Elaboration on the last post

Right, so Gabe kinder = me breakdown. I stayed in the alone cone for the first week of school, and it was pretty dang tough. And I say I'm in denial because I've kept myself so busy since school started I haven't had to sit alone in my house and dwell. Which is helpful, but it is VERY weird to be so busy. Liz calls it the New Jen, and neither of us know what to do with her. Between teaching preschool, co-hosting a baby shower, Primary program, and making a quilt for Harris, I've packed my days. It's been really nice even if I am fueled only by coke and chocolate cake most days.

Now, I'm working on preschool, Primary, and a youth murder mystery dinner activity coming soon. Throw in General Conference and Charlotte's birthday in the next couple of weeks, and I may never stay home alone. I'm kind of a genius.

Also, everything is breaking. The air conditioner broke (and was repaired) this week, and the hot water heater busted a pipe and poured water through the master bedroom ceiling all over the carpet, bedside table, and bed. We've been sleeping on the couch and in Gabe's big bed for over a week. I bought a mattress today (thanks to my truck-driving diva Court for hauling it for me!!!!), but I still won't sleep in that room until the carpet is gone. Wet carpet smells like cat spray, ps. And since I lived with that smell for years when our fireplace leaked every time it rained - and that was pre-drought - our carpet was almost always wet. So that smell sends me to a dark place very quickly. We got rid of both the fireplace and the living room carpet, but those memories go deep. My car also broke down, which was only the battery, but now that I have a new battery, the radio won't work until I take it to Honda and convince them I didn't steal the radio and can they please give me the super-secret anti-theft device override code so I don't have to sing to myself all day. Plus also, my cds are still in there, and it won't give them back, and even the CLOCK won't work. I have a digital watch with a broken strap shoved into the air vent so I can keep track of time while I drive. Which turns out I do a lot and feel upset when I can't check the time during a trip. Probably because I'm always running late.

So, barely hanging on with bloody fingernails covers it. Except I enjoy a lot of it. The way you enjoy a marathon. You are exhausted and you are afraid if you stop running you will collapse and never get up again, but you are accomplishing something big which you thought you could never ever do. I thought I would sleep for 7 hours a day until it was time to pick up the kids, but I only did that once (during the first week of Alone Cone Major Meltdown when Gabe said I didn't have to walk him to class anymore, and I had to drive home from the drop off line all by myself and couldn't stop crying.) Not bad, not bad at all.

The best new thing about this year is that I started serving dinner right after school, and it has worked a miracle in our house. My kids are so dang hungry when they get home that they are MUCH more appreciative of whatever I make. So, less whining and refusing to eat which makes me happy. Plus, I am cooking BEFORE the whole homework rush, so I'm not worn out, and then by the end of the evening when I am worn out, I'm just giving them a snack and sending them to bed. GENIUS. Except today, when I'm blogging about it, I'm not actually doing it. But it is Friday, no homework day, and I don't have anything to cook, and I need to get gas if I want to shop, and one of the things that is broken right now has to do with our banking, so it isn't as easy as it sounds right now to get gas. I don't feel like talking about it because it is annoying, so I'll leave it at that. Maybe I'll order pizza. Or heat up soup. Since it will be at traditional dinner time they will complain about soup. Grrrrrr. Or I could just go to Randall's (0.1 mile away, so the gas sitch won't cause a problem) and get cash back when I purchase the food so I can then pay for gas. And then cook the food. After having to take them inside to pay for gas with cash. I hate that plan. Soup or pizza, then.