Busy Week

Close up of "The Holy Family Resting - The Flight to Egypt" from the Crypt Church of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC. One of my all time favorite sculptures of Mary. This is how I feel at the end of most days.

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It has been a crazy, stressful, unproductive week--actually it all started Saturday.

Saturday I took my five kids to the Air Show--don't try this at home! It was crazy, especially when it is hard to explain to the kids that we go because it is free. I do not have $50 to buy them all tickets to the 'kids area'. The kids area is where all the blow up toys and games are located. If you had one kid, I guess, ten dollars would not seem like that much for an hours' amusement. I don't think many kids would last longer than that. Anyway, in the confusion of getting everyone ready, I missed putting sun block on a large portion of my right arm. I think I had close to a second degree burn. Even my dress sleeve for church on Sunday was torturous. Yes, I used aloe. It is still painful. I have that "redhead complexion". I thought my skin on my arm was some what toughened, though, from my experience in the July Texas sun at Air Force Basic Training also 25 years ago. I came away from there with deep ecru colored arms :-). At least the kids said they enjoyed the Air show, after all I did spring for frozen lemonade (strawberry is my favorite!).

I decided to let everyone sleep in on Sunday because I was so exhausted. We usually go to 8:15 Mass. I like to go to the earlier Mass because my toddler is less restless (believe it or not) and nobody complains about hunger like the do at 11:00 Mass. Anyway, I was looking forward to sleeping in to the luxurious hour of 8:30 or so. Guess what--two kids up by 7AM. Once my toddler is up, I am not allowed to sleep. We still went to 1100 Mass. It was quite fun to see the look on Father's face. He looked at us coming through the door, down at his watch, and back at me. He mouthed "We missed you this morning" with a smile on his face. That was about the single nicest moment I've had with him. It made my day. Thanks Father.

Sunday afternoon we had a cleaning party. I, like a friend of mine--she knows who I mean, am probably in the Top 10 list of terrible housekeepers. I hate cleaning house but I also hate a dirty house. So, Sunday the kids were bribed with a cheap Walmart toy. They had to help me clean the living room and dining room, then they got the toy and got to watch "Underdog" on DVD. It actually went better than I expected. I just sooo want to shampoo the cheap area rug on our living room floor. Our dog has learned the scooting trick--I will leave that to your imagination. I don't have money to spend on a shampooer or a vacuum. My vacuum crapped out on me shortly after we bought this house. Anyway, the "party" worked; my living room and dining room are currently the cleanest area of the house. Yeah!

Monday was a crazy mishmash of frustration and running around in circles. Errands had to get done. School work did not get done. A few phone calls made. Little laundry or cleaning done. Exhausted at the end of the day but don't know why.

Tuesday, I started my day at the dentist and my third son had an orthodontist appointment. Those two appointments combined wiped out the morning. Lost all control of the school day. I had to clean up a major flood in the bathroom caused a clogged toilet (not my toddler's fault) and a running sink (my toddler's fault). My oldest son who was supposed to be watching him but gave in to the temptation to play computer games instead. Oh, and the dog decided to make a dog pile in my daughter's room for about the 20th time in the 6 months we've had him. I don't know why he won't stop doing that. Exhausted at the end of the day but don't know why.

Wednesday, my daughter had a finger infection, again. Poor thing. She has a real skin problem. When she scratches, she gets stuff under her nails. It gets infected. Yes, I've tried the nailbrush but when you're 7 you forget and when you're over 45 and have 5 kids, you forget. So, the morning was shot, again. But, I did not cancel my lunch date with my friend. But, when I got home the toddler colored the wood floor and the living room bay window sill with green marker, the dog whizzed on my oldest son's bed and everyone was yelling and fighting. Exhausted at the end of the day but don't know why.

Thursday, another orthodontics appointment in the middle of the day that messed up school. My son now has a half a pound of metal in his mouth. He was a very good sport about it. He even jokes about it a little. He sounds like he has cotton balls in his mouth. He is getting used to it. But, if he asks me to clean under the metal bridge at the top of his mouth again, I may lose my lunch. This from a mom that has seen her fair share of gross stuff--five kids and husband remember. Exhausted at the end of the day....you get the idea.

Friday, today, very little got done. I got an appointment squeezed into the Pediatrics schedule at the base clinic. Brendan had to have a checkup for diabetes camp. I think having to have a check up with his pediatrician before he goes to a camp where about a dozen volunteer doctors and 2 dozen nurses are present is amusing; and for a camp we can't afford. I was sooo amazed at how different he came back last summer that I find myself praying and begging for money for him to go again. But, I just went with the lack of structure today--why stress on Friday? We did water color and reading today. It was quite nice actually. Oh, I also cleaned the wood floor in the dining room. Wow, am I proud of myself! Exhausted....