staying home today, ha!

I did think I was staying home today. I really wanted to. I got up before seven this morning, even though the kids didn't have school, to take care of the puppy. And the day went on. Charlotte Claire dumped her bowl of cereal accidentally all over the bench and floor. oops. She is one busy three year old - today she peed on the deck again. She is copying Rosie.



Anyway, I ended up going out and about. Here is how it started: My brother Bob called me. He is having a graduation party at his house on Saturday for his son Peter, and our Joseph. I am making the cakes, and the baked beans, and had some things to buy....so I had to go out. Joseph, who is leaving for a year, needed 4 sets of guitar strings and some extra pics. Aaron needed chapstick, boxers, sandals. Mali needed socks and sandals. I went to six stores with Aaron and Mali. Aaron got some jeans for $12 (ouch!), and Mali some for $4.....they begged me for Chinese food, so I settled on KFC, they each got a $1.49 toasted wrap. Then Mali told me that when she went places with me, she always got fast food, and she didn't want to eat it anymore. That is easy to say after you bugged me to take you someplace, isn't it?



We got home to a dinner prep in progress. The salt potatoes were made, and the chicken breast was marinating. Joseph cooked them on the grill, while Abigail and I made a tossed salad. The older kids, along with their cousin Luke and friend Nate, who were still here from the beach, had to get out the door for the youth meeting, so we got out some rolls, and Paul made them chicken sandwiches to go. Then we had a relatively relaxing dinner with the seven youngest. The kitchen is mostly cleaned up.



Tomorrow, I thought, tomorrow I will stay home. See, stuff does get done when I am gone. But the thoroughness is lacking. The counters need a really good cleaning off, the clothes couch is growing bigger than life. Apparently everytime they clean up, they put more clothes on there. So the floors have been swept and cleaned up, and things get picked up...but I need to stay home a day and get a bit more done....(maybe tomorrow I'll do a chore list and have someone clean windows, someone do the bathroom, vacuum the stairs and hall, mop the kitchen, straighten the shoes, neaten the bookcase....hmm) Anyway, it looks like I am going somewhere tomorrow after all. My three boys, Joseph, Aaron, and Samuel, are leaving on a jet plane...on Monday morning, bright and early. Hey, wait a minute! When does MY vacation start? ha. Anyway, I have to go and get a debit card for the boys to use in Norway. I have to go 45 minutes one way. Rats. I want to stay home.



Sometimes it seems like I am just not in control at all, just carried along by the current. So many needs to meet, with one or the other needing sneakers or shoes or sandals or headphones or earbuds (when those became a NEED is beyond me) or a jacket......or dr. appt.'s ....and we need milk and bread, and we are out of salsa again. Do we NEED salsa? Apparently we do. Anyway, I am thankful that we generally are able to get what we need, but I buy things only if they are cheap.

I cannot concentrate tonight, as Miss Charlotte Claire is still up and Paul and I have to talk about stuff....