Will I ever get a shower?

So, my husband rented a "bobcat" today for our backyard. When he first told me he was renting a "bobcat" I wondered how this vicious animal would get along with our dog, but it wasn't the exciting large cat I was looking forward to. Instead it was a boring machine that would tear up my backyard (which is fine 'cause it is just dirt and weeds, and mice, and snakes, and a lot of stuff I don't want). It is also the large boring machine that would put a dent/hole in the siding on the corner of my house, and take a chip out of the RV parking driveway (that we paid way too much for).

My husband has been out in the backyard for nearly 12 hours now (not subtracting the 1 1/2 hours he spent inside complaining about the rain that was making his job harder--I'm still giving him credit for a full days work). For this project, he wisely recruited his dad, his 80-something year old grandpa, and my brother-in-law. My sister was at work, so her kids (ages 3 and 4 months) came to the party with their dad...not that they were much help in the backyard.

The big, strong men had a chore to do, and they are bound and determined to get it all done (good luck to them). I do have to give them credit, a lot has been accomplished out there. They successfully cleared the area where the fence will be built next week. They killed at least 15 mice and 1 snake! (I know...YUCK!) They were also successful in getting glares from the neighbors behind us who evidentially do not want our loud "bobcat" disturbing their annoying rooster.

Which reminds me, is it even legal to have a rooster in your backyard? And if your neighbors do happen to have a rooster, is it legal to allow your large, bird-hunting dog to jump their retaining wall and claim his treasure? Just wondering...in case anyone has an answer.

At this point, after 3 changes of gloves, 2 towels exchanges to block the rain, 2 sweatshirt requests, and 4 runs to the dump, I can hear the hum and beeping of the "bobcat" in our next door neighbor's backyard (we like them, they have no random farm animals waking us at 4 AM and every 20 minutes for the rest of the entire day!). It does appear that D will be able to accomplish most of what he set out to do today.

I had my own list of ambitious ideas I wanted to accomplish today... I did 1 of them. Part of the reason for this was that my 1 year old has now discovered that if he says "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" enough, I will answer. However, at this point of the day, I am sitting in my recliner and he is desperately pulling on the sleeve of my shirt like he is going to drown in the sea of goldfish crackers he has dumped all over the floor, if I don't pick him up immediately. I know that there will be a day that he won't want me to hold him all the time, and at that point I will want him to want me to...but, that is just not this moment.

So my list:

1. Wake up at 5 AM

2. Go for a walk (for exercise, although at times it is more of a leisurely scenic type pace). I got my walking friend all lined up, set my alarm, and went to bed. I woke up at 3 AM (not on my list) because Fuss, who I am thinking has an ear infection, woke up crying from his crib. Being the good mother I am, I picked him up and brought him to mommy and daddy's bed (should never be on the list). I sort of fell back asleepish, and waited for my alarm to go off. My body woke me up at 5:49 AM, the time that I usually get up. When I woke up I kind of freaked out because my alarm wasn't going off, or at least I thought it wasn't. When I looked on the floor at the side of my bed, there was my cell phone/alarm bouncing around, on vibrate mode, as it had been for the last 49 minutes. D woke long enough to ask if I was going walking--right I just slept 49 minutes past my alarm, so now I will have to load the stroller and wake the baby who has been kicking me in the chest for the last 2 hours and go walking? I don't think so.

Number 1 and 2 on my list...cancelled.

3. My next great ambition was to work on the text for my part time job and get the information to the client.

Number 3--accomplished (but what should have taken 1 hour, took 3).

4. Work on the medical transcription course that I am taking online, complete at least 15 dictations.

Number 4 on my list---30% completed.

5. Clean up my house--failed.

6. Read to my baby---the day isn't over yet, but the future is not looking bright on this one either. Yes, I know, I could be doing that right now. However, I did stop typing to rescue him for a few minutes from his sea of crackers. And while he is content entertaining himself, that really isn't something that I want to interrupt.

Now, the reason that I didn't accomplish all that I wanted to, because I am a mom, a wife, an aunt, and a friend, and that is all more important than my list.

My cousin lives with us right now, until she gets married in July (so, I guess technically I am not "the only girl" in the house at this point in time). So I asked Didda if she would be willing to watch my 2 nephews and Fuss for the day so that I could work on my list. She gladly accepted We were so naive--3 boys against 1 girl, not a chance. The biggest problem is that Fuss is not real used to sharing, not his toys, not his house, not his Didda, not his mommy, at least not for more than an hour and never all of that all at once.

I did actually start the day (at around 7:00 a.m.) trying to make up time on my task list...that lasted all of about the 2 hours before Fuss had to share. The was crying over the ride-on fire truck, the piano, the broken cell phone, the sippy cups, the blankies, you name it! There was one point that I thought things were just too quiet. I jumped up in a panic and walked in to see Didda sitting on the floor with my laptop, holding my 4 month old nephew's bottle for him while he lay on a blanket on the ground next to her. Her left hand strategically placed on Fuss' stomach, for his own personal sense of security, while he drank from his sippy lying on the ground at her other side. All while my nearly 3-year-old nephew attempted to use the elliptical machine (and why shouldn't he, I mean someone really should use it). Didda actually did better than I could have. The biggest interruption of the day was when no one would take a nap, except for me, I really would have--but you can't have sleeping adults with wide-eyed children and feel good about it later.

In addition to helping with the boys every once in a while, I had to go get lunch for the backyard crew, help my neighbor edit some work papers, fix mac-n-cheese for the little ones, fold a batch of towels out of the dryer, wash the comforter that Fuss peed on, be social in the neighborhood (which is really a sight since I look homeless today), eat dinner with our neighbor friends, be social again, rock Fuss to sleep, and finishing typing this...No where in there did I shower, comb my hair, or change out of the oversized T-shirt and sweats that I slept in last night--nor will I do any of that before tomorrow morning. I know, my hubby is so lucky! :)

Now D has crashed in the bed, sunburned and stiff and I sit, in my own filth on my chair, typing. I really am not a hygiene deficient person, just a mildly lazy...no just a busy woman. Someday I would like to figure out how to fit everything that needs to be done into one day in more than just a list.