Everything all at once

I’m bored with the adventurecation stories m’kay.  We went to the San Diego Zoo (amazing), Sea World (holy giant commercial), Torrey Pines (totally wish I had my clubs), the beach (I’ll move in now) and had a lovely time at Tricia & Michael’s house (no, I’ll move in here).  We drove home via Highway 1 (beautiful), bagged out on a camping spot north of Monterey for a hotel in Monterey (totally worth the money) and ended up driving from Monterey all the way home.  This is where I nearly got out of the moving vehicle outside of Vacaville, CA to escape the scream-a-thon.  The child spent the remainder of the journey sans electronic devices and rode from Vacaville to Corning with nothing but his thumbs to entertain him.  16 hours later we arrived home and fell into bed.  The end.

Moving on.

Today is the first day of school.  My child is a big first grader and is attending all day school for the first time.  He’s had 4 years of 1/2 day school to prepare for this moment.  I’ve had 4 years to prepare for this moment.  What did I do?  Totally forgot my camera, phone and any other photo taking device at home.  The trusty husband at least had an iPod to take pictures with.  Now you know why I call him the TRUSTY husband.

We were able to get out the door without a major screaming fit.  However, we didn’t get out of the classroom door without crying.  Totally the child, not me.  Despite that his best friend, neighbor girl, is in his class he was horribly nervous.  This time no amount of prep work helped.  Finally the teacher directed him to the rug and we ran out the door.  Yay teacher!  He’ll be fine by the end of the day and ready to go back tomorrow.

On the way out we discussed if we would have to go through this every year.  The consensus was yes.  It’s just the way the child is wired.  It reaffirms our attachment status that 1) he looks to us for comfort in these situations and 2) for the most part he doesn’t completely fall apart.  Only mostly.

So now I have a first grader who leaves the house at 7:40 a.m. and returns home at 2:40 p.m. … I think (I really should look up what time the bus comes).  My work schedule changed this week so I now work Thursday mornings and Friday afternoons and all day Saturday.  That means I have nearly 5 days of no child.  5 days of me time.  5 days of get shit done time.  The idea of it is totally exhilarating and frightening all at once.

I have been so laxed in doing anything.  Now that I have free time I want to do everything all at once.  The biggest hurdle is the ADD.

We faced the possibility of a location change this summer (sorry I didn’t tell you mom).  Last Spring it was announced that the trusty husband’s department was going to undergo a restructure.  Long story short, there were 3 possible outcomes. 1) he got to keep his job here in the Northwest and would just have to travel more (the option we really wanted), 2) take another position that would relocate us to Minneapolis and we would need to be there by December 1 (so not the option we wanted, but were willing to make) or 3) unemployment (not an option really, but a possibility).  We found out about this in May.  The company said they wouldn’t make their decision until September 1.  That meant nearly 4 months of waiting on the possibility of a relocation to Minnesota right at Christmas, in the middle of the school year.  I have to tell you that it was agonizing.  It took me a good month to work up the courage to move and then 2 months of acceptance and then about 3 weeks of complete and utter denial.

Last Monday we got the word that we would be staying in Washington and in our home.  That news came the day after a fire at my store so I’ve been a little out of sorts the past week.  Hell, I’ve been a little out of sorts for 4 months.  I pretty much have done nothing in the past 4 months beyond personal and child care.

This morning I opened my eyes to see what a hell hole my house has become.  Every room is a pile.  Now that I have all of this free time I want to clean it all.  I want to do everything all at once.  I want to paint the bathroom, clean the pantry, clean my office, do the laundry, wash the windows, weed the garden, everything.  My immediate goal is to prioritize and find my own personal routine.  Wish me luck.