Night 2

Its only Night 2 and it may as well be Night 200.  That's kind of how I feel at this point.  Now, I will say, at 4:15 this afternoon when I went to pick the kids up, I felt pretty dang on top of things.  But its easy to feel that way when you're by yourself in the mini van, rockin out to some Beck. 

And this morning...yes, I was freakin Mother of the Year.  Bad ass, all the way, if I do say so myself.  I made lunches last night and baked muffins for breakfast.  Then I even plated and covered the muffins, poured the juice (left it in the fridge)  and set the table before I went to bed.  The alarm clock went off at 5:45, 5:50 and then 5:55am this morning.  At the third alarm, I hopped out of bed, fed the dog, took the dog out, woke up the children, put Q on the potty and then dressed him while he was still too sleepy to put up a fight (genius, if you ask me).  Then I got everyone settled downstairs to eat while I took a shower and got myself ready.  We left the house at 6:45 on the dot and by 7:04 I had taken Q to school and dropped the girls off at their school.  I sang to myself on the way out of the parking lot.  Go Angie!  Go Angie!  Go Angie! It's your birthday!  Go Angie!  And at the 4 way stop I celebrated with a little Cabbage Patch action.

I made it to work by 7:30...only 15 minutes late (which was pre approved) and with time enough to type up the script for the morning news and get my crew on TV.  The rest of the day I busted my tail setting up our book fair, which kicks off on Sunday during our Fall Festival. 

So, I was tired when I left work, but still feeling good, like tonight was going to be no big thing.  I stopped by the house, put in some laundry, ran the dishwasher, fed the dog, took the dog for a quick walk, talked to Chris, and then went to get the kids.  Perhaps I was a little over confident (it has been known to happen from time to time) or maybe I jinxed myself with my song and celebratory dance in the van this morning. 

Either way...Good Lord!  Whose children are these????  I picked up the girls and then we went to Q's school.  Only when we got there, they were lining up the kids to go outside and play.  He refused to leave.  So we stayed for awhile.  And then he escaped me and took off running through the yard on the way to the van.  Again, I had to threaten to get the babysitter's husband (who really is wonderful and Q loves him), to get Q loaded.  When we pulled on our street, several neighbors were chatting on the corner, in our yard, with their dogs.  So the kids had to join the party and Q participated like a party animal.  I had to wrestle him into the house after 30 more minutes outside.

Once we were in, everyone wanted snacks.  And the noise....OMG...who put the nickle in these kids???  Ike was now crazed (he got to join the neighborhood dog party...it was in our yard, after all) and was running laps around the downstairs of our house.  After a period of complete chaos, where I felt like I was living someone else's life, I finally talked all of the kids into going upstairs to play while I cleaned up the kitchen and cooked dinner.  I turned up the ipod and danced in the kitchen to a little Amy Winehouse.  I love her.  Even if she is a little messed up.

I made the dinner of all dinners...pasta with pesto, feta, black olives and artichokes.  Chris hates this meal and the girls and I love it, so this was the perfect opportunity.  Until Q tasted it and decided he didn't like it.  And its Friday, and I need to grocery shop, so the cupboard was bare.  He had a hot dog bun for dinner.  (To be fair, I offered him other things as well and he turned them down.)

My funny moment of the evening...I wasn't really paying attention to what was playing on the ipod when the kids came back down and after a minute or two, Chan was trying to get ipod screen to light up...
Me:  Chan, whatcha doin?
Chandler:  I'm trying to figure out what this song is.  I LIKE IT!
Me:  Oh, um, its a Beastie Boys song.
Chandler:  Which one?  What's the name of it?
Me:  Paul Revere.  (gasping on the inside...What kind of mother am I??? Paul Revere while the kids are listening???)
Casey:  Why didn't you tell us about this one before???  We JUST learned about Paul  Revere!  I could have shared this with my class.
Me:  Um, yeah, not really school appropriate.

And so now we are watching an episode of Dora and then an episode of Horseland.  And then they are going to bed.  And then I am going to lay on the couch, hulu an episode of Private Practice and drink a mudslide.  Just in case you were wondering.