Kid and Caboodle

The past few weeks have been unusually busy at work and at home, and I think it’s getting to me. I haven’t done any personal blogging for awhile, and I’m overdue in responding to e-mail messages, which is very unusual for me. Apparently my parents have noticed my social absence, too; last weekend they actually called to make sure I was ok — something they haven’t done in ages.

At least I was organized enough to send my brother a present in time for his birthday, and I did send him an e-mail message yesterday wishing him a good day, so I’m not completely behind. But I still haven’t gotten around to sending two of my godkids their Christmas gifts because I haven’t been able to get to the post office, nor have I responded to a stack of holiday letters. I have a bunch of photos I took during a visit to the zoo with friends several weeks ago that I still haven’t downloaded or e-mailed. In general, I’ve been neglecting a lot of social obligations, and I’m starting to feel very guilty.

I’m taking the day off Monday. That will make work pile up at the office, but I really need some time to think and get things back under control at home. I don’t want this chaos to continue; it’s stressful.

Apparently this blog has at least one regular reader. (Hi!) She has yet to comment on anything I’ve written, though. Lurker!

Chris has been doing more than his fair share of parenting the last few days. On Saturday, I had to work all day to get out a lot of information about the situation in Haiti, including articles, texts, a podcast transcript and a photo gallery. I started my work day about 9:15 a.m., after making breakfast for everyone and getting cleaned up, and didn’t finish until about 10:30 p.m. Poor Chris not only had to take A.J. to his taekwondo and Chinese classes, but he also had to spend a few hours in the library trying to find information about a relatively obscure spider for a project A.J. has due next week. (He didn’t find anything useful in the library; we’re looking for good Internet resources now.) Chris didn’t get any break at all on Saturday; he also had to prepare dinner, a task I normally perform, and get A.J. to bed without any help. I really hope I don’t have to work again next weekend!

Tonight Chris also helped out a lot. He got home as A.J. and I were starting to get frustrated with each other over some homework that is fairly simple but that has to be turned in tomorrow. A.J. kept saying he didn’t know the answers and wanted me to tell him what to do. I refused. Chris took over the situation, delaying his own dinner, to work with A.J. After dinner, he again stepped in, helping A.J. bathe himself instead of having me handle that part of the evening ritual.

I’m really lucky to have Chris. I wonder how single parents manage?

Public Service Announcement: Text YELE to 501501 to contribute $5 to disaster relief efforts in Haiti thru the Wyclef Jean Foundation (charge will appear on your phone bill) or HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross efforts.

More info from America.gov (a State Department Web site):
President Obama Urges Americans to Donate Assistance for Haiti

I’m enjoying a few hours of time to myself this morning because Chris volunteered to take A.J. to his Saturday classes in return for my packing away the Christmas ornaments. Deal! So, while Chris is braving the cold and driving around town, I’m lingering over breakfast before tackling the tree and other housework. Hopefully I’ll have enough spare time to finish off a few blog entries for work and another site, too.

Good husband!

Despite a number of aggravating events that happened today that I won’t detail, there are a number of things for which I am thankful this Thursday:

• I am thankful I didn’t have to go out in the cold most of the day since I worked from home.
• I am thankful for the opportunity to do some professional writing every week even though I frequently wrestle with writer’s block/self-censorship.
• I am thankful for the abundant food supply I have in the house. (I think I enjoyed too much of it today!)
• I am thankful I know a good handyman who can fix anything from stuck drawers to clogged gutters to leaky roofs. He’ll be coming over tomorrow to fix the gutters that broke during our recent snowstorm.
• I am thankful for good friends, old and new. I intend to get together with several of them in a few weeks.
• I am thankful the weekend is almost here!

Tonight I read this funny blog post on BlogHer about trying to get dinner on the table in 10 minutes in between homework and other activities. Boy, does that sound familiar. Since Chris and I switched parenting shifts about a year-and-a-half ago, I’ve been the one handling dinner preparations. Normally I use my abilities as the Leftover Queen to throw something together. This week, though, I confess to depending on fast food outlets and prepared meals. I feel fairly guilty about this, but I just haven’t been able to get organized this week. We went out of town for a few days to visit friends, which was fun, but it threw off all our household routines. I guess I need a few days off to recover from my days off!