Mrs. Homebody's busy schedule

I am certainly not the kind of person that thrives on staying busy. I do not find the rush of life exhilarating, nor can I handle a personal schedule packed with things. Unfortunately, my summer has been of that standard.

So, what, you may be asking, have I filled my summer with that causes me to be so dissatisfied? Well, let us see...

My Painter painted two houses outside of work at the beginning of the summer. When the Painter works a full week, I am at home all week with the kids. Weekends are a time when I can get a break from kid-duty, however, when the Painter is working on the weekend too...

We went on two weekends trips up to Washington. Once, for a Mariners Baseball game, second for a family visit. We enjoyed both trips and had a great time, however, there is just something that gets me down when I am away from home overnight. Partly because we are not at our home with our usual comforts, partly also because Owen is such a stinker when we go out anywhere, and partly because it is a lot of being out on the road.

My garden away from home...now this one is so bittersweet since I absolutely love to garden. There's no doubt. I take a huge amount of pride in my thriving growing vegetable garden. The unfortunate thing is that my garden is not at my home! It is in a borrowed space in the backyard of my sister's house (you can read about that in my previous post.) So, in order to tend to my garden I have to take a trip in the car, spend several hours there and then drive back. It's not just a quick step outside when I have the time. It has to be a planned trip every other day or so, during dinnertime or on the weekends.

Then there is my new working-from-home status. I've taken on the task of caring for two little girls, in my home, 4 days a week, from 7:30am to 4:30pm. Now, this is easy work, kind of like an extension of my own 2 children. Only, things I used to do during the day, I can not any longer do. Like go to the grocery store. Go to my garden. Go shopping or to lunch with my mother. Not to say that I couldn't go anywhere if I really needed to, because I can--I've got the car seats and the room in the van to accommodate us all. It is just very difficult getting 4 kids (a 6 year old, 2 two year olds and a 1 year old) into car seats, then into a store, back out again and all within nap and/or lunch times!

It boils down to these dismal stats... I have kids to care for all day, all week long, and then have to forgo free (aka kid-free) time; weekends are all full of trips, visits or necessary shopping; gardening has to be eked out of dinnertime; and the only free time I have is during the evenings IF I don't have to run errands.

Such a schedule is just not satisfactory for me, it's torture! No wonder I've been so cranky lately, I've felt the time crunch all too painfully. I don't know how you working people do it. You must have constitutions of steel!

Since I fully realize that I am just ranting and raving right now, I will stop now. This is me, this is my blog, these are my musings, this is my life.