Workaday Fool

I am working hard at finding working hard to be exhilarating. Fr. Peter wrangled children amidst his work for the morning so I could work on computery things. Then he took Lucia (and Timmo) to her ophthalmologist visit (another two months of two-hours-a-day patching, but things are improving, hurrah!) and I brought Teddy to church in the church car and we two hopped into the van and got more fuel and mailed things to lovely friends (at last! I keep missing the mailman!).

Fr. Peter had office hours and then had a long appointment, so I had the kids for most of the afternoon and for the bedtime routine. I let them at each other for quite a while but didn't manage to get much work done. (I really love that they love those Duplo blocks so much!) Then I figured I should do something with them, so I wrote out a brief schedule (feed at such a time, clean up at such a time, teeth and pajamas and prayers and such a time), but they ate faster than I thought, so there was time for a bath. I told Teddy that if he picked up the blocks he could have a bath. All three went to work with concentration and alacrity!

So while they picked up the floor of the living room, I gathered the clean laundry that had spread over the couches and chairs, including the thrift store finds from a while ago (two weeks?). While they took their bath (I had to remove some toys so there would be enough room for all three. Sheesh.) I was in and out putting things away, tidying up the bathroom, etc. Now I can see how dirty it is. Blech. But at least it's not covered with toilet paper and hair any more.

Lucia was first out. (I'd found a Winnie-the-Pooh towel at the back of the shelf.) Then Teddy was ready to come out. Timmo was all: I finally got all the toys to myself and you want to take me out just because I look cold? Once he was in pajamas, he went straight to his pillow and put his head down, not even bothering to lie down! So I combed and braided Lucia's hair, and after prayers took the big kids to her room for their chapter of Little House on the Prairie. (Teddy is very good about what chapter we're on, which is great because I don't seem to have bookmarks when/where I need them. We finished chapter three, in case you'd like to keep tabs.)

During the reading, Teddy's toenails were bothering them. So after the chapter, we three went downstairs and did toenails and fingernails and cuticles (brave little souls). I did Teddy and he asked to go up to bed. Then Lucia got back in her pajamas (they're footed, so the whole thing had to come off to get to her toenails) and bade me goodnight and went up the stairs herself. ("Mama nani!") When I went up to hang up the baby laundry on the drying rack, there was a prone little girl in the hallway. I guess she was rebuffed from sleeping with her brothers and didn't make it back to her own bed.

Made a start at updating the budget spreadsheet. Had figured out the new HSA cards and online access and whatnot this morning... or was that yesterday? In any case, I made a bit of progress on bills and things, although I still have an untidy heap of receipts (and a more careful log on my phone) from last week's trip. Got one little podcast transcribed, and found out that Bobby had made a blog post on AFR because someone posted about it on FB! Now I really need to get cracking on things. And with that, getting to bed soon (although "on time" is right out for the evening) is a priority.

I really like the spreadsheet tied to earning money, even if it's only a few cents here and there, and I'm just rearranging which account the money is going to. So getting out of bed on time has a financial pull to it, so even though I've missed the going to bed on time (and lights out) mark, I still have something else to shoot for. Also, the temperature goes down after ten o'clock and there's a lovely down comforter awaiting me.