Confessions

I need to confess:

• My house is a mess.
• I'm behind on notes at work.
• I didn't check Gabby's backpack for an entire week and missed some important notes.  (Isn't she supposed to give them to me?)
• Instead of cleaning my house this afternoon, I read and took a nap.
• I also burned the sweet potato chips I was trying to roast for dinner.  (The not-burned ones were delicious.)
• I skipped back-to-school night tonight.
• I haven't done laundry for 3 days.
• Scripture reading tonight was Nathan reading us a list of law-of-Moses rules from the book of Numbers in the Bible while everyone was working on homework.

But I have an excuse...a lot of them actually.

• Tim is out of town for the next three weeks.
• He left Tuesday and Gabby came home from school sick that day.  I think I'm getting what she has but I started taking airborne when she came home sick so even though I'm a little run-down, I'm not sick (yet).
• That was the same day Nate started cross-country practice at the same time Megan had soccer practice...just one of those times two parents makes things easier.
• Blossom peed on my bedroom floor and spent the afternoon howling the roofers in neighbor's backyard.  It seemed to really, really bother her that people were on the roof.  (And it really, really bothered the whole neighborhood that she felt she had to howl at the people on the roof, which is why the doggie door was closed and why she peed on the carpet.)
• The dishwasher also broke the day Tim left.  The kitchen hasn't been clean since he left.  I'm blaming the dishwasher, but the truth is that the kitchen might not be completely clean until Tim gets back since he is the best at staying on top of the constant flow of food and dishes that is our kitchen.
• One of the girl's elastic headbands got jammed in the printer which caused some stress in a house full of jr. high and high school students who are feeling homework pressure.  (Thank you, Jeran, for fixing it.)
• Then there is the usual--errands, phone calls, appointments, yard, carpools, sports, PTA meeting, Activity Days...

I don't want to complain because I know that some husbands have to travel for work a lot more than Tim, but I keep feeling the whiner in me threatening to burst through.  I hate that I feel like I live in the car on afternoons when he's gone...and when I'm living in the car, I'm not here at home.  Dinner and jobs are then chaotic, and somehow there are a million things left undone.  One of my clients at work today was telling me about her maid, and while I was supposed to be listening, all I could think was, "A maid?  Really?  I want one."  

Meanwhile, there are still the funny, happy things and we try to focus on those.  

• Gabby is starting to feel better and was in rare form tonight with comments that kept me laughing all the way through homework.  
• Megan made the carpool wait while she ran back in the house to get mouthwash.  
• Jeran made horse bars (don't ask) as an after school snack the day Tim left because Tim usually does that and was gone.  
• Joie did all the dishes for me last night which is amazing if you know her history with jobs.  
• Nate is loving cross-country, and pushing himself on homework and training for cross-country...so nice to have the motivation come from him, not me!

It's all about perspective, right?  I guess focusing on the big picture is my spoonful of sugar for the next few weeks.  (Nineteen days to be exact, until Tim is home.)