Do we have to Spring Forward?

Daylight Savings Time is not my friend. I don't use an alarm clock - haven't since I was pregnant with Ryan 10 years ago. I have only had a few instances where I've overslept, and it hasn't been by much. So, when it comes time to turn the clocks ahead or back, it just throws me off. Add two 15 month olds to the mix and the whole house is just wacky. I always forget to change some of the clocks, so I walk from one room to another and it's a different time, and then I've got to think for a moment and realize what the real time is. Today I tried my best to get the kids back on schedule so hopefully by the weekend, we will all be back to normal.

Time issues aside, I'm totally looking forward to Spring (minus the allergies). Once we're dried out from the nasty storm we just had, I look forward to starting the yard cleanup so Ryan can get to his bike without walking through mud, and the babies can play in their new playhouse! Ah, fresh air, I hardly remember what that's like!

Unplugged.

We had a really cool, yet scary rain storm yesterday. The wind was really strong. Al had to run out to get milk for the babies and when he was backing out of the driveway, a plastic bench came flying down the block and into the back of our minivan! And our storm door went flying open and the hinge broke, so now we have to slam the top of the door to open it. Fun.

As a result of said storm, our cable went out - which meant, no TV, no phone, and no internet. Luckily we didn't lose power in the house, but being without TV in this house is like living without air. I admit, the television is always on here. I can't say I actually sit and watch it until I go to bed at night, but it's on. So, the loss of background noise for me was odd. The babies really didn't even notice because they just play with their toys all day. Al and Ryan were the most annoyed. Al waited an hour on hold with Time Warner but gave up. We could have watched a DVD but I decided this was a good opportunity for us to spend some family time that didn't revolve all of us sitting and staring at that mindless box. Ryan huffed. Al said he'd just read a book. I persisted, and got us to all sit in the living room and talk. They both just sat there. I told Ryan that he should take advantage of having the full attention of both his parents (well, at least me), and he could ask us anything he wanted. So, he chose to ask us about our first girlfriend/boyfriend. What their name was, how old we were, etc. Al could not remember the name of his first girlfriend (of 5 yrs!). Eventually, it came to him. This conversation turned into a really heartfelt talk with Ryan about self-esteem, being popular (or not popular), and the unfortunate pressure to fit in that he is already experiencing as a third-grader. At one point I was in tears, hearing how insecure my son is, and remembering how I was the same at his age. I think I gave him some good advice, and I hope he listened. I enjoyed talking with him, listening to him, and hopefully helping him realize how great he really is.

The cable went on 18 hours later. I was kind of disappointed.

Unfashionably late.

I've always liked to be early. I allow myself more than ample time to arrive to where I need to be, so I won't be late. It's actually a big pet peeve of mine when people are not on time. I have friends who are always late and I try not to hold it against them, when I find it really annoying. So, it's annoying me beyond belief that now I'M the one who can't seem to make it on time to anything. Ever since I had the twins, I just can't seem to get things together and get out the door. I can't seem to realize that now I've got THREE kids, and not just one. And two of those kids require a lot of stuff to be brought along wherever we go, and need to be carried out one at a time, and strapped into carseats. It's been 15 months, you think by now I'd have just got into the habit of adding an extra half hour to my getting ready time. Today I was meeting a friend for a playdate and I really tried to get there at the time we'd agreed to meet. I packed my diaper bag up before the kids nap, I filled their sippy cups, had their clothes all ready to go, and got them up in plenty of time to get ready. I'm not sure what happened, but I was ten minutes late and stressing the whole time I was driving there because I knew she'd be waiting. She understood - she's got twins too. I just get mad at myself; it makes me feel like I can't do what I'm supposed to do. I know I'm too hard on myself. Next week I have a couple of commitments, so I'm going to make sure I am on time. If I'm not, I guess I can blame it on my kids!

So here I am.

Setting up a blog is kinda cool - you get to choose a layout, colors, fonts - all fun stuff. Then you actually have to WRITE something. Choosing a title proved to be more of a challenge than I thought it would. I went through about a dozen options before deciding it should have something to do with dirty dishes. There always seems to be dirty dishes in my sink, no matter how hard I try to keep up with washing them. It's sort of symbolic of my life: I just can't keep up with it. I added the kisses to it, because I tried to think of one of the things I love about my life... and there it is. Kisses from my boys. Best part of my day. Now, if those damn dishes would just wash themselves.