A Totally Normal Monday

I very often write about my exciting and productive days. People get to hear about when I make fancy meals, and finish quilts, and manage to get my whole house cleaned. But what does a totally normal Monday look like for me? Observe:

8:30 a.m. - Obviously I stayed up too late last night watching Arrested Development... Besides the 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. feeds, this is my wakeup time today. What woke me up? Oh yah, a child that woke up crying. I guess my day officially starts now.
8:45 a.m. - One kiddo is still asleep, but the rest of us are dressed and downstairs, getting ready for breakfast (cold cereal today). I sit down to send out a few quick emails before child #3 wakes up: one to book a meeting about Sunday School, one about scheduling for Sunday School, one about repairs for my guitar so I can use it to lead worship in church on Sunday and I throw in a quick phone call to book a play date for this week.
9:30 a.m. - Little Dude finally wakes up. Man, he didn't even stay up for Arrested Development last night! While he eats breakfast I get the baby settled and list some household items on Kijiji, because I really don't need to hold onto a spare china tea set or a dress I'll never wear again. And I guess I should probably organize some of the pictures I put on my computer when I uploaded the pictures for Kijiji.
10:00 a.m. - Time to get these kids outside. What's that? The baby decides to wake up right as we're walking out the door? After committing all the time to getting sunscreen all over the other boys, I'm definitely going outside at this point. Let's see how long the little guy can stay happy while I plant my garden... Yellow beans, carrots, beets, peas, green beans, spaghetti squash..
10:45 a.m. - Done! And not a minute too soon... that little baby sure sounds grumpy now. And the older boys are done playing outside. Apparently 'outside' isn't that much fun when they know they're not allowed to dig through Mommy's garden. Well, maybe they can come inside now and we'll head out again later. They get a show inside, and I get to try to do more work. This time, going over the Sunday School budget, researching a curriculum and contacting our sales rep regarding a few questions.
11:30 a.m. - The rep is out of her office. I guess that means I have to put that on the back burner now? That's okay, I need to send out emails to my family regarding our vacation next month. Who is bringing what? Well, I guess we all know now that I sent out a comprehensive list!
12:15 p.m. - Little Dude is crying. Man, he's tired today! Good thing it's nap time. Oops - the kiddos got a bit more 'screen time' than I meant to give them today! I'd better get my eldest fed some lunch. Maybe some pasta? And maybe I should clean that kitchen while I'm at it. Clean dishes away, dishwasher emptied, dirty dishes put in... I figure I'll whip up a salad for myself for lunch. Drat. It's big enough that I opt to save it for supper. I guess I'll have pasta too.
1:00 p.m. - Oh yah. Laundry. Totally forgot! I'll throw the load that got washed last night into the dryer now and throw in another load in a bit. The baby is fussing again.
1:30 p.m. - A good time to check on my flyers and see what's on sale at the grocery stores this week. I glanced briefly when the flyers came on Thursday, but now I can't even remember what I circled. And I got an email saying Ricki's has a sale on dresses this week - a good thing too since I need one for my sister-in-laws wedding next month. Oh, and we might get a cargo box to go on top of our van... time to do a little comparison shopping online I guess.
2:00 p.m. - Suppertime is getting closer and I still don't have meat pulled. What goes well with that Santa Fe salad I made? Oooh - ribs! I've got a huge rack of them in my freezer and I bet it would fit in my stock pot. I love boiling ribs before I cook them - it makes them more tender. But given that little sun shower we're experiencing right now, I might be baking them instead of BBQing, so I'd best get them boiling now. Maybe when I'm in the kitchen this time I'll remember to put away that clean cake platter I've got on the counter...
2:45 p.m. - Baby's fussing again. Growth spurt or sore tummy? Not sure yet. Well, since I'm sitting down, I might as well go on Pinterest. There were a couple activities for the kids to do in the mountains on our vacation that I want to print off. And since I'm on the computer (and just remembered we'll be celebrating Father's Day in the mountains) I'd better make up a card for my husband and my dad from me. I'll read a sermon by Spurgeon about Fathers and find excerpts that depict both of them. That'll be nice :) Oh, and I managed to sit down with a coffee this time - lucky me!
3:15 p.m. - Little Dude is still asleep and the baby just spit up all over me. Like, record amounts. Time to throw in that other load of laundry apparently. That silly cake platter is still on the counter.
3:25 p.m. - Ah yes, I finally hear my boy waking up from his nap. Time to get him some food. And, incidentally, I started writing this.
3:45 p.m. - Round 3 of food fetching for my boy. And I'd better get that rib rack cut up and in a baking dish so I can get it in the oven for supper. Good thing I have some BBQ sauce in the fridge - totally forgot about needing that! And in between I'm going to help the older kid fetch toys, finish going potty and search for food himself. Oh, and I just remembered a work-related message I was sent today that I forgot to deal with - I'd best respond ASAP. And since I'm back on the computer I should check out what time the music store is open until tonight so I can drop my guitar off.
4:00 p.m. - I'm back to the kitchen attempting to clean. Why is this stupid cake platter still here??? I'll deal with that, but first I have to finish with the ribs and fill the sink so I can wash dishes. And I should put away the clean dishes. I just found the other two cake platters that go with the one that's taking up residence on the counter. Now they can all go away together... except the baby started screaming again. The older boys are drawing now so at least they seem happy.
4:20 p.m. - Okay! The baby is asleep! Let's get those dishes washed and FINALLY put those cake platters away. And clear the table while we're at it!
4:30 p.m. - Sigh. The baby is awake again. Not screaming yet though. But Little Dude has a dirty diaper. And I still have to plan the rest of supper. Good thing I've got another hour before Matt gets home - the boys are starting to make a mess and it's going to take some time to get all this put back together!

That brings me back up to present time (notice I started writing this at 3:25? Yah, there were lots of other little distractions I forgot about before I even sat down to write again...). I still have to research phone plans to help me decide what changes need to be made to our account before I phone the company over a billing error, I have to fold a couple loads of laundry that should have been folded over the weekend, I'll need to finish supper, eat supper, and then clean up from supper, and hopefully I'll get out tonight to drop my guitar off for repairs, drop my ring off for refinishing, take back a quilt to HomeSense that we've decided not to keep, and maybe try on some dresses at Ricki's.
Granted, every day has different tasks I need to take care of (Monday's housecleaning tends to be more about playing catch-up from the weekend than embarking on any huge tasks), but this is a pretty fair portrait of how a normal, tiny-bit frustrating and mostly scatter-brained day goes for me. I'd say out of a 5 day work-week, at least 3 of my days go like this.

And now you know how a totally normal Monday goes in our household.

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)