Preaching To The Choir

I really have about ten other things I should be doing right now, mainly sleeping, but I wanted to blog. It really is such an outlet for me. For everything, not just Grady.

I'm not often short-winded, as you well know, but I'm going to try tonight, so I can go to bed!

For many of you, I'm gonna be "preachin' to the choir"!

This has been one of those days where I can totally see how a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) can earn over $100,000 a year!

Even though I'm not completely a SAHM because I do earn a paycheck every month, albeit a small one, it's a paycheck none the less!

Here's a rundown of my day:

4:15am: hubby gets up to shower.

4:45am: hubby informs me that Buddy is too tired to get out of his crate to go outside and he tells me bye.

5:40am: alarm goes off, and even though I didn't really go back to sleep after hubby left, I still don't want to get up.

5:55 - 6:15am: hop out of bed and hurry to shower and dry hair (forget the make-up right now...no time for that!)

6:15 - 6:25am: make coffee and start waking up girls (quick get online to check blog, email and school lunch menus)

6:25am: turn girls' overhead lights on to further wake them up and put their clothes in the dryer to warm them (yes, they're a bit spoiled!)

6:25 - 6:45am: take Buddy out, fill water bottles, keep checking on girls, sign agendas, get breakfast ready to be heated.

6:45am: DRAG Emma Grace out of bed and hurry her along as best I can to get dressed.

7:00am: load everyone, including the dog, into the van to head to school.

7:00 - 7:40am: sit and make my way through two car pool lines that are about two miles from my house (that's how bad the traffic is!)

7:40 - 7:50am: type a letter to go home in Jessica's classmates' agendas

7:50 - 8:10am: go get my friend and neighbor from taking her car to be serviced.

8:10 - 8:45am: get chicken in crock pot, flat-iron hair, put on make-up, take Buddy out again and crate him up.

8:45 - 9:15am: make copies at Jessica's school and try to sort some things out about the Fall Festival this weekend.

9:15am - 1:45pm: go shopping with a wonderfully sweet mom from Jessica's class for our class basket that will be silent-auctioned at the Fall Festival.

1:45 - 2:10pm: report back to Jessica's teacher about the basket and answer questions about the festival.

2:10 - 2:40pm: sit in car pool line to get Emma Grace and come home.

3 - 3:30pm: Jessica comes home, stand outside talking to neighbor.

3:30pm - 4:30pm: on the phone taking care of festival details while girls do homework and play outside.

4:30 - 5pm: bathe Buddy because he needs to be fresh and clean for his surgery tomorrow - he's getting *fixed*!

5pm - 6pm: dinner prep and still on phone about festival.

*****somewhere in there, I put a load of laundry in the washer and one in dryer*****

6:15ish: Jessica realizes that she left her catching mitt at the ball field last night.... wake Gib up from his sound slumber (must be nice!) to take her to look while I finish dinner.

****While they are gone, I try to do a little kitchen clean-up and make the mistake of pushing my carrot and potato peels down the garbage disposal. Don't know if this was a mistake in general or if I shoved them too quickly, but the result was not good. BIG CLOG! ****

6:30pm: Gib and Jessica are back with no mitt. Tell Gib about clog. Of course I should have waited until after dinner because he has to take care of it right away.

6:30 - 7:30pm: Gib is working on garbage disposal while girls and I enjoy a delicious dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and roasted carrots. In the meantime, Gib tries to use the plunger and gets a face full of carrot-and-potato-peel-water. (He's really not happy now, but he always amazes me with his self-control when he's angry) He takes the pipes apart under the sink, we find the clog, unclog it with a broom handle (crazy) and guess who's left with the clean-up?

Yep.

7:30pm - 10:30pm: finish helping Jessica with homework; take Buddy out twice; clean the kitchen, including under the sink, around the sink, and the mop bucket; put dishes in dishwasher; hand wash other dishes; more laundry; and load fall basket items in my van to take to wrap tomorrow (Jessica did help me with that).

10:30 - 11pm: send out some emails about festival and decide that I really need to blog about my day.

Thanks for reading. I know I was just "preachin' to the choir" to all of you other busy moms out there. I cannot tell you how much I admire those of you who work a full-time job and keep your household running. Kudos to you! I get completely overwhelmed just trying to do the things I do. One day, sooner or later, I will enter the full-time working world and then I'll be asking for tips from all of you who do it every day!

BTW, this took me MUCH longer than I thought it would! (it is now 11:50!) AND, Jessica's coach sent out an email....they have her glove.

Goodnight! (Shoot, I forgot I have to take Buddy out again)

Love,
Tonya