Day off

I need to stop the madness.  I am obsessed about these statistics.  I can see Israel here and there and I think, "hey!  It's Mark!"  (and thanks for your smoke signal!!!!!  Also, I talked with Aisha last night.)  I think I should go cold turkey, though.  It's getting to the point of being ridiculous, and I although I am many thing, ridiculous is not one of them.  hahahahaha.

Today was my day off.  I thought the kids didn't have school today - whoops - so I scheduled myself to work on Monday instead of today.  Not that big of a mistake, other than the worry that I would totally forget to go to work on Monday.  Which I didn't.  Forget, that is.

I did think about how long it's been since I worked (for pay) on a Monday. ( Haven't since November 20, 2000 - which is a day I didn't work very hard because I sort of suspected I was in labor with my number one son.  My favorite part of that day was a very long and leisurely lunch I had with my darling grandma.  I fondly recall that day every year and make my number one son sit through my re-telling.  He now rolls his eyes when I recount how hard it was for me to walk and how my grandma predicted I was going to have that baby soon.  She was right!  He was born the next day at noon.)  Anyhow, I kind of wanted to share that little tidbit at work, but I thought my hard-working colleagues wouldn't find it so funny and cute, my absence of working (for pay) Mondays in the past 10+ years.

ANYWAY, on this day off, let me tell you what I did:
Got up and breakfasted the three kiddos.
Prepared the delicious smelling beef stew for the crock pot.
Got One on the bus.
Went for a brisk walk around the block with a neighbor.
Drove Two to school and watch him scamper onto the playground to play.
Drove Three to school and walked him into his classroom.
Drove home.  Balanced check book.  Wrote bills.  Saw the fruits of my labor in the checkbook.
(It's nice to have that extra paycheck, I must say!)
Quickly tidied the kitchen.
Threw laundry in.
Drove to One's school to pick him up to take him to annual well child check at pediatrician whom I have a slight crush on (story for another day).
Took One to Subway for a 5 dollar footlong (any sub!  entire month of February!).
Returned One to school.
Drove to Three's school to attend St. J's visitor day luncheon.
Ate lunch with my cute and fairly rambunctious 4 year old.
Enjoyed watching him interact with his classmates.
Was proud to hear him correct one of his classmates to not pretend to use a gun at school.
Cringed when Three started talking about his "balls".  Reminded him that's inappropriate.
Wondered how many times he can reference his balls before getting the boot from Catholic School.
Returned home to briefly relax.
Changed laundry.
Started focaccia bread for tonight's dinner, in case the beef stew is a bomb.
Drove to Two's school to help out in the classroom.  Stuffed folders.
Brought Two home.
Made him a snack to address his monster-like behavior.
Hauled laundry upstairs.
Received One off the the bus.
Ran to Three's school (for the THIRD time today) to pick him up.
Went to the scholastic book fair at St. J's and bought a couple of books from my ball-lovin' 4 year old.
Returned home.
Got mail.  US weekly!  Hooray!
Worked a bit more on the focaccia.
Listened to One complain on and on about being HUNGRY, THERE'S NOTHING TO EAT HERE!
Eventually sent him to room for 10 minute time out.
Sat down here.  Remembered that I'm still feeling kind of punky and I really would like to go and neglect any further parenting responsibilities.

So there you have it.  Doesn't feel much like a day off.  That said, I was pleased to get individual time with all three kids throughout the day.  I suggested to One that we could view the dr's appt as a mini date.  He was unimpressed with that idea.

This weekend has the potential to be sucky, but I will try to make it good.  Bob has to work at one of those (stupid) home products shows all day Saturday.  I really hate all day Saturdays with the 3 kids all by myself.  I was looking for Badger State Game fun or UW athletic fun nearby, but there's not really much (badmitten, figure skating and women's tennis).  We have 3 tix to the men's UW b'ball game at noon on Sunday.  Of course, we'll be watching the SUPERBOWL on Sunday.

Alright, time to make the finishing touches on my focaccia.