I Read Too Much

The Mr. got transferred to first shift at the start of the year.  At first, I was worried about him getting up and leaving so early for fear I would oversleep and be late for work.  I need to admit I'm not all that good with the whole "wake up with the alarm clock" thing. I have started to master it, but I won't be taking home any gold medals for this in this lifetime.  However, this is not the point of this post and I really must get back on task.  After all, it is almost bedtime and that blasted clock will be chiming before I know it. Over the past couple of weeks, I have started getting up with him.  Gasp!  I know!  Here's why.  It gives me some time to do some exercising.  Now, don't go thinking I am an overachiever in this area; I'm not.  I do some basic stretching and an ab challenge - of the Pinterest variety, of course.  I may also be doing the stretches the Physical Therapist told me to do while I was trying to regain str...

Truly you would think I'd have this down pat, that I'd not be where I am at right now, but I don't and I am.  Parenting is hard.  No, scratch that, parenting is impossible .  Being a single parent just takes it to a whole new level of "oh my goodness will I ever get this right?!"  Seriously, it has been the girls and me for most of their lives, since their dad and I always worked opposite shifts, but there was still that underlying knowledge that he was there to help, especially during those off hours.  What a blessing that was.  I am recognizing that more and more as these days go on.  What I'm recognizing even more is that it truly does take a village to raise a child. Or, in the least, more than one adult!  Ha! I'm not trying to put myself in the "I'm the only mom who has done this" category, I am not that naive, but I am the only me that has done this and that in itself makes me the only one.  We start our day, if we are luc...

There are days when the best thing that can happen is that nothing happens at all.  Well, almost nothing.  These are the days that are started and ended with out hick-ups; the ones that flow solely because they have a routine.  I like that word - routine.  It is a comforting sort of word.  One that implies there will be no surprises and you can bank on what will occur.  For instance today - get up, go to work, go to class, pick up the kids, check school papers, ensure kids are showered, teeth are brushed, and they are snuggled into bed.  These routine items rarely change, at least for this semester.  I am sure the next one will create a new series of events that will define our way of life.  It is quite funny, not the ha-ha kind, but funny none-the-less how the simplicity of a daily task can make a chaotic, harrowing event pale in comparison.  Perhaps not in the moment, but in the larger scheme of things that event is but a b...