Tuesday Ten: A Day in The Life

Today's Tuesday Ten challenge: A Day in the Life....Wait until the end of the day, post ten things that you did today. They don't have to be exciting, or even particularly interesting if you had that kind of day. The idea is to get a peek into your daily life.

Ten Things I Did Today

1. Swim Lessons. Not for me, for the fine young gents. Two-year-old gent splashes in the wading pool while his brothers take lessons. For them, swim lessons means eating breakfast, changing into swim trunks and leaving for the pool. For me, swim lessons means packing backpacks with clothes and towels and setting out swimwear and shoes the night before, packing a snack in the morning, and getting everyone out the door on time.

The youngest of the fine young gents had a poopy diaper right before it was time to leave.

Four-year-old gent insisted that the Band-Aid on the bottom of his foot must stay on, then sat down and cried when it wouldn't.

And, best of all, someone left the car door open all night long, so my car had a dead battery. We took loving husband's car and he dealt with the battery.

2. Library. I wanted to go to the library yesterday, but the fine young gents insisted that we can't go to the library on a Monday because Tuesday is Library Day. So we went today. They each chose two books to check out. We signed up for the library reading program, so they each got to choose a free book to keep. Getting into the library was a challenge because both lovely ladies are out of town, I forgot the book bags, and the youngest gent has decided he's too big for the stroller, so I had to try to navigate a busy parking lot while shepherding a two-, four- and six-year-old and carrying an armload of library books.

3. Lunch. Making lunch is boring. But despite my boredom and distaste for the task, my inconsiderate children insist on eating lunch every day.

4. Declutter. Every six months I go through the house and toss, recycle, give away or sell everything that we don't need. (Well, except for the basement. I intend to clean the basement and never get to it-- I was supposed to clean it out last summer. Yeah, that's going well.) My goal over the next two weeks is to declutter something every day. Yesterday was the craft supply cabinet. Today I reorganized the living room bookshelves-- the school shelf and the kids' bookshelf. Does it still count as decluttering if there's now a huge pile of books on the living room table waiting for a home?

5. Garden. My other two-week goal, to get the garden back in shape. Yesterday I weeded around the garden boxes. Today I weeded in my two empty boxes and planted pumpkins and squash. The gents planted some sunflower seeds and otherwise got in the way, er, helped.

6. Hammock. Problem is, youngest gent was filthy and wet, and when I told him No thanks, I didn't want company, he decided it would be fun to swing Mama. And the dog thought it great fun to nibble on my dangling toes, which tickled. Not quite the restful time I'd envisioned.

7. Neighbors. I saw neighbor mom over the fence and invited neighbor kids to come play in our yard, so they did. The kids splashed in the plastic wading pool and played with the hose, neighbor mom and I chatted. I love my neighbor. Poppy is a complete basket case when people come over. She pees on their feet and jumps on them and otherwise makes a complete and utter nuisance of herself. I tethered her outside so that the kids could play without getting jumped on. Neighbor mom waited until Poppy was very calm, then went to sit nearby. Once Poppy calmed down again she sat down with her and petted her until she was completely calm. Not many people are willing to sit through that much frantic jumping and sniffing and rolling, but she did it, and Poppy settled down nicely. Wonderful.

8. Dinner. I really didn't want to make dinner, so we had chicken salad sandwiches, leftover noodles, watermelon and salad. For a great summer salad, just toss some blueberries and raspberries with fresh greens, top with goat cheese and some kind of nuts, and serve with your favorite balsamic vinaigrette. Better yet, take some of the berries and toss them in the blender with the favorite balsamic vinaigrette for berry vinaigrette. Yum. In the middle of dinner the phone rang. It was dear friend calling from the bookstore, wondering where I was. I hadn't forgotten, I'd just completely lost track of time. I had no idea the afternoon was gone and we were well into the evening.

9. Chat. Dear friend and I talked for over two hours. We talked about teenaged daughters, autism, middle school, dogs, neighbors, materialism, kids with too much stuff and not enough guidance, families, and told stories about our lives. By the time I got home, loving husband had put the boys to bed.

10. Walk the dog. I took Poppy for a walk.

11. Blog, fold laundry, spend time with loving husband, set out things for swim lessons tomorrow. I expect tomorrow will be much the same. Happy days to you.

Next Tuesday: Ten Things About Summer. Anything at all, as long as it's got something to do with summer. Things you love, things you hate, things you plan to accomplish, summer vacation plans.