I've Read That Post Somewhere Before...

Sometimes I feel like rather than writing a new post, I should just include a link to one of my previous posts and write a note that you should change a few words or places around. So maybe my blog is redundant. Or maybe it is proof that it is still me writing and not some other person who has a perfect, unusually interesting life that has hijacked my google account. But it is my blog... and nobody's making you read it. At the risk of sounding exactly like many of my previous posts, I'm going to write this anyway.

I had a great weekend. Saturday is my day to sleep in. Dave works from home on his laptop while the kids play Wii and I... sleep! Dave often will take the phone off the hook (or he has even been known to put in the fridge) so I won't be disturbed during my one chance of the week to catch some zzzz's-- or maybe he just doesn't want to be bothered while he works. ;) At any rate, I apologize to any of you who have tried to call me on Saturday morning and had the phone ring endlessly to only be heard by the milk and eggs. Dave took the kids to Jared's basketball game and I had a quiet hour and a half with Addy to take a shower and mop the floor! (I think my fifteen-year-old self would cringe if she could have read that sentence.) But it was great. We didn't do much besides work around the house, but just having Dave around makes a day great. Saturday night Dave and I went out for dinner on a date.

Sundays are entirely transformed by the advent of ... 11:30 am church!!!! We have been 100%, completely, totally on time for two weeks in a row. It also helps that my two older kids have reached that blessed age when I can tell them to go upstairs and take a shower and they do just that. Mid-morning church has its flip side, though. Halfway through the meeting Jackson started asking for milk. Dave and I both realized that we were right smack in the middle of Jackson's lunchtime and because we had gotten to church early at 10:45 to practice the choir number, we didn't feed Jackson before we left or remember to pack snacks. Big-time oops. Jackson's pleas for milk got louder and louder. I staved him off for a while with fruit leather and a breath mint (both of which were generously applied to Dave's suit pants) but eventually had to take him out. By the time we got out of all three meetings at 2:30, got home and finished lunch it was almost 4:00. Jackson had a very late nap which resulted in a scream-until-10:30 p.m. bedtime (thank you, Dave, for putting him to bed!). Nonetheless, the day had its highlights including restful reading time, enjoyable conversation, Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Sugar Sage Walnut Sauce for lunch and homemade Tuscan Tomato and Bread Soup with fresh artisan bread for dinner (I know, it's always about the food)-- and the dishes even got done, too.

I greeted Monday morning convinced that I had the best life ever, set to conquer the world anew. I was cheerful when I got the kids out the door to school (what a great mother!), I made whole-wheat waffles for Jackson and I breakfast (see how domestic I am! what a great cook!), I planned some meals and made a grocery list (such an organized woman! a wise steward of resources!) and I didn't even get too annoyed when Jackson started pushing buttons on my laptop and trying to turn off the wireless (so patient and long-suffering-- well, at least working on it...). I had learned how to enjoy my life and handle my workload. I just had to know my limits and not try to be super-woman. To just enjoy what I have and enjoy what I do. To choose what is most important and do that well. And so I resolved that I would.

I needed to shop for groceries, so rather than making a big trip to Costco I decided to go somewhere closer (always looking for ways to cut back and conserve!). I needed to get the band on my watch adjusted, so I just figured that I would go to Fred Meyer and get the watch fixed and grocery shopping done all in one fell swoop (efficient, that's me!). Addy even fell asleep on the way to Fred Meyer (perfect timing!). It occurred to me that Jackson is old enough for the play place at Fred Meyer now. I could shop without trying to wrestle a two-year-old. Even better.

Unfortunately even the best-laid plans can come to naught. I spent almost the whole hour that Jackson was in the play place looking for storage containers and wash cloths for the kitchen, tights for Camryn and pricing silk plants. (My green thumb does not extend to houseplants. I have one that literally has turned black.) So I still ended up grocery shopping with Jackson. By that point Addy woke up and was fussy. Never fear! I had a sling packed in the diaper bag. So I grocery shopped with a two-year-old in the cart and a baby strapped on to me (I am buff woman! hear me roar!). Soon Addy really wanted to nurse. Luckily, the sling I have allows for that. So I grocery shopped with a getting-impatient two-year-old in the cart and a baby strapped on to me in nursing position (now that is multi-tasking!).

Proud as I was with myself for this feat of dexterity, I didn't realize that my trip was hanging by a thread. And then I was side-tracked... Fred Meyer has a cheese counter. With samples. So I stopped and sampled the Beecher's peppery Marco Polo, a cave-aged gruyere, some orange-blue I don't remember and parmigianno reggiano. I even bought some Beecher's. But then it was too late. The Jackson clock had timed out.

I got Jackson a cookie from the bakery but that only bought me a few precious minutes. It was way past his lunch time and the countdown had begun. He kept crying for whatever I was putting in the cart- and I can't blame him, he was definitely hungry. I would have tried to just give him something, but my feat of nursing/pushing cart/keeping two-year-old seated/balancing emtpy infant seat on top of groceries didn't allow much remaining dexterity and I didn't have anything handy to feed him. So I tried to make a run for the check out. I resolutely pushed my seemingly 500 lb. cart toward the checkout amid cries of "Ownge (orange)!! Go-gurt!! Moke (milk)!!! I made my way through the checkout, despite Jackson's attempts to commandeer the credit card slider. I didn't even lose it at the checker when he forgot to scan my coupons and then suggested (amidst the screaming two-year-old in my cart and fussing baby strapped to my front) that I take them to the customer service desk. (I may be crazy, but I ain't that crazy.)

By the time I got to the car, Addy was screaming and ready to eat. Jackson was also screaming and ready to eat. I threw groceries in the car as fast as I could, pulled out a "Danimals" yogurt cup for Jackson and sat in the car to nurse Addy. I enjoyed a few brief moments of quiet before Jackson dropped his cup, splashing yogurt all over his car seat, his clothes and the car. Then, of course, he screamed even louder because his food was gone. So what to do in this position of tranquility and contemplation, pondering how you are going to make the 15-minute drive home in 10 minutes or less (before the older kids get home from school) whilst there is yogurt everywhere? You do what anyone in that position would do: you take a picture. And then thank your lucky stars for baby wipes and garage door codes.

Eventually I will find something to write about besides my battles with dirty dishes and misadventures with toddlers in grocery stores. But today is not that day....