Survival Mode

I am losing my mind.  Most days I run around like a headless chicken, cleaning here and there, driving kids to friends or sports, running errands, taking the kids to do something fun,  etc.  Last week was especially busy and I knew I'd hit a new level of frazzled nerves when I realized that eating breakfast at noon was becoming normal.  That's not typical for me.  Especially since I get up early to exercise.  There's just never enough time!  I feel like I'm a day late and a dollar short in everything I do.  I'm bearing my soul here when I say that I am failing miserably at my life.  I can barely get Marcus and Ethan to their sports on time or even worse, I had the time wrong and raced across town to get Marcus to soccer only to arrive a half hour early because I messed up.  Ethan jokingly said he's lucky I've remembered to take him to football and Marcus to soccer and not the other way around.  We all laughed but really I wanted to cry.  Trying my hardest every day to get my kids where they need to be, keeping the house sorta kinda clean, and putting dinner on the table are not lofty goals but they seem very unattainable right now and I hate it. 
Yesterday was a doozy.  I got up to go running when I got a text from the contractor telling me he's on his way over to start the demo on Marcus's bathroom.  So I skipped my run/shower and raced to Home Depot for supplies I should've already purchased.  Luckily I remember to fill up on gas on my way home or things would've gone really bad and I got home before the construction guys so I even had time to start the laundry.  Then I talked to James/construction guy/newest member of the family about all the water damage in the master bathroom and decided we have to gut the whole thing and it's going to cost a lot of money and they'll get to it as soon as they get done repairing Marcus's bathroom.  Not great news.  Then it was time to take Marcus to the lake with friends and Ethan to his buddy's.  Got that done and was at Home Depot with Landon and Parker when I got a frantic call from my friend.  Her son was dropped off at my house but I wasn't there like I was supposed to be (she never got my last-minute text).  Her son was in tears and traumatized by the two construction guys at the house when he was expecting to see Marcus.  Got that crisis solved after lots of apologies and began my second trip at Home Depot.  The tile I needed was out of stock so I had to drive across town to the other Home Depot.  I found what I needed but it took forever.  All the while I was getting an absurd amount of texts and phone calls from other moms/friends/visiting teachers/sisters/James while pushing around a cart full of heavy tile (making me feel less guilt for missing my workout so that's  a win) and texting Randy pics of the progress on the construction going on at our house.  Finished the third Home Depot trip at two o'clock to eat lunch, tidy the kitchen, and do another load of laundry before picking up Marcus and friends.  I drove to the lake and parked in one of four empty handicap stalls because there was nowhere else to park, and ran down to the water to get Marcus and company.  They took way too long to gather their things which was unfortunate because when I got back to the van a police officer was giving me a ticket!  And it took forever so the kids were way late to their next thing which wasn't a big deal but meant I had to text moms explaining where we were.  I finally get the stupid ticket and drove away without even glancing at it because who has time for that?  Well, Marcus looked it over and delivered the bad news.  The fine was $450!  Highway robbery.  "Are you kidding me?!"  I yelled.  Then the van full of tween-agers got really quiet.  I couldn't believe it. Talk about getting kicked when you're down.  I'd just spent over $2,000 that day on stuff to repair Marcus's bathroom not to mention our unexpected master bathroom renovation.  But my day wasn't over yet.  After dropping off the kids I had a small window of opportunity to make dinner and do more laundry before I had to pick up Ethan from his friend's and drop him off at home to suit up for football practice while I picked up Marcus.  Then I drove back home, Marcus ran in to suit up for soccer and Ethan came sprinting out half-dressed in his football gear which I helped him get on while we sate at red lights. It's a two-man job and we are getting good at doing it while I drive.  Then I came home and got Marcus and drove him to soccer practice on the other side of town and we arrived a minute early!  Miracles never cease.  Then I raced home and ate dinner with Randy, Landon, and Parker before we tag-teamed to pick up the boys from sports and met at our friend's house for an outdoor movie for family night.  We got home at 11pm and the day was finally over.
Today I'm recovering from yesterday. I'm glad I finally found time to blog so that nagging voice in my head has one less thing to nag me about.  I've decided for my birthday this year I want to spend the day by myself (not possible) organizing my mess of a house.  Then maybe I'll feel like I accomplished something. School starts in two days and I can't wait!

To Barb Q, Grandma, family, and other anonymous readers: Thanks for reading me blog and letting me vent.  It was very therapeutic.  

I Tried, I Failed

Getting an entire family packed up to go skiing takes a lot of work so you can imagine my disappointment when we arrived at the ski resort to find out it was closed.  Closed?!  Who does that?  And here I was thinking I was so smart for taking advantage of our day off from school for teacher prep day, envisioning a nearly empty ski resort.  Well, it sure was empty!  I talked to some cross country skiers I saw in the parking lot and they said it was posted on the website which I told them I most definitely did not see when I was online. 
"Oh, well you have to click on 'schedule' and then scroll down to today and then it said 'closed.'" 
No wonder I didn't know!
However, the boys wasted no time getting their gear on to play in the snow.  I love that a quick 45-minute drive up the canyon takes us from our mild 45-degree weather to a winter wonderland.  It's definitely one of the perks to living here.  Plus, I don't have to do any snow shoveling.  Although this is where I need to mention that New England is having a very mild winter with only one snow storm so far and temps not much cooler than what we have here.  If that had ever happened even once in the seven years of East Coast living we might have considered staying there! Ok, enough venting.  Where were we....

  So the boys played in the snow.

Sledding penguin style

Around the base of the pine trees there was little to no snow so the boys could drop down inside these "tree wells" and tunnel around under the branches.  The scent of pine was so fresh and strong we kept pausing to sniff and sigh.  It smelled better than any Christmas tree farm I've been to.  Marcus said, "This must be what heaven smells like."

We got home and the boys were beyond hyper.  I made them get out of the van at the bottom of the driveway to bring up the garbage cans as I pulled into the garage.  Unfortunately with all the noise and commotion, I forgot I had the car top carrier on and pulled into the garage, assuming all the racket was coming from the garbage cans getting dragged around.  I realized too late that the frantic screaming was directed at me and gasped in horror when I realized what I had done.  I was afraid to even get out and look at the damage.  Luckily, it wasn't as bad as it had sounded.  The garage door wasn't broken and other than a big crack in the top of the carrier and a lot of white paint streaks, the carrier is still in one piece.  I almost cried with relief but it sure made my day feel like one epic failure after another. 
But at least we got to play in the snow!

The Valentine's Day Flop

This year was another memorable Valentine's Day.  Memorable because it was so bad I could only laugh about it.  We did our usual heart attack for Family Night where each person made a Valentine for every member of the family.  The activity was supposed to encourage love and compliments.  Apparently Marcus and Ethan need a little work in that area.  As we hung up the hearts Randy said to me, "Well, that was a flop!"

Marcus had to respond to Ethan's stinky feet comment.  Surprisingly they laughed over the whole thing.

Parker got in on the action

Landon drew pictures

Ethan knows the way to my heart

For Valentine's Day I decided I wasn't in the mood to cook a nice meal and eat by candlelight and thought we could take the whole family out to dinner at a buffet.  The boys think an all-you-can-eat buffet is the greatest thing ever and it seemed a like a family friendly way to spend our Valentine's dinner.  We found a great Japanese buffet a year ago that serves tons of sushi, Chinese food, American food, and has a grill where you pick your food and the guy cooks it for you.  I remember thinking the food was pretty good and the place was nice but I think I must've just been really hungry because the food was disgusting and there were some pretty interesting people at the restaurant.  Honestly, it was hard not to stare at some of them.  Ethan was in rare form that night when he dropped a pile of cake and whipped cream all over the floor and Landon's foot and then discovered his hard-boiled egg was actually raw.  That's what happens when you pick it up from the pile of raw food at the Hibachi grill where the guy cooks the food for you.  Randy and I were happy to go home and eat a slice of cheesecake I had made.