I love summer. Or, I used to. I count down the weeks till I'm done babysitting so I can kick back and focus on stuff I want to focus on.
So, um . . . when does that start? The 'doing my stuff' bit. I'm losing my patience, or maybe my mind. Probably both.
I've been to the grocery (or convinced a kid or Coach to: "Grab 5 things") INSANELY frequently lately . . . including twice today, and both trips involved me - no delegating. I'm waiting to get a call from the fraud department at Mastercard:
Some very hungry person has your credit card. Don't worry, we'll catch the perp on his next run into a store. We're noticing a pattern of every 6 to 12 hours. Who could possibly grocery shop THIS much?
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| My other favorite past time - downsizing or eliminating things from the fridge that don't need to take up SO MUCH SPACE, particularly because new arrivals are always joining the ranks. |
Thursday we messed up. It dawned on me: I had no car until the girls returned from b-ball camp around 10:15. Ed often has a loop after the girls get back, so he takes that car. Thursday he caddied early so he had my car, girls had kid car. Coach had the great white at work.
Reg needed to be at his b-ball camp by 10, which means get there by 9:45 to be READY to start at 10. I used my phone-a-friend and scored him a ride with a neighbor whose son plays varsity too.
Another b-ball kid has driven Reg a ton this summer but couldn't that morning because of his own family car shortages. I baked after the tornado when it was in the low 70s. Reg will thank him on my behalf with a plate of cookies.
The funny thing is: I REMAIN OPTIMISTIC. I make a list each day and I stupidly believe I.will.get.it.all.done. After I get it all done, I will work on my projects: blogging, writing my memoir, and working on the grad video I NEED to complete prior to Tank's grad party.
My brain needs to be rewired to think:
This ain't happening.
Wave the white flag, now.
Next short post will demonstrate how the mind is the first thing to go. Anyone else not able to get anything accomplished in the summer?
Bonus short story: I eluded to my difficulty walking across a moving boat in my tornado post . . .
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| I finally kicked off my shoes. I'm sorry I don't have the sound track for this, so you could hear my kids taunting me. Coach IS trying to help me, although it looks like he is tossing me overboard. Curly, Mini, Tank, and Reg are cry-laughing. |
Conrad's parents (Ed's friend, sister is BFF of Mini's) invited us to hang out on their boat last Friday night. We had a blast.
I didn't grasp the expectation when they wanted to take a photo. I thought they were snapping a photo of the kids who were sitting at the front of the boat. Conrad's parents asked me to hand them my phone, followed by pointing. It wasn't until I was moving towards the front of the boat (in cute wedge sandals, mind you) that I felt like I might go over the edge of the boat. I can swim, but I didn't WANT to.
A tiny little silver bar separated me from Lake Michigan. Apparently I was expected to glide along the boat without clinging to the side for dear life. To everyone's amusement, I hunched over the cabin area window part of the boat, inching my way to the front like a goof.
Eventually, they took some decent family photos of us in addition to some very comical ones, minus Ed and Lad who had other plans. Everyone is smiling . . . because I was being laughed at.
14 comments:
First, I'm glad you are okay after your experience on the boat. I relate to being the one who is the source of humor. *meh*
Second, you mention your love of downsizing or eliminating things from the fridge. YES! I love doing that. The thrill of victory is immediate and reducing the visual clutter makes me very happy.
I actually wondered about you and your grocery shopping, because for me and just two teens it is INSANE. So, um, yeah. I can't imagine with five! That photo cracked me up, wedge sandals while walking on a boat - difficult!
I can't even begin to imagine a schedule, grocery shopping, or keeping on top of the car situation with such a large family - and then little ones to look after too. I have no idea how you do it! That had to be a fun time for all on the boat lol.
When I first looked at the picture of you on the boat, I didn't recognize the city. What is WRONG with me? It didn't look like Chicago, which scared me on a few levels.
I love clearing out the fridge too! That is self-care. :)
Ally-I laughed at *meh*. I've been on boats before. I do not recall being so challenged though. Always happy to be the source of entertainment. I see the goofy photos appearing in some fashion on our Christmas card.
Oh the fridge. While I do LIKE an organized fridge, it's a rarely met goal. My leave-a-bite-in-a-big-ass-container offspring make me nuts.
Nicole- I am not on my A game for groceries. I am often getting by with grab a few things ($100 worth) and racing off to the next thing. It is also NOT helping that the kids are NOT telling me when they eat all the bagels or all the fruit. Just when I think we are stocked. The things with gluten that I don't use are especially hard.
The boat walking while the boat was not docked I should mention was a hoot. Always good to have photographic evidence of my shortcomings.
Martha- not gonna lie, tracking people, activities, and cars is not easy. Notice I didn't even mention my lack of house cleaning. Place is up for grabs.
Kari-I think the part of the lake where we were is not your normal view. I THINK we were near Navy Pier, but on the other side away from the attractions. Of course I was more focused on not falling overboard, so I was not looking at the view much.
Ah a clean fridge. Sounds like lovely self-care but I wouldn't know much about it as I rarely get that done. Somethings gotta give and yes my fam eats but then we shove things away while I race out the door to drive Curly to her stuff.
It's not environmentally friendly, but I use ziplock bags to store our leftovers, unless they're liquid. That way at least I can see when the pizza starts to grow fuzz and gets thrown away. If my kids can't see whats in a container, they won't eat it (unless it's ice cream).
Oh, your poor poor Fridge and credit card. They are both being bamboozled! I can't even imagine the amount of $$ to feed your crew and the amount of SPACE the food needs. I would lose my marbles at the sight of one tiny thing in a large container taking up valuable real estate.
The car thing. It will not end until your kids are married with their own car shortages.
Walking on a moving boat is not easy. But you should never, ever try to do it while wearing wedges. HA.
Like I tell my friends when I see them doing something silly: "Bless your heart". XO
Kara - Your pizza fuzz story reminds me of one of my favorite fridge stories EVER. I found something in a baggie in the fridge that I couldn't identify. Was it meat? There were lines on it - like marbling? Coach and I huddled around - we were frightened. What could this be and how did we not know it was there? How long had it been there? Drumroll - it was a RAW cinnamon roll. Ed was about 10 years old. He shrugged, OH, THAT'S A ROLL. Turns out he ate THE OTHER 7 ROLLS - RAW AND THOUGHT TO PUT THIS ONE IN A BAGGIE FOR LATER. We were in awe. What would drive a kid to eat most of a package of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls? Uncooked? I wasn't accustomed to looking at the rolls unless I was shoving them in the oven and I just couldn't recognize what I was looking at when it was solo without the packaging.
Suz - Bamboozled for sure. I should track it, but I think I spend between $300-$400 at the regular grocery store each week - in the summer when all the eaters are home. Then I go to Costco every other week and I spend about $300 there. Probably best if I try not to think about it. We don't eat out much, in case that helps people grasp the food budget.
Next time, I will not go for cute when on the boat and I will wear more sensible shoes or kick them off prior to walking around. Will make for great Christmas card 'extra' photos. I guess my heart is in a constant state of being 'blessed' since I'm a silly one for sure.
Ah, mocking a parental figure - a game the whole family can enjoy. I don't know how you manage the food thing either - how is there time for ANYTHING except grocery shopping and cooking? And I can't seem to get anything accomplished any time right now, but I think that's just what happens when perimenopause and a pandemic (and possibly various other factors beginning with the letter P) coincide. At least when Angus isn't home the grocery shopping and cooking is much less onerous - I can cook dinner two or three times and that carries the three of us through the week.
Ali- Ha- Yes certainly a family favorite game here. Thankfully my middle child picked on status means I have thick skin.
Long story but I am essentially out of town for the week and had to have food for home and food for those with me. It was a shit show to say the least and my tendency when things get hectic is to take on just a WEE BIT more . . . "oh it isn't 90 degrees as per usual. I best make 3 MORE loaves of choc chip banana bread. That'll keep the natives happy." Kills me though to make 4 extra trips to tbe store only to realize they've eaten ALL OF THE FRESH FRUIT again. Oh I could go on.
I USUALLY only cook 3 or 4 times a week but in quantities that would feed an actual army. Most mornings I order a kid to the basement to haul up a partially full crockpot and plug it in again.
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