October 25, 2013
7:30am – I got out of bed just as Jared and Brita were
leaving for school and work. Meg was already awake and sitting at the counter
when I walked into the kitchen. She was eating some toast with Nutella that
Brita helped her make. See what I mean about Brita being a good sister? After
breakfast, Meg got dressed while I folded some laundry and put Brita’s sheets
in the washer.
8:10am – Practiced the piano with Meg for about twenty
minutes. The first day after her lesson is always a bit more challenging. By
the end of the week, she will be more comfortable with her new songs so the
outbursts and breakdowns should taper off. I only made her practice two songs
today. She worked so hard on them that I didn’t feel bad cutting off her
practice. And we had to brush her teeth and get her to school anyway.
9am – Stuffed some cottage cheese into my face while I made
copies of rental applications, then I jumped into the shower. When I got
dressed, I slipped into my “Not Your Daughter’s Jeans” (NYDJ), just like I do
pretty much every single day. I have this thing about jeans. I don’t like to
buy them because I have to try on so many pair to find some I like. When I used
to be “another size” the worst part of the shopping trip was deciding which
pairs to say no to because they all looked good. Oh, to have those problems
again! So I basically have one pair of go-to jeans in my wardrobe, and I was
starting to wear holes in the upper thigh where my legs rub together. Isn’t
that pretty. The holes pretty much forced me to the store and my goal was to
try to find one pair I could tolerate.
When I was at Dillard’s trying on jeans, I totally laughed
at the brand NYDJ and almost didn’t try them on just because the brand name was
silly, but then I figured they might be good mom jeans. Boy was I glad I tried
them on. Not because they look stunning or take ten pounds off, but because
they’re nice and stretchy feeling, the waist comes up high, and they don’t have
an elastic waistband. I despise elastic waistbands, even though my expanding
tummy loves them. Anyway, I bought a pair of those suckers because they were
comfy and because I never want to be accused of trying to stuff myself into my
eleven-year old waif-daughter’s jeans. That would just be gross. So for now,
the NYDJ mom jeans suit me just fine.
Now back to my current day…Mom came up to visit for a few
minutes while I was getting ready. I felt so bad for her because she said she
had cramps in her inner thigh all night. I’m hoping that she will feel settled
enough soon so that she doesn’t stay on her feet all day long. Hopefully, once
she slows down, middle-of-the-night cramps won’t be an issue for her anymore.
We synced up our schedules and had a little bit of an awkward disagreement
regarding which areas should be worked on today. She thought the garage and I
thought the basement family room. After a while we worked it out and decided on
the family room for Friday and the garage for Saturday.
9:50am – Jared picked me up and we met two interested
parties at the rental house. We will be so happy to get this thing rented. It’s
pretty exhausting showing it so often, waiting to see who turns in
applications, and crossing our fingers that we have a decent pool of applicants
to choose from.
10:45 – Jared brought me home and I got right to work
downstairs with mom and dad cleaning out their stuff that has flowed into our
family room. Brita is having a party tonight and Jared’s brother Chad is coming
into town with his sons Cade and Collin for the BYU game tonight. They will be
staying with us, so it would be nice to have that room cleared out a little
bit. We all worked hard for a long time.
1pm – I had to bring a couple things upstairs, so I quickly
grabbed a few bites of leftover chicken, then went right back downstairs. I
usually have more time for lunch, but I hate that meal anyway so I didn’t mind
the eat-and-run circumstances today.
2pm – The family room looked presentable by this time and I
got busy re-arranging a little bit of furniture to accommodate a side table and
rocking chair mom passed my way. I even got to vacuum downstairs and it felt so
good to see the vacuum lines in the carpet.
3pm – I took a break from vacuuming to go get Leah and Meg.
I was at least able to vacuum the whole basement and part of the kitchen before
I had to leave. The Junior High teacher, Mrs. Simpson, chatted with me at my
car for a while when I picked up the girls today. She wanted to talk about my
friend, Rachel Edwards, who is considering the school for her seventh-grade
daughter Grace. Apparently Rachel was there today getting a tour of the school
and talking to the principal and teachers. I know I’ve said this before, but I
would love to have Grace go to the same school as my girls.
When I got home, I resumed vacuuming and I got through most
of the kitchen and part of the family room before I had to leave again to meet
Jared for another rental-house showing.
3:45 – Met another couple and their seventeen-month old son
at the house. They are moving from the Logan area and I think they are my
favorite potential renters so far. I really hope they want to move into the
place.
4:10pm – When I pulled into the driveway, Chad and his boys
were just getting out of their car. They unloaded their stuff, played with
Buddy for a few minutes, then they piled into Jared’s truck and went to grab
some dinner before the football game. I finally finished vacuuming the family
room and my bedroom. Just Leah and Meg’s rooms are left. It’s really sad when I
can’t find a block of time long enough to vacuum my house without taking breaks.
I hate leaving things undone because it’s so hard to come back and finish them
later.
4:30pm – I wanted to hurry out the door to get dinner for
Brita’s party before the game traffic started to build up. We live so close to
BYU, which is great for getting Jared to the games, but not great if I need to
go run errands while everyone is making their way to the stadium. I decided to
make a stop at Allred’s Orchard fruit stand on University Avenue first. Tons of
the game traffic has to go on this road and cars were already backed up when I
got there. I hurried and got my apples and was surprised at how easy it was to
get back out onto the street. While I was driving, I called Rachel to talk to
her about her experience and impressions of the school. She loved the school
and had a great conversation with the teachers there. She’s got a lot of big
decisions to make and I hope I can be a good support to her if she needs some.
We also talked a little about Ragnar. She is going to ask her sister if she is
interested in taking Jared’s place if he can’t run. His foot still isn’t
letting him run and it’s not looking good. It’s so sad because he was so ready
for this thing. And I’m terrified that if he doesn’t run this one, he’s going
to make me run another one when he’s better.
After getting the apples, I went to Macey’s for some fruit
and another bottle of root beer just in case. Seems like I sure spend a lot of
time at Macey’s. Wondering why we only have apples, grapes, carrots and butter
in the fridge.
I drove to the other end of the Macey’s strip mall to Little
Ceasar’s Pizza. I love that I can buy a “Hot and Ready” pizza for $5. I bought
four pepperoni and one cheese, then I also ordered four Crazy Breads because
the girls love it when I splurge on that stuff for their parties. I was only
going to get three Crazy Breads, but tonight the deal was Buy One, Get One for
99 cents. I’m not going to pass up a deal like that. No way.
5:30pm – Brita and her friends met me in the garage to help
carry in all the grub. Before I even had time to think, Brita yelled, “Dig in!”
There were hands and people everywhere. Ten twelve-year olds can take up a lot
of space and make a lot of noise. One of the girls reminded us to say a prayer,
then she also poured her Sunkist Orange soda into the sink when someone informed
everyone that Sunkist Orange Soda has caffeine in it. Most of the girls
wouldn’t touch it after that, so Brita single handedly drank almost the whole
two liters. I cut up some apples so the meal would be “healthy.”
The party seems to be going well. Brita is so happy! This is
the coolest party ever – Brita and a few of her friends decided to plan a
General Conference party as a Personal Progress project. A couple weeks ago
they got together at our house after school and made their party plans – those
who put it together will summarize a conference talk, they will play “Mormon”
charades, and they will play “Mormon Mafia”, and if there is time and they want
to watch a movie, they will watch, “17 Miracles.” I love that Brita and her
friends are encouraging each other to do their Personal Progress and that they
are stepping outside some of the social norms. As a mom, I’m thrilled with a
General Conference party and I can tell the girls who are here right now are
loving it too.
6pm – I took Leah over to Kasey Porter’s house for a
Halloween party. Kasey is Leah’s friend from church and Leah was so excited to
go. Leah loves being social, but she doesn’t have a lot of friends right now
because of her transition from public to private school this year. Her best
friends are Kasey Porter and Hannah Jorgensen from her primary class, and I
love that she has these two good girls in her life. Anyway, Leah dressed up as
a green crayon and couldn’t wait to get to the party.
When I got home, I took some pizza and apples downstairs to
mom and dad and also to Carrie who was visiting. By the time I came back
upstairs, the girls had dispersed to the “lounge” (the room next to Brita’s
bedroom) and I cleaned up all the pizza.
I went downstairs to eat my pizza with the other adults who
were present in the house and I poured the ice cream toppings into bowls –
candy corns, Reese’s Pieces, Heath bits, and Andes Mints bits. Meg came down to
let me know the girls were already eating their ice cream, so she took all the
toppings upstairs for me. A five year old is super helpful to have around
sometimes.
I walked upstairs to watch the girls wrestle on the couch
and try to push each other out of their places. Stuff like that makes me nuts,
but I just held my tongue and said a prayer that my favorite things wouldn’t
get broken and let them do their thing.
7:30pm – Brita and her friends started watching the movie
“17 Miracles”. Once they were all situated in the basement with their
Twizzlers, caramel popcorn, and root beer, the noise level actually went down a
tad. That was totally unexpected, but I’m welcoming the change.
8:20pm – As I’m sitting here typing this, Buddy has been
barking and scratching on the door a lot. We put him in the garage because one
of the girls at the party is allergic to dogs. I was just minding my own
business, trying to be interesting and witty about the mundane parts of my
life, when in walked Buddy from the garage. How in the heck did he open the
door? I know it was closed tightly because I checked. I was already mad at him for eating Meg’s
pizza off the counter. Now I’m mad at him for figuring out how to do human
things.
8:45pm – I went downstairs to see what I could to do help
mom, and the girls were all sobbing. I haven’t seen the movie they are
watching, but I have heard that it’s heart wrenching. All these darling girls
are wiping their eyes and bawling into tissues.
Spent the last little while helping mom sort through her
mail and I shredded a bunch of stuff for her. It’s really hard to keep bills
straight when you’re moving. I could tell mom was so tired and I know her back
and neck are always so sore, so I told her I wouldn’t go pick up Leah from her
party until she got ready for bed. By 9:10, I was out the door. That’s the
fastest I’ve ever seen mom change clothes, but she didn’t want me to be any
later getting Leah. Sometimes I have to employ creative behavioral strategies
on my parents.
9:20pm – When I came home from getting Leah, Bailey Morris
was the only friend left at our house. She had been trying to call her mom but
her mom wasn’t answering so Brita asked me if I could take Bailey home. I
wanted to hurry because the BYU game would be ending right away and I didn’t
want to get stuck in the thick of game traffic. Then I found out Bailey lives
across town close to Seven Peaks. When we got to her house, her mom, Mindi,
came out and we ended up visiting for a pretty long time. We probably talked
for thirty minutes. I really enjoyed getting to know her and to find out a
little more about Brita’s friend. I love the friends Brita has chosen. They are
all amazing girls who have strong convictions and direction at such a young
age. I couldn’t want anything more for Brita at this moment in her life than to
have good friends. Her friends are kind of the final piece to the puzzle we’ve
worked so hard to put together over the past four years.
10:15pm – Came home to find Jared, Chad, Cade, and Collin hanging
out in the kitchen. They had been home for about twenty minutes and it looked
like they found the ice cream left over from Brita’s party. I love those boys.
They are so much fun to talk to and I love when they tell me stuff. Boys are so
different than girls and I do my best to relate. I love having them here.
11pm – Jared, Brita, Chad, Cade, and Collin started a game
of Dominion. Jared comes from a crazy game playing family. I don’t get as
involved in the games as I used to and I’m not sure why. I think it has
something to do with the fact that I’m so tired all the time. Having kids
changes lots of things – looks like it took some enthusiasm for game playing
out of me.
I went in Leah’s room to tell her goodnight and spent about
ten minutes listening about her party. She re-enacted one of the boys
apple-bobbing techniques that gave me a much needed belly laugh. She said he
dunked his head so far into the bowl that the water was to his neck. And
apparently when his turn ended, there were a good number of apple chunks
floating around the bowl. Gross. I’m glad Leah bobbed before he did…so is she.
I love Leah’s sense of humor and I soak up the times when she shares details of
anything with me because she’s not usually up for sharing much. It was a good
way to end the night.
11:30pm - Going to bed because that early-morning run is going to come sooner than I want it to!
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