Better Monday

(I am having difficulty inserting the picture I want, so here's the link to our web photo site: Old Couch.) Marshall was out yard saling Saturday as we dropped off some of our junk to a friend's sale and made some cash (Thank you, Tammy!) and promptly spent it on a new sectional with a hide-a-bed. It was a great price, looks brand new and seems to have been transported straight out of 1985, style-wise, but since our children are still in the destroy the furniture phase of life, we aren't really buying furniture for the main living areas that we care deeply about. Anyway, the photo is from Saturday afternoon, after we'd lugged the old couches out to the street where the trash men will pick them up Thursday if no one else gets them before that (and I don't really expect they will as they are in poor condition). Alex saw the couches outside and wanted to go sit out with Daddy. I wanted to do a new couch-old couch comparison, but I haven't managed to get that picture yet.

But back to Monday--today. Somehow, I slept well for the first night in a while and life seems possible again. At least, our To Do List while massive doesn't seem completely impossible. I spent the morning doing laundry and planning my day tomorrow. I have a 10:15 am meeting with Alex's teacher (regular monthly conference) so Miranda's already going to the drop in day-care (brilliant idea--I don't know why there isn't more than one!) so I'm planning 6 other stops along the way:

• Put Alex on the bus per usual at 8:15, pack up Miranda with a large lunch bag in case she's having a hungry day, and drop her off at 9 am at Basically Babysitting.
• Head to Vicky Olson's house to drop off a bin full of hostas. Mine tried to take over the yard last summer so I'm hacking them back considerably and giving her the pieces. Hostas are pretty hardy and mine seem to do amazingly well, when I water them. I consulted with my neighbor last night about my out of control flower bed in the front yard (she is an amazing gardener) about what to do about reordering my plants and she gave me some great ideas and the confidence to do it. I'm going to dig up some of my cannas for her as a thank you, since they are creeping again. Anyway, I've got a couple of weeks work ahead of me, but I'm breaking it up into pieces that I might actually be able to accomplish, then Marshall will run the hoses to set it up to be watered automatically, which would keep the hostas from getting sunburnt and my hydrangea might actually bloom. And then we order a ton of mulch and spend 2 weeks spreading it. But I am a happier person when my flower bed is in order. I take after my father that way.
  
• Take the back way from Vicky's to Springville Elem for my meeting with Alex's teacher and therapist. I expect a happier meeting this time since he's been on his anti-anxiety meds for 2.5 weeks. And, hopefully, Jessica's computer will be be fixed soon. You don't realize how much you rely on email for teacher-parent communication until it's gone.
• Dry cleaners to drop off my winter coat.
• Bed, Bath & Beyond for a new mattress pad (I have a stack of coupons already stashed in my purse in case they finally have the kids' favorite Gazillion bubbles again).
  
• Target for new flip flips for me (mine are 2 years old now and after a day of wearing them, are falling apart) and for Miranda so she'll stop stealing mine.
• Costco for milk, eggs, bread, fruit and cheese.
• Panera's for lunch (my treat for clinic days).
• And back to BB to get Miranda, who should have played like crazy and be tired enough to take a nap. Her napping is irregular at best but there's a good chance she'll sleep tomorrow.
  

It was so hot yesterday we got out the bathing suits and the sprinkler beach ball for the kids. Those pictures start here.

Thankfully, it's supposed to start cooling off Wednesday. It was starting to feel like Fresno, where spring lasts about two weeks before it gets hot and stays hot until Fall.