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Hiking in Maine |
My parents will be back from their trip to Europe soon (that has a nice ring to it doesn't it? "Trip to Europe" without kids, to see old friends... excuse me while I daydream for a few minutes). Anyway, my mother has already dropped a not so terribly subtle hint that my blog could do with some updating, so here we go.

First of all, I kind of had to laugh when I realized that my last entry was from July 22nd, and was about how I am soooo busy, and my reason for not updating for the entire month of August is, of course, that I am soooo busy, and just today I was commenting to one of my friends that I can't believe how BUSY I am these days, and surely this is the most busy I have been in my entire life. And, somewhat ironically but also somewhat depressingly, I also remarked to a different friends who went on a college tour with her young cousin, "Do you remember college? When we thought we were soooooo busy and had soooo much reponsibility? I don't know whether to laugh or cry about that now.."
I am not so much depressed about the fact that I didn't realize how good I had it in college, that ship has most definitely sailed, but I am depressed about the fact that if experience is any kind of teacher, and at least I have learend THAT, then a year from now I will be looking back on this September and thinking, "I can't believe I thought I was busy then!" And I'm not going to lie, that really does make me want to cry.
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First day of school! |
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Hiking at Lake Tully |
Both Fraser and Hammie are in school 5 mornings a week now, from 8:30 to 11:30, which you would think would make my life easier, but doesn't. Since their school is half an hour away, and Eleanor obviously has to be in the car whenever I am, it doesn't make sense to drive all the way home while they are in school. So, we leave the house between 7:45 and 7:55 (which is my way of saying that I aim to leave at 7:45, so we can ususally get out of the driveway at 7:55) and we don't walk back in the door until 12:30, except on Tuesday when we go directly to the boys Audubon class from school and don't get home until 3:30. This may not sound like much (especially to those of you who have real jobs and think getting home at 12:30 sounds pretty sweet) but it has sure thrown us for a loop. I have planned activities for Eleanor during school (library story hour, swimming, music, gymnastics and, of course the most exciting, grocery shoppping) but we still have a lot of time to kill. We read a lot of book and have picnic snack in the minivan. It's working pretty well so far, but might not be as agreeable when it's below freezing outside.
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Who wants to watch a movie on Saturday night? |
And then of course you have to throw in the those once in awhile events like dentist appointments (the boys have no cavities, I do. So unfair), doctors visits (Eleanor has had a strange rash which was today diagnosed as Pityriasis Rosea. It isn't contagious, and there is no treament. It should go away in 6 to 14 weeks. It is, however, extremely rare in children under 10 and is most often seen in teenagers. So, here is medical evidene that Eleanor is already acting like a teenager.) And of course those unforeseen events like having to drive to Keene, NH to pick up our new dog. Okay, I acknowledge, that isn't isn't really unforeseen, and I certianly have no one to blame but myself there, but it is still a huge time suck.
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Ziva |
Not as much of a time suck, it turns out, as actually having a puppy. Ziva (who Fraser calls "Kiva" and Eleanor calls "Zebra" and Hammie calls "Princess Fiona") is a seven month old rottie, who is wonderfully adorable and playful and a major handful. She is apparently not quite as housebroken as I was led to believe, but lives up to the warning that "she may chew things" with much enthusiasm. Like mostly rotties she is very snuggly, which is awesome if you are a full size adult, but a little overwhelming if you are 2 and the "rottie lean to snuggle" frequently ends with you face down on the floor while a very happy and wiggly rottweiler sits on your back.
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Fraser playing soccer |
This is our life. Our house is more of a mess than usual since I used to do a lot of the general cleaning in the morning when the kids were most agreeable, and there is twice as much dog hair as there was a week ago. I'm getting up between 5 and 5:30 so I can shower, make everyone breakfast, clean all that up, pack everything we need to leave the house for 5 whole hours, and spending a nice chunk of the afternoon unpacking and cleaning all the same crap. Eleanor is almost completely potty trained as far as pee goes, but has about as much interest in pooping in the potty as learning the Gettysburg address. Ziva appears to be neither pee or poo trained, and looks like she will cost us well over $100 a year in chew toys alone. Last night Eleanor woke up at 11:30 (after it look me from 8:30 to 11:00, just lying there waiting to fall asleep) with night terrors. She was screaming hysterically in my face as I walked her around trying to calm her down, when Andy decided to come into the hallway and say "Eleanor what is wrong? Are you even awake?" and I said "No, I don't think she is" and he said "Well you need to get her to be quiet, she is going to wake everyone else up!" To my credit, I did not poison his oatmeal this morning.
Yeah yeah. I know, this is my life, and I chose it, and if I had to chose you know I would chose it again, but it isn't like that makes me want to bitch about it any less. So, in the great tradition of bitching, I now have to go wash Fraser's team shirt and socks so we can go cheer for him in the rain tomorrow while he plays soccer (a sport which, yes, I signed him up for). I know, it's crazy to sign up for a scheduled weekend activity when our weeks are just so nuts, but last week he scored a goal during the game, and he was almost as proud of himself as Andy and I were of him, and it's those little moments when you get to see how all the busy crazy days are actually making the kids happy, that make all the busy crazy days worthwhile (except maybe the driving. that still sucks).
1 comment:
Ha! i always know when its time to update my blog when your mom and my mom start hinting that its been a while. I wish I had more time to sit at the computer and upload pics, but Im with you, things are SOOO busy right now. Your blog always makes me laugh though, and Im glad the boys are enjoying school and soccer and eleanor gets to have so much fun everyday. Oh and I love the new dog. I told Dave we are waiting on animals till Cole is potty trained. I just cant deal anymore with picking up poop and cleaning : )
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