Fitting the Pieces Together

There are days where everything in my life comes together in a neat little wholesome package and I can look back at my day and see a neatly compartmentalized, well carried-out day that included time with the kids, time for myself, some project work, some Bible study, some housework, and some gardening. They are the kinds of days I strive for every day, but they are not regular occurrences. I would not call them rare, but they aren't regular.

Today is emphatically NOT one of those days. Part of the problem with today is that I did not have a clear plan laid out in my head as to what I wanted to get done today, and how I was going to do it. I find that having a mental map of the day helps enormously when I really want to be productive--an old trick I learned about myself in grad school. However, I am doing my version of running around like a chicken with its head cut off, which is, I am ignoring the big Elephant in the Room...our vacation! Yes we leave in a week. No, I don't have any lists made. No, I haven't talked to the neighbors loaning us the RV to arrange when we will take it to get the oil changed, etc. Yes, I need to do all of those things!

The fundamental problem is that I don't want to do any of those things. I am not sure *what* I want to do, but it's definitely not that. No, no, ignoring the work required to get ready for our vacation is a much more appealing choice. Today is an overcast day, too, so that hasn't helped me feel oh-so-sunny and ready to tackle some projects. The only thing I've got a real yen to do is to get out and weed the veggie garden with the hula hoe, because now that things are sprouting I can see my rows again and I can clean it up a bit before we leave it for the week to the arbitrary nature of a neighbor's watering. It's okay, my garden, I will be back to love you and pamper you with fertilizer and pull those nasty weeds and keep the slugs off you, strawberries...yes I am not abandoning you, I promise!

Ok, so maybe I am getting a bit obssessive about the veggie garden. *LOL* Hey, I want to have produce coming out my ears, that is my goal. Instead I have a son with a red, red butt, which I have discovered is from our favorite brand of diaper rash cream. Not so favorite any more, I guess! And I have my DD, pouring her strawberry lemonade into her yogurt smoothie...how...appetizing... Hmmmm. And sticking the pretzel sticks from her trail mix into her mouth like teeth. I wonder where she gets that from?? (DH!)

And I am tired. I think dealing with the kids by myself non-stop for 48 hours is kind of wearing. I don't know how single moms do it. DH was a pet and brought me ice cream and french fries last night when he got home at 9:30...so what if I used up half my weekly WW points in one sitting?? I finally got to EAT something resembling dinner, that is good! DS was conked out on my lap at the time, so that makes 2 kids asleep and 0 face time with Daddy yesterday for either of them. Fun.

I hope tomorrow is a better day. I really do want to get some things done before we leave, and I've only got 4 more days to do it. On the plus side, we got our first mystery shopping assignment for a restaurant, so that's a meal out that is paid for by someone else. Woohoo! Criticizing or commenting on restaurant service is something we do for fun anyway, so we might as well let someone else pay for our meal for a change.

I really ought to do some more homework on our route, too, and start printing up maps or go to AAA to get free maps. Hmmmmm, I've just realized I don't even know where our local AAA office is...surely we should get some value out of that membership. I think I have a plan shaping up for tomorrow!