Sunday, February 1, 2009

A typical day or two

I saw a blog by a friend of mine, astonishingly located here. So, I thought I'd share my day(s).

On a typical weekday off, I will get up somewhere between 6 and 8. Yes, I'm having a lot of trouble with sleep right now. Anyway! I'll get Helena up between 7:30 and 8, if I've gotten up early, I enjoy masses of coffee. If not, I frantically set it to brew, but it's so slow that I end up not being able to enjoy any at all. (cue end of pouting now).

So, once Helena's up, the race is on. She must get dressed, brush her teeth and hair, however, she's not sleeping well, either. So, she's sort of ragdoll-ish in the mornings. We're adjusting. I help her out quite a bit, because I don't like to get all flustered before that first cup of coffee. So, once we get her assembled, we come down for breakfast. Usually it will be cereal, but some days it could be pancakes or even eggs.

We leave at 8:30 to go the 5 blocks to her school. I'd much prefer to walk, but it's been so cold that I drive every day. I can not handle the cold air lately, it chills me immediately. So, I get Helena to school in about 5 minutes and come home. Ollie's been up for a while now and has undoubetedly gotten into some sweet he shouldn't have. Ollie's the early bird, always up before the sun, then again, he falls asleep quite easily and sleeps well.

Back on topic, once I get home from dropping Helena off, I'll make Ollie something to eat, again with the same variations as above. Then, while he eats and plays for a bit, I'll go online and do stuff around my desk.

I then clean. Not only do I spend 2 hours cleaning every day, I do it so that I get exercise while I'm at it. Go me! I have these nifty spiral stairs, but they're steep. I probably take 40 trips up and down each day, I've fallen once on them and that will never be happening again.

I do a load or two of laundry and play a video game with Ollie between cleaning projects. It's invariably Lego Star Wars The Comple Saga. (He'd insist I include "The Complete Saga," it's got some prestige, I guess).

Helena's out of school at 3:05 and I'm usually early. I try to leave by 2:45, the school is close, but parking is a hassle. They have it set up ridiculously. The school is on a huge lot. There's a massive baseball/soccer field, a playground and plenty of open space. Instead of using this open space to free up the road during drop off/pick up times, everyone parks on the street and walks to the school. Not that there's an issue there, the issue is the school busses. There are three and they all let kids off at Helena's school for the latchkey program. So, chances are that you're going to have to wait at the red bus lights. One day the second bus had it's stop lights on while the third bus was parking but the third bus was trying to park with a car in it's parking spot that was blocked by me, stopped by the stop lights. Oh, the irony. And the tangent is over. =)

Alright, we come home after picking up my peanut, Helena. Then there's a snack of some sort. Cookies, crackers, pizza, fruit. Then Helena does her homework and Ollie is back to doing what Ollie does. Freaking Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga. I've taken it away, doesn't matter, he'll switch to another game. Take away the Wii and he's on to a certain movie or show. It'll never end.

After homework is Helena's free time. She gets to play with Ollie or hang out in her room, whatever as long as she's not pissing her brother off. I make dinner then, sometimes Helena will help me. After dinner I might or might not do the dishes. Sort of depends. Then it's bathtime for both kids. After baths, bedtime! Woot! Yeah, except Helena stays awake for like 2 hours. I let her read one chapter a night of Charlotte's Web and then she's to go to sleep, but she just lays awake or will come whine about some malady.

Ollie will pretty much zonk right out. He's sort of a goofy kid, we go tomorrow for his speech evaulation and he's so excited. After the kids go to bed, I clean up again a bit and then play online for a bit before I go to bed.

On the nights I work, everything is the same up to where I make dinner. I sometimes do and sometimes don't on the nights I work. Then I go fold clothes, or sort them by color and style for a certain amount of time. I also talk to people who I think are ridiculous. I set up layaways for people. I sell jewelry and thank God nightly that I'm not into gaudy jewelry. Then I come home and put the kids to bed.

The next day, repeat.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Thirty

In a few days, I'll be thirty. I'm not going to lie and say I'm all cool with it. I'm really not. I figured it would be alright, just another number, but that is completely not how I really feel.

I'm scared. Don't misunderstand, I've accomplished a lot with my life, I'd like to think. I just keep thinking about the things I didn't accomplish. I didn't finish school, which has a direct effect on how much money I make. I know there's still time, but I had these lofty goals to reach by now.

College education, own a house, have 3 kids. None of which has turned out right. I'm blissfully happy with the two kids I have, but I always saw myself with 3. I'll be discussing that at a later date.

I sort of feel like a failure, in some ways. I'm not doing what I thought I'd be doing. I'm sure this feeling will pass, but not until after I hit the big 3-0.

Friday, January 30, 2009

I'm still here

It's been awhile, but I'm still hanging around. Been a bit busy and having trouble coming up with ideas. I have something in mind.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

So, there's this song.

Surprise, surprise, it's by Dave Matthews.

Anyway, it's the song in Because of Winn-Dixie, and it's beautiful. The story is that he wrote it for his daughters.

I am not a lucky man...
I am not a lucky man...
You are like a butterfly
A caterpillar's dream to fly
So bust out of this old cocoon
And dry your wings off
Butterfly
Go ahead, and fly
It's always such a lonely loom
It's sudden like a broken bone
And your luck won't always come along
So dry your tears away
Butterfly
Go ahead and fly
Dry your tears away
Butterfly
Don't you, cry

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Listmania

I like to make lists. Lists for everything. Things to clean, things to buy, places to go, things to do, things I want but will never get (like an Audi or the decorations for my dream house). I make lists for me and for the kids. They have a nifty morning/afternoon/night checklist up on the dry-erase board.

For instance, my to-do list for tomorrow is growing exponentially as I type. I look around or ponder for a second and three or four more things pop into my head to add to the list. Have a look:

Kids baths
Wash laundry
All trash out
Straighten up downstairs
Fully clean upstairs (tub, toilet, bedrooms, loft, etc.)
Sort through pc video games/take kids' games upstairs
Buy blank DVDs
Use said DVDs to backup pictures and music on pc
Call DHS
Buy milk
Fold/put away laundry
Vacuum up and down stairs
Go through "big box of clothes" in Helena's closet
Do dishes
Clean out cars

Heh, I'll think of more in the morning, I'm sure. The kicker is that about 1/2 of those will end up on Thursday's list, not because I failed to do it, but because it will need to be done again. Then again on Friday. Then every day after that, too.

Today is the day

It's Inauguration Day.

I've voted in three elections and twice I picked the guy who lost. I wanted Al Gore to win, was meh about Kerry, but he wasn't Bush, so I went for it. This time, though, was different. I didn't know who to vote for during the primaries. I considered voting for Hilary. I considered voting for Barack. I took a lot of time trying to decide on whose views were closer to mine. Then, Hilary cried. Yes, that's all it took. I realized that Hilary wasn't being herself, she was not staying true to her beliefs. I then decided to go all out for Barack. I voted for him in the Indiana primary. He did not win Indiana, which wasn't a surprise, though he did win the area we lived in, being next door to Chicago and all.

Then we moved and I had to absentee vote. Again, I confidently voted for Barack. And he won. I can't explain how sweetly happy I was on election night. He is the right person for the job. A person who would stand up and proclaim hope in these times deserves a chance to prove that he can do this.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. "
"There has never been anything false about hope."

It's time to make things right.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Snow, snow, more snow

It's snowing again. I love when the snow falls, it's so peaceful and quiet.