This Crazy Thing We Call Life
Do you ever feel like the chaos in life never ends? Like it's wave after wave of utter crazy? Is it always the stories you tell about life is stuff you couldn't make up even if you wanted to? Yes? I feel you my friends. Life can be so utterly, completely, and totally insane. No matter how hard we try to make just a little sense and order out of life it seems as if chaos is determined to rule and reign. The last week or so (I've completely lost track of time to be honest) has been total chaos. Though what is chaos for me at least can provide humorous fodder for you...and me as I look back on it.
Last week I suddenly realized on Monday that my in-laws and extended family were showing up in less than a week. Not the two weeks I thought I had left. To top it off, Easter morning was the same day they were coming in. As I stood there dumbfounded trying to figure out where I had lost a week, I also realized that not only was Easter a thing, but I hadn't done anything to get ready for Easter...or my guests. My stress level flew through the roof faster than a jackrabbit jumps in his hole. Then it hit me...Josh wasn't going to be here when my guests arrived. Oh yeah, and I have a hair appointment on Friday. Then there's ballet on Tuesday, and of course the house that looks like a tsunami the size of California hit it. Let's not even mention the fact that I'm exhausted from lack of sleep for days on end and have a grocery list a mile long to get. Well crap on a stick. I've got way to much to do and not nearly enough energy and coffee to do it. So I thought to myself "Self, let's take this one day at a time. We will survive...hopefully." So off I went to tackle the chaos.
Monday was spent trying to get a little cleaning done and catch up on some sleep before things got really crazy. I also managed to get the meals for my guests planned out and start taking stock of what I was going to need and what I already had. Josh and I hit the store and fetched Easter baskets for the kids and snagged a few much needed items. So while I didn't get as much as I would have liked, at least I had tackled a few important things. Tuesday rolled around with a rush. As we raced to get to ballet even though Josh and I were trying desperately not to fall asleep getting there, we discussed what was coming up for the rest of the week and what needed to be done. We reached the gym with plenty of time to let her play in the indoor playground and to put Clay into playcare. Once the kids were sorted I left Josh to watch Sam as I fetched the two of us coffee and something to eat before heading to class. I pretty sure the attendant was less than pleased that I left even though I had left my husband there. Oh well. The coffee and such took far longer than usual but we still had enough time. So I rushed back to get Josh and Sam. I couldn't go into the play area because I had food, so I waved at Josh through the window to let him know we needed to get going. Unfortunately he couldn't seem to get Sam down from inside the upper playground. We switched places and I came in and told her to come down. Suffice to say that didn't go as planned. Do you have any idea how tiny those play areas are? The attendant told me to strip my shoes and go fetch her if I needed her to come down. So up the blasted tree I went. This tiny plastic hollow tree. Seriously child?!?!? Those things are almost claustrophobic, even for someone as little as me. Just as I reached the top the little stinker saw me and bolted the opposite direction. Have you ever tried running in one of those as a full sized adult? Let me tell you, you feel like the whole thing just may collapse under you merely because you know it is meant to hold little kids, not a curvy full sized adult, no matter how short you are. On top of that, you have all the parents of the other children looking at you like you are the worst parent ever for not being able to get your kid to come down without having to go fetch them. So in a panic I thought "it's ok, I'll stuff us both down the slide and we will be out of here lickety split. No problem. I got this." That lasted all of about the three seconds it took me to watch a tiny 5 year old go down and realize exactly how small that slide really was. Small enough to know I was going to get stuck halfway down. At this point, I'm beginning to panic big time. "I can't get down, I can't get down. Oh crap, everyone is staring at me. How do I get down from this wretched place? AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Finally I decided screw it we are going down the way I came up. I thought getting up was hard? Ha! that was the easy part. The getting down while trying to make sure my three year old goes down first so she can't run off was way worse than the going up. Finally we make it to the bottom and out the door. No, I didn't bother putting on my shoes to walk to ballet as at this point we are running late. I can tell Josh is trying not to die laughing at me and our daughter walking shoeless to ballet class. When we finally made it there was no one else in the classroom. Not even the teacher. At this point I'm starting to wonder if I missed something important. Apparently I had. The teacher popped in and said it was spring break so no ballet. I'm standing there shoeless, looking like I climbed out of a hollow tree with a ballerina and there's no ballet. Drat. Plan B. Drop her off with her brother in playcare and go read for a while. Then go home and eat the dinner I had tossed in the crock pot earlier.
When we did get home I vaguely remember feeling dizzy and finding a blanket laying on the floor along with a pillow. About an hour or so later I woke up stiff and a little sore but at least feeling slightly better. I called my parents and told them of Sam's antics. Apparently she comes by it honestly on her mother's side. According to my father (poor guy put up with so much from me) I had in fact done the same thing at a McDonalds playground as a three year old. Sorry Dad. Later I packed up Josh's lunches for work and headed to bed knowing Wednesday couldn't be as crazy...right? All I can honestly tell you about Wednesday and Thursday is aside from constantly yelling at Sam for being a snot, drinking lots of coffee, and being stressed out of my mind while screaming around the house cleaning, I don't remember much. They kind of blurred together.
Friday rolled around with a hair appointment first thing in the morning, and shopping after. Ever had your hair bleached? Yeah, it's not fun. While my hair seems to love bleach, my scalp not so much. Oh the burning. However as much as my hair loves bleach, it utterly refuses to give up it's red. So five toners later...it was back to a lovely blonde shade.
Knowing I wasn't going to be in them for to long I had decided to wear heels that morning as I don't get to wear them as often as I'd like. Kids and heels are not conducive to one another in the least. This means that while I have a lovely selection of beautiful heels, I rarely get to wear them out and about. That morning I thought I might as well. Besides they weren't that high and they are a rather comfortable pair. Things always take much longer than anticipated. By the time I was finished with my hair appointment, shopping at one grocery store, and the dollar store my feet were beginning to whimper profusely. I still had one last stop to make. Climbing in my car I decided it was time to head home and do the last stop the next day. My feet were in to much pain to keep going. After all I'd been in them for several hours at this point. They were done, and frankly so was I.
Saturday I woke up with the realization that my guests were due in the next afternoon, and I had brunch to go to at a friend's. Crap on a cracker. Most of the cleaning I had done during the week was for naught as I woke up to a house that was run through by a pack of wild animals...namely my children. With some peppy music and a whole slew of determination I managed to get the house mostly back in order and deep cleaned. I even got a store run in and the house decorated! While there was still lots of laundry to finish folding and put away, I was to tired to try to keep going. The kids went to bed and I thought perhaps I'd get a moment to de-stress before the chaos of Easter morning. I should have known better.
Every twenty minutes or so Sam was waking up. If it wasn't Sam, it was Clayton. Spring colds had struck in full force. A dose of Zarbees for each kid and a total of about 2 hours of 10 minutes at a time of sleep later, it was 6:30 in the morning. Time to get up and make some potatoes for the brunch I was supposed to be going to and no longer would. I wasn't about to run the risk of getting any one else sick because of my kids. Happy Easter me. My friend was so sweet and still brought me a plate of brunch since I couldn't come. She even brought a mimosa. I'm not much of a day drinker, but it was delicious and the food was fabulous. I made the kids stay in bed for most of the day but I let them get up and play with their Easter baskets and watch an Easter Veggietales movie. I figured if we couldn't go to church or brunch, we'd at least watch that if nothing else. After that the kids went back to bed and pretty much stayed there. They were both tuckered out. My guests arrived and dinner went well. Each kid got up for a little while to say hello, but didn't stay up to long as they were still sick.
Monday Josh got home and crashed for an hour or two before we all got up and met our guests at a local favorite restaurant of ours. Josh took our guests shopping while I took the kids home for a nap after stopping to get a second cup of coffee from the drive through as they were sick and I was tired. Not that I got a nap, but you know, at least I got to mostly finish my coffee before jumping back to reality. Then they were all back and the rest of the night was delightfully uneventful. Even managed a third cup of coffee.
As Tuesday came dragging in, it was official. I was sick with the cold that had plagued the rest of my little family. Awesome. Just what I needed. I stumbled down the stairs to try to make some breakfast and discovered the kitchen looked like a land mine had gone off as I was to tired to clean it the night before. Finally got the kitchen cleaned and dishes done by early afternoon. As I had already fed the kids and put them down for naps, I was just to tired to try to cook. Leftover pasta it was. After which I promptly passed out in the easy chair in the living room. Josh and I decided that cooking was way to much work when Little Caesar's was just down the street. I was craving the crazy bread as I haven't had it in years. Oh my. It was even better than I remember. Such delicious, wonderful, garlicy goodness dipped in lovely sauce. Just what I needed. Yes, I ate almost all the crazy bread on my own. And no, I refuse to feel bad about it. That kind of goodness should never be shamed.
And that brings us to today. While mostly more laid back than much of the last few weeks, I'm still pretty bushed and sick. However I will leave you with this. Even when life gets so crazy and busy that we just want to give up, don't. It will get better. Or at the very least you'll have a great story to tell.
Last week I suddenly realized on Monday that my in-laws and extended family were showing up in less than a week. Not the two weeks I thought I had left. To top it off, Easter morning was the same day they were coming in. As I stood there dumbfounded trying to figure out where I had lost a week, I also realized that not only was Easter a thing, but I hadn't done anything to get ready for Easter...or my guests. My stress level flew through the roof faster than a jackrabbit jumps in his hole. Then it hit me...Josh wasn't going to be here when my guests arrived. Oh yeah, and I have a hair appointment on Friday. Then there's ballet on Tuesday, and of course the house that looks like a tsunami the size of California hit it. Let's not even mention the fact that I'm exhausted from lack of sleep for days on end and have a grocery list a mile long to get. Well crap on a stick. I've got way to much to do and not nearly enough energy and coffee to do it. So I thought to myself "Self, let's take this one day at a time. We will survive...hopefully." So off I went to tackle the chaos.
Monday was spent trying to get a little cleaning done and catch up on some sleep before things got really crazy. I also managed to get the meals for my guests planned out and start taking stock of what I was going to need and what I already had. Josh and I hit the store and fetched Easter baskets for the kids and snagged a few much needed items. So while I didn't get as much as I would have liked, at least I had tackled a few important things. Tuesday rolled around with a rush. As we raced to get to ballet even though Josh and I were trying desperately not to fall asleep getting there, we discussed what was coming up for the rest of the week and what needed to be done. We reached the gym with plenty of time to let her play in the indoor playground and to put Clay into playcare. Once the kids were sorted I left Josh to watch Sam as I fetched the two of us coffee and something to eat before heading to class. I pretty sure the attendant was less than pleased that I left even though I had left my husband there. Oh well. The coffee and such took far longer than usual but we still had enough time. So I rushed back to get Josh and Sam. I couldn't go into the play area because I had food, so I waved at Josh through the window to let him know we needed to get going. Unfortunately he couldn't seem to get Sam down from inside the upper playground. We switched places and I came in and told her to come down. Suffice to say that didn't go as planned. Do you have any idea how tiny those play areas are? The attendant told me to strip my shoes and go fetch her if I needed her to come down. So up the blasted tree I went. This tiny plastic hollow tree. Seriously child?!?!? Those things are almost claustrophobic, even for someone as little as me. Just as I reached the top the little stinker saw me and bolted the opposite direction. Have you ever tried running in one of those as a full sized adult? Let me tell you, you feel like the whole thing just may collapse under you merely because you know it is meant to hold little kids, not a curvy full sized adult, no matter how short you are. On top of that, you have all the parents of the other children looking at you like you are the worst parent ever for not being able to get your kid to come down without having to go fetch them. So in a panic I thought "it's ok, I'll stuff us both down the slide and we will be out of here lickety split. No problem. I got this." That lasted all of about the three seconds it took me to watch a tiny 5 year old go down and realize exactly how small that slide really was. Small enough to know I was going to get stuck halfway down. At this point, I'm beginning to panic big time. "I can't get down, I can't get down. Oh crap, everyone is staring at me. How do I get down from this wretched place? AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Finally I decided screw it we are going down the way I came up. I thought getting up was hard? Ha! that was the easy part. The getting down while trying to make sure my three year old goes down first so she can't run off was way worse than the going up. Finally we make it to the bottom and out the door. No, I didn't bother putting on my shoes to walk to ballet as at this point we are running late. I can tell Josh is trying not to die laughing at me and our daughter walking shoeless to ballet class. When we finally made it there was no one else in the classroom. Not even the teacher. At this point I'm starting to wonder if I missed something important. Apparently I had. The teacher popped in and said it was spring break so no ballet. I'm standing there shoeless, looking like I climbed out of a hollow tree with a ballerina and there's no ballet. Drat. Plan B. Drop her off with her brother in playcare and go read for a while. Then go home and eat the dinner I had tossed in the crock pot earlier.
When we did get home I vaguely remember feeling dizzy and finding a blanket laying on the floor along with a pillow. About an hour or so later I woke up stiff and a little sore but at least feeling slightly better. I called my parents and told them of Sam's antics. Apparently she comes by it honestly on her mother's side. According to my father (poor guy put up with so much from me) I had in fact done the same thing at a McDonalds playground as a three year old. Sorry Dad. Later I packed up Josh's lunches for work and headed to bed knowing Wednesday couldn't be as crazy...right? All I can honestly tell you about Wednesday and Thursday is aside from constantly yelling at Sam for being a snot, drinking lots of coffee, and being stressed out of my mind while screaming around the house cleaning, I don't remember much. They kind of blurred together.
Friday rolled around with a hair appointment first thing in the morning, and shopping after. Ever had your hair bleached? Yeah, it's not fun. While my hair seems to love bleach, my scalp not so much. Oh the burning. However as much as my hair loves bleach, it utterly refuses to give up it's red. So five toners later...it was back to a lovely blonde shade.
Knowing I wasn't going to be in them for to long I had decided to wear heels that morning as I don't get to wear them as often as I'd like. Kids and heels are not conducive to one another in the least. This means that while I have a lovely selection of beautiful heels, I rarely get to wear them out and about. That morning I thought I might as well. Besides they weren't that high and they are a rather comfortable pair. Things always take much longer than anticipated. By the time I was finished with my hair appointment, shopping at one grocery store, and the dollar store my feet were beginning to whimper profusely. I still had one last stop to make. Climbing in my car I decided it was time to head home and do the last stop the next day. My feet were in to much pain to keep going. After all I'd been in them for several hours at this point. They were done, and frankly so was I.
Saturday I woke up with the realization that my guests were due in the next afternoon, and I had brunch to go to at a friend's. Crap on a cracker. Most of the cleaning I had done during the week was for naught as I woke up to a house that was run through by a pack of wild animals...namely my children. With some peppy music and a whole slew of determination I managed to get the house mostly back in order and deep cleaned. I even got a store run in and the house decorated! While there was still lots of laundry to finish folding and put away, I was to tired to try to keep going. The kids went to bed and I thought perhaps I'd get a moment to de-stress before the chaos of Easter morning. I should have known better.
Every twenty minutes or so Sam was waking up. If it wasn't Sam, it was Clayton. Spring colds had struck in full force. A dose of Zarbees for each kid and a total of about 2 hours of 10 minutes at a time of sleep later, it was 6:30 in the morning. Time to get up and make some potatoes for the brunch I was supposed to be going to and no longer would. I wasn't about to run the risk of getting any one else sick because of my kids. Happy Easter me. My friend was so sweet and still brought me a plate of brunch since I couldn't come. She even brought a mimosa. I'm not much of a day drinker, but it was delicious and the food was fabulous. I made the kids stay in bed for most of the day but I let them get up and play with their Easter baskets and watch an Easter Veggietales movie. I figured if we couldn't go to church or brunch, we'd at least watch that if nothing else. After that the kids went back to bed and pretty much stayed there. They were both tuckered out. My guests arrived and dinner went well. Each kid got up for a little while to say hello, but didn't stay up to long as they were still sick.
Monday Josh got home and crashed for an hour or two before we all got up and met our guests at a local favorite restaurant of ours. Josh took our guests shopping while I took the kids home for a nap after stopping to get a second cup of coffee from the drive through as they were sick and I was tired. Not that I got a nap, but you know, at least I got to mostly finish my coffee before jumping back to reality. Then they were all back and the rest of the night was delightfully uneventful. Even managed a third cup of coffee.
As Tuesday came dragging in, it was official. I was sick with the cold that had plagued the rest of my little family. Awesome. Just what I needed. I stumbled down the stairs to try to make some breakfast and discovered the kitchen looked like a land mine had gone off as I was to tired to clean it the night before. Finally got the kitchen cleaned and dishes done by early afternoon. As I had already fed the kids and put them down for naps, I was just to tired to try to cook. Leftover pasta it was. After which I promptly passed out in the easy chair in the living room. Josh and I decided that cooking was way to much work when Little Caesar's was just down the street. I was craving the crazy bread as I haven't had it in years. Oh my. It was even better than I remember. Such delicious, wonderful, garlicy goodness dipped in lovely sauce. Just what I needed. Yes, I ate almost all the crazy bread on my own. And no, I refuse to feel bad about it. That kind of goodness should never be shamed.
And that brings us to today. While mostly more laid back than much of the last few weeks, I'm still pretty bushed and sick. However I will leave you with this. Even when life gets so crazy and busy that we just want to give up, don't. It will get better. Or at the very least you'll have a great story to tell.
Comments
Post a Comment