Stocking Up On Supplies

The weekend flew by. I think my current perspective on "time off" is affected by my recent long holiday vacation, so this weekend felt much too short. Friday I felt hurried to enjoy magnificent 60+ degree weather ... I wanted to get the kids out, yet still make sure I got my work done. The twins and I went to Target for a supplies run (mainly baby wipes, of the very same boxes that caused Lily's collarbone fracture) while Claire was at preschool. We then picked Claire up and had lunch with her friend Lauren (and Lauren's mom and brother) at the McDonald's with a play place, so the girls ran wild and the twins stayed amazingly entertained. We got the twins home for an afternoon nap, and I did my best to keep Claire from getting bored, but I was busy helping a potential customer figure out how to get some device working. I was also looking up health information on the internet, because my manager's 4-year-old was at Children's Mercy and the news filtering back wasn't good. Basically, her immune system was destroying her own red blood cells, and she was one very sick little girl. (The good news: she went home today, and she is expected to be just fine.)

Saturday the temperature was about 40 degrees lower and Claire and I were out early for her first tap/ballet lesson in the 4-year-old class. She got measured for her costume (yeah - we get to see a real recital with a routine and costumes at the end of this!) and was excited to see the other Lauren. She quickly became very mad at me when I turned down Lauren's offer to join them at Einstein Bagel ... I wasn't up for a brunch kind of deal and we needed a Sam's Club trip for more supplies. I can foresee this will happen every Saturday. Claire will want to join Lauren at Einstein's, and I won't want us to get "off schedule" and eat at the "wrong" time. I know, I'm a rigid freak, but we eat lunch around here at 11:30am and that's that - my pattern won't change. My body can't handle it.

By the time we made it to Sam's Club Claire was in a fine mood again. Afterwards, she chose Mr. Goodcents for lunch. I got a short kid break in the form of an eyebrow wax and (bad) haircut, and then I returned home ready to take Claire out for a snack and a Target trip, but she was in borderline brat mode so I ended up staying at home the remainder of the day. Claire got a time out in her room and was generally a little difficult the rest of the day.

Today Claire and I went to Waffle House for lunch and then made the Target run we missed on Saturday. We also did big grocery shopping at HyVee. The temperature warmed up into the 40s today, so we bundled up the kids and took a brief walk too.

So why, you might be wondering, all the supplies and groceries? Kyle is leaving for Atlanta on Tuesday and is not returning until Saturday, so I'll be damned if I get caught without diapers or paper towels during this week. Grocery shopping is impossible with the three, so I had to do it all in advance (even worse - I'm in charge of preschool snacks on Thursday, so I have to bake cookies too). So he's gone for five days .... four nights .... hmmmmm .... that's a long time to be left with the kids alone ....