monday morning school skippers...

Well....the older 4 school kids went fine. Since I haven't changed my watch yet, I thought it was 8:10,and I came running out here this morning only to realize that it was really 7:10. So I had plenty of time to make blueberry bagels for them. And Kathryn realized that she had a headache. She skipped. Then the second trip kids were tricky because Evelyn has been sick this weekend, and Suzanne is definetly still sick. Yesterday Sonja was complaining about various ailments, so that ruled out sending Jon, since he can't go alone. Well, he COULD, but I do not think he would go get on the bus by himself.


So no nice quiet morning for me. Jonathan has cried about three different things already, he put a fake Hannah Montana hairpiece in Kathryn's hair then pulled it out and she hit him....and he did the "pfftttt" thing to Evelyn, and she screamed at him, and then he thought he would be funny and do some tooting, and his sisters did not appreciate the humor, they all started screaming at him, so he cried. Now Camille and Charlotte Claire are up, so my typing minutes are numbered.

I went to a baby shower yesterday. The lovely first time mother to be is due the same time I was supposed to be due. I know, I know, get over it already. I am happy for her, she is so cute and young and sweet and excited. She is choosing to be surprised, so she got gender-neutral gifts. I got her two little froggy suits and a penguin suit. So soft and so sweet. We had an excellent time, we had a turn if we wished to encourage her to something, so I told her to remember that lack of sleep FEELS like it will kill you, but it won't. It is all in the attitude. I know for me it has been one of the hardest things through the years, to be tired. Of course it is wise to get some sleep if it is possible, but I know what is like to become so focused on trying to get that sleep and when it doesn't work it is so frustrating and when you are so tired you just want to stomp your feet and cry and fall apart. (Sleep when your baby sleeps is fine advice, but then when are you going to shower and clean the toilet and make dinner? ) (but I didn't mention this part to her)

The plumber is supposed to come today. Do I have to clean the house for the plumber? hmm. Our water has to get fixed, and my niece's husband has been very very sick. So Paul is calling someone today to come look at it. When you turn on the faucet and water just comes out, be thankful. When you step into the shower, and water just comes out, be thankful. When you put in a load of wash, and it just washes and gets done without turning off in the middle of the load, be thankful.....and when the water doesn't come out of the faucet, also be thankful. But get it fixed as soon as you can, or your life will revolve around little things like telling no one to flush during Camille's bath, or while the whites are washing, and literally checking with every one of the 16 other people in the house and telling them to not so much as brush their teeth while you go in for a quick shower. Or else! Because standing there under a little cold drip....in your mind, toilet flushing while someone is showering will not be viewed as a mere oversight, no it will be on par with a federal offense. How could they!!!?

So now I will go put the whites in the dryer. I actually washed three loads sucessfully yesterday. I didn't do much laundry on Friday or Saturday, and when I went into the laundry room yesterday, I warned the kids that if or when I drop dead suddenly, they better be more careful than they have been....there were dirty clothes in the clean sock basket, darks mixed with lights in the hampers, a basket of clean clothes sitting there ready to hang, various items on the floor......they tell me I had better not go and die on them. Well, I am not planning on it, but you never know.

I had better get moving. I need to wash my long tangly hair before the plumber gets here. Plus it makes me nervous, accidents usually only happen when my hair is dirty.