When it rains, it pours

My life is so busy right now that I absolutely have not had a moment to spare to write in my paper journal, let alone here. I am on a CMMi Appraisal at work, requiring 6A-4P on the phone and computer with my lunch break occurring at 9:30A. Today there was an interview at 8A, requiring me to send The Boys to school on their own, which made me mildly nervous. This insane work schedule started last week, and I took 2 days vacation to travel with The Oldest and 17 other 4th and 5th graders and 8 other adults. We had a crazy busy schedule fro two days that looked like this:
Thursday:
7:30A - Leave School
10:00A - Pitch tents at campground
11:00A - Tour State Park museum with Ranger
Bag lunch at cemetery
1:00P - School house presentation with docent
2:00P - Drive to Caverns
3:15P - Tour caves
5:00P - Return to camp for dinner
Story
9:00P - Bed

Friday:
7:30A - Breakfast
Break camp
9:00A - Explore Old Town merchants
10:30A - Pan for Gold
Stage Coach ride
1:00P Railway Museum
3:00P - Leave for school
5:00P - Return to school

What REALLY happened:
Thursday:
7:15-7:30A - Run around like crazy trying to figure out if we have all of the people and stuff we need.
7:30A - pile 4 kids and 2 adults and as much stuff as possible into my car and leave the school.
9:30A - First to arrive at campground and check in
10:00A - Pitch tents at campground while trying to get kids to help and set up their own stuff.
11:00A - Tour State Park museum with Ranger - This was REALLY cool.
Bag lunch after recovering from a hike to the school house, then a walk through the cemetery.
1:00P - School house presentation with docent - Also REALLY cool.
2:00P - Drive to Caverns
3:15P - Tour caves (165 ft below ground - gotten to via spiral staircase, also the only way back out...)
4:00P - Realize how very little aerobic activity there is in my life
4:30P - pull over the car and kick The Oldest to the side of the road for throwing an Altoids tin at the front windshield while we were travelling at 55 MPH
4:40P - Let The Oldest back into the car after calming down.
5:00P - Return to camp and snack on dried fruit and saltines. Dinner was shredded pork, baked beans (with pork), corn bread and butter, which the kids made while dinner was being prepared. I didn't eat the non vegetarian options.
Story - I read this to the kids by campfire light.
8:00-10:00P - Trying to get the kids to go to sleep, listening to giggling and talking and yelling

Friday:
6:00A - Kids start waking up
6:30A - one dad yells at awake kids, "Hey Jackasses, if any of you wake my kid, you will answer to me" - this was WAY louder than any of the kids who were awake, and was likely the reason his kid looked sleepy all day.
7:30A - Breakfast
Break camp - really more trying to get the kids and all the stuff crammed back into the cars.
9:00A - Explore Old Town merchants - this included a bowling alley and apothecary, blacksmith too.
10:30A - Pan for Gold - The kids LOVED this part.
11:40A - Stage Coach ride - They also loved this and chattered away about how awesome it was while we walked to the Mercantile to pick up lunches.
12:30P - walked to Limestone area and kids played while adults chilled.
1:00P - Left for Railway Museum, which was closed.
2:30P - Leave for school
4:30P - Return to school
5:30-9:00P - The Oldest was a t a Birthday party for a friend with many of the kids from the camping trip. Reports from the parents who attended made it sound like a therapy session with laughter one moment and crying the next.

This weekend was also Halloween Fun Night. Because I was gone for the 2 days preceding the event, I was not heavily involved in set up. I kind of missed that level of involvement, but the one person who I would do absolutely anything for (as evidenced HERE) was not in fact involved at all. I really missed doing this event together, but I'll survive...

Saturday was an early Football game, then helping rig some things for Halloween Fun Night, then an afternoon Soccer game. That was followed by attending Halloween Fun Night, and photographing the event. The kids all had a ton of fun!

Sunday brought me back to the school for 6 hours to clean up Halloween Fun Night. The clean up crew was 3 adults, and 5 kids under age 12. It took WAY longer than it could have.

Monday started a grueling work schedule that has me waking up at 4:30A and working on phone and computer from 6A-4P, and mostly unable to get The Boys to and from school. Thankfully I have dear friends willing to watch out for them and make sure they make it to and from school.

Oh, and The Dude was out of town Wednesday last week to Tuesday this week.

I'm wiped out, and the work schedule continues through November 18th.

Monday Morning Weekend Wrap Up

While completely mired in the usual crap, and all of the additional crap Monday through Friday, I usually like to have nice easy relaxing weekends. Then about 4 times a year, I get a wild hair up my ass and decide to do something that will make me sweat, and make my back ache like a mother fucker. This was that weekend.

Friday was ordinary - laundry and grocery shopping. Then The Dude took The Boys to his indoor soccer game. They left at 7pm, and were going to be back around 9:30. He brought them home at midnight. Yes midnight. Despite the fact he said he'd bring them home if he wanted to go out, he thought it would be ok to take them to a restaurant/bar until midnight...

Saturday - The Boys were in crappy moods all day - wonder why. They both had games - The Youngest had soccer and The Oldest had football. Came home and I completed the grocery shopping, and made dinner of fried chicken, corn and peas. I had salad. The Dude took The Boys to buy a video game and beer, which he needed to drop off somewhere for Sunday...The Dude went to fill up his truck and buy shaving cream, leaving at 8:30pm, and returning at 10:30. Seeing a pattern here? I am.

Sunday - The Dude went to the Raider game, leaving at 9AM to tailgate. I decided to clean. I went to the backyard finding this:

Augie stuck in the fort.

Spent the first hour scooping poop, then moved to the shed:

Took a break after 3 hours when I ran out of plastic bins. Took 3 advil and took the kids to buy more bins and to Baskin Robbins for ice cream:

This is the detritus from the shed - many deteriorating cardboard boxes:

Then I moved to the garage:

After cleaning out the garage:

I changed air filters in my car, and moved some of the stuff from the garage to the shed, but by then it was dark (and 10 hours after I started). I took 4 more advil and I still need to organize the new stuff to the shed and load all of the garden tools. That will have to wait until daylight and my back allow. As of 10:30PM, still no sign of The Dude...