Gearing Up for Change

It's the last Monday of summer break for this Gang.  There are a host of big changes coming our way, and this Momma has been awake since about 4:30 a.m. trying to wrap my brain around all of it. You know, all the things that have to happen between now and the first day of school (Sept. 6, after Labor Day) in order to facilitate those changes.

My To-Do list is ramming around inside my head, almost impossible to pin down and wrangle into a manageable, linear list of bullet points. My head is pounding, and it's NOT from lack of caffeine! It feels like tangled Slinkys in there. Rusty, tightly wound, tangled Slinkys.  It's really not pretty. Especially at 4:30 a.m.

So you must all bear with me while I process...

Yes, I'm processing it here. My blog, my rules :)

Here we go!

I've accepted the opportunity to care for two children of some friends of ours, as an attempt to supplement and  expedite the savings process for our adoption. (I start next Monday, hence the "last Monday of summer break for this Gang" line...)  For the downstairs of the house, that means this week has to be all about sorting toys, child-proofing, consolidating the play area to one part of the house, and cleaning out a space for kiddie arts and crafts.

Heh. Written down in a paragraph like that,

it doesn't really seem like all that much work.

But it's almost crippling me right now,

and I feel so completely overwhelmed by where to start. Ugh.

I've been struggling to find time to sit for a while and plow through my friend's novel that I'm editing, because of all the taxi-duty that I've been pulling for Shaggy, Dr. D, and Ladybug's various activities. This week, I'm down-sizing all the taxi-runs and trying to dig into this work of art and give it the attention it deserves. And guys? This novel is beautiful. Rich, layered, and captivating. The characters have really drawn me in - I miss it when I can't get to it for a few days. When she gets it published, I will be sure to let you all know to look for it!

I also have to figure out what to do with all these beautiful pieces of collectibles that folks have given toward our adoption cause. I have some things out for bids already, but Cr@igslist-ing them majority of them will net very little, I'm learning. I'm unfortunately hearing the same thing about Repl@cements.com and now I don't really know where to turn. I have no eB@y "seller cred" and don't really want to get "taken" there either. But they are filling the dining room and I have to get them out of here soon. I can't take the clutter much longer.

I have a bunch of other things already on Cr@igslist that aren't moving and I'm getting impatient about those. They are of some value so I just can't bring myself to donate them if they can add to our little Adoption Jar instead. Especially given that there are likely a bunch of other things in the attic that I can choose to list if and when The Boss and I get in there and start cleaning.

I have no idea of what is in the freezer, so I am guessing that my freezer inventory is way out of date. I also have no stash of supplies for snacks, school lunches, or quick meals. I haven't "stock up" shopped in a while, and I'm thinking that might be where I have to start. Well, there and defrosting the freezer so that I can see everything I purchase. It's so bad in there, it might take a couple days to thaw and clean it all out... Then, I'll have to really dig in and plan meals for the month of September to help me through the learning curve of "working" four days a week.

I must also wrap my brain around the idea of our new schedule. Li'l Empress will be doing three mornings a week at her little pre-school, with an arrival time between 8:25 and 8:45 a.m. Baby BlueEyes is heading off to our wonderful little elementary school at 8:05 every morning. LadyBug will be starting a brand new adventure in the middle school, leaving here around 7:20 each day. And Shaggy and Dr. D head off to the local public high school, we think at 6:50 or 7 a.m. daily.

Speaking school, have you seen the prices of school supplies this summer?! OMIGOSH, I was in T@rget the other day (I despise that store, on almost every.single.level. Really, I do.) and the mothers were scary. Grabbing. Snatching, Shoving carts. Snarling at their kids. I had to leave. With my incomplete list of two of the kids' needs. But I just couldn't stand the tension and the chaos. I mean, really. A three-inch binder is a three-inch binder. Is it really worth the horrible example to your kids to get the TEAL one instead of the royal blue one?! Really, the stuff I heard and saw scarred me for the entire day.

Finally, (well, really, not finally, cuz there is so much more going on here that is weighing heavily but is not blog-able) I am contemplating the arrival of my two new little friends at 8:30 for four mornings a week. Things like figuring out when I'll need to get up and get showered. When I'm going to exercise. Or blog. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I was planning to join The Boss's gym and working out the mornings that Li'l Empress was in school, which would allow me to head out, bed head and all, and then come home to shower at my own leisure before picking her back up from school. But the need to earn some money and accommodate this alternative schedule trumps that plan. And now, just writing it all out here, I feel even more stressed than I did at 4:30 a.m.......

{Mumbling and shuffling away as I pull on my hair}

Oy..... Coffee. I need coffee. Just get me some coffee!