Back to reality
Today was the day I was dreading–we were back to reality. Mike took last week off and Erik had Christmas break, so it was pretty jarring to have everyone get up early and head off into the world. I literally had to drag Erik out of bed by his heels. It was not pleasant. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to manhandle him into doing what needs to be done. I don’t know what I would have done if I was a petite woman.
Mike was super stressed and worried that he wouldn’t sleep, so I kindly gave him my very last sleeping pill. He’s so weird, though, that it did no good. For some reason most medications seem to have the exact opposite effect on him, so he was up till 4 am. I almost think it is a reverse placebo effect because he hates pills so much.
Without my pill (it is not really medication, it is melatonin and chamomile) I couldn’t get to sleep and when I finally did get to sleep I had crazy ass dreams that left me exhausted. My dreams taught me a valuable lesson: when you accidentally end up in an alternate reality, the best way to kill German vampires is to dress in a Storm Trooper uniform and do a Zumba routine. It’s very effective if your uniform includes a sharp machete. It was very vivid.
I really wanted to go back to the gym today, but Elsa is getting over a cold. They have a very strict two wipe policy in the childcare room, so I knew I couldn’t take her. The second time they have to wipe a child’s nose, the parent is called and the child has to leave.
Instead I went to Target to get Erik’s favorite meatballs. I am doing a “buy nothing new” month, but not very successfully. I spotted this thing called a “skin care tool” that was basically a metal thing with a loop at each end. You use the loops to ease out black and white heads without damaging your skin.
If you know me at all, you know that thing was MINE. I could not resist the temptation. Popping zits is the grossest thing ever, but I just can’t stop. And now I have a fancy tool! I gave it a test run and it worked really well. Whoo-hoo! Forget about New Year’s resolutions when there is zit popping involved!
Elsa’s schedule has been really off, so she didn’t get a nap today. It made for a nightmare afternoon, which was enhanced with Erik’s cries about how much he hates school and is never going back. I’m going to miss these days someday, but it’s hard to imagine that when I’m in the thick of it.
My life suddenly improved about 1000x yesterday. I did some Googling and found a way to find my product key for my Publisher disk! I now have Publisher installed on my laptop, which means I can get my monthly newsletter done on my time. You have no idea how wonderful this is. With my bad back, I can barely stand to sit at the desktop computer. The chair immediately sends shooting pains up my back. Plus, every time I go over there, the kids start acting crazy and want to be on top of me. It has made this newsletter the bane of my existence. Now! Now I can do it in my comfy chair! The kids are used to me messing with the laptop so don’t seem to have the same urge to be on top of me when I’m using it.
Of course, I still need to send my laptop in to get a new keyboard. I’m missing the efdr and u keys thanks to Elsa’s exploration. It’s usable, but just barely.
Ah well, guess I better stop ruminating and go to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be almost as challenging as today. When I was a teacher we had a saying “One day off, one off day; one week off; one off week.” I thought it was bad as a teacher–it’s way worse as a parent. Yikes!