Happy New Year - What day is it?

Wow, I can't believe it's a new year already (again). It seems like the older I get, the quicker the new year comes. December was a blur of shopping, wrapping, baking, cooking and sleep deprivation... Now that the new year is in full swing I feel like I should be prepared and organized (I love organized) and ready to face the first month of this grand new year...Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to "do" my calendar for January yet. I am a person who lives by her calendar. My particular calendar is huge and hangs on the side of my refrigerator, giving me a life-sized version of the month-at-a-glance. I put everything on there...the darlings' schedules, my schedule, the hot lunch at school schedule, all bills to be paid for the month, all sports practices and games and dance class and even the one day each month that posh puppy gets her heart worm pill...all color coded and highlighted. My calendar is my lifeline (you thought I was going to say obsession) and I dutifully sit down on the last day of each month and prepare the next month's calendar. It's an ordeal and takes over an hour and usually at least one glass of wine...Well the last day of December was New Year's Eve and after spending a very busy day...the Big Guy & I sat down to cocktails and watched the ball drop...needless to say...I did not get my calendar finished (started)...now here it is January 4th...and still no calendar...I don't know where to go or what to do...thankfully my Little Guy's basketball coach sent an email this morning or we would have missed the game tonight...the schedule is sitting on my desk on top of the calendar... I'm not sure when I became so dependent on my calendar, but I know that I spend more time standing on the side of the fridge trying to figure out how to fit it all in than ever before. Somewhere between the first day of preschool & elementary school my life became a schedule & my schedule became my life...so these last few days with no calendar have been a blessing. I have "nothing" to do..."nowhere" to go...it's nice, it's peaceful...it won't last. Tomorrow morning I plan to sit down with a pot of coffee, five highlighters, two different colored pens and the twenty or so papers, schedules, etc. that help make up my monthly calendar...but I will think fondly of these few days in January where I did next to nothing because I couldn't figure out where to go (or when or with whom)...

It's Christmastime...in November???

I was at the mall today buying a birthday gift for the Big Guy's mom and happened upon Santa's workshop...I know that Thanksgiving is just weeks away and that Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the Christmas season, blah, blah, blah... But seriously, the Halloween decorations are barely tucked away and we are still eating candy corn around here... I'm just asking for a little time to ease into the hustle & bustle. The day after Halloween Target had their Christmas aisles ready to go...Don't get me wrong...I love Christmas...I love the visiting, the family time, the tradition and the true beauty of the season...and if you want to throw a diamond bracelet in my Christmas stocking ("hint, hint Big Guy")...I'm ok with that, too. I just don't want to be tired of Christmas by December 1st. My favorite radio station has already begun to prepare me for their annual switchover to "All Christmas all the time". It seems to me that the switch to Christmas happens earlier & earlier every year...This year I'm taking my time... I plan to enjoy the beauty of autumn...the falling leaves, the crisp mornings & the cold nights...I'm already building fires in my hearth & wearing my wool sweaters... I'm ready to bake my pumpkin pies & give thanks... And I'm sure by the Sunday after Thanksgiving I'll be knee deep in shopping lists and wrapping paper and humming Jingle Bells in my sleep.

Hi ho, hi ho..it's off to school they go...

Contrary to the title of this blog, I am not a morning person. I have never been a morning person & it's looking like I never will be... When my kids were babies and I had to get up early (before 7am is early for me - before 6am is still nighttime) for feedings and diaper changes I would sleep-walk through those pre-dawn hours and then put my darlings (& myself) back to sleep for a few more hours. When they started school it was a whole new ballgame. My kids attend a K-8 Catholic School, so they are both heading to the same place in the mornings. They have to be at school by 7:40 which means that they have to leave home by 7:15 which means that my alarm clock starts trying to wake me up at 6:20am. I am one of those people who needs to hit the snooze button for twenty minutes or I just can't get myself out of bed. My husband (The Big Guy) is not one of those people. He hops out of bed on the weekends pre-5am for golf and moves right along. Since he works nights, he sleeps in most mornings and my "perpetual alarm" as he calls it, is one of those little things that I'm sure he will list on the divorce papers someday... anyway, as the Momma (some might say "control freak", I say Type "A "gal) I have taken on the total responsibility for getting the kids off to school in the mornings...with as nutritious a lunch as I can manage... So with coffee mug in hand and a fake smile on my face I begin the job of waking up the darlings. My darling son (Big boy) hates mornings like his Momma. It takes several return trips to his bedroom, threats (that he doesn't hear because he's still asleep) and finally, the stripping of his covers off his bed to get him moving. Once he's moving he's slow & quiet. He doesn't even speak to us until he's eaten his oatmeal & finished half of his cuppa Sunny D'. My darling daughter (Little girl) on the other hand is just like The Big Guy. She wakes up happy & smiling and ready to talk & talk & talk... It was after the darlings had left for school one rainy fall morning when I had an epiphany. I realized that contrary to all of the complaining, rushing & grumblings of the morning (mostly by me), I really love getting up early with the darlings. I love to watch the dark house come to life as lamps are lit, I love watching the sleepy, pj clad darlings greet a new day. As I reflected on my new found zen-like love for all things morning, I realized that being the darlings' "mom in the morning" wasn't as bad as I thought... I just wish it could start at around 9am....

Caffeine...it's not just for breakfast anymore...

I've always been a coffee junkie...my coffee maker turns on before my alarm clock in the morning. My kids don't even look at me & the dog won't come out of the crate until I've had my "first cup". By the third cup. I'm ready to face my day... whether I'm off to the kids' school, on my way to the office or driving to one of many weekend sporting events... I need my coffee. Lately I've noticed that I've begun to alter my driving routes to pass by a Dunkin Donuts or a Starbucks... And I know I'm not the only one... One of the above mentioned coffee shops can be found at every intersection in my Jersey suburb... At my kids' soccer games (baseball games, basketball games, dance class) everyone is carrying a "to go" cup. Is it the long hours? Most of us start our day at dawn...hustle kids out to school & then work or run errands until the sun goes down...then it's time for team practices, dance class, music lesson...help with the homework, have we even fed them dinner yet??? Is it the hectic? I absolutely know that too much coffee makes me jittery. The problem is, not enough coffee and I'm falling asleep folding laundry at 8:00 at night...and I need to get the laundry folded so that I can watch...Private Practice or Greys Anatomy (depending on the night)... guilt free. So what's a busy, (part time) working mom with a caffeine addiction to do? I'll let you know tomorrow...right now I need to order my grande with cream & sugar...