Spinny

Look, this week is just kicking my hiney. I *know* intellectually that I am going to get into a routine with work and school and laundry and dinners (I finally cooked tonight after forcing my family to eat cereal and/or sandwiches for three days). I *know* in my BRAIN that this is all going to be ok.

But I'm still a little freaked out.

So let's talk about cute things tonight (all having to do with a certain 3-year-old in my house) and trust that, by this time next week I'll already be doing better. Yes. Believe it.

Scene: I am applying medicine to William's scraped knee.

Paige: Momma, does that medicine come from pigs?

Me: No honey, I don't think so.

Paige: Then why do they call it *oinkment*?

End scene. Cue laughter.

And finally, we tried on various dresses this morning to determine which one Paige will wear on Easter (hooray for "hammydowns"!). Paige narrowed the field to two based not on color or style or comfort, but on "spinnability".

Getting Things Off My Chest

I woke up this morning WAY before it was necessary... Which, these days, is rare for me. I *used* to be a morning sort of person. Well, that's not entirely true. Really I was a hopeless insomniac, so I got in the habit of rising early, you know, since I couldn't sleep anyway.

But every year that has gone by I've become more and more of a night owl. Mainly because I feel this huge sense of AHHHHH after being with my kids all day. Once their heads hit the pillow I finally feel free to do as I wish in the relative quiet.

But this morning was different. I tossed and turned all night just like in the olden days - the days before kids and before I stopped working. I woke up making to-do lists in my head and fretting about how I was going to get everything done.

I remember that feeling. It came right back after 8 years.

I started my new job on Monday. My training involved me meeting an associate in a neighboring town at 8:30am. Which meant setting an alarm (something I rarely do these days - the children are my alarm clock.) The job also meant driving in rush-hour traffic. I'd forgotten how many people there really are! I forgot that I do my driving and shopping and various other things when 90% of the world is working. I rarely venture out during rush hour. And I never go to the grocery store or mall on the weekend. Why would I?

But after 8 years I'd sort of forgotten how the rest if the world operates. And I'd forgotten how *I* operate in it. I think all these years if hermitage have made me weary of crowds and traffic and rushrushrushing.

I haven't been in a hurry for years. You can't be with small children. Whether you like it or not, you WILL slow down. Foot-long legs can only go so fast. And there are always laces to tie and puddles to stomp in. In fact, I have, on many occasions, been required to stop and smell the roses. Literally.

So I woke this morning with a list running through my head, and a melancholy feeling in my heart. Wondering if I can somehow pencil '"rose-smelling" into an already packed schedule. And wondering if I can do this - this working and mothering and homeschooling- and do it well. Both for myself, my family, and now this new employer.

And then I remember that women do this every day. On an even greater scale. And I tell myself to get some perspective and grow a tougher skin.

And then I roll out of bed and start making that list. And on the list among all the other things is "call the dermatologist", and since I don't have all the time in the world to procrastinate such a call (what with the long list and all) I make the call first thing and discover that they can see me in just a few hours. I feel irritated that this will add one more thing to an impossibly long day. But I go. I drag the poor children with me with promises of unlimited time with the iPad while we're in the waiting room.

And the doctor takes one look at the "suspicious mole" my mother hounded me about on Sunday and says "that is cancer". And then he says "this down here is cancer too". And all off a sudden growing a thicker skin takes on a whole new meaning. He speaks of "removal" and follow-up appointments to "check the margins".

I found myself thinking how grateful I was that I had a list a mile long this morning. That I was busy enough to Just Do It.

Maybe having a job isn't such a bad idea.

We Made It!

Neighbor Susan invited us over for dinner this evening (steaks! potatoes! heaven!). Although "invited us over" is a bit of a loose statement since our families have pretty much spent every moment of Spring Break together. In fact, while Susan's potatoes were baking, she wandered over with her cocktail and lounged with me on my back patio while all four of our children tried to maim each other on the trampoline (he fact that the trampoline is 5 years old and has not yet sent someone
to the ER is nothing short of a miracle, y'all).

Susan then went back home to stir the potatoes while I gathered up my green beans and walked over to HER house. The way our yards connect we can see my trampoline just as easily from her house. Which means we can leave the children be when we mommies and daddies wander back and forth between houses. It's the perfect setup.

This evening, upon arriving at her house, Susan poured me a glass of prosecco and proposed a toast. "To us, for surviving another Spring Break, and to all the Oklahoma City Public School moms."

You see, OKCPS has a TWO WEEK spring break. Bless their souls.

They Really *Do* Say the Darndest Things

the worms are bitin'!

My kids are at an age right now where they are saying HILARIOUS things all the time.  UNINTENTIONALLY.  It happens so often that I'm losing track.  William (a wizened 7 year old) does it most when he is explaining The Way Things Work to his little sister. 

Example: We're driving along when I hear Paige ask William what happens to food once you swallow it.  He immediately answered in the most deadpan way "It turns into throwup first, then later it turns into poop." 

Then there's Paige.  Paige believes, at 3 years old, that she Knows Everything.  And she wants nothing more than to exclaim (!) her knowledge.  Yesterday, she ran into the house from the backyard hollering me for me to COME! NOW! LOOK!  She wanted to show me the tree in our backyard with blooms on it.  "Mommy I KNOW how those flowers got there!  THE RAIN POURED THEM ON!"  Apparently telling her the rain helps the flowers grow was translated in her brain a bit differently than I'd intended.

And then there was the time last weekend when she tried her hand at fishing.  She'd watched her brother and her dad casting and reeling, casting and reeling all morning.  When Dave finally let her try it herself, she reeled in the line and yelled "DADDY! We caught a worm!"

Which is, sadly, all we caught that weekend.

The Notebook

my "office"

I did not leave the house today except to drive to the bank.  And I did THAT while wearing my pajamas and slippers.  "What if you'd been in an accident" is what you're thinking, and do you  know what I say to you? I LIVE ON THE EDGE. Proof: my children were also wearing pajamas WITH NO SHOES.  None.  If we'd run out of gas they would have had to walk BAREFOOT to the nearest gas station.

I know.  You're clutching your pearls in horror, aren't you?

I was determined to stay in my pajamas today.  Determined.  I just HAD to have a day at home.  We left town last Friday and returned mid-afternoon on Monday, and yet, as of this morning I STILL HADN'T UNPACKED.  What the heck, ME?  I was going crazy.  The house was filthy, the laundry was clean but not put away, and there were not so much dust bunnies as there were dust PONIES blowing around my floors.  I needed a day at home to settle back in.

I also stayed home so that I could do my first WORK RELATED phone call.  I know! WORK RELATED.  Can you believe?  People with JOBS have WORK RELATED phone calls.  DUDE!

And I need to admit something to you - yesterday when I was at Target, I bought myself a fancy 3-ring binder, some page-protectors, and a matching spiral notebook... AS IF I'M GOING TO START 9TH GRADE ON MONDAY instead of a grown-up job.  But I've always found that a nice new set of office supplies really do make me feel more prepared.  In my mind I think "how could someone with THIS notebook POSSIBLY fail at anything?".

don't they just scream "success"?

Skeerd.

.

I start my job on Monday, and I'm not going to lie to you, I'm a little scared. 

Never before have I tried to manage my work life from home.  How does one motivate?  I'm wondering if work-from-home happens better when you, say, block out a specific time each day to work, and even maybe dress up and put on some mascara.  You know, to sort of "set the work mood". 

Even as I type that, I'm thinking "oh please, I'm plenty productive in my yoga pants".  But then I immediately think "OH MY GOSH I WILL NEVER WEAR ANYTHING BUT YOGA PANTS EVER AGAIN!" Because WHY WOULD I - I WORK FROM HOME!  I will turn into that woman who shows up to a cocktail party in a nice windsuit with matching Reeboks.  You know, because it's comfortable.  It'll be my "dressy" windsuit, the bedazzled one!

Outside of wardrobe issues, I'm also a bit nervous about how to accomplish work while also managing our home and educating my children.  I mean, I consider myself an EXCELLENT multitasker, but still.  What if I can't?

What if I fail? What if I disappoint someone?  Like my boss.  Or worse, myself.

Do you have words of wisdom?  Should I stock up on some nice bedazzled windsuits?



ps - You asked what I'm going to be doing at my new job.  And the answer is: I don't think I'm completely sure (I'll know more when I'm trained on Monday).  I know it will be some marketing, some writing, and some basic administrative stuff.

Get Comfortable

It's spring break!  I went on a trip! In a minute, you're going to have to look at ALL of the pictures.

You've now been warned.

Since becoming a mother, spring break has mostly consisted of me staring at my child/children wondering how we will all cope with ALL THE TOGETHERNESS for ten whole days.  For years I've scoffed at the notion of a "break".  I mean, who are these people kidding?  Oh, yeah, the KIDS are on a break, and the TEACHERS are on a break, BUT WHEN IS MOMMY'S BREAK? Huh?

I say (yell!) all this to say, that this year? Finally? I have enjoyed spring break.  IT ONLY TOOK EIGHT YEARS.  You see, now my children are old enough that I no longer have to keep a watchful eye on them every second of the day.  They can wander upstairs for long periods of time and I do not worry that they are swallowing things or climbing on things or falling or whathaveyou. 

In fact, just the other day I went upstairs to check on them, and I discovered my children playing a board game WITHOUT ME.  This? This was a day I thought might never come.  A day when mommy did not have to sit on the floor pretending to enjoy Candyland.  Hark! Let the angels sing!

So this spring break we took a little trip to our friends' lake house.  They were kind enough to hand us the keys and say "go enjoy yourselves". So that's just what we did. 

The house was situated in a little cove on a super quiet street.  There was a playground, a tennis court, a fishing dock, and tons and tons of clover (we found... wait for it... THIRTY SEVEN four-leaf clovers).  Our days consisted of eating, biking, fishing, eating, napping, playing, eating, tennis, and finally eating.

It was heaven.

Also? There was no WiFi and spotty cell-phone coverage (GASP! HORROR!).  I won't lie, I had a few twitches the first day when I was coming down from my Internet Addiction, but by the end of our trip, I was clean and I hadn't felt that clear-headed since sometime in the 1990's.

So, without further ado, here are the eleventy-bajillion photos I took.  None of which were taken with my Very Expensive Fancy Camera, because why would I drag that thing around when I have my iPhone? (Duh).

p.s. I'll be back tomorrow to answer all of your questions about my new job.  Sorry to leave you hanging while I was away.  Oops!