catch up on dvr'ed reality shows, that day would be a Thursday.  A friend of mine teased that I should just write about what I do every day on the blog and it would still be entertaining, so just to be cheeky, I'm going to run you through my day today.  Since this is a new blog, it will give you some insight into my life.  The posts won't all be this long, I promise.  Bear with me.  Here we go:

Wake at 7 thanks to alarm and our oldest child hovering over us.  Hubby heads to the shower and I grab my laptop to check the calendar, e-mails, messages, and Facebook, just in case I'm forgetting something else to jam in the day...like, as I notice, International Cuisine Night at my oldest's school.  In my head, not an issue.  We can pass on that.  Tell her to get dressed.

Then, there's a time warp.  I think I may have temporarily blacked out from pain when child #2 comes in and throws herself on my bed, connecting the most solid part of her forearm with the most tender part of my ankle.  Anyhow, before I know it, it's 30 minutes later.  Yikes.  Tell middle child to get dressed.  Luckily, I made rhubarb bread last night (silly family left me alone in the house while they were all at activities), so I have breakfast already started.  Throw some bacon on the stove to cook while I start on lunches for the girls.  Shuffle around hubby making his usual eggs for breakfast.  Slice apple and pears for breakfast.  Snag a piece of pear because I know once I put them out, I will have no chance at getting one before they disappear.  Keeping an eye on the bacon, cook some noodles and frozen peas and corn for the lunches.  Start slicing fresh fruits and veg for lunches.  Discuss not going to the school event with my oldest.  Begin guilt trip that eventually leads me to decide that we probably should go.  Slice extra veggies for hubby's lunch.  Break up rousing game of Duck, Duck, Bruce to feed the starving minions breakfast.  Finish making lunches.  Kiss hubby before he's out the door.  Push oldest to get bundled before she misses the bus.  Get her out the door and to the bus on time with backpack and lunch in hand.

I swear, that IS rhubarb, not mold.  Turns out rhubarb bread doesn't photograph well.

Sit and eat my breakfast and sip some tea.  Evaluate how well the younger 2 left at home are getting along and decide it's clear for me to take a shower.  Yay!  Shower!  Get dressed and come downstairs.  Do middle child's hair.  She wants a bun on one side, so that's what I do.  Then she decides one on each side would look better.  Done.  Encourage her to bundle up for school.  As she's getting shoes on, realize that she probably has grown 3 inches overnight, because the pants she has on are getting way too short.  Practically capris.  And the outside windchill is around 2 degrees.  She decides that wearing boots is a good solution.  Fine by me.  I get her out the door as our neighbor pulls in to pick her up for school, and let out a big sigh as I realize that I should have plenty of time to get what I need done before I have to leave for work.  I check and make sure that my swim report cards are complete and make a couple more notes on one for a girl who just joined class last week.  I make sure my swim bag is packed, and I throw a load of the kids' clothes in the washer.  5 minutes before I have to leave...fantastic!  Then I look at my youngest, who has been quietly playing trains in the family room and realize that he is still wearing pajamas.  Debate sending him to playcare in pajamas.  Shake that off and get him dressed.  Bundle both of us, grab swim bag and purse and head out the door.

Oh, did I mention how hard it is to make buns with chin-length hair?

It's about an 8 minutes drive to work, and I count 34 questions that I answer on that drive today.  Although, to be fair, some of them are repeats, like "Can I play Wii today?" and "When is my next playdate?".  Happily drop him off at playcare with a kiss and head to the locker room.  Change into my suit and hit the pool.  Laugh, play, and teach babies to swim.  Dry and change and head to pick little guy up.  As we get to the car, I realize that I have left the coupon I need for the toy store at home.  Drive home, toss laundry (since I'm here anyway) from washer in dryer, throw my suit and towel in the washer, grab the coupon and hop back in the car.  Wonder if it's a good or bad thing that the kiddo has memorized all the lines from the Thomas movie he asks me to turn on and decide that I'm going to be proud of his fantastic memory instead of guilty about how many times he's seen it since he got it for Christmas.

Swing by Binny's Beverage Depot and pick up some moonshine (yes, you read right, no I haven't tried it yet) for our Superbowl get-together.  Spend a couple minutes mind-blown at the fact that there are no less than 8 different kinds of moonshine there, then grab the one that looks like a glass jar, like on the show that my husband has me hooked on.  Grab a couple bottles of my fave wine, since it's on sale this week.  Head to the toy store...wait...did I RSVP to that other party yet?  Gotta remember to check that.  Walk right in and find the rubber band bracelet maker that my oldest has requested to get her friend for Saturday's party, along with 4 bags of extra bands.  Thank the stars that the toys store does free giftwrapping.  Find an old-school style Spirograph set, lose a battle to nostalgia and decide that I must have it.  (Hey, the coupon is 20% off the whole order, so I might as well make good use of it!)  Gather my child from the train table and head to the car.  Debate going to Costco because I know I'm low on butter, but decide not to, since I'll be there on Sunday for the party stuff anyways.  Get home and wrestle a package out of the mailbox.  My son heads right to his train and I unpack the Kindle we got on E-Bay for the kids.  Switch laundry around.

Risotto.  It's what's for lunch.

Start on risotto for lunch and decide that it would be cool for the blog, so try to take pics along the way.  Curse myself for not going to Costco and getting more butter.  Make an alternate lunch for the kid, who gags on risotto.  Grab a package of gumbo from my freezer to thaw for dinner tonight, in case the international food is a bust.  Dream of what I'm going to do with the mint pesto in the freezer that I got from the farmers' market the other week.  Locate specific leotard that has been requested for this afternoon's gymnastics class.  Sort the rest of the mail.  Check my e-mail.  Shred cheese for my risotto.  Answer about a thousand questions about lunch and the rest of the day's plans from the young one.  Update the blog page's status so people don't lose interest.  Update my personal status so that people don't think my life is only my blog now that I've started one.  Finish the risotto, and devour it as soon as it isn't lava hot.  Sit and breathe for a minute or two.  Remember that RSVP again.  Call it in, putting the party on my calendar this time.  Laundry again.  Play a game of Feed the Kitty with my boy.  I win, surprisingly.  Play 2 games of Jenga with him.  I win, but not such a surprise.  Leave him running his trains on walls that he is building out of Jenga blocks and check to see if the real kitty is fed.  Feed cat.  Make sure computer is charging so I can work on a post later.  Laundry again.  Laugh at the boy, who has now set up an oil change station between the couch and ottoman.  Bundle us both up to go get the kids from school.

The mechanic is busy at work!

Walk to school.  Decide wind sucks and walking was the wrong decision.  Pick up kids and hitch a ride home with sis-in-law.  Have middle child do homework and get changed into gymnastics attire.  Back to laundry.  Welcome oldest child home.  Serve snack.  Set rice cooker for dinner.  Try to at least partially clean disaster that the kitchen has become in all this rush.  Settle for emptying the dishwasher.  Pack everything we will need for the next 3 hours into a bag.  Get everyone bundled and to the car.

The next part is the highlight of my Thursday, and sometimes, my week.  I...get...time.  Middle child is in gymnastics, happily flipping away.  Youngest goes to the playcare and enjoys the time playing instead of hanging around waiting for sis.  Oldest works on her weekly homework packet quietly next to me in the loft overlooking the gym.  And I can bring a book, some tea...pretty much do whatever I want.  Today, I'm blogging.  And no matter that there are a dozen other parents up here with stir-crazy gym-kid sibs, no matter that the building is alive with people coming and going, I can sit, and center myself, and breathe.  I can plan, or daydream.  I'll check over the homework, and I will watch my adorable little gymnast.  I will simply be in the moment and gain the focus and energy that I will need.  Because we still have International Night, and gumbo to heat, and dishes to clean up, and there are 5 loads of laundry on my bed that need to be hung or folded.  But I can't do anything about those right at the moment, and I couldn't be happier about it.

Maybe I wouldn't trade away my Thursdays.  Looking back, it could be worse.  :)