whew.

Let today go down in history as a day when Mrs. Lucken really, really, did more than she ever thought or wanted to do. I'm not terribly good at running my life at top speed and enjoying it...but today I did an incredible job (if I do say so myself).

Here's the rundown (boring to read, but this must go down in the annals of Pam history):

1. Mrs. Lucken, with her husband's help, got child #1 and child #2 ready for school in record time, packed her car up with miscellaneous items for the day, and took off in time to get child #1 to school at 8:20am
2. Mrs. Lucken then took child #3 to Target, where we picked up the "buddy snacks" for the swim meet later that day, as well as some snacks for the meet, sunscreen for wacky recess, and a last minute addition of a bathing suit for Emma (she has outgrown all but 2...and with daily swimming it's good to have more).
3. child #3: drop off for darling mother-in-law to watch
4. Wacky Recess with Child #1: follow class around, hold things, and give general assistance. Sunscreen, and bathing suit!, come in very handy as Emma had forgotten to pack one a couple of hours before when I suggested it. So many water activities and messes with shaving cream and eggs.
5. Stay for lunch with child #1 and friends - added this into the plan. Enjoy dance party with 3rd and 4th graders despite the fact that I was the only mom visibly dancing *and badly.
6. Drive to sister-in-law's house...help mother-in-law clean up the garden there in anticipation of nephew's graduation party in one week. A gardener cannot let her gardening skills go unused in a place which requires it so badly! Stay too long - 2 hours, weeding, dividing plants, spreading mulch. Praise child #3 for being so so good and patient.
7. Pick up child #3 early from school. This is a bad parent move! but husband has unexpectedly taken the car in for service and can't pick her up...she's in spanish and it is the end of the year. How much work are they actually doing on a Friday afternoon? Nothing that will keep her out of her 1st choice college. and Mrs. Lucken needs to get some exercise today. yes, I picked up my daughter early so that I could get in some exercise.
8. Mrs. Lucken drives home. It is now 3pm. child #3 is asleep in car and will remain so for a while. Mrs. Lucken quickly plants the orphan plants and pieces of plants from sister-in-law's house and tells #1 to get stuff ready for soccer.
9. Ingenious move-which-also-proves-to-me-I'm-taking-weirdness-to-the-next-level (as if dance party, shoveling mulch for someone's garden when she doesn't even really care if that work gets done, and picking child up early for my own exercise doesn't prove this) - I decide that as time is running out and I need to exercise AND water the plants, I will move my rebounder out to the garden and JUMP ON MY MINI TRAMPOLINE WHILE I WATER MY NEW TRANSPLANTED PLANTS. No telling what my neighbors think of me now...but if they saw me gardening in my boots, shorts and tank top last summer with my bald head, this can't be much worse. Katie's kindergarten teacher thought I was a grandpa gardening in our yard when she strolled by! get in 10 minutes of jumping this way.
10. #3 wakes up, yelling. I take him inside and run to the treadmill, where I get in another 12 minutes of exercise, while yelling commands of what to pack for swim meet.
11. It is now 4pm. shower in 3 minutes, pack final things and get to swim meet by 4:20.
12. Time at swim meet...kind of fun. Enjoy having kids who are all one year older. Swim meets aren't total misery anymore.
13. 9pm. Come home, eat only real meal of the day.

whew.

(I guess when I look at it, it seems like such a normal day...but what I can't believe is how much fun I shoved in unusual places, in a day that was non-stop activity - dance party, fun with timing, trampoline, even a teeny bit of planting. good job, mrs. lucken.)