I have a terrible secretary. She really should be fired. She books me on far too many days back-to-back with no planning time in between. This summer has been particularly bad. I don’t know what she was thinking! It’s as if she just saw days with nothing booked and kept saying “yes,” all willy-nilly like. She’s the worst. She’s also me. I really need to get better at scheduling. I have exhausted myself. I am living for the weekends this summer.
That fact is a little ironic, because my weekends are not all that glamorous. My favorite part of the weekend- not setting my alarm. I still usually wake up at around 5:00 A.M., but I know I can close my eyes and go back to sleep. Best. Feeling. Ever. When I do get up, I can drink my coffee BEFORE I go downstairs to exercise. This is an enormous treat. To have a cup of coffee before hitting the treadmill is living the good life for me. I can also look at my phone and putter around the kitchen without checking the time to make sure I am not making myself late for work. It’s really like a mini vacation. I might as well be in Aruba.
It’s hard to imagine that my Saturday can get any more exciting, but it does. I also have to clean my house. Let me retract that verb. Mark objects to me saying “have to.” I do not technically have to clean the house. Don’t get me wrong, no one else is going to do it and we certainly are not going to waste money on a cleaning service. No way. What Mark means is that I do not have to clean the house because no one else, other than me, cares if it is dirty. Apparently I have unrealistically high standards of cleanliness. No one else could possibly think that bathrooms or kitchens require weekly cleaning. I am the only one in the whole wide world. A simple wiping down with a damp cloth (possibly the kitchen washcloth) would suffice nicely for every other week. Mark thinks this would save me so much time. Since I refuse to see reason, I am left to clean on my own.
It is true that my roommates do have a real tolerance for filth. I think they would thrive in a more crusty environment. They like to leave cabinets open and their contents out on counters. Their clothes are neither in closets or hampers. They are strewn about. This all adds to my Saturday funday. I could leave it. I should leave it. But I don’t. I pick it all up and then I clean. I like my house to be clean. It takes a long time to pick stuff up and clean. Sometimes my roommates are home while I am attempting this task. They get more stuff out as I put other stuff away. They fry bacon in my clean kitchen. Or make spaghetti. It’s all good. I had time for extra coffee, remember?
Another weekend delight is laundry. Clothes, towels, and bedding. That leads to ironing. Yes, I still iron. I know that many people do not, but I do. I like my clothes to look nice, so I iron. That usually is my after-church chore. My fun jobs run over into Sunday. That’s also the day I grocery shop.
Weekends are not only for chores, though. If at all possible, I try to work in naps. Naps are one of my favorite things ever. Sleeping is one of my best talents. I can fall asleep in less than five minutes- anytime, anywhere. I must have a blanket, though. I can’t sleep without a covering. Monsters and murderers will get you if you are not fully covered while sleeping. This is a fact. I am not a power napper. Those people who lay down for a 15-20 minute nap astound me. If I lay down, I am there for a good two hours. Fifteen minutes is just enough to make me mad. It’s like eating one M&M. Very unsatisfying.
I also like to try to do some family things on the weekends. This weekend, we did a couple of fun things. On Saturday, Matthew, Kendyll, Emily, and I went to St. Louis to The Cheshire Grin Cat Cafe. (Mark bowed out of that one.) Oh my goodness! If you like cats, you have to go. It is fabulous. We love Mauhaus, but The Cheshire Grin has KITTENS! Two whole floors of cats and kittens to pet and play with. They were beautiful. Some were sweet and lovable, some were sassy, and some were wild and crazy. I wanted them all. You could pick up and hold the kittens. There was a sweet little tabby kitten who was running around like crazy, but he wore himself out and Emily laid him in a soft bed. His lil belly was so plump and fuzzy! It was just precious.
We also went out to lunch and did a little shopping. It was such a nice day. Emily has been working a lot since she turned sixteen, so it was great to have both of my kids together on an outing. And Kendyll, Matthew’s girlfriend, is my bonus kid now. I had all of my kids with me for the whole day.
On Sundays, we usually have lunch with my Dad and my sister and her family. This weekend, my sister and her husband couldn’t come, but I brought my niece, Alex. After lunch, Matthew, Kendyll, Emily, and I took Alex shopping for her school supplies. Obviously, I am pretty picky about her supplies. Tyra has made the mistake of purchasing inferior supplies in the past. Now, I just take Alex myself. We got everything on her list, plus a few bonus items. (Tyra gave us her debit card, so I assumed she wanted us to be thorough.)
Hmmm. I think I might do a pretty poor job of scheduling my weekends, too. There is not much resting or relaxing built in. I’m not very good at sitting still. I might need a personal assistant, like the Queen. Mark won’t hire a cleaning service, but I’m sure he’ll get right on hiring me one of those! hahahahaha
