a post in which I probably should have been doing something else, but it’s written now, so oh well!

My parents arrive late tomorrow night.  I had planned to spend all day today around the house, doing the innumberable things that would be ideal to have done before their arrival.  BUT, today was Lyd’s second-to-last day of school, and there was a field trip planned for today.  To a chocolate-making place.  Fortunately/unfortunately (I’m not sure which), this place actually makes chocolates (like the various kinds you buy in boxes), which were good, don’t get me wrong.  However, I had hoped to see them actually taking cacao beans and making chocolate.  But, this place buys their chocolate from a local company already made, and then makes fancy chocolates with the already-made chocolate.  Clear as mud chocolate?   But it was still interesting, and we got free samples – yum!  This was a gourmet chocolate-making place; a box of 12 peanut-butter filled chocolates cost $24!!!  I bought a measly $10 worth of chocolates to take home with us; we’ll enjoy them over the weekend when Grandma and Grandpa are here.

Despite the fact that it’s the end of the year, I hadn’t planned to go along today.  I have plenty to do at home, and Curious J didn’t get a good nap yesterday, woke up too early this morning, and was quite cranky.  But, the teachers felt that they needed another driver, Lyd begged me to go along, and I needed to be absolutely sure that Lyd would be back home in time to make it to her 3:30 dress rehearsal for her dance recital on Saturday.  Soooo, all factors considered, I went along.

It was a good thing that I did, as Lyd would not have been back in time for her rehearsal if I hadn’t been able to leave early.  (Luckily I was able to find room in another car for the one girl that I had taken with me.)  We made it just in time, and I was able to use another mom’s cell phone to call my husband to tell him to meet us at the park where the dancers were practicing, since I hadn’t had time to go home and pick him up.  He won’t be able to see her actual performance on Saturday (pastor duties require him to be elsewhere), so his only chance to see her dance would be at this dress rehearsal.  Luckily, everything worked out just fine, although I probably would have had time to go home and pick JJ up if I hadn’t forgotten to take my Fastrack along, so I had to sit for almost 20 minutes in the cash-only lane of the Bay Bridge toll plaza waiting for the traffic to inch forward so that I could pay my $4 toll and drive over the Bay Bridge.  It was so annoying to see the cars whizzing by on the Fastrack-only lanes and to know that I could have been one of them!  Grrr.  But it’s always cool to drive over the Bay Bridge into downtown San Francisco and see the skyline spread out before you and the Golden Gate bridge in the background and all the barges and tankers and ships in the Bay below.  Very cool.

Poor Curious J, however, had a very rough day.  I got her bathed and into bed by 7pm tonight.  Poor baby was SO tired; she got cold by the end of her bath and was shaking uncontrollably.  I hope she feels better tomorrow.  I’m going to be a nap nazi tomorrow and make sure she gets the sleep she needs!  I just hope she doesn’t get sick again; she got over her bronchiolitis just two days ago.  I hope she doesn’t relapse.  While she initially practically passed out in bed, she woke up after half an hour and has been somewhat awake ever since.  I can hear her moving around a bit in her crib, although she’s not crying or fussing.  I hope she drops off soon and has a good sleep.

Of course, with being out and about today, I got squat done at home.  (And here I am blogging!  But, it relaxes me to type it out.  And I’m typing fast, so…)  There are so many things that would be nice to get done, and as I face the projects, I mentally start berating myself for not doing better.  I don’t judge my faith by my housekeeping, but at the same time, I know I could be using my time a little better.  I know what I don’t want to do, but I’m not quite sure how to best do what I want to do.  I haven’t found a good balance yet, I guess.  I’m sure more posts on that topic will be coming in the future.

Part of my problem, as my long-time readers know, is boredom.  Another issue that impedes my housekeeping efforts is simply my personality; I do certain things better than others, but yet it’s helpful when all of it is done, not just the tasks I prefer.  And, finally, I’m still struggling with tiredness.  I’m conscious of trying to get to bed much more so than I’ve been for quite some time, but it doesn’t seem to me making a whole lot of difference yet.  I’m writing my bedtime down every night, and honestly, they’re not what I want them to be.  Plus, when I DO get to bed, I can’t fall asleep right away, unless I take something (like Valerian or Bach Rescue Sleep or homeopathic Calming tablets).  To top it all off, I’ve been waking up every morning between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom, and then I can’t always get back to sleep right away!  Sigh.

So, there.  I got all that out.  I haven’t yet found my ideal housekeeping balance, I’m still struggling with sleep, and I’m having a bit of an anxiety attack tonight.  (At least my body is acting like I’m anxious.  My mind is okay.)  But, it’s 8:15 p.m., my children are in bed, my dishes are washed, my outside plants are watered, and the family/toy room is immaculate.  I did manage to pack a bunch of toys away this week, as well as bring out a previously packed-away box out of the garage.  Everything is finally put away or packed away, and the room looks great.  I am going to be proud of my accomplishments while continuing to decide what else I can do.

And, I still have all day tomorrow.  There’s a last-day-of-school picnic at lunchtime that will take up some time, but the rest of the day is mine.  My parents don’t arrive until late at night, and my mother insisted that I not wear myself out cleaning and preparing before they come.  She said that if they could have surprised me with this visit like they did at Christmastime with my brother’s visit, they would have — that way I wouldn’t wear myself out before they come cleaning and organizing.  I’ll listen to my mom and I won’t wear myself out, but I will make sure that I have at least a clean bed to sleep in, a clean bathroom to use, and a few days’ worth of meals planned.  At least I have a big bag of fresh sweet cherries in my fridge from the Farmer’s Market; they’re my mother’s favorite.