Phoning It In

Today I'm phoning in this parenting business. To be honest I've phoned it in most of the week but I was sick the other days. Today I have no excuse. Since the kids were happy I let them play downstairs until 10:15 before I finally dragged everyone upstairs to get dressed. Still happy I let them play while I half heartedly took a bath. If I'm honest with myself I'll admit that taking a bath was my excuse to be alone so I could read more of my Book Club book. This month I am reading "Mariette in Ecstasy" by Ron Hansen. It's fantastic and I can't put it down. It says a lot for the book since I rarely enjoy fiction. Next month we're reading, "Joan of Arc" by Mark Twain. I'm equally excited but it seems as though the other women in the bookclub were one step ahead of as I'm too far on the waiting list to get the book from the library. Guess I'll have to buy that one.

So now I sit here in a sweatshirt and jeans with my hair combed just enough to put in a ponytail. The only times I've worn a sweatshirt all year has been in the evenings when I'm in my jammies. The kids are dressed but I wouldn't say they are "public ready". Demand is wearing her beloved Paris shirt (owned before we went to Paris) and it is most definitely a summer shirt. Happy is wearing clothes I don't care for but fit and since I have no intention of leaving the house with them today I went for it. Neither are wearing socks but seeing as Demand will take them off anyway, I just decided to let it go altogether.

Money has been really tight around here so we are trying to empty our freezer and pantry as much as possible before getting any groceries. We've done really well but I definately need to buy some food today. For breakfast the kids had toast and Demand had hot chocolate and Happy, his beloved orange juice. I just had my usual one cup of coffee even if it was left over from yesterday. I thought I had lunch and dinner planned but I hit a few snags. I planned grilled cheese for lunch and broccoli soup for dinner. We only had four pieces of bread so Mr. Sloth and Happy had grilled cheese, Demand had a quesadilla and I found some of my squash soup in the freezer. As I made lunch I started to gather the ingredients for dinner only to find that we don't have the frozen veggies I usually need for broccoli soup, but we do have fresh broccoli, carrots, and spinach so it looks like that's what we are having. I knew finding chicken stock wouldn't be a problem since even as a last resort we have bouillon cubes, but I was lucky and found some home made stock in the freezer along with some left over dinner rolls from Christmas.

I told Mr. Sloth at lunch that while I'm proud of us for being so creative the past week or so, this pregnant lady needs to head to the grocery store. I still can't go hog wild but we need some basics and some fillers. For example, Happy has been refusing cheerios for breakfast and yesterday I refused to fulfill his desire for french toast so instead he got hummus on bread... Babies should never have garlic breath, lets just make that clear right now.

Happy refused a morning nap today so hopefully he'll head down early this afternoon and with equal hope I pray that Demand keeps up her impressive streak of napping as well. If all is calm I shall finish my book, perhaps start my Bible Study lesson and practice some reading lessons for Demand. That is if I don't surrender to the fluffy cloud of down that taunts me from upstairs.

As I said, I'm phoning it in today.