The big kids are at swimming and the little one is sleeping. I'm taking this time to chill out after a whirlwind of a couple of weeks.
Last weekend we surprised my sister with a baby shower. The shower itself was nice and quick. Later that evening we all went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. While there a man in the back started choking. I heard a woman say "Is there a doctor or a nurse?" and before I could even look towards the end of our table my SIL nurse was up and running. As was my husband. They moved tables out of the way, my SIL did CPR (it had progressed beyond a choking incident). He didn't have a pulse when she got to him, but he did when she left. He might not have much longer (he was pretty old and had parkinsons and other problems), but because of her he didn't die in a Chinese restaurant. And it was really because of HER. No one from the restaurant was over there to help. There was a family doctor there who walked over and then returned to her own table to finish her dinner. My SIL was amazing. But the really impressive part was that once the paramedics came and took over she didn't come back to the table. She stayed with the old man's wife and comforted her and explained what was happening. It would have been easy for her to stay with us, to stay with her baby, to do what the family doctor did and let someone else handle it. But she didn't. She saw what had to be done and she did it. She was truly amazing and I am so SO proud of her.
We got back from LI on Sunday and back to our routine on Monday. I missed yet another group run since I was in the car on Sunday. We had a busy busy week complete with a trip to the doctor and an x-ray. On Tuesday SkyWalker had an unfortunate incident with a hula hoop and another kid in gym class. The girls and I were at a park and had to rush to get him at school, bring him to the pediatrician, and then bring him to get an x-ray. Nothing is broken, and he's all better now, although he's milking it like crazy. It was a royal pain in the arse taking all 3 kids particularly since the girls and I still needed lunch (luckily I had packed one for the park so we didn't have to get Burger King). And I couldn't bring the girls into the x-ray room so SkyWalker had to go in by himself. I was right out in the hallway but I think a year ago he wouldn't have let me go. The X-ray woman looked at me with Chewie & SkyWalker in the double stroller and the Princess walking and said something like she didn't know how I did it with 3 so young. Is it really that uncommon to have more than 2 kids now? Whenever I have all 3 people look at me like I have a caravan... and then they ask if they're all mine and inevitably say "Wow you have your hands full!" Dear strangers: if you're going to say "you have your hands full" you better follow it up with "and you're doing a wonderful job!". Otherwise I don't need your comments. Anyway, I digress. It was a pain in the neck but we managed and they were all scared enough to behave beautifully. He couldn't go to school on Wednesday which meant he was at gymnastics again. This time he had to stay in the stroller with Chewie (I figured I wouldn't carry her in the sling if he was there with her). It was nerve wracking checking the waiting area all the time and relying on the kindness of strangers (the grandmothers there made sure they didn't get kidnapped), but we did it. He cried and screamed Thursday morning but he went to school. By then I was a big ball of stress.
My entire routine had been thrown out the window. And I *need* my routine! With Easter, and then traveling, and then the hula hoop incident, I was all out of whack. I haven't written an article in weeks, I don't have my preschool playdate planned, I had bills to pay! We went to the library Thursday morning--I know, why didn't I just stay home and get things done?--and I just let the stress go. The examiner articles are not a *job* with deadlines. They can wait. I have the preschool playdate mostly planned in my head just not on paper. I'll get it done. The thing that was really REALLY stressing me out was the clutter in my house. I don't care about the dust on my banister or that my bathroom is gross. But the kitchen was out of control. I had a huge pile of paperwork on the counter. The homework table was growing papers and playdoh and the kids' toys were just everywhere. So Thursday after lunch I put the computer to sleep and I attacked the kitchen. I did the paperwork and threw out stuff and sorted others and now have a pile down in the office that needs to be filed, but I'm okay with that. And once I got that done it was like a breath of fresh air. I know my house is not *clean*. But I really can't stand clutter. It makes me feel out of control. I would rather have dirty windows than papers piled up on the counter.
I'm hoping to get back into my regular routine next week. Actually as I type this I realize I probably won't... my routine is usually running MWF and article writing T/TH. But this week I might be running on Tuesday, so I have to run on Sunday just in case. Hmmm. Okay, well, in any event, poor innocent blog reader who has to read my thoughts as they actually happen, I hope to get back to some routine. Crap, yeah, I have an Earth day playdate on Thursday too and have to make magazine holders. Hmmm.
There's a rumbly in my tumbly and I hear a little girl stirring in her crib, so I will leave you with this: I registered for the 5K. We all know how cheap I am so I pretty much have to do it now right?
