Making Plans

Today I couldn't put it off any longer. I finally had to go grocery shopping and do some laundry. To make the laundry go down easier, I watched a movie on the DVR while I folded the clean clothes. I had hoped to spend the afternoon reading a book. Instead, I spent it on the phone with my mother and brother. We're trying to rent a house in Wisconsin this summer. It's very difficult to find a house and location to suit five adults with very different ideas of leisure, not to mention the accompanying teenager, middle schooler, preschooler and toddler.

Food Fight

Today I had planned to go grocery shopping. Somehow I ended up shopping for shoes instead, which was a lot more fun. No groceries meant a change of plans for dinner. Since I had to take Theo into Evanston for a confirmation class requirement, we got takeout for dinner. The boys and I couldn't agree on a restaurant, so I gave them money for Uber Burger and I went next door to Mt. Everest. This made everybody happy except Brendan. He didn't enjoy getting dragged all over town when he had a lot of homework to do.

A Night at the Opera

This morning I had to pay my bills. I hadn't planned on spending all morning on the task, but I recently moved all my finances to Quicken and I'm still learning how to use the program. That meant I didn't get to planning my menus for the week as I had hoped. Instead, I had to stop and get ready for my big night out. A good friend took me out for a night on the town. This night actually started at 4:30 in the afternoon and lasted until midnight and included dinner and a ticket to the opera. The boys were in bed and the house was still standing when I got home, so they obviously survived being left to their own devices for that long.

A Morning of Mourning

There was no Sunday School this morning, so I left the boys at home and went to church alone. I don't know if it was the music for the day or the fact that it's been just over nine months since Tim died or that it's his birthday in ten days, but I cried all through mass. Sheil (our church) was an integral part of our relationship from the very beginning. Going to Sheil and singing in the choir has been a source of immense comfort to me both throughout Tim's illness and after his death. As much as I draw strength from the Sheil community, it can also be very painful to be in a place that holds so many memories of Tim. It's not just my memories, either. A friend once told me that she liked to watch Tim when I sang, because his love showed so clearly on his face. I often think of that story when I am standing up front with the choir. It makes me very sad to know that Tim is no longer sitting in the pews with the boys, listening to me and smiling.

So after doing something I wanted to do (go to church) and something I hadn't planned to do (cry a lot), I went home and did something I had to do - laundry. I had planned on serving leftovers, but, surprise, surprise, my dining companions rejected that choice, so we settled for frozen taquitos.

Snowy Science

Today was the regional Science Olympiad in Naperville, an hour's drive from our house. Theo had to be at school at 6:30am to catch the bus. Brendan and I followed a couple hours later to show our support for McCracken. (They came in sixth and will not be attending the state contest in April.) While I felt obligated to attend, I did not feel obliged to leave at the crack of dawn. Particularly since it snowed this morning - a very wet, heavy snow that made driving very unpleasant. So much for yesterday's lovely weather.
I had planned to have a good family dinner after our day's adventure in Naperville, but I didn't realize how long the competition would run. We were at Naperville from early in the morning until very late in the afternoon. That meant we ended up eating fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not my idea of a good food day.
Actually, between the weather, the length of the competition, its unhappy outcome and the bad food, it was a less than great day all the way around. Here's hoping tomorrow will be better.

Spring Fever

Our string of beautiful days continues. I was so inspired by the weather that I pulled a spring skirt out of my closet to wear today. I did manage to get to the library and return all those BBC mystery shows that kept interfering in my life earlier this week. That's about the sum total of my accomplishments for the day. I had planned to sit down at my computer and pay bills, but the weather was just too nice to be stuck in the basement. Apparently I haven't recovered from my cooking frenzy on Wednesday night, either. I couldn't summon up the energy to go grocery shopping or cook something as I had fully intended to do. Instead, I splurged and ordered takeout from The Noodle in Wilmette.

White Screen of Death and Big Blue Skies

Do you remember the Window's "Blue Screen of Death?" Well, Theo's iPod Touch did the white screen of death the other day. We tried rebooting the thing. We tried re-synching the thing. Heck, we even tried restoring the thing from backup. Nothing. So today I promised to take it to our local Apple store and see what they could do for us. As it happens, I had recently been through all of last year's credit card slips while doing my taxes. This meant that I was able to find the receipt and prove that the thing was less than a year old. I handed the iPod to the "Genius" at the "Genius Bar" and waited. Less than ten minutes later, the Genius comes to me and says, "Congratulations, you are getting a brand new iPod!" I was pleased to learn that there was actually something seriously wrong with the thing. The alternative was proof that I am an electronic moron whose chief technical geek left her in the lurch last June. While this may be true, iPods are supposed to be idiot proof, so while I may be a moron, at least I'm not an idiot.

The other thing I had planned to do today was finish the dishes from last night's dinner party. The ones I didn't do because Theo brought out his iPod with the white screen of death. I still didn't get them done. After running my dishwasher three times yesterday, I just couldn't stand doing anymore dishes. So instead I sought refuge in yet another season of Foyle's War from the library. Then I went to pick up Brendan from school. We are still enjoying unusually warm sunny weather. It didn't take more than one glance up at the intense blue skies overhead for me to give in to Brendan's request to stay after school and play. My dishes will still be there tomorrow.