Old Habits

Know what I'm doing? That's right. Procrastinating. I have done nothing to get ready to leave on Friday morning. Instead, I've played with band pictures, surfed the web, played pinball (something I haven't been doing for a couple weeks), ate too much, read and done just about anything besides laundry, housework and packing. I have no explanation for this other than it's what I always do. Thank goodness I work well under pressure. Even the few things that I could not avoid doing failed to motivate me.

Sadly, our house looks particularly horrendous right now. It always falls apart when I'm busy, so it's no surprise, but what crappy timing. Of course, crappy timing is also one of my specialties, so that too is no surprise. I would really like to be surprised right now, since the norm is so substandard.

I really need to work hard today and not put it all off until tomorrow. The kids are out of school tomorrow, and that always makes for terrible productivity on my part. The main reason I decided to be a stay at home mom was to spend time with my kids and be a mom for them rather than play the maid/housewife/cook role. So when the kids are home, I don't get a lot of chores done. Generally that's a good habit, but at times like now, it's not so great. As long as it doesn't rain, I can send them outside with some bubbles and fun toys and hope they don't get in any fights.

My kids don't really fight too much, and they never get physical. I think I have the age difference to thank for that most of all, but I have to take a little credit. I get lots of compliments on the behavior of my children, in particular their ability to get along and to care for one another. Still, they do have their differences, and they are becoming more pronounced as Hammy gets older. It's not cool to hang with your Kindergartner sister, especially when you want to do things that aren't safe for a five-year-old. So I'm hoping Hammy will be cooperative and helpful for me tomorrow, so I can get things done.

One of the things we have to do tomorrow is take the dog to the kennel. This will be her first kennel experience since being at the Humane Society. The kennel is a big farm with lots of individual running space for the dogs, complete with a spa and activities. I think Kaiya will have a blast, but I still worry about her, and I will miss her that one night we spend without her. This is a nice trial run before we have our week vacation in May. I hope she does ok and has a good time but not so good that she doesn't want to come home.

The cats should be quite fine at home with a massive pile of food, big bowl of water and freshly changed litter pan. I'm sure they will be content with full run of the house and no big beast to follow them around and sniff their butts at every opportunity. It's their vacation of sorts. We will probably kennel them for the first time this vacation. We hate asking our friends to be responsible for them. I know I never mind helping out my friends, but it's still a pain in the ass to have to visit every day, and I don't want to put them through that. The kennel lets your animals have together time if you want, but I don't know the cats would appreciate that. They will probably find a hole and not come out until we come back to get them. I could put them in this time as well, but that would mean a vet visit today or tomorrow for both of them, and I don't think that's going to happen. I use the excuse of having indoor only cats to be tardy in getting their shots each year. We don't need the expense right now.

And speaking of expenses, good lord! Even though we don't have to pay federal taxes, we do have city taxes to pay, and it's quite a hefty sum. Then there's a timing chain that needs replaced in the truck and tires too. In fact, one is looking a bit flat right now, so we aren't going to be able to put them off any longer. The dent in the back will have to wait until after vacation. Vacation is another expense. We owe half of our payment on the house and payment for groceries. The kids need spring and summer clothing, because they've both been growing like crazy, and I could use a few shorts that fit me, since I grew in a different way this winter. I still have to buy my grandma a birthday gift too. I really need to plant a money tree while I'm doing my other gardening. We could use it.

All gardening is going to have to wait until I get back at which time I need to go all-out nuts and revamp this yard. I hate it, and that needs to change. I did manage to plant the bulbs I neglected all fall and winter long, and some of them are doing quite well. We'll see how many survive. Some I didn't even bother planting (about 6) because it was obvious by their squishability and dark coloring they had not survived.

I am totally procrastinating here. Why don't you tell me to get busy?