Living-Deliberately.com

We had what felt like a pretty good flow to today; a feeling of settling into normal life. So here’s a glimpse into what a “normal” day looks like around here:

6:40 Baby has been semi-awake and nursing for a half hour or so. David has been up and getting dressed for work. He nudges my shoulder to wake me. Contemplate dream in which I was suddenly a very LARGE pear shaped woman with a bulbous behind.
6:50 I”m still in jammies but I”ve got contacts, brushed hair and teeth, and I’m downstairs ready to make breakfast. Water on to boil for coffee, soaked oats ready for the cooking pot. Get the gas on and reach for the coffee beans. Inhale deeply. feed the workin’ cats.
7:15 Baby’s climbing into high chair, W is awake and looking for a daddy hug. David is ironing his shirt. I’ve got hot oatmeal topped with honey, pecans, cinnamon, peaches, and cream, and cups of coffee and milk. Just as I’m about to sit down with “the early men”, Celia comes down. She’s been making her bed and brushing her hair. She comes down fully dressed and ready. I make her plate. Remember to take meat out to thaw.
7:30 We’re all done with breakfast but for coffee. David is antsy to get out the door. I beg him to finish his cup with me as he worked until 11 the previous night and a few more mintues won’t hurt anything.

7:45 Dad’s gone. I start cleaning up. Andrew comes down and is ready for his plate. He wants a tall glass of milk with it; the first of many for the day.

Clean the kitchen, start a load of wash. Head upstairs to make my bed, get dressed, check email, blog, and other stuff. Books on ebay doing pretty well. Kids are watching Alice in Wonderland, of which they’ve quickly memorized most all the lines. The silly ones anyway
8:30 Call mom, check on fabric for painting later this week. Scold Fly for stinking up my front porch. Take Giant Baby upstairs so for a bath and a nurse. He falls asleep so I lay him down for the second morning nap of the week. Wonder if he’s getting sick.
9:00 the mail goes. Consider again the satalite or cable debate. Attempt to call but sis beeps in and that’s better. Have a fun convo with sis about the soon-to-be-here Baby Ruth and the paraphanalia I’m sending her way. Imagine her decorated house with baby gear and giggle with glee. Imagine Baby Ruth and feel strong urge to pinch someone’s cheeks.

9:30 call The Dish Network. Make appointment for friday, the same time the cable guy is suposed to come. Get tangled in the hidden costs, deals, and plans they have. Come away completely confused and feeling like I’m getting taken for a ride. Cut half a honeydew for snack time.
10:00 transfer load of wash. Start meatloaf. Argue with Andrew over having mashed potatoes or not (he wants them but won’t help make them; I don’t want them and would rather save them for chowder, so we’re having rice instead if it’s up to me). Baby’s up and Celia is blessedly willing to play with him for a bit.
10:45 Call David and tell him to push lunch back a bit because meatloaf takes a long time. Check email. See that they left off the free DVR on our deal and call them back. It’s “free” but it costs 5 something more a month to “program” it. Tell ‘em nevermind. Make ketchup and lacto-ferment ala Nourishing Traditions.
11:00-11:45 Haul boxes from storage out of van from yesterday and empty closet upstairs for rearranging later. Cycle laundry. Tidy living room. Unpack games and puzzles and arrange in cabinet. Stack cardboard outside for flattening into lasange bed fodder later.

12:15 Make rice and warm up Mrs. Louise’s canned green beans (old landlord’s wife). Get scraps out to chickens and remind Andrew to refill their water. Have Celia take load of other scraps to the compost bin. Nurse Giant Baby.

12:45 Make plates as David walks in. Sit down and have lunch. Talk about cable versus satalite and try not to get a headache while he does the math over an 18 month period. Wonder why the girl who works on his team gets “sick” so much and wish she were more reliable for him.

1:10 David’s out the door again. Clean the kitchen, wash the dishes, sweep the floor. Transfer another load of wash. Referree a fight over the games on the computer between the big 3. Try to talk W into a better mood than “storm cloud”. Put Missy back outside for the hundreth time. Rescue Sam the kitten from a well-meaning Rowan. Call sister back and tell her about two other baby items that I hope she has room for in her car. Change Huncky Monkey’s diaper and put him back down for a nap.

1:30 rearrange closet to accomodate half of it becoming a craft/sewing space when I have the time to build the counter. Put the finished pages of the kids’ albums into the sets Cathy brought me a few weeks ago. Unpack one box of hanging stuff for our closet. Remind kids of computer time limits. Move the miscellaneous curtain hanging stuff out of my closet and into the storage shed.

2:30 call Dish Network back and get the plan that is more basic but has no contract and requires an installation fee. Getting a rebate costs more per year; a hidden “catch” in thier offer. They still beat cable out for the best price. Check email and blog responses on friend’s blogs. Compare a few clam chowder recipes to make own recipe for tonight’s dinner.
3:00 sit down and work on lesson plans for the Culture Through Time class I”m teaching at our homeschool group this fall. It’s a look at what has been considered “beauty” by cultures throughout time. I”m very excited about it! The first two time periods compare their history with what was going on in the bible at the time; I’m teaching in costume, and we’re having food and art projects too. Very hands on and I can’t wait. The kids are having a “circus” in the driveway with stuffed animals and the cardboard boxes I made available.

3:50 realize frantically how much time has passed and pack the books up! Throw previously chopped onions into butter and pot on stove to get the soup going. Tell Celia to get Phat Baby up and all the kids to change into their soccer clothes. Peel and chop potatoes and mince garlic. Add stock. While it’s boiling, take a shower, shave legs, get dressed. Remind kids that they need not wear cleets that are too small. Change baby’s diaper, throw them in the car, look at ominously grey sky. Run back in to turn off stove and boiling potatoes. Cover and let sit and head out to car just as the thunder claps and the first big raindrops fall. It’s 4:28

4:40 No rain in town. drop off Celia’s library book in the book drop. Head to the bank and make a deposit. Pass out the dum dum suckers to the kids that the tellers always load them up with (2 each this time!). Drive over to the soccer field under fat drops of rain scattered far apart. Notice other parents in cars; no one has gotten out yet. Call D to see when he’ll be home tonight. Hooray! He thinks it will be ealier tonight!

5:00 No more rain but still distant thunder. Practice is off but sign ups are still on, so I fill out 3 identical forms. Am amazed Peggy still remembers my name; that doesn’t happen often with a name like mine and new intros. Get the scoop on practice times and games (few Saturdays at all, Yippee!) and phone tree stuff. Load back up and head to Darnell’s for milk and soup crackers.

5:45 round the corner for home and glimpse the mists between the hills and trees. Pull up and see motley crew of pets under the cardboard boxes the kids left out. Finish the clam chowder; let simmer. Remind kids to tidy downstairs and bedroom. Type some of this post.

6:00 kids have decided they are interested in watching Gosford Park. It will sail over their heads but it’s challenging dialog so I go ahead and let them try. Baby and I have soup; it’s nice to have a few moments of quiet. He wants to be in lap for dinner and he feels good in my arms. Dad comes home; the three of us have dinner. He calls the older two; I make their bowls and down some Tylonol for my headache.

6:30 clean kitchen. set nuts to soak for toasting tomorrow. Send Celia to the compost pile and Andrew to the chicken coop with scraps. Soak whole wheat flour in buttermilk for tomorrow’s waffles (I have a half/half thing going with unbleached white that is working well and fulfills the NT soaking grain idea). Listen to David reading Pat the Bunny to baby and playing with him for a bit before bed. Mentially thank Tisha again for her tip on trash cans; I’m so glad I don’t have to contend with that nasty can anymore!
7:00 baby changed and nursed and in bed. W and Dad wrestling. Older two getting their school stuff together. David gets them going in the living room; I work with W at the table in the kitchen. Fold laundry while he practices his handwriting and giggle when he says, “Wow! That’s a good ‘A’! I totally rock!” Work on First Language Lessons with him and fold more wash while he does Cuisinairre rods. Direct him to feed the workin’ cats their nighttime plate. Read a chapter of A Bear Called Paddington with him in my lap. He feels good too.

8:00 give Andrew ear drops and Tylonol for his lake-water ear ache. Come upstairs to type more on this. Listen while David is still working with older two down in the living room; I think they are working on their first play.

8:20 I hear them saying “In-tell-ec-tual” so it must be spelling they are working on. Again, I’m thankful they are learning from him cuz he spels so mutch beter than I do! Down to pick up W’s puzzle off the floor and various sipper cups from Sweet Baby throughout the day. Tell W to brush his teeth and get to bed but he stalls for a bit talking to Dad, who welcomes a few more moments with him.
8:45 popcorn time and a people mag. W comes down: “I heard someone walking in my room but no one was there.” It’s another stalling attempt in an effort to get a handful of popcorn. David scoots him out this time. Read about Invincable and Fast Food Nation (the movie!) that’s coming out and mentally add them to my Netflix queue. FFN doesn’t even open until November….

9:05 kids are done with school. We sit and munch some popcorn together and then they’re up to bed. Andrew takes the heating pad with him. David and I chat a bit and then he works for about 45 on his presentation for tomorrow. The kids are listening to Story of the World as they drift off. It’s 10 pm and I’ll read a bit more, he’ll work a bit more, and when lights go out in about 20 minutes we’ll talk until our words get heavy and jumbled and we find ourselves drifting off to sleep.

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So there’s our day. If you read through all of it, then wow! And that was pretty normal. Few tears, no accidents, 3 meals spent together around the table. All in all, not bad at all.

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