Fridays are always a bit on the hectic side for us, especially as Adventists.  Sabbath starts at sundown and while that isn't a huge concern say around June 20th, as the days get shorter the day gets a little more stressful.  As a result, I try to get a jump start on my cleaning by starting it on Thursday so that I'm not rushing around on Friday trying to get things in order before Sabbath.  This was easier before Reece started preschool.

 

Okay, I admit, a large part of this week's problem was my goofing off on Thursday.  I mean, the entire day wasn't a wash; I did get a lot of laundry done and I cleaned out the van which is always quite a feat.  In fact, I not only cleaned out the van and vacuumed it, I also shampooed some of the worst spots on the carpeting in the van, at least what I could get to without removing the seats.  It was what I did after the van that set me back so much.

 

I went out and played with my best friend.  We went out for coffee and talked and laughed as we always do.  Then we went to a home and school meeting, which is the Christian school equivalent of the PTA.  We're planning for our fall festival.  Once we picked up our kids and made our way back to Turlock, it was already after 4 o'clock!  That just doesn't leave a lot of time!

 

This morning I had a steering committee meeting for Heart for Moms.  I love this group of women; they're so God-filled.  It does really cut into my Sabbath cleaning, though.  Am I willing to give it up?  No, I'm not.  I may have to stop going out to play on Thursdays.  Or maybe I should keep the house cleaner the rest of the time so that I can leave the house without weighing the consequences and trying to decide if coming back to the mess is worth whatever I am setting out to do.  After the meeting I came home and did get a couple of things done, although not much because I was helping Mike with something on the computer while he told me over the phone what he needed (he was at work).  I went and picked Reece up at noon and then we killed some time while waiting for Alicia to get out of school.  Now, I did come straight home after picking her up.

 

Then I fell asleep.

 

Yes, yes I did.  I sat down on the couch to read a book with Reece and I was so tired that I just....fell asleep.  For about an hour.  Not a nice, satisfyingly heavy sleep, but more of an I-can-hear-everything-that-is-going-on-but-I-can't-open-my-eyes sort of sleep.  Not exactly restful, that sort of sleep.  About that time, I figured I should think about dinner.  As if reading my mind, Alicia asked if we could have tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner.

 

Well, yes we most certainly can!! 

 

I loaded the kids up into the van and we went to the store for tomato soup and sourdough bread, because, you know, grilled cheese is just not at it's prime flavor on any other bread.  Of course, on the way there Alicia fell asleep.  Much more solidly than I had slept.  I did get to wake her up, though.  No, I'm not jealous of her sleep.  Not at all...

 

We came home and made an attempt to do some cleaning, all three of us.  I cleared off some of the table so that there was at least some wood showing through.  The kids put away toys and I got all of the stuff out from under the couch.  I swear, you could fit a tanker under that thing!  I made our grilled cheese, soup and some salad so that it wasn't totally unhealthy.  The kids loved it, of course, and Reece even asked for seconds.

 

I should mention that off and on through the entire afternoon, the two of them fought.  Over every single, little thing they could find to fight.  There were tears.  There was smacking (between them, not by me).  Days like this can really wear one out.

 

Now both of my dears have fallen asleep on the couch.  They are unbathed.  Their teeth are not brushed.  They have not yet taken their vitamins. I know that they will be grumpy when I wake them for their baths.  But for now, in this calm after the storm, my babies are angels in repose.

Alicia is working on her homework tonight and is supposed to be writing an "h" under the pictures starting with "h".   She was doing fine until she came across a picture of a ham.  She called it "meat" and moved on.  She doesn't know what a ham is!  We're SDA!!  We don't eat any pork products!  I told her that it was a ham and she said, "I don't think that's a good idea..."

 

I wrote a note to her teacher so she could laugh, too.  Seriously though, we obviously aren't using SDA curriculum at the school any more.