I've been trying each day to go grocery shopping... a fairly simple task you might think. Well I refuse to shop after 3 pm due to mayhem existing and traffic that I'd like to avoid like the plague. I'm willing to try again after around 7 pm. That is of course if I'm not running some child to some event or still making dinner or too pooped to think of starting a full grocery trip. The ideal time, according to me, is to shop anytime between 7 am and 10 am on a weekday morning but with school needing to be a primary focus that time is unfortunately unavailable these days.
Running low to empty on everything is not a fun thing when tummies begin to growl. We thought life would be grand since Patrick was in town all this week... In town has a new meaning. We now say... Daddy will be gracing the house some time before bed each night and if we're lucky and he's not too tired, stiff or dirty we might be able to do something with him around... like convince him that the chicken run is a pain in the.. hmmm... and needs immediate repair because we dislike chasing and corralling chickens morning and evening! Another thing that we might get a chance to do with Daddy being "in town", is work on the bikes that each need just a little something to make them ready for rolling this year. So each evening... a chain is oiled, a tire patched or replaced before dark!... yes we should have built a garage!
Needless to say the week started with a need for groceries on Monday and here it is Friday evening and we've never made it to the store! Daddy graciously stopped for milk one night on the way home from work and for some fruit last night... but not the big grocery list that needs to be done!
Determined to go today no matter what! I used to just do the midnight shop alone... but now I just can't stay awake that late, let alone go out and be productive! I thought about getting up and out before 6 am this morning... but forgot to wake up until 7:15 and my history students arrived at 7:20. I taught history in my p.j.'s and bathrobe.
Showered finally at noon and munched on bagels from the freezer for lunch with water... long out of milk again!
The kids were finally done with all their schoolwork by 2:30... I could go.. but I'd have to hurry back for Miles to be at scouts by 3:30 and my hair was still in a towel from my shower... hmmm..
The day wasn't looking good for groceries!
Channa came by to get Grandma for Kenzie's soccer match and since Grandma wasn't quite ready to go and stay we decided that Sarah could go watch the game and that I would just have to go shopping this evening and pick up Sarah and Grandma afterwards. A plan I'd have to stick to!
So off they went, Cooper opted to stay and play with Duncan. Grandma's parting words were, "If you are able to have dinner and go grocery shopping while I'm gone then I'll know I'm the problem!"
Determined to have dinner somehow and get the grocery shopping done so it could all be Grandma's problem I headed in to the kitchen. Looking into an empty fridge and bare cupboards with a not caring about food stomach wasn't going too well... Duncan, Cooper and Elowen, whom I'd forgotten I was babysitting for an hour for the neighbour called from my bedroom... "It's spilling!"
I came quickly to discover that they had been returning my palm pilot to the charger when they knocked over the lucky bamboo plant that sits in a vase of water and my underwear drawer was now filling with water!
As I cleaned up the water mess and mopped out my drawer the phone rang. I was late... again... picking up Caleb, Miles and the neighbour from scouts! I had three 5 year olds and only 2 car seats! No one to babysit while I do the three minute drive! Too late to walk. I buckled the two into seats and my own son into a booster not his size and we took off... happened to look in the rear view mirror to see that we'd left the door open!... I ran up the driveway and closed the door. We rushed to pick up the boys. When we arrived the scoutmaster let us know that there wasn't much need for the rush... Miles can't find his shoes. After scouring the building, I found them and he marched to the car barefoot. I returned all the excess children except Cooper and the 4 boys and I went home so I could try again to make dinner and groceries Grandma's problem... now it's 5:00!
It's now raining. The boys were told to play lego downstairs so I could work fast and leave soon. Then I looked out the kitchen window and saw the chickens. We've been trying to put them in the run each day. But now it's raining and they don't have any shelter and once I leave Patrick isn't likely to think of looking for them out there to put them away. So the boys and I ran out in the rain to chase chickens and put them away for the night. In our hurry we forgot about the dog and with the chickens loose and the dog feeling it her job to herd them we had quite a time getting the dog back in the house and locked up so we can finish our task of chicken chasing!
Now wet, aching from being in a bent over position, cursing Patrick, and my feet slimy --- don't wish to elaborate!--- the chickens are in their pen for the night and I can tell the doors to the nest boxes aren't closed again!. I walked all the way around to the front yard so I could access the nest boxes and close the doors... not the easy task that Patrick says it is... getting wetter... there are no eggs again today! One of the hens is now out in the front yard so a chase is on to return her when I stumble upon why there aren't any eggs in the boxes. A nest full of eggs in the front flower bed. Some cracked and I don't know how old they are but at least the hens are still laying... just easter egg hunting for the eggs isn't what I bargained for each day... especially in the rain!
I'm back inside at 5:45 now and starting to panic about dinner... the doorbell rings... oh yeah.. the home teachers are coming tonight!
Oh good, one couldn't make it and it's just the other guy and since Patrick isn't home he figures he'll just try again another time! Why am I so relieved?
In the depths of the freezer I find an old bag of fish sticks... don't even remember buying them. So the boys and I each have 4 fish sticks and half a bag of stale frito chips and a few grapes and call it dinner! I'm typing while I eat... I need off my feet.
Ok.. dinner is done... now just do the grocery store and it's still all Grandma.. right? I'm off.. Patrick says he's only a few minutes away now.... So I left Caleb with the boys and we'll see how Cooper and I do with the grocery store and the Grandma, Sarah retrieval!
Gus with little Clairee!
Jessica we only met two months ago... so I'm cool with her graduation.
Neal will always be a 4 year old in my mind who rides his bike and goes on adventures in the willow bushes and checks periodically to see if I've baked any cookies lately! I know he's taking the next 'big step', off to college now in ID.
I've known Rhyanna since before she was born. Channa, Bailey and I took the ferries from Hornby Island and drove down to Victoria when it was announced that she had arrived! We couldn't wait to greet the new niece. Now this sweet little girl is grown and has big dreams for her next 'big step' in life. She's looking at Universities back east.
Even Sparky is taking a 'big step'... graduating from UC San Diego with his PhD. Moving his sweet family across the country to the BIG city on the east coast and starting a real job! This doesn't mean that since he's a bigwig government worker with a doctorate that we'll have to start calling him Dr. Graton... does it... I don't think any of us could call him anything but Sparky even if we tried!
I think I'm happy with the upcoming baby steps to look forward to in August. Perhaps it will help me to not focus on the children of my life no longer being children... The thought of even looking at my own children... the teenager, (now officially taller than me!) who will go to his first dance this summer and start highschool this fall!... the daughter who will next week have reached a decade on earth and has more fashion sense than I'll ever have.. my 8 year old scouting boy who does everything full throttle... and until August, my baby who is now reading and doing tricks on his two wheeler and heading off to friends without me...
The Derby itself was a chaotic and frenzied cub scout affair as was to be expected. The weigh in went well and we were only 1/10 of an ounce under... A quick dime fixed the weight issue and he was registered. The scouts were all checking out each other's cars. There were some really interesting designs. A few kids had had some problems with wheels that kept falling off and some really big weight discrepancies, but as soon as the cars were all registered we were ready to begin!Unfortunately the design of Miles car caused a few problems at the starting pin since the pin wasn't as tall as we thought it would be and his car hung over the pin giving him an unfair advantage, so his car was placed in the starting gate at an angle to avoid the hangover! I hadn't realized this until later in the evening...
The races were on!
Can't you just hear the whirring of the wheels and sense everyone holding their breath as they wait the seconds for each race to finish...
Duncan and Derek enjoyed their spot at the end of the track. They didn't care that the scores only appeared on the other side of the finish line. They liked watching the cars bump the end of the track!
A great photo finish!
and I can't even tell you exactly why...
The kids fixation on the Biggest Loser show this season brought all sorts of comments after that park moment!! Each night they continue to coax Daddy with,
We had a great time trying out the bikes. I however had a difficult time keeping up on foot to take photos, so we went to the school where they could ride in circles and loopdy loops and around the buildings and race each other and on and off the grass and show me tricks.... I was worn out watching! We ended the evening as it was getting dark by putting the bikes away and going for humongous ice cream cones that I couldn't believe they finished! I wonder how her real birthday will compare... This one was so 'simple'.
We're so glad we get one more visit as they journey across the U.S. to their new stomping grounds on the east coast! Duncan is most excited that the girls will visit with their Daddy at the same time! This way he says we won't have to change all the computer desktop images to pictures of Sparky, so Alyssa can see Daddy when she is here because she can just go see the real Daddy. However.... Daddy isn't staying for this next visit as long as the girls... so we'll probably be changing the desktop photos again anyway!
I'll try to do the back log of blogs without mentioning food again for a while or going on another tirade!
