Something's Gotta Give

I just had to kick a ginormous pile of clean laundry out of the way so I could make it to my computer. Slacking on the mom job? I think yes. But it can wait, because I am going to update this blog if it kills me. And it just might, because after the long day I've had I am seriously compromising my health by staying awake any longer to do this. Be grateful.

So, what happened this week? Nothing. My family all left a few weeks ago, and when they did it got very quiet and very boring. Add to that the fact that Matt is due home any day, and you have a recipe for, what I have dubbed, "Waiting Fever." The entire time Matt has been gone I have just sort of put my head down and worked through whatever came my way one day at a time. But all of a sudden I raised my eye line and could see the actual finish line, and I can't even begin to tell you what that did to me. To see the finish line, but to still be so far from it, was torture. And the more I thought about it, the worse it got. And the crankier I got.

So to cure myself of this "Waiting Fever" I decided to do something--anything--that would take my mind off of the killing anticipation. So I read. I got the first book to the Hunger Games series on a Thursday afternoon, and by Friday night I had finished it. Saturday and Sunday I rested. Then Monday I got the second book, and on Wednesday night I finished the third. It felt so good to read again! Especially since I haven't really read like that since high school.

However, something's gotta give when the only adult in a household decides to engulf herself in literature. Bennett spent long hours in front of the TV with a bowl of grapes or cheetos or whatever I could find in our pantry since I never went grocery shopping. And the house fell down around our ears with the laundry, dishes and toys taking over every available space.

And I read.

By the time Thursday morning rolled around and I had finally put down the last book, I looked up to discover a house in ruins and a son who had consumed more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse than is probably medically safe. So the rest of the week was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and trying to wean Bennett off the TV like a drug addict from morphine. Poor boy, he was so happy with Mickey.

But the good news is, we are all back to normal now. the "Waiting Fever" has broken, my house is clean...er than it was, and Bennett is back to his two shows a day limit. We even eat meals at the table again like real human beings. We are doing great...except for the giant pile of laundry that needs to be folded.

Oh, and this Saturday Bennett and I joined the mob of shoppers for tax-free weekend, where we learned that a "Code Yellow" at Kohl's means a very cute two-year-old little boy has wandered off during one of the most hectic shopping days of the year. Ugh. On a good note, I got some really cute stuff.

So there you have it. An update. And here's a picture to go with it.

This is actually from when we were packing to go to Oklahoma a few weeks ago, but I needed to document Bennett's potty training outfit. If this were socially acceptable to wear, I swear this kid would be potty trained already. Slowly, slowly...