Too Tired to Blog

I want to start by saying that I love to blog. I really do. It's a great way to let go of the day's stress, share your story with people who are going to sympathize (like anyone ever reads this anyway) and just generally let go in an atmosphere where people are going to listen without judging you.

That being said, I'm going to take an opportunity to whine. A lot. Do you mind?

The problem is, I'm pooped. It's 11:00pm, and I just got a chance to sit back and relax. It's my own fault. I know it's my own fault. I over-schedule myself like a mug, then wonder why I can't keep my eyes open in the afternoons! With that in mind, I never complain about the mind numbing exhaustion to anyone on the outside. I'm finally getting into a schedule that works, but let me tell ya, it's been rough!

My day starts with packing lunches and putting kids on the bus, followed by a rousing load of laundry and dishes. Then I sit down and check my e-mail and Facebook, followed by an hour of exercise in front of my favorite tv show and a shower. Then I work until 11:30, take my youngest to pre-k, come back, have lunch with the hubby, work until 2:15 and pick up my youngest from pre-k. Then I either help him with his homework or grab him a snack and sneak in another half hour of work until the other two come home.

3:00 to 4:00 are usually spent doing homework, filling out paperwork and chatting with the kids. Then I try to work for another half hour before starting dinner. Then starts the long round of dinner, bath, clean-up and bed, usually followed by another hour or two of work and an hour or two of homework. Then I spend an hour or two (or sometimes 3) watching tv or reading a book and enjoying the first break I've had all day before passing out, getting up and doing it again.

Argh. I feel like I'm back in daycare, with every minute of my day structured for maximum enjoyment! I can understand why Alex resists daily structure as much as he does. It really sucks! And yet, he's a sucker for routine. Now that Sunday morning housework is the norm, he just gets up and gets it done. Bath time comes after dinner, so that's all cool. Yet let me announce a change in routine, and it's all over!

This from the child who doesn't want to go to camp because he doesn't want his summer structured. Go figure.

Operation Christmas Insanity

T-3 weeks and counting...

With the reality of my move becoming more of a reality and less of an abstract concept, I have to admit-I'm a little intimidated here. In three weeks I have to pack up my entire house (only 1 closet of which is done) and move five people across three states to relocate in a state I'm familiar with but no one else is and which my husband is going to hate after a week or two. I'm just so grateful I have the most awesome friends in the world, several of whom are going to be helping us load up the U-Haul on Thursday and one of which is willingly giving up her weekend to come help me unpack, shop and find some sanity in this new place I'm shortly going to be calling home.

Amy, I love you. Have I told you that lately?

Anyway, with the move approaching faster than I can blink I find myself struggling, for a couple of reasons. One, how on earth am I going to get three weeks ahead on work so I can take some time off to move, and two, how are we going to keep in touch with all the folks back home? And so, as I was haunting the pages of Facebook (which I am disgustingly addicted to these days) I had an idea. I love to blog. Blogging is great. What if I actually keep up with my blog every single day, toss in lots of pictures of the kids, Mike and I getting settled in, keep a steady log of what's going on in our lives and turn it into a book?

Hey, I'm a published author. I can do this…right?

All right, so I'm laying myself open for massive quantities of criticism. And I'm sure my in-laws are going to find it about as dumb as the scrapbooks we made last year out of the kids' school papers (the end of the year version of which I'm still working on, by the way). But you know what? The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I mean, I love to blog. I LIKE having a record of my life that I don't have to put into a photo album (oh boy, do I ever). And I'm published on the web in six different countries, even if my name isn't always on the item in question.

I can handle a little thing like a daily blog for my family, right?

Let's see how operation "Christmas Insanity" turns out. It may be scrapbooks this year after all!