Mothering Many

Okay, I readily admit that I have an..interesting sense of humor. However. Some things just defy rational explanation. For instance, I just went to a Dansko shoes site, and my eyes were met with the descriptive phrase “toe thong”. Now, maybe it’s regional, but I have never heard a real person utter this phrase before. I thought for a couple of seconds, and said to myself, “Why, I bet they mean flip-flops.” And I was pretty much right, but these are some nice flip flops! And if you read my other blog, you might already know that I have a passion for a cool flip flop. It’s a character flaw trait that I am passing on to my daughters. And of course, being right there at the site, practically on the page even, I had to click over and see the Dansko sandals. Frankly I like the clogs better, but then, that’s not a great shock either. I think I could live in clogs and flip flops, and except for Sundays, I do, LOL!

I didn’t bother looking at the Dansko boots. We haven’t had winter here in the past three years, so I’m not worried about it. Last year my “get ready for winter” consisted of pulling out a few turtlenecks.

The launchpad is now ready for our departures. This is where we keep the stuff that we need to grab before we head out the door. The game shirts for the flag team (yeah, cause I didn’t think I had enough laundry???), the diaper bag, the cooler bag, etc. As you can see, it was piled ridiculously high, and pretty un-useable.

I need to shop. I don’t need Callaway golf equipment, but I do need other stuff. And my problem is that I’m not quite sure when I am supposed to acquire this stuff that we have to have. By Saturday morning at 8 am, I have to have a pair of cheering shoes for Diva. Not a big deal, right? Except we have one vehicle (and 7 kids at home) and dh works (umm, d’uh). And tonight, there is sports practice. And also on Thursday night. And on Friday night, there is a game for Spidey and Batman. Now bearing in mind they get home after 8 from practices, and that I aim to be in bed by 10 so I can be up at 6, you begin to see the magnitude of my issue. It’s looking like I’ll be making an early morning trip to WalMart tomorrow morning. I guess that’s ok, since I can’t go Saturday morning like I’ve been doing.

Will someone please explain exactly how I am suppose to shoehorn all this fun into our lives?

I dashed out last night and got a calendar that’s useable for lesson planning. I needed one with a week on a page, instead of the weird one with 4 days per page. Yeah, so each 2 page spread held 8 days. Umm, ya’ll? That’s whack. Seriously.

And by dashed, I mean I ran out in the few minutes between the time DH got home and the time he left again for football/cheering practice. Our evening family time is over until spring, ya’ll.

So, I had my shoes on, my purse on my shoulder, 2 kids in tow, and I shouted over my shoulder, “honey, I’m going to Wal-mart.” And he said–”can you wait 10 minutes? This toilet is clogged.” And with those words, the world came to a screeching halt, because in this house, a clogged toilet is a disaster of epic proportions.

So, here I am, sitting in my usual spot, doing what I do best: nattering on. And on. And on.

From a six inch tall stack of stuff I have allowed to accumulate on my desk to a three inch pile of stuff that actually belongs here. Most of this stack is notes I need to turn into blog posts or take other action on. I chose a short mission today, because I have a lot of other irons in the fire just now.

Woohoo, I remembered! This project is nothing compared to what our hostesses tackled this week, but it’s a job that’s been bugging me. The laundry basket in the first picture has been on my nightstand since sometime in July. I had no idea I would get the whole thing emptied today! I’ve actually worked on the house most of the morning, but this is the only thing I captured in pixels.

One day, I will have a house that looks like a posh, maid-visited vacation home rental and it will not take me most of the morning to (pretend to) clean it. I’ll be bored and lonely, but my house will be tidy.

You know that when it comes to helping others, I am all about the children. When I do charity knitting, it’s child sized garments. There will usually be a can of formula involved when I donate to food banks. There are a couple of reasons for that. 1) Kids are the one segment of our society that can do little to nothing to help themselves and 2) I would hope that if I was ever not able to do for my children, that someone would step in and fill the gap. Now I know I talked to you about a charity last week, but it was a local one. Today, I want to tell you about Car Angel, which is nation wide.

Car Angel Ministries uses car donations to help single mothers, orphans, the homeless, rehab centers, and to work for prison reform. You can choose the charity that you specifically wish to assist. And they will take more than cars! You can also donate your RV, boat, plane, or trailer. They sell the vehicles at auction to raise monies for the charities, and they even pick up the donation–The car can be running or not. All you have to do is cancel the insurance, and turn in the plates.

Their motto is “help us help others”, and if you’ve got an old vehicle that you need to get rid of, please give them a call at 1-800-227-2643 to donate your car. Or fill out the form at the site.

I have tried three times to take a short nap today. Each time one or another of the people I share this house with has refused to cooperate. Muhahahaha, I shall wake the ones that finally went to sleep from their naps, and then I shall send them all to bed early tonight and then I shall go to bed early myself. So why am I so tired? I got up at 4:45! It was totally worth it though, because I have been able to get so much done! I was even able to get outside with the kids today before it got so hot that it felt like I was sitting inside an outdoor fireplace. Speaking of which, that’s something I’ve never really understood. If you are cold, why not just go inside?

The older kids played baseball with some of the neighborhood children, and I sat and watched them and knat. Yep, made up word, LOL, past tense of knit. It seems like it’s been forever since I was out with them, but in fact, I think I only missed 2 days. We had a good time, and I;m already looking forward to getting up early tomorrow. Wonder how I’ll feel about that in the morning????

Yes! I bought 30 pairs of socks. That would be 6 identical pairs times 5 kids who ought to be old enough to get 2 socks at a time into the laundry but consistently fail to do so.

Yes! I did work on that section of my room that I showed you on Tuesday. I spent about three hours cleaning this morning, along with the children, and substantial progress was made in several rooms, including mine.

Yes! I made some Rockin’ Good Chicken Salad the other day, and I will totally share the un-recipe with you soon.

No! The laundry is not caught up, and I am not sure that I will ever see the bottom of the hamper again!