Agenda

While I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat waiting to read about the next chapter of our east coast road trip, I am interrupting these details of our survival techniques to describe yesterday's events.  I had an agenda yesterday . . . AGENDA:  VACUUM THE UPSTAIRS AND WRITE.  This short list morphed into a never-ending agenda.  I promise to fill you in on the remaining nonsense of our Boston/college drop off adventure very soon.  Seriously, I was just getting to the good bits.

I babysit on Thursdays.  Yesterday I had two boys.  The other guy I usually watch didn't come  because his mom started her maternity leave.  After I worked out, I treated the boys to some time at the park down the street.  The park wasn't on my original agenda for the day, but I decided to squeeze it in.

Carter is just beginning to utilize the English language.  I announced in the car driving home from the gym, 'Who wants to go to the park?'  After much celebrating, Carter hissed at me:  'That's not fair.'  I'm guessing he's heard older brother Theodore toss that phrase around willie-nillie and decided to see if he could get any mileage out of it.

After calculating in a little outdoor fun, I believed that I would still have enough time to get something done at home. 

There was so much to do at home.  MUCH.  After spending the summer focused on staging food prep/eating areas in obscure places around the house to compensate for our kitchen construction, drastic oversights had taken place in other rooms of the house.  The upstairs was a free-for-all.  The lack of organization was most obvious when all Hell broke loose yesterday morning due to a Hoodie shortage.

How could the kids not locate a hoodie?  I could open a used hoodie store.  My stock in this wardrobe area is plentiful.  If my kids couldn't locate a hoodie, then someone needed to tear the house apart.  My growing agenda:  park with the tots, hoodie hunting, vacuum/organize the upstairs, blog writing during nap time.

This is a pile of 20 hooies that I gathered yesterday - and that isn't including the 5 that the kids wore to school today.  Hoodie shortage my ass!

After the park, the boys played in the basement while I dedicated an hour to unearthing the carpet on the 2nd floor.  I moved mountains . . . mountains of clothes, books, toys, and in Lad and Eddie's room - a mountain of garbage.  I texted Eddie from where I stood in his room.  I was disgusted!  'Don't make ANY plans this weekend until you clean up this room!'

Confession time:  my room, good will.

The truth is that a good deal of stuff was abandoned by Laddie in his whirlwind to pack for college.  Since I am not completely clueless, I easily identified LOTS of stuff that landed in that room because of Ed.  Ahem, Ed isn't alone . . . there is a substantial stack of stuff in my room that I have been collecting for good will.  Tank refuses to put clothes in drawers or his closet rendering his floor often impassable.  I heaved all of this stuff onto of beds to clear the carpet.

Laddie's bed.  Yes a drum is part of this mess.  He hasn't touched it for years.

In Eddie's room I dug up some hoodies.  I snapped photos and texted those to Eddie.  Done?  Yes, he had either outgrown or become uninterested.  Score. . .  a hoodie for Tank.  Tank hates hand-me-downs, so I would hear about it.  Beggars can't be choosie, particularly when beggars are in need of hoodies because they don't put their own stuff away and as a result can't find the sweatshirts that fit them.

Tank and Reggie's room - laundry I placed on Tank's bed landed right back on the floor today.

I was about to get the vacuum started but decided I better throw some lunch at the two tots dumping bins of toys out in the basement while I busied myself organizing the upstairs.  Housework is after all, a vicious cycle. 

The plumbers showed up to work on the kitchen just as I was spreading the PB&J.  They kindly threatened to turn off my water for a bit.  (kindly - because any work done here is progress.  I refuse to stand in the way of progress to get a functioning kitchen.  It's only been 2.5 weeks since it was gutted, but I still recognize progress as an end-in-sight kind of thing.  By all means - turn off the water).

I did hesitate for just a moment before I asked them when and for how long the water would be off.  My laundry piles might topple over and smother someone - thus the short guys being relegated to play in the basement.  No water shut off until Saturday.  I abandoned my PB&J project for a moment and raced upstairs to start a load. I mentally added 'completing laundry' to my pesky agenda. 

Damn agenda just kept growing.  I felt like coining a phrase from Carter:  'That's not fair.'

Oh, it doesn't end here.  Tune in next time for:  plumbing news, hymn singing, typing for Mom, the reluctant carpooler, searching for books, forgotten practice, breakfast sandwiches, and undeniable exhaustion.  Yep, all in a day.