I don't mean to be one of those people who's all like, "I'm so busy, I'm so busy." But I certainly feel that way. Probably because it doesn't take much to send me off the edge of balance, spinning out of control. Really, I'm not a person who can have too much on her metaphorical plate. What can I say? I have a small plate.
The last few weeks my problem has been priorities. I mean, when it's Christmas, you know you drop everything and do Christmas. Or when you have a blood drive in three days, you drop everything and do the blood drive. But right now we're flailing around with a number of pretty important but not super important things. Like
- What to do about our kids. Our kids can't stay in their chairs at dinner. What should we do about it? We have been busy every Monday night for the last forever. Should we worry that we haven't had a formal FHE in forever? Are pull-ups or wet sheets preferable? What do you do when your kids really aren't friends with each other? How much Phineas and Ferb can one child watch? Will my son set the record for tons of snot produced by a single human being? The usual...
- Buying a new car. I was resistant. But it was clearly time. Greg ran some fancy Nate Silver-esque statistical models and predicted that we could expect to put enough money into our beloved Forester in the next few years that it would make more sense to buy a new car. You can't fight Nate Silver-esque predictions. (Does anybody else think he's taken the fun out of elections? No more surprises! Ever!) After seriously considering quite a few cars (including a number of Toyotas, of course--because Greg's brother is a big shot at Lexus and can get us a sweeeeet deal), we settled on another Forester. (But I have to put a plug in for the new Subaru Impreza!! I was so impressed with this car! Very well-designed. Feels roomy for its size. Great price. Great gas mileage--with the fabulous Subaru AWD. Worth checking out if you're looking for a new, safe, reliable commuter car.) It is a new car. Like, brand new. This is our first brand new car. I don't like it. I'm too nervous about it. I'm not driving it until Greg puts a dent or scratch in it.
- Selling an old car. We're selling our Forester. I'm so sad. But I know it's time. We found just the right buyer. It was meant to be. But I'm still sad. (By the way, David loves the Forester. He knows we know he loves the Forester. And we're selling it anyway. Now he's worried we're going to sell his teddy bear.)
- Room mom. I'm a room mom! Did you remember that? I didn't. (Oops.)
- New semester. It always takes a little while to settle into a new semester...even if it's your husband's new semester and not your own.
- Reorganizing the basement. Need I say more?
- The Science Fair. Why did I think this would be easy?
- Being a friend. I love friends. I love being a friend. I love having friends And being with friends. And helping friends And being helped by friends. And thanking friends. And loving friends. But sometimes I kind of stink at it. I'm sorry...
- Having painters in my house for two weeks. It didn't help that I kept changing my mind. (Fortunately, I have an opinionated friend with good taste who is good about answering my SOS texts. In a moment of desperation she came over and spent three hours with me carefully choosing a paint color. You all need a Hillary.) Also, just so you know, having your walls re-textured makes a huge mess.
- Greg's promotion. Okay, so not very time-consuming. But I did have to get myself and the kids there. With our hair combed. Plus, we're having a party next week. I can't imagine being ready.
- Repainting and reorganizing bedrooms. I'm 85% finished with the rooms. Will I ever finish the last 15%?
- Deciding where Mary is going to school next year. Discussions and meetings and conversations and more discussions. We made our decision Friday. Exhale. (For those of you who don't know, February is the month when you decide where your kid is going to school next year. That means all your research needs to be finished by February. And your kid might have needed to be on a waiting list for months already. So, dear readers who are first-time parents with a babe in arms, tuck that little nugget of knowledge away for future reference.)
Also, weighing on my mind are some heavier matters that I may or may not blog about. Busy-ness and weighty matters aren't always the best combination. (But sometimes the busy-ness can be a nice distraction, I suppose.)
Anyway, to temporarily solve our chaos problem, we're fleeing the chaos. We're escaping together as a family tomorrow--the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago awaits us. Sometimes when life sends you a killer bunny, there's nothing to do but "Run away!!"
