Back to Reality

Nothing makes me relish being a mother, more than extended time in the car with the Hoodlums. We got home from Powell about 6:30 Sunday night and they went right to bed. By bed, I mean they were physically in their beds. The boys, hollered back and forth to each other for hours, despite us taking away all of their privileges and worldly possessions. Who knows what time they actually went to sleep, but we gave up and turned the t.v. on full blast about 9 to drown out their nonsense.

I didn't sleep worth a crap, due to my sunburn and only fell asleep about 3 hours before I had to get up to go to work. This made me oh-so-pleasant at work and definitely put me in the running for 'Sweetest Nurse of the Year' with the new Ortho resident, after ripping him a new one. Eventually, I ended up back at home with little recollection of how I made it there, and only scowled at Dave when he wondered if I would like him to set the alarm, for my work-out. I haven't worked out for a couple of weeks due to Powell and being lazy, but I figure if Shauna corners me about my whereabouts, I will just tell her I reached my goal weight, and try to blame my bulkiness on pre-menstrual bloating.

I had a total work hangover this morning, but lately,the kids have been really good about letting me sleep in for an extra hour in the morning. (They are total anti-work-out enablers. My bulk is completely their fault.) Unfortunately, my Gram is not as easy. I got her wake-up call this morning about 7:30 and she announced that it was double coupons at Smith's............Oh goody.

As I stumbled around the kitchen getting breakfast, Dawson announced, "Just as I suspected, the plants are dead. I told you they were going to die. You have to water them, Mom. You are not a very good Budget Buddy." On a whim a couple of weeks ago, I purchased $100 bucks worth of herbs, pots, and Miracle Grow, to make a little garden. They did not survive our trip, and being the morning person that I am, I told Dawson, "You know what buddy? I know CPR, and I could save a REAL person IF, I wanted to, so those little plants can suck eggs. I am glad they are dead."

By 9:30 we were on our way to Heber. We picked up Gram, and her suitcase of coupons, and had just about as wonderful a time, as you can have, double couponing with three kids. The Hoodlums were relatively good in the store, and helped me take care of all of Gram's groceries, so we drove through Subway and hit the park for a couple of hours. The Boys went nuts climbing the trees and scaling the slides, and I pushed Em til my arm went numb.

When I was certain that they didn't have the energy for one more slide, I rounded them up to go back to Smith's. Before we left the house, I rummaged around the junk counter and found some coupons of my own. I herded the kids back through Smith's, mostly picking up novelty ice cream bars and Kleenex, and then walked past a display of herb plants where I paused for just a minute before Dawson said, "C'mon Mom, let someone have those, that won't kill it." If only I could have his little voice of reason with me all the time.

We broke into a box of Drumsticks for the ride home, since they would most likely melt anyway, and talked about our exciting day. The Boys were especially pumped when I told them about the laundry folding party we were having when we got home. I was especially pumped about showing my super thrifty Baby Daddy, my double coupon receipt, and knowing he would be totally hot for me when he saw my savings.

The summer vacations are over and we are officially back to reality. It is really not too bad.