Paying my dues

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Somewhere in the back of my head I do know that if I stay up until 4AM, there is going to be Hell to pay the next day, and today, of course, there was.

It actually wasn't that bad. The kids didn't kill each other or themselves, I just had to battle extreme (understandable) fatigue all day long. I am such an idiot.

I almost felt as if I had made it through the day without an actual crisis when DS2 swallowed one of those smooth glass pebbles that florists use in glass vases to anchor arrangements... it kind of got stuck and he gagged a few times, and then cried and cried because his throat hurt. I did talk to the triage nurse at the pediatrician's office and she said that if he was still in pain to bring him in, otherwise he should be OK -- he was obviously breathing and swallowing OK. Damn, though, it was upsetting. Poor little guy. I was about ready to send DH off to the hospital with him just to be sure, when DH reminded me that if he was actually still in pain, he would still be crying... at that age, when it hurts, they cry. He was just scared and didn't want to go to the hospital. I was so exhausted by that point that I wasn't thinking straight. Good thing DH was here and thinking more clearly, there was no reason to put the little guy through an ER trauma he didn't need.

The contractors were here all day and made major progress on the new room. We have a door! I think I am probably jinxing myself here but I believe it may get done this week, which would be great. It was only supposed to take a week, maybe 10 days, and here we are, a month later... dum-de-dum-de-dum... I'm about ready for it to be finished, like, yesterday.

I didn't do any work today, but did hear from my boss that he would try to pay my invoice before he heads off for his week vacation with his kids. That would be nice. I've decided I need a CD player in the van. The portable jobbie I have rigged up in there just skips ridiculously, no matter what disc is in there.

I subjected the kids to my new Beatles' "One" today, and I have to say -- I totally loved hearing all that music again. I know all the words to all the songs. It's like remembering the best part of being a teenager, collecting every Beatles' album on vinyl, and playing them over and over again. Technically I'm too young to be a Beatles' fan, but because I am the youngest in my family, that is the music that I grew up hearing, and I have always loved it. The kids didn't complain too much -- not at all, really, although DS1 kept insisting they sounded "like cowboys", but I believe that was because "Love Me Do" has a lot of harmonica. Oh, who knows why he would say that? It's just too weird. I told him there are no cowboys in Liverpool. ;)

Nothing deep today, I don't have the energy for it... I don't know how I managed to function today, really. I took the kids to B&N (for a change) to the cafe and to look at books and they were super, really terrific, but I was just so tired... we got there around 3:30 and by 5, I was completely dead. The kids' section at B&N is phenomenal, but the snacks are 2x as spendy as at Border's, and the parking situation at B&N is an f'ing nightmare -- I actually warned the kids, if we don't get a good parking space, we're just going to Border's. So we lucked out on the parking and they were happy, but spending $2 on a chocolate chip cookie is a little extreme, even if it is big. It's only a little bigger than the ones at Border's, and they are pricey enough at $.99. I guess even in my extravagances I have limits on what I'm willing to spend. I already feel like it's a bit ridiculous to be dropping $7 or $8 every week on a snack just because it's nice and fun, but hey, we can afford it. If we ever couldn't afford it, that snack would go so fast... we'd survive.

Meanwhile, I ordered pizza for the kids today (2 large 1 toppings from Domino's, only $17) just because it's impossible to figure out something DS1 will eat for lunch, and leftover pizza is one thing he will eat every day. So, this week, he will eat it every day, LOL. It could be worse, I suppose. I was proud of him earlier when he asked me about whether or not chocolate milk could "build strong bones". I told him I didn't think so, because the sugar makes calcium come out of your bones, so even though the milk has calcium, the sugar probably counters it, so at best, it's a wash. I love it that he really thinks about what he sees on TV and doesn't just blindly accept what the ads tell him. So far, so good. Now, if he can just hang onto that think-for-himself attitude until he graduates from high school (and college), then he'll be all right. :)

I really need a haircut, and I'm torn -- it's growing out and finally hitting my shoulders now, but it's so layered it's looking on the ridiculous side. I'm thinking I need to chop off a bunch to get it looking decent again, and continue the growing-out process. I will have to leave that decision in the competent hands of my stylist, Elizabeth. She is a godsend, really. I don't know what I'll do if she ever leaves hairstyling -- so far I've lost 3 since moving here, they either went into real estate or moved away -- so I'm cherishing this woman as long as I have her... maybe I'll get some more blonde highlights added to my own pitiful remaining natural blonde streaks... hmmm.

It's fun to think about stuff like this, much more so than stuff like, oh, having my gallbladder out! Stay tuned for that.