Tuesday, December 05, 2006

what do you do all day?




Hi there,
well, so much for posting every day!
I thought I would give you a glimpse into my daily life..... okay, so I'm not the president, or anyone important, so it may be boring, but.....

All the same it is my life and sometimes just laying all out on the table helps me to not lose my mind. You know, all moms think they should be -- cue hero music -- "Super Mom"
So here it is:

4:30 am- I get up and try to savor the only quiet time I will have all day.
okay, really I snooze my way to....

5 am- where I then spend 1/2 an hour attempting to drag my 15 year old son out of bed. I used to be able to literally drag him out of bed, but since he is a good 6" taller than me now, that is a lose-lose situation these days.

5:30 am- I am dripping water on his forehead in a desperate last ditch Chinese Water Torture effort to get him up.

5:45 am- we are rushing around to be ready to leave for Seminary, which starts at 6:30 am. Then we leave and I drive 15 miles to the church- one way. Sometimes we can hook up with a carpool, but not if we are running late- which we are more times than not. He takes the bus from there to school.

Back home I go, to wake up my daughter at 7 am for school.

7 am- feed the cria.

8 am- off to take my daughter to school- 4 miles one way.

then I am back home to take care of various ranch chores and do as much business online as I can. Right now I am on the BOD of a national rescue and education organization for camelids that is just getting started, and on the development committee for the Alpaca Research Foundation- another national org. This year I am in charge of the "Super Stud Raffle" which means I coordinate and logisticate, and all that good stuff, the event which will be featured at our National conference in 2007. Of course I am supported by a fabulous bunch of dedicated paca people.
We started working on this project right after the last one ended... in May of this year. This year broke records for attendance and number of alpacas in shows. It was huge! It is held in Kentucky and attended by thousands.

I love it! It is so much hard work, but for such a good cause it makes it worth it. My only fear is that I will screw up somewhere and forget something vital! LOL, last year and the years before this event was run by a true Super Woman- and she is not here this year so it is up to little ol' forgetful me.... holy cow we are in such deep doo-doo.........

Anyway. So usually before I know it, it is 4 hours later and time to feed the baby again. Then I try to do laundry or some other paltry chore, but really, lets be honest. My housework is usually the last thing to get done. If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's that the house will wait, and wait, and wait to get cleaned. And what the heck, living on a ranch, it is sure to get dirty immediately after I clean it anyway, so what's the diff?? I mean, seriously, I vacuum on Saturday, and by Monday it looks like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir tromped through here with their galoshes on after a rain storm.... why bother I say?

So, before I know it it is time to pick up my kids, or, one of them.
2:30 pm- back to pick up my daughter. then to the post office.
3:30 pm- Home again, home again jiggity-jig... until..
5 pm- off to pick up my son from any one of the following: Drumline practice, basketball practice
fill in the blank practice..... feed the baby.

Monday nights are family night.
Tuesday this time of year is choir practice at 7 pm at, you guessed it, the church that is 15 miles one way.
Wednesday night is youth night, at the church at 7 pm. (well, 7 for everyone else)
Thursday night is Cameron's guitar lesson at 5:45 in town- 10 miles away one way- then we have choir again at 7.
Friday is Celtic group music lessons from 3:30-5:30 (in town too) I am the promotional manager for the group and right now we are trying to get the CD out before Christmas. Ha-ha (she laughs weakly)
Feed the baby- ha-ha.

Sometimes I think I spend my whole life in the car- a sentiment I am sure many mothers can totally relate to. Sometimes I wish I lived on a paved road. 2 & 1/2 miles on a dirt road just to get to pavement, times at least six times a day = a sore neck for me. Since my last car accident I can't even tell you what trouble it has given me. Waahhh... poor me.... nuff of that.
Never do I wish I lived in the city again, even though my mileage last year rivaled the National Debt.

For fun, add this to the schedule- Wednesday after school I take my little autistic friend home with me for a day of fun before I have to pick up the crew at 5pm and be at the church by 6:30, then Friday afternoons I go to his house for Social Recreation Therapy. Sometimes I work at the school with him for a shift.

Sundays I used to have to be at church at 7:30 am for leadership meetings, but now I don't. I just have to be there at 9 am as I am the secretary of the young woman's program. (my new church calling hat) Ha!!! What were they thinking?? Me?? Organized enough to keep track of 20 something young women's activities?? LOL, OL, OL......... Oy.

So,,,,, by looking at the above schedule, I am sure you can see that, yes, I can indeed be in two places at one time. I have mastered time travel, but as of yet cannot be in more than 2 places at once. I am working on it. Once I do I expect the royalties to come pouring in as every mother in America jumps on the time dilation bandwagon.
Feed the baby.

You may ask, what about dinner? Well, Jack in the Box is a family favorite. We eat in the car a lot and they know us by voice.
"Will it be the usual ma'am?" Comforting, yet, somehow disturbing.

Throw in the every weekend sleepover from a friend, Saturdays where we try to do everything in the house and on the ranch we didn't do all week, hey! I get to sleep in till 6 am!! Drumline competitions & the football games they play at, basketball games for both kids, their Rosebud Celtic gigs, and all the educational events we attend every year with our alpacas, and well, there you have it.

We try to fit in visits to Grandma's house, doctor visits (especially for my daughter who sees a specialist in Fresno for her tummy condition- this requires an overnight stay usually), dental exams, visits to the vet and ranch visits in between in all our spare time. Parades like the one we were just in up here on the mountain, and press events are squoze in somehow.
I can be heard asking frequently: "Just how late are you open?" And: "Do you have appointments available after 7 pm?"
Hubby is working second shift right now, which means he is gone for work at 11:30 am, starts his shift at 2 pm (drives 80 miles one way to work) and gets home after midnight.... when:
HE feeds the baby.
Then he sleeps till about 8 am and tries to finish his honey do list in two hours before leaving to do it all over again. Soon he will start third shift and I will truly be a single mom again.
So, welcome to my life. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of it. and here is where I admit my one weakness ( because as we all know chocolate doesn't count) Some days I just vegetate in front of the PS-2 and play video games, ignoring the phone and only getting off my tush to feed the baby. Sigh.... guilty pleasures indeed.
The alpaca in the picture above is my little Lady Galadriel- who is now away for her very first breeding. They grow up so fast!
Take good care of yourselves!
Slainte~
Rachelle


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice sis.New homepage update and new chapter.Check it out!

Gattina said...

Snore, snore ! I get already tired by reading all this lol ! You should have a 24 h day and 4 arms at each side ! But you are right, cleaning the house is the last on the list and I loved the comparison with the mormons ! I used to clean (or honestly had cleaned) the house only on Mondays because I noticed that over the weekend it gets especially dirty and then you sit in a dirty house the whole week ! The picture on the top is too cute I just wished to kiss it !

Anonymous said...

Clean the house?? whats that? I wonder what a clean house actually looks like!! This one looked pretty good before we moved in, now look at it. With 1 husband who loves motorbikes, and makes pictures with the bits left over. 2 boys who squabble over anything and everything they know where things are kept, but then forget when it comes to putting the said things back. 4 dogs, the latest one this morning, because she was feeling annoyed with me over something, promptly chewed up one of the cushions in our living room, stuffing was everywhere. A bar to run nights, maybe until 4,5 or even 6 in the morning. So when you are getting up Rachelle I am sometimes just going to bed for a few hours. Luckily our eldest son here with us runs the bar most nights. I am the only one here with a car licence I have the pleasure of driving everywhere, like you. I tend to veg out in front of my 'puter, reading the blogs. Ho hum, but like you I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, maybe .... NO I am not going there!!! Take care on the roads, and love yourself a little. The world will still turn if you sit.
Oh and yes get a note pad and use it. I had to, was forgetting a lot of things ;-D cozmic

Peaceful/Paisible said...

oh dear, how do you manage not to be exhausted...and so many miles to drive...
you're a brave girl...
love you my friend
Mousie

Rachelle said...

Hi baby brother,
I have visited your updated site, very nice :))

Gattina,
Yup, I had to take a nap even after writing it all down Ha-ha!
I am working on my Cats on Tuesday report :))

Cozmic,
zzzzzzz..... LOL, your life is harder than mine, at least I can sleep at night, well, a little bit.

Mousie my dear,
I have good friends like you, and they make me smile and not be too tired.
Slainte~
Rachelle

Rachelle said...

Hi baby brother,
I have visited your updated site, very nice :))

Gattina,
Yup, I had to take a nap even after writing it all down Ha-ha!
I am working on my Cats on Tuesday report :))

Cozmic,
zzzzzzz..... LOL, your life is harder than mine, at least I can sleep at night, well, a little bit.
Ha-ha, I like your house cleaning philosophy. Note pads? Can I staple them to my forehead, cuz thats the only way I will remember them.

Mousie my dear,
I have good friends like you, and they make me smile and not be too tired.
Slainte~
Rachelle