On new things...

What is it about new, shiny "things?" When I get a new pair of running shoes, the leather so white, the mesh nylon so taut and reflective, the pattern of the sole so uniform, clean, and fresh smelling, I imagine I'll keep them that way for months, that this pair will be different than the dozens of pairs of tennis shoes I've owned in the past that invariably end up dog-eared, grass-stained and smelling of cooked onions and wet dog. For the first few days wearing them, I walk gingerly, avoid taking steps too fast, and make sure to keep the laces tied and out of footfall range. But then one day I'll find myself late to class, or a doctor's appointment and in my hurry to be on time I'll trip over a curb, or stumble on a step, or kick a rock and smudge, tear, scuff, or otherwise defile my new shoes. For a moment I'll look at my new shoes, no longer perfect and shiny, and feel sad and frustrated that I can't seem to keep anything new for longer than a week, and I'll wonder if other people have the same problem.

And the next day, I'll wear those shoes to mow the lawn.

It's like a New Years resolution to exercise every day, or the month I tried to go without chocolate--everything goes great for a while, but then something happens--I forget to exercise or someone brings donuts into the office, and I slip a little, and then there doesn't seem to be a point anymore in holding out. Pretty soon I'm hanging laundry from the treadmill and eating a donuts and candy bars between trips to Wendy's for lunch and dinner.

Except with things it's different. With a diet or an exercise routine, there's always a chance, however small, that I might keep it up. But stuff will always wear out, eventually. No matter how hard I try, my new shoes will always get scuffed, spaghetti will always splatter on my new white shirt, my watch will eventually get lost, and my car--my brand new (to me!) 2002 dodge caravan with only 25,000 miles on it that some grandma drove to and from knitting school for seven years before trading it in for a Dodge Charger--will eventually get rear-ended while I'm driving through Albuquerque on the way to my brother's wedding and the new paint on the back door will splinter and flake off and the exposed steel will begin to rust and the door will no longer shut quite right so that even when I slam it as hard as I can, it still wiggles back and forth when I drive, and when that happens I will have to decide that "stuff' doesn't really matter, that as long as my shoes lace up and my car still goes down the road when I press the gas, I should be thankful for what I've got--especially when the other driver had insurance.

Exhausted with a Capital E!

The really really long week. It would have been a marathon week anyway, but considering that I was still stuck in bed 8 weeks ago, it's more like one of those Ultramarathons. Read if you dare:

Sunday: Fairly normal, pick up borrowed car

Monday: return weekend car rental 7:30 am, finish packing house, pick out vinyl to replace YUCKY carpet in bathrooms, final walk through with realtor, Family Home Evening, The Student and kids go to fair (and spend $17 to ride 2 rides), I go to Moms Night Out with other homeschool moms.

Tuesday: Drop kiddos at friends, close on house at title company, return to title company to drop off the big important check we'd left at home, pick up kids, make a deal with credit union (and keep kids entertained by making paper airplanes in the breezeway out of credit union flyers), celebrate out to eat (Taco Bueno!), run home for quick nap, Dr. appointment across town and a good reminder that I'm pregnant and shouldn't overdo it this week, let carpet cleaning guy in at the new house, stop at home improvement store, eat dinner, haggle with car dealership. FLOP INTO BED

Wednesday: Pick up rental truck early, take new car to mechanic for OK, sign papers at dealership, dismantle and pick up swing set for the boys (had to use the truck to get it) sign papers at credit union, drop off swing set at new house, pick up new car (!!!!) in exchange for the 3-quarts-of-leaking-oil-per-day (and not enough room for 3 carseats) clunker, return borrowed car from friends, pack pack pack, eat pizza for dinner (Mid Week Comic Relief: The Monkey had fallen asleep when The Student went to pick up the pizza, so he carried him in, paid and carried him out, setting the pizza on top of the car while he buckled the monkey into his seat. If you know the Student, you know that's trouble! He returned a few minutes later to beg for a new one and tell the employees about how the box flipped off the car, the pizza flew out and landed face down on the busy street, scaring the driver behind him. Mr. Baseball tried to tell me the story but when I found out the pizza flipped out of the box and onto the pavement, I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself) help load truck with friends from church, drive past horrible accident on the freeway, unload truck at new house with new friends from new ward, try to find something for everyone to sleep on and to wear to bed, send the writer back to the apartment with the truck to get the last few pieces of furniture that wouldn't fit the first trip, FLOP INTO BED. (The student finished unloading the truck about midnight).

Thursday: Wake up starving, send The Student to McDonalds for breakfast (since I couldn't even find a knife to spread some jam on the last piece of bread we had), pile in the car/truck to return rental truck at 8am, spend morning cleaning apartment to check out, unpack a little tiny bit at the new house, send The Student off to class (oh yeah! He's a grad student, kinda forgot about that part this week...), atempt to make dinner with very few dishes or pans unpacked, dig for nice clothes for the writer to wear to a formal dinner at school (oh yeah, we almost forgot about that too!), bathe kids using hand soap left at the house from the previous owners, try to unpack a little bit more, fall asleep on the couch waiting for Monkey to fall asleep in his bed. Didn't even make to the flop part, it was more like a half-asleep drag.

Friday: Drop the Student off at school, attempt to find something to pack for sack lunches (celery and peanut butter and cheese slices), stop at store to buy drink because we forgot the water bottles, attend Homeschool co-op classes and eat at the park with everyone (whew! Something a bit normal!), stop at Home Depot to buy toilet seat to replace the padded one left by the previous owners (DISGUSTING) and battle the over-tired Monkey the whole time; more battles at home about nap time which didn't ever happen, talk with a friend who came to the door who wondered why she couldn't call me (oh yeah, did I mention no phone or internet at the new house even though we had service transfered on time? And no more minutes on the cell phone, must be purchased online), try to find a few more kitchen boxes to put away ( Oh! plates! A knife! a cutting board! glorious!) throw a frozen casserole in the oven, meet the phone technician at the door, hide the wet underwear hanging all over the room (oh did I mention the outlet for the dyrer needs to be fixed, so we're line drying for now) more unpacking, thank the phone tech profusley, pack kids in the car to pick up the Student from the bus stop, wait 20 minutes and wonder where the Student is, realize the the car's been on empty too long and that the casserole is still in the oven and possibly burning, drive back home, taking way too long to stop for gas at an overcrowded gas station, rush into the house to find the casserole still ok, jump back in the car, run back to get the student who ended up having to walk 10 blocks because he read bus map wrong, scarf down dinner at home, run back to Home Depot to buy supplies for the vinyl flooring, upend many boxes to find the modem power cord so the internet will work before Conference on Saturday, put the kids to bed while The Student scrapes the carpet and old linoleum off the bathroom floor (DISGUSTING!), buy groceries at the store before they close, FLOP INTO BED.

This week does not end on Friday unfortunately...

Saturday: Send the Student to Lowes for more parts to fix the bathroom, wonder what's wrong with the Monkey who is acting lethargic and dehydrated, take the Monkey to Urgent Care to make sure his burn (a big blistering one on the arm from the waffle iron last week) is not infected which dashed my hopes of tidying up the messy partially unpacked house before General Conference started at 11am, waited in said Urgent Care with many other saturday-clad parents who were comforting pajama-clad sick children, hurry into Lowes to exchange parts for the bathroom so the water can be turned back on, return home in time to see the last 3/4 of the first Saturday Session. Run back to Lowes to exchange the same pieces again (oops!), eat frozen burritos for lunch, send The Student back to Lowes yet again, enjoy Saturday Afternoon session of Conference, run back to the store, send The Student off to the Priesthood session (for the men) being broadcast at the church, unpack a few more kitchen boxes, feed the kiddos mac-n-cheese at 8pm, send them to bed, try to finish writing this blog with frequent breaks to help The Student get the toilet back on (on top of the new vinyl! hooray!).

And no, with the water off most of the day and the toilet sitting inside the bathtub I never took a shower. But, my son is healthy, I have a new floor in my bathroom, and best of all Conference today was spiritually uplifting and, as always, captivating and distracting enough to let me forget about the crazy week and the house in disarray. I'm off to flop.

(And tonight when my pregnant bladder wakes me in the middle of the night, I'll be happy to walk on the new vinyl floor and use a normal toilet seat! I know, too-much-information.)

house pictures and new bathroom pictures when we can find the camera cord...