The Things You Do to Get Things Done

Okay, to say the least, it has been a very crazy day!  I started the day getting stuck in traffic for an hour (thank you 695), five minutes late to my 8:30 meeting that I was running (thank you team for being understanding) and then it was off and running.  I was lucky to get lunch in, came back from a 2 hour meeting to 50 emails that I had to answer...all I wanted to do was go home!  Which I did, thirty minutes later than I was supposed to. And, since husband sails on Wednesday night, I had to get it all done by myself....which usually is not bad except, at almost 21 months old, we would rather run around naked after bath time than put our pjs on.  Well, as you can probably guess, I am not in the mood to read a book naked or play hide and go seek naked for fear that I would probably be cleaning up some mess on the floor.  So, what do I do....Munchy the stuffed Monkey was in the crib; we have to put Munchy to "nite nite" every night and cover him with a blanket... TaDa - Munchy should have to wear a diaper too!  So, in an effort to keep my sanity, I went crazy and now, both Munchy and my son are in their diapers and I am sitting on my sofa with my feet propped up, at least until the dryer gets done and I have to go and change out the laundry...

Time for Myself

Okay, so I know that I am no busier than any other mother out there, but, I must say (and speak up if you are the same way), I feel I have no time for myself.  I know most of the time, i do it to myself.  If I am not cooking dinner or washing the clothes, then I see something that needs to be picked up and put away or cleaned or something.  For example, Sunday morning after a wonderful Father's Day breakfast, the kids were watching a movie, husband had to go check on something for work, the house was quiet...but did I sit down?  No, I decided that I need to oil my dining room table AND polish my silver.  Then, I decided that I should sort through some baby clothes and put them downstairs and wash three loads of clothes, etc, etc, etc.  I think you get the picture.  So this weekend (drum roll please) I actually made an appointment to get my hair done and my eyebrows waxed!  While that may not seem like a big deal to most of you, it's a huge deal for me, because I am walking away from my motherly, wifely duties, if only for a few hours, and tending to myself and no one else.  Yea, me.  Now if only I could find the time to fit the exercise routine into the schedule (yes, I am still working on that! Baby steps.....)

Is the American Dream Still Alive?

So we get up in the morning, go to work and get paid, clip coupons and check for deals to save money; instead of buying the designer new clothes, we shop at the outlets and Old Navy - all in an effort to save enough money to buy a house in a nice neighborhood with good schools.  And I'm not looking for a HUGE house - there are few things on my "want" list and I don't think they are unrealistic.  I want an open kitchen and a master suite.  An open kitchen because I want to be able to have the kids in the kitchen with me while I cook and a master suite because yes, Mommy needs privacy sometimes!  Other than that - I'll take three or four bedrooms, modest yard, garage (or not)....here's the problem - Unless you have someone giving you the money, you sell another house, you have no other expenses or you are just independently wealthy, it is almost impossible to come up with a 20% down payment plus closing costs in an area that to buy something decent is going to cost over 400,000.  So how do you make the American Dream a reality?