MotherMorphosis

My oldest has school vacation week this week; my younger two had theirs last week. My oldest goes to a school out of state (which is why he has a different vacation week), just over the line so it’s only a half an hour drive. Only. This daily drive, to and from, sometimes more than twice if a sport or activity is scheduled sometime or somewhere other than right after or right at school, has been about enough to put me over the edge some days. It is not easy trying to figure out how to keep doing everything that you need (or might want) to do on a regular basis with two or three fewer hours in the day. Obviously I can’t do everything. What do I give up? Some days it’s sleep, some days writing, some days exercise, and most days time spent with my other two in the morning unless my husband drives Oldest to school. Our family breakfasts rarely happen anymore. Good thing our kitchen table is the nucleus of our house so we all spend significant time there whether we're eating or not. (I ...

My oldest has school vacation week this week; my younger two had theirs last week. My oldest goes to a school out of state (which is why he has a different vacation week), just over the line so it’s only a half an hour drive. Only. This daily drive, to and from, sometimes more than twice if a sport or activity is scheduled sometime or somewhere other than right after or right at school, has been about enough to put me over the edge some days. It is not easy trying to figure out how to keep doing everything that you need (or might want) to do on a regular basis with two or three fewer hours in the day. Obviously I can’t do everything. What do I give up? Some days it’s sleep, some days writing, some days exercise, and most days time spent with my other two in the morning unless my husband drives Oldest to school. Our family breakfasts rarely happen anymore. Good thing our kitchen table is the nucleus of our house so we all spend significant time there whether we're eating or not. (I ...

The car on the top is the super-cool rental car that I had for 10 days while my "clown SUV" (it's like a clown car compared to the larger SUV I used to drive before I had to make up to three trips a day to my son's high school) was being repaired. It had been vandalized the day after Christmas -- at the same hockey tournament where we ran across Potty-mouthed Hockey Mom . Someone tried to pry the antenna off the roof and gouged and dented the roof, as well as lifted up the antenna fixture, creating a space where water could leak in. Plus the actual antenna part was gone. That meant we couldn't listen to the radio either. I know it was that day that it happened, because Christmas Eve on the way to church we were listening to Christmas music, Christmas Day I did not drive anywhere, and the next day I used the car was to go to the hockey tournament and then up to the mall (to buy the giant ornaments I really wanted for the trees in the yard, but for which I wasn'...

The car on the top is the super-cool rental car that I had for 10 days while my "clown SUV" (it's like a clown car compared to the larger SUV I used to drive before I had to make up to three trips a day to my son's high school) was being repaired. It had been vandalized the day after Christmas -- at the same hockey tournament where we ran across Potty-mouthed Hockey Mom . Someone tried to pry the antenna off the roof and gouged and dented the roof, as well as lifted up the antenna fixture, creating a space where water could leak in. Plus the actual antenna part was gone. That meant we couldn't listen to the radio either. I know it was that day that it happened, because Christmas Eve on the way to church we were listening to Christmas music, Christmas Day I did not drive anywhere, and the next day I used the car was to go to the hockey tournament and then up to the mall (to buy the giant ornaments I really wanted for the trees in the yard, but for which I wasn'...

I had pretty much already given up feeling guilty about my coffee habit...but this story was a nice read today. The US dietary guidelines advisory  committee , which makes recommendations to the Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies, released a report that points to the health benefits and minimal risks of drinking three to five cusp of coffee a day, including a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Mardi Gras came and went and I did nothing. I was actually so exhausted by the end of that day I had to take a nap. When I woke up it was practically bedtime. Good thing two out of the three of my boys have vacation this week and my oldest, who does not, self-managed. That is about how I feel tonight, too. I just wanted to look at a few things for work before I call it a day. There are a couple of people in Australia I wanted to get ahold of and if I don't do it today, it will already be their weekend when I get to it tomorrow. Today I am mostly physically tired from shoveling. The other day I was psychologically tired from job overwhelm. I think I would be all the way over the edge if my youngest wasn't going to his friend's every day after baseball camp. It takes an hour and a half to drive him and his brother to camp and school (middle son declined camp and went to Dad's) in the morning and today the commute was a bit messed up because oldest had a 90-minute delay. I...

Mardi Gras came and went and I did nothing. I was actually so exhausted by the end of that day I had to take a nap. When I woke up it was practically bedtime. Good thing two out of the three of my boys have vacation this week and my oldest, who does not, self-managed. That is about how I feel tonight, too. I just wanted to look at a few things for work before I call it a day. There are a couple of people in Australia I wanted to get ahold of and if I don't do it today, it will already be their weekend when I get to it tomorrow. Today I am mostly physically tired from shoveling. The other day I was psychologically tired from job overwhelm. I think I would be all the way over the edge if my youngest wasn't going to his friend's every day after baseball camp. It takes an hour and a half to drive him and his brother to camp and school (middle son declined camp and went to Dad's) in the morning and today the commute was a bit messed up because oldest had a 90-minute delay. I...

I spilled super-hot water all over the counter today before I could make a cup of coffee. Yes, I was making instant coffee: I drink it for the effect at that time of the morning. It got all over the sugar bowl that I had out to make cinnamon sugar croissants; it splashed in the fruit bowl; it sprayed the cutting board that I was planning to use to cut Cat's thyroid pills into tiny-cat-sized pieces. And it got on my feet and on the floor. I was annoyed not only by the cleanup but also by the fact that I was all that cleanup's time away from having that first cup of coffee. I guess it's better to clean up water than clean up coffee , I told myself as I put a fresh cup of water in the microwave. I came across this paper towel right before my youngest and I were headed out to baseball camp. The thought of baseball is what is helping me to remain somewhat sane during this horrible winter. I say "somewhat" because there had been some moments in the past week where I di...

I spilled super-hot water all over the counter today before I could make a cup of coffee. Yes, I was making instant coffee: I drink it for the effect at that time of the morning. It got all over the sugar bowl that I had out to make cinnamon sugar croissants; it splashed in the fruit bowl; it sprayed the cutting board that I was planning to use to cut Cat's thyroid pills into tiny-cat-sized pieces. And it got on my feet and on the floor. I was annoyed not only by the cleanup but also by the fact that I was all that cleanup's time away from having that first cup of coffee. I guess it's better to clean up water than clean up coffee , I told myself as I put a fresh cup of water in the microwave. I came across this paper towel right before my youngest and I were headed out to baseball camp. The thought of baseball is what is helping me to remain somewhat sane during this horrible winter. I say "somewhat" because there had been some moments in the past week where I di...

A view from my office window a couple of storms ago This story is a continuation of "The Gratitude Adjustment." I have colleagues on the other side of the world who marvel at the storm pictures I post on Facebook. They don’t have snow where they live. And where they live, it seems like every other week they have a day off for some sort of festival or another. I mentioned this to my son on our way to school one morning recently. “Wouldn’t it be kind of neat to have so many celebrations?” “Uhmmm, yeah!” “I imagine that would be a fun kind of way to go through life: always having special occasions, feasts, and celebrations with family and friends. Having days off…” “Yes, it would.” Then we were silent. I thought about how it would be a good idea to celebrate, honor, and appreciate things more – not just the big things, but the little things, too. He may or may not have been thinking about festivals and celebrations. It’s possible he was thinking about his Latin midterm. And wish...

A view from my office window a couple of storms ago This story is a continuation of "The Gratitude Adjustment." I have colleagues on the other side of the world who marvel at the storm pictures I post on Facebook. They don’t have snow where they live. And where they live, it seems like every other week they have a day off for some sort of festival or another. I mentioned this to my son on our way to school one morning recently. “Wouldn’t it be kind of neat to have so many celebrations?” “Uhmmm, yeah!” “I imagine that would be a fun kind of way to go through life: always having special occasions, feasts, and celebrations with family and friends. Having days off…” “Yes, it would.” Then we were silent. I thought about how it would be a good idea to celebrate, honor, and appreciate things more – not just the big things, but the little things, too. He may or may not have been thinking about festivals and celebrations. It’s possible he was thinking about his Latin midterm. And wish...