A day in the life

(I'm really interested in reading about other people's days, so I'm posting a summer Monday here in the hopes of encouraging someone else to do the same.)

6:45 Wake, make bed. Wash lettuce and make G's lunch for work -- salad, baby carrots, homemade muffin from the freezer, banana, pretzels. Plug in iron.

7:00 Tidy living room. It's a disaster from the weekend's shopping and library trips, with bags of school supplies, books and movies from top to bottom. Oh yeah, and a load or two of laundry as well. G takes some things for Goodwill to the basement for me. Clean up dog mess outside. Set out chicken to thaw for dinner. Iron G's work outfit.

7:30 Curly Sue wakes in time to goof with Daddy and give him a g'bye lovey before he leaves for work. Turn on computer, answer e-mail and blog.

7:45 Shower and dress. Curly Sue walks the dogs and tidies her room, then gets herself a highly nutritious breakfast of Cookies-N-Cream Pop-Tarts. Moe is up and doesn't want breakfast, but does want to listen to his new "Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" soundtrack on the kitchen radio. Downstairs, I start a load of towels and wake Larry, who doesn't want breakfast either. I make myself an egg, toast and tea and shoo the dogs from the schoolroom, then blog, brush teeth and find shoes.

8:30 Gather trash and recyclables and take to dump. Moe has decided he wants Pop-Tarts and a glass of tea and Larry, after requesting a turn on his new video game, starts tidying his room in order to earn one. Curly Sue takes out Susie the New Dog, who does her business in the yard -- hooray!

8:50 Leave for dump and to fill car with gas. Station closest is out of gas and next one over has gas for 20 cents less per gallon anyway. Drop off one bag of trash, twice as many recyclables (yay!).

9:15 Arrive home and start to switch over laundry, then realize Geddy never finished drying his workout clothes Thursday -- ick. Wash them again, on hot, with baking soda. Moe asks for a turn on the computer but hasn't tidied his room, so he goes to earn it. Curly Sue plugs in her new pink guitar and rocks out for awhile, then moves to the keyboard. I clean the trash can and then announce I'm going to do my Bible study, hoping that will inspire everyone else to do their quiet time.

10:15 Everyone has done quiet time. My 7 and 2-year-old nephews arrive to spend the day. It's their sister's 5th birthday, so she and a little friend and the mamas are having a girls day out. It's love at first sight for Susie and the 2-year-old.

11:30 Curly Sue occupies the 2-year-old while I make sandwiches. The big boys have long since disappeared into the family room for video game time. They eat and help clean up, then disappear again. The dining room chairs are pushed against the wall so I can put a rug under the table, and the baby likes to play under there. I put down a pillow and blankets, and he, Curly Sue and Susie lie down to rest and read books and play. I eat my salad and think of 300 more things to put on my to-do list.

12:30 Larry wants to check his e-mail, so I finish my blog update and turn over the mouse. We really need a second computer! But first, I have to check Perez Hilton and catch up on my celebrity gossip.

1:40 Baby and Susie go to sleep under the table while I tidy up a bit and wash cherries and grapes to put in the fridge. Curly Sue is downstairs playing her guitar -- uplugged -- and the little boys are on to some kind of Harry Potter video game now. Larry is playing with the new camera and getting some super cute photos of Susie. I file my Staples Easy Rebates -- $7 on an electric pencil sharpener, $1.99 on mechanical pencils.

2:45 Marked some things off my list but haven't chopped vegetables. Baby is still asleep, so I have a snack and read some Erle Stanley Gardner instead.

4:30 SIL just called to say she's about 15 minutes out. Baby is awake and has hit his head twice, hard, on the underside of the table. He is ready to go home. Clean out and reorganize the school supply closet and distract baby by having him hand me things. Electric pencil sharpener is a piece of junk, and I decide to return it sometime this week and forfeit the Easy Rebate.

5:30 Geddy comes home from work with terrible stomach cramps, so I'm off to Walgreen's to find a cure. Stir fry is done and warming and rice is in the cooker, nephews are kissed and picked up. I probably smell like onions and peppers, but it's better than B.O., I suppose.

7:30 This...is...Jeopardy!

8:00 Dinner dishes and an inventory of the fridge.

8:30 Doggie bedtime does not go well. Susie is not happy about having flea medicine squirted between her shoulderblades, so she tries to roll over and I speak sharply to her and force her up. She nips at me and I pop her on the nose. She stops speaking to me briefly, but I bribe her with cheese.

8:45 I read "Lucy and the Green Door" and "Esmerelda the Rag Doll" to Curly Sue. Prayers, hugs and kisses (and nosy-rosys) and bedtime for children. Geddy, in sudden dire need of clean work clothing, starts a load, which means I'll be up late-ish and early-ish getting them dry and wrinkle-free. Meanwhile, the load of boys' clothes I started earlier today has to be dried and folded before I can even get Geddy's in the dryer. (*sigh*) More work in the kitchen, and suddenly the living room sofa and loveseat are once again covered with clothing that needs to be folded and/or put away. I add "orthodontist," "drop Curly Sue at Natalie's," "grab lunch," "pick up Curly Sue in town," "bookstore," and "allergist" to my to-do list for tomorrow, along with "remember to give Curly Sue money for lunch" and "see if Geddy still has gift certificates for movie theatre."

9:40 Moe comes upstairs in tears. Seems he was looking for something in the hallway when Larry somehow tripped over him and scraped off the ginormous scab on his elbow. I apply a bandage and a kiss and send him back to bed. I resist the urge to ask him how he was looking for something in the hall if he was in bed like he was SUPPOSED to be. I give myself a mental high-five.

9:52 Geddy decides he can wear something else tomorrow.

9:55 I finish blogging and drag myself to bed, praying I don't forget to set the alarm.

And that's my day! Post yours and link it in the comments, if you want.