Mippy Manor's Week in Review: Solo Edition

So, yeah, this week has been eventful, to say the very least. Last weekend, I got an e-mail about a parenting class being offered that takes eight weeks. I took the exact same course last year when we had first moved in, but I opted to retake it, as I was very distracted last time. I also had a very booked up first of the week going into Monday.

Monday came in a little too much on the noisy side. Thunderstorms started rolling through before Monday was very old. From one-ish until the sun finally came up, I had two bed-hogs in bed with me. That, I'm used to, but the sudden downpours pelting the windows, flashes of lightening, and booming thunder made it into a long night, as each hour saw them both wake up at least once every hour, and never both at the same time. That led to an exhausted mommy, as we slept straight through all my alarms. Ryli had a 8:30 appointment, which I needed to reschedule. Apparently, it was happening a lot that morning, as the office manager told me I was not the first parent to call in that morning.

The rescheduled appointment gave me the time I needed to finish the house off for our housing inspection on Tuesday. I got downright anal-retentive on the finishing touches. I also had two kids begging to help. It was very nice.Our water was delivered early, so Ryli helped put that up, and then the inspectors showed up right on time. That was the best part, as they gave me a two hour window. We passed with flying colors. I spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon dealing with an unanswered phone call I'd gotten Monday night. That was fun. (and that sentence is dripping with sarcasm)

We went up to the parenting class early enough to get the mail. There was a beaten and battered envelope from the housing authority right on top, complete with the tape to hold the envelope together. The letter was dated April 3, yet here it was April 14 and I was just getting it. The re-certification appointment was inside; April 15 at 12:30. A half hour before my appointment for my meds, and on the opposite side of the county. No brainer there, I choose instantly which appointment took priority, continuing to have a roof over our heads.

The parenting class was great. Yes, it was the same thing as last year, but I was by far more "there" than I was last year. What can I say, I was unencumbered by the baggage of the last go. Ryli and Landry had a blast playing with the other kids, and afterwards, they served dinner.

We got home, and I got them settled with bedtime snacks and a movie while I got a hold of Cynthia to run by the change in plans by her. Luckily, she had no problem moving everything up and driving so much further than originally planned. Having that settled, I opted to head to bed with the kids so I could get up early to do my paperwork, wrangle documents, and reschedule appointments.

Wednesday morning, I woke up with the start of a migraine, so as I ate a breakfast of ibuprofen, I set to work printing out and wrangling up documentation while simultaneously filling out the packet of paperwork. When I got everyone up and dressed, we retrieved Ryli's purse of Littlest Pet Shops she'd accidentally left behind at parenting class, and went out to wait for Cynthia and Phoebe.

I sensed as soon as we got the car seats loaded and into the car that this was not going to be an easy trip. That migraine was intensifying, and I was starting to think that if we made it all the way to DHA without me getting sick, it would be nothing short of miraculous. Those fears were founded, but due to accidentally taking a wrong exit and a hiccup in Cynthia's Garmin getting back on the interstate, we ended up being on a street close to a gas station when I said "We NEED to pull over". After a deposit into the gas stations garbage, off we went.

The rest of Wednesday was pretty uneventful. I made it to the appointment and was re-certified, we hit Kroger up, and had a leisurely night at home. The migraine vanished after the garbage can incident, but it was threatening to return, so once again, I went to sleep with the kids.

Thursday and Friday more or less bled one into the other. Landry has had quite the growth spurt, however. The one pair of boots that he wore every time we went further than the neighbors' were taken off outside, and vanished. This morning, I went to put on his tennis shoes for the first time in a few weeks, and they didn't fit. So, when Memaw picked them up at noon, I got to explain what had happened to the boots that he loved so much, and showed that he was in fact going through a growth spurt. Ryli now has an inch, tops, on her little brother. 

I have already run to the store on my quest for new shoes. I am now going to re-watch Sunday's episode of "Game of Thrones", followed by a re-watch of the two previous episodes of "Wolf Hall" and just take it easy. The week ahead is destined to be a fun one, just hopefully not so overloaded.

Mippy Manor's Week in Review: Solo Edition

This has been an interesting week, to say the very least. Ryli and Landry have stayed out until almost 8:00 all week playing with the neighbor girls. I've hung around with their mom as well, and it has been a nice change. I never knew that a 5 year old girl and a 6 year old girl could butt heads so hard. And Landry proved that when it comes to rough housing with one of the neighbor boys, he can definitely hold his own. All that did get a little maddening, however, as Ryli and Landry peppered entire days with "Are they home yet?"

The chores went surprisingly well. Ryli makes her bed now after only having had to be asked one time, on Monday morning. They know that Eroy is coming to check up on them full time starting tomorrow night. I think Ryli will get it a little bit sooner. Then again, with the rate that her LPS pets loose their heads and deco-bits, maybe not. Landry always carries his larger dinosaurs off to bed with him. We shall see.

Tuesday night, I realized that my refrigerator was not working. In fact, judging by the fact that my tube of breakfast sausage resembled an over-inflated football, it had expired at least 24 hours before. Maintenance couldn't do anything about it that night, so it was 3:30 Wednesday afternoon before we got a replacement. Thankfully, all the meat and vegetables in the freezer didn't thaw out much, if at all, so Tuesday night, they went to one neighbor's, and the leftovers from the crock pot went to another.

Thursday, I got all ready to go to court. Then, once I was all ready to go and my friend was minutes away to pick us all up, I got the call that the hearing was going to be continued, since the morning docket had gone over. Now, I have to wait until June to get everything settled. 

After the kids got picked up today, I made a trip to Walmart for a few Easter things and groceries. I never expected to be followed home by a puppy from the bus stop, but I was. I put an ad on Craigslist to try and find his owner. He's been "fixed", but he didn't seem very well fed, and he was on me like white on rice until I locked him in the house and went out to meet the kids. He also drank water like he'd been in a desert.

I had them hurry to the door and knock on the window until he came up. Before I opened the door, I explained to them that someone may be looking for him, so he may not stay forever. They agreed, and I let them in. Puppy love, multiplied by three. As I write this, the three of them are all curled up in my bed, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" still playing.

We dyed Easter eggs tonight. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so it will limit the hiding places. Originally, I planned on six eggs a piece. Unfortunately, Landry bobbled and ultimately cracked an egg while removing it from the dye, so I had Ryli pick one of hers to eat. We then decided that next year, we would hide six eggs each, then seven, and so-on. Ryli's age will determine the number of eggs that we will dye and the bunny will hide. 

Tomorrow, while they are gone again, I will perfect my cleaning of the house and put my Fly Lady control journal together. I'm not going to lie, I'm excited. I also have to run over to a neighbor's house and see if I can't procure a bit of dog food for Tag. I've also got to see if there's a place to get him checked for a chip within walking distance.

Time for me to go to bed... some bunny has to get up really early to hide eggs. I have it on good authority that she is going to break out the Easter baskets before bed to limit the amount of things she has to do when she gets up at six.

Mippy Manor's Week in Review: Solo Saturaday Edition

This week has been a tad disappointing, I'm not going to lie. Plans have been postponed due to illness; the weather has been bingeing on an illegal substance (it has been psycho... snow.. in March... in Dallas?); the farce of kindergarten round-up; the general gloom. In short, with the exception of cooking some incredible eats, my get up and go pretty much left me high and dry, following Elvis out the nearest exit. 

There were little bursts of activity. Bills got paid. The kids have been helping in the kitchen, which has been both a blessing and a curse. Our system of doing the dishes actually made me miss them about 15 minutes after Memaw picked them up at noon. It's actually got me pretty proud. I didn't ask for the help. Ryli volunteered and Landry had to get in on the action. 

Fly Lady was an abysmal failure. There's no way to distort reality enough to say that it was even a mild success. I liked the snooze button way too much this week, which honestly threw everything into chaos. Add to that I just never got around to filling out my little to-do lists, and I was not productive at all. I had already figured out I'm much more productive if I fill it out and follow it. I'm as ADD as the sky is blue, and I know that, I'm just not on anything for it. It just gives me a tangible tool to do what I need to do. This was by far the longest stretch I've gone without the list, and NEVER again will I do it.

The Mippy Manor recipe for cabin fever was perfected this week. Monday was to wet from last week to take the kids to the playground. We made due with an Aldi run, but that was it. Tuesday was rainy all day. Ryli and I went to round up while Landry had a sitter. Wednesday was all rain. Memaw was good enough to run us to Kroger. She sat in the car and I made the run I was going to do on Monday. Thursday was Winter Wonderland, Take Two. The kids got to go play in it for a bit and then we ran and checked the mail. Yesterday we were faced with the soggy aftermath. So, at noon today, I turned two rather stir-crazy kiddos to Memaw. 

With the kids gone, I commenced to kicking the downstairs in the hindquarters in peace, without the tornadoes that the kids have been. It took no time at all, and I was nice enough to leave some jobs for Ryli and Landry when they get home. I dumped all the clean clothes out on my bed so the kids are forced to sleep in their room at least for a few hours a piece. 

Tonight, after the work I left them is done, second dinner is eaten, baths are taken, and jammies are on, we'll make cookies.After they're asleep and the laundry is dealt with, the meal plan and shopping list gets redone. There was nothing wrong with the first set, but I found the 12" cast iron skillet I've been wanting cheaper than even Wally World, and I bought a new skillet that I can cook it the oven with. So, now that I have both of those, I can make more of the one dish recipes that I've wanted to try. Woohoo!

So, despite most of the week sucking, we're ending it on a good note. Now to survive loosing an hour tonight! And I think I missed the kids just a smidge. I found a ton of little toys under furniture and in cabinets, so I did this to greet them when they come home: