A day in the life

Arriving home after 3 EXTRA hours in the car is never an easy thing, especially when you walk in the door 2 hours past dinner time with 5 hungry little peeps and an equally starving Mama and Daddy who are trying their darndest not to eat their young! Before we knew it, we had catapulted into emptying the car of all of its equivalents, minus the crumbs left from hours of not stopping to eat. As the last piece of luggage entered our crowded front hallway, we sent youngsters spiraling up the stairs to wash off all of the road gunk that certainly settles on your skin when you use bathrooms at the Cracker Barrel, Zaxbys, and even a rest stop or two. Shoes stayed at the door to be properly de-germed, and clothes were stripped and put in hot water. The little monkeys galavanted in the tub while I hastily began a load of laundry and sat online trying to order a Dominos pizza to quiet our yowling stomachs. The five littles were fed, as they laughed with glee at being home again. Instead of being exhausted, their voices ramped up to levels only a dog should be able to hear, and DH & I tried to keep from saying, "Be QUIET!" too many times since they had been held like caged animals for an entire day. Our day begins in the dark hour of 6am, but our children were not ready to settle down and go to sleep. Coughs, "I need water!", "I need milky! and Lambie! And Night Night", all filled the air as DH & I tried to get them to go to sleep so we could have a few hours of sanity. I ran around unpacking what I could, and finally took a shower to rid the last person of any remnant of nasty road germs. I hardly remember falling into bed and before I knew it, it was oh-dark-twenty and I had to wake up and start a new day.

Clothes were laid on each child's bed, lunches were made, and backpacks were at the front door. It should have been an easy morning, but it wasn't. One child squealed like a high-pitched pig because they didn't like the way their pants were fitting. Said child did his/her best to wake baby #5. I did my best to hold it together, and I was not 100% successful! No one ate their probiotic yogurt at breakfast, so who knows what germs they'll pick up today with unprotected guts! The fab four left, and I felt sure I could unpack some more, do a little laundry, and maybe even make it to the store, but Hurricane had other plans. Every 2 minutes I had to take her to the bathroom or change her clothes, or put on another part of her Halloween costume. There was no time to look for the I Pod that is missing that my OCD mind will not quit obsessing about over and over again. The next load of laundry was not started and I just loaded the dishwasher. "Forget it", I thought to myself. "I'll just go to Target and pick up those bikes". That should be easy enough. I stuffed the ballerina fairy-clad Hurricane into the car, and raced to pick up the 2 bikes that need to be hidden for Christmas. The bikes were signed, sealed, and delivered, and were supposed to be happily waiting for us at Customer Service. But that would just be WAY too easy. I gave Jesus my claim ticket, and he went in search of the bikes, after repeatedly asking me if I had brought the bikes to the store after having them at home. "No, I BOUGHT the bikes here last week. DH said one of the brakes was hitting the wheel, so your bike guy was checking both bikes for us. I just need to pick them up & take them home now". I don't think he ever fully understood. He said to give him 5 minutes, and I had to give him 5 times 8 minutes (40), and I almost lost it. I called DH in tears after I had bought soap and batteries and entertained Hurricane as best I could with her exposed top. Finally FINALLY the bikes were found. Then they had scratches, so we had to wait for MORE bikes. At long last, 2 shiny new bikes were loaded into my car and Hurricane and I sped off into the sunshine.

The bikes are happily hidden at a neighbor's house and now I was able to sit and write a minute before tearing apart the rest of my bedroom in search of that silly I Pod!! OCD wins once again:). Happy Monday, y'all!