Today was just one of those days. It started by the kids waking us up at 7:15AM. Usually, we are up by 6:30AM at the latest with an alarm. My husband was running late for work and Nick was picking this morning to have one of the longest temper tantrums ever. It’s really not that hard to use the bathroom and get dressed before you play. Today, he thought I was asking way too much.
Stephen left for work and the kids and I finished getting ready for the playroom. This is when I go to the JCC to workout and then go to the Kid Kare spot to play. We had a tough time getting out the door and had to stop at the post office on our way. I finally had our Christmas cards ready to mail. It’s actually pretty good timing for us. I think everyone will have them before Christmas. I didn’t want to go into to post office, so I pulled up by the drive through mail box. I got out of the car to get the cards, which were neatly stacked in a box and they fell over. About 20 of the cards landed on the ground. I’m glad it was mostly dry in the lot. If you get a smudged card, you’ll know why. We paired our list down (by more than 1/2) this year, but still mailed over 100 cards. I love holiday cards!
By the time we arrived at the J, I already knew that spin class wasn’t going to happen. I could have rushed the kids and made it to class, but some days it’s just not a good idea. We had 3 errands to run after the J and I didn’t feel like spending a whole hour in class. Of course, I had to explain this to the instructor since I ran into her on the way in. I ended up walking the track for a bit with a friend and then headed to the fitness center to spin on an ESpinner. I wasn’t feeling it so I ended up on the elliptical.
After a quick shower, I picked up the kids and headed to the lobby area for snack time. After sweeping up tons of pretzels, crackers, Cheerios and other snack items from the car the other day, I decided on no more eating in the car. Now, we need to plan and extra 10 minutes before we go anywhere to have snacks, but I feel like the kids are enjoying them more and we are wasting much less.
We needed to go to the UPS store to ship packages, the camera store to pick up some developed film and to Heinens. Lucky for us, all three of these are in the same parking lot in Pepper Pike. By now it’s past 11AM and the kids are starting to get hungry for lunch (despite just having a snack). We went to the UPS store first. The line wasn’t too long. I had all of the packages and address and my credit card all ready to go. A lady was making a zillion copies on the copier and Nick was very interested. She had him helping and he loved it. I don’t think the lady knew that she could feed the whole stack of papers at once and I didn’t want to screw her up or lose my place in line. But, it was painful to watch her copy them one by one.
When it was my turn and the clerk figured out that I hadn’t shipped from there before, I needed my ID. That should be an easy request. But, my purse is a mess and I never know where anything is. So, I excused myself from line to look for it. I found it quickly and was back in business. The kids were quite antsy at this point and I was pretty done too. $50 later, the two packages were shipped. Apparently, they charge you extra to ship breakable things. I thought it was ridiculous, since the heavier box was only $13, but I quickly decided that the packages were no longer waiting to be shipped and I didn’t have to go anywhere else with them. Next year, I will box everything myself and probably use the post office. I think that’s more reasonable.
After leaving the UPS store, we headed to Dodd Camera. I picked up the CD and asked a couple of questions. They actually talked me out of a purchase. I was happy for their expertise, but surprised that they said not to buy what I asked about.
Heinen’s was painful since everyone was hungry and crabby by this time, but we got milk, yogurt, bananas, and a few other items before heading home. I fed the kids some bread in the car for lunch and we subsidized it with other food at home. I didn’t even realized they had eaten in the car until we got home. Nick said, “at least we didn’t spill any mommy.”
I was super glad that we all took naps this afternoon. I think the long weekend of festivities caught up with us. We did a craft this afternoon and hung out at home. Stephen worked late and did some shopping on the way home, so we had a weird evening. I’m happy the cards and packages are taken care of and most of our shopping is done as well. The holiday rush is crazy and the crowds and lines get longer as the week goes on.
I’m looking forward to a few fun events this week followed by some relaxing family time this weekend. I’d hope for a white Christmas too, but that looks out of the question. It’s December 19th and there’s 50 degrees in the forecast. Bring on the snow, we have skiing to do!