Monday: this and that

 I brought Ben to his doctor's appointment today.  Usually this appointment is crazy long because they're so slow.  I got at text after an hour and assumed that it meant he was about to go to the room for the shot.  But actually, he was already done!  It was rather impressive.

Grading is finished!  Tornado attempted to help for a bit.  I still need to put grades in, but that doesn't take that long.

Helping out at karate classes is finished!  We had to do 15 classes.  It ended on a slightly crazy note, but it's one more thing checked off.

Sunday: done

Today had its ups and downs.  I didn't sleep well last night.  Joshua had several "it was an accident" issues that weren't done on purpose, but were completely avoidable.  The kitchen didn't get cleaned.  I was a bit grumpy.

But there were good things too.  We played Dominion.  The weather was lovely.  I actually got some time in on the quilter.  (Karate practice has often taken over my normal quilting time and I often forget or am tired in the late evening.)

Saturday: flowers and rice krispies

This afternoon we planted some of the flowers.  The boys are always so excited about them...but don't want to get their hands dirty.  It's a hard balance.  I still have my flowers to plant, but I'll do that another day.

After that Joshua was insistent that we make special rice krispie treats.  This is not really what I wanted to do, but he didn't ask me. He wanted to put all sorts of stuff in them: chocolate chips, strawberries, graham crackers, pretty much anything he could think of.  We ended up with chocolate chips and smarties.  In a circle pan.  They tasted pretty good.

Friday: progress? take 2

Today was another day that I made progress, but it doesn't really feel like it.

I graded, but still have half the final exams to go.

I took a nap, but Tornado meowed a lot and woke me up.  

I had black belt boot camp.  We did self-defense the whole time.  I already get self-defense mixed up really easily, and so by the last part my brain felt like mush.  And my wrists are sore.  I guess we'll see how it goes tomorrow when I make a child do it with me.  I am a bit overwhelmed with the whole thing though, as we apparently have only one more practice before testing.  (Note: I've heard rumors that they'll be pushing back the testing, but thought they'd say something tonight if that was the case.  Since I didn't hear anything, I need to assume we're still going with the posted schedule.)

Thursday: progress?

 Today felt rather unproductive...at least with the metrics that are easy to measure.

I sorted last week's laundry so that the kids could easily find their clothes.  (They ended up putting them away as a chore too.)  I started the dishwasher.  I worked on my next black belt form.

Then I went into Hope to grade.  While I had hoping to knock out a whole bunch of exams, they went really slowly.  I'm not really sure why for most of them.  There were a few that were poorly done and so hard to grade and there was one that involved a quick trip to the computer lab.  Anyway, hopefully they get faster.

I had lunch with the department and did take a nap.  The nap went well.

We bought our summer flowers after school.  It was a fun time as always.  The boys got into it too.  We're going to try watermelons (again) and Joshua found his snap dragons.  Isaac also picked out a sunflower and Joshua picked out an orange flower.

I graded a few more exams and emptied the dishwasher before karate.  There was at least room on the counter to put the dinner dishes, but the process is rather backed up.

Wednesday: rice cooker

We all know I have a problem with the rice cooker.  I frequently remember to get it all ready and then forget to actually turn it on.  It's a bit of a joke in our house now.

Anyway, we were having curry today and I was a bit tired.  So I got the rice cooker going, remembering to actually start it, and put the curry in the microwave to thaw.  I then sat down on the couch for 20 minutes.  I had been hoping for a short rest but the kids kept asking reasonable questions.

I finally got up and looked at the rice cooker.  I had forgotten the rice!  This was the first time I messed up this way.  I told everyone, but Isaac got the best laugh out of it.

Tuesday: busy day

It ended up being a much busier day than I was expecting.  Groceries, small chores, karate, and grading and suddenly it was time for lunch.  I graded at the library today, partially because I needed to pick up some books anyway and partially to see if the environment would encourage me to grade without distraction.  I think it did, but I'm not sure it helped all that much.

For nap time today I got to nap with Grey Bear and Giraffe.  Giraffe really likes to be on heads, but today I learned that he doesn't really like to be on hair for long periods of time.  So I put him on my head with a blanket.

In the afternoon I took Tornado to the vet.  Did I mention yesterday that he's been meowing more than normal?  There was a sudden change Saturday night.  It isn't constant, but everyone has noticed it.  So I ended up taking him in.  He has tapeworms.  This is a bit surprising since he just had his well-cat check and he's an indoor cat, but that was a result.  The vet didn't really think this would be the meowing cause; it just happened it be something that was caught at the right time.  So we also got some blood work done and will see what the results of that are in a day or two.  

That appointment took slightly longer than I was hoping, so right afterwards I needed to go pick up the kids.  I told them on the way back to the car that we had a guest in the car!  Joshua guessed Aunt C, but Isaac guessed Tornado right away.  Since it was a piano day and I didn't really want to go home in between school and piano we just brought Tornado with us.  I'm not sure that he enjoyed the car, but he didn't seem too distraught either.

We gave Tornado his medicine today.  The packaging says to keep children away for 24 hours (but has nothing to say about adults).  So we're going to do Tornado first and then we'll get Horizon tomorrow and they'll have to stay in the downstairs bathroom during their 24 hours.  (Although when we're in the office at night they can also join us in the office.)