Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Exhausted!

It is 9:08 pm and I am literally sitting down for the first time today. The real kicker is that I didn't even go to work today. I came home about an hour later than normal yesterday because I had a doctor's appointment and found Lily completely conked out in the chair. The girl never naps and never stops moving, so I knew something was up. She was pale and burning up. I took her temp and it was 101.9. She didn't have any complaints so I held off on the Tylenol but when I took it a bit later and it was up to 103 her protests of "but I feel fine" fell on deaf ears. One dose of Tylenol and her fever hasn't come back and she has been a little subdued, a little glassy eyed and a little pale, but otherwise her normal self. Anyway, being the good, rule following parent that I am, I kept her home from school and stayed home with her myself. I should say I mostly stayed home with her.

Here's a run down of my day:

7 am - Lily comes in our room. My husband and MIL swear to me they can barely wake her up at 8:15 for school most mornings, but I call shenanigans. She was up at 7 am both days this weekend as well as today. I was looking forward to sleeping until at least 7:30 when Margie usually gets up, but I'll take 7 since that is usually when I am starting work.

7:30 - The kids and I wander downstairs for some breakfast. We play a little and watch some cartoons and I load up the dishwasher.

8:15 - Margie and I head upstairs to get dressed. My MIL usually takes Margie to story time at the library on Tuesdays but I am taking advantage of being home to take her myself. I get Margie ready and try to get myself presentable with M under foot. She brushes her teeth (ok, chews on her toothbrush!) for 20 minutes whie I brush my teeth, wash my face, put on a bit of make up and attempt to do something with my unruly hair that is about 7 months overdue for a trim.

9:00 - Call on a bill that our old tenants didn't pay but then did pay us for. I am hoping we can wash our hands of these people for good but I already know I am going to be on the hook for the December and January water bill because "the bill follows the property and you are the property owners". In the six months that the people lived there they got two shut off notices that I had to harass them to pay. They did, but I am not holding my breath they will pay the remaining bill. I have already resigned myself to paying it rather than worrying about it. I sure hope that isn't the case for ComEd and Nicor. Need to look into that tomorrow.

9:22 - Realize we need to leave for story time. I grab M, strap her in the car and make a quick phone call to my hubby on the short drive. We pull in just in time.

9:30 - Story time! This is the highlight of my day. I have been so sad about not doing story time with Margie because Lily and I used to have a blast and I am thrilled that I got to take her today!

10:15 - Story time is over. We head to the meat market to pick up some andouille sausage. I am making etouffee. For 30 people. We cook once a month for our church's Wednesday night supper. Matt volunteered for the gig, but I get to cook today. Good thing I took the day off because the darn roux alone requires about an hour of constant stirring.

11:00 - We get home. I check in with Lil. She's watching cartoons and looking at her new "Highlights" magazine that came in the mail today and feeling fine, even if she does look a little pale still. No fever. I give the girls both a snack and formulate a strategy for cooking.

11:30 - Margie seems tired so I try to put her down for an early nap. She isn't a fan of that idea so after about 20 minutes I give up.

11:50 - Start some lunch for the girls. Start munching on some Tostitos myself.

12:15 - Feed the girls. Noodles with butter and garlic salt. Sure, it lacks pretty much any nutrition what so ever, but the girls love it. It's the Barilla Plus - it has protein or something. Plus they had milk.

1:00 - Margie is finally ready for a nap. I change her diaper and am happy to discover she pooped. Hopefully this means a longer nap. I kiss her little head and ask that she please sleep for at least 2 hours.

1:05 - Start some laundry.

1:10 - Clean up the kitchen from lunch.

1:20 - Begin cooking. Chat with Lily. Have her do a worksheet. It is Q week this week.

3:00 - I hear someone on the monitor. She slept for exactly 2 hours.

3:15 - Come back down with Margie. Give her some of the smoothie that I had just made. She loves it. Lily does not. I change around some laundry and continue stirring my masterpiece.

4:30 - Fold some laundry. The girls are helping, which means Margie is throwing clean clothes on the dog hair covered floor. But they are happy and I am happy.

5:00 - Lily's teacher had emailed earlier to let me know the kids would be going outside to play in the snow at school tomorrow. I have to round up her snow gear since it is the first time we have really needed it in a year. Thankfully it is all easy to locate, with the exception of her snow mittens. I figure her stretchy gloves should do. How long can they really be out anyway? I throw an extra pair of fleece gloves in her backpack just in case.

5:30 - Lily wants to play hide and seek. I have just finished cleaning up the kitchen yet again and even though I really want to sit down for a few minutes I oblige her. She has been really good all day and I need to stop saying no because I am tired.

6:15 - Dinner. Thankfully my MIL was cooking today. Spaghetti. Margie is a disaster. She will definitely be needing a bath tonight. Last night was bath night. Make a mental note to coordinate our meals with bath nights.

6:45 - Give M a bath. It is a very basic, get you clean bath. She is disappointed at the lack of playing. Despite very little play time, I am still soaked.

7:00 - Bed time for Margie. She has mercy on me and goes down easily.

7:15 - Finish helping clean the kitchen for the millionth time today. I switch around some more laundry, make Lily's lunch, and make some brownies for tomorrow.

8:15 - The kitchen is finally clean, the brownies are done, the laundry is folded and it is time for Lily to go to bed. We go upstairs and read a story and I am able to talk her into going to bed without a fight. Victory is mine!

8:20 - Jump in the shower. I am thankful that there is any hot water left after all the dishes I have done.

8:45 - Throw a load of cloth diapers in the dryer. I'll deal with folding and stuffing them tomorrow.

9:00 - Sit down. It's been a long day, but a good day. This kind of busy suits me. I've been a working mom for a little over six months now and days like today still feel more natural. I know tomorrow will be a busy day as well. Wednesdays always are. But that busy will include a full day of work, away from my babies.

9:45 - I'm done blogging and going to read. I imagine I will get about 4 pages before I fall asleep.

Goodnight!!

1 comment:

Jen B. said...

hah! Barilla Plus. I love it!