Pieces of Random

This extra half hour in the morning is intoxicating. Yesterday I could only manage to get up fifteen minutes earlier than my regular time. Today I was raring to go at 5 a.m.

The next time that I looked at the clock, it was 5:35. I had fed and watered the cats and cleaned cat litter. I had pulled out Tuesday Lunch Money for My Youngest (before he had to ask for it). I thought that I had done so much more. But the point is ... normally I am not even out of bed by that time. And I had already knocked a few items off the list of I-wonder-when-I-will-fit-this-in, into my day.

My mind was racing. What will I write about this morning (with this glorious extra half hour)? My new Daycare World? The fact that I should have money left over at the end of the bills for the first time since I restarted my daycare career ... worked for the school board ... worked as a bookkeeper ...? No! None of the above. This is the first time that I have been in the black since I went to school (no ... I was living off of a student loan back then). Okay, I've got it I haven't had money left over at the end of the bills since I last ran my daycare! I'm back, people. I am so back!

I talked with a friend in the aftermath of the two minutes synchronized napping period that happened here yesterday afternoon. I do not exaggerate. These are two of the text messages that I sent to the friend who called me - "2:10 and everyone is sleeping!!" (my last straggler had just closed her eyes); followed by "2:12 ... and Lucas is crying!" My friend called me at 2:16. Do you know what this friend told me after we chatted for a while (and I had two children who were already up from their naps)? "You sound so calm ... so happy". I simply replied, "I am ..."

This same friend asked me what I did to pass my time during the day. She also runs a daycare from her home and knows of the tedium that can happen within a career of child minding. A person must exercise their over-5-year-old skills regularly ... so she knits. She asked what I did. My answer (yesterday) was, "Well? I finally sat down and had lunch at 2:00". After Day #1 with my full-house of four-year-olds and under, I didn't have a spare moment (just wait a minute ... I did ... and I started my first chapter of our new up and coming Daycare A B C book ... I wrote the chapter entitled "A").

My nappers were all gradually waking up when my Second Son poked his head into the living room, flaunting a ham. He suggested that he would share it with us at supper time if perhaps I could make some scalloped potatoes. He obviously hadn't spent the day in my shoes. I could no sooner take the time to peel potatoes, onions and mix up a white sauce, than I could write the Great Canadian Novel in the midst of the aftermath of nap time. It was 5:35 when I wandered into the kitchen and said that I could possibly start making those scalloped potatoes now. Needless to say, My Youngest and I had a hamless supper.

More news on yesterday's front - our Senior Cat seems to be holding his own with his steroid regimen. He is not the frisky cat that he was before he got pneumonia but he is stabilizing. His fur is soft & shiny and he has stopped shedding. But I think that has something to do with ingesting 'gold nuggets' of "Medi Cal Gastro Intestinal" special cat food that our cats are feasting on, in an attempt to alleviate our Junior Cat's chronic diarrhea. They are eating this food like it is candy and they are both looking black and shiny and beautiful. I hope their 'insides' are looking as beautiful, happy and healthy as their 'outsides'. The long term cost is going to be as comparable as the gold wafer that my brother just bought for his daughter's 21st birthday ...

My time is up and the only other thing I can think that I was going to write about is the marvels of aging. There are few surprises for me in this area. My sisters are nine and eleven  years older than I am and I have been privy to many up and coming events because they tell me all about it before it happens to me. There have only been a few surprises - the receding hairline (apparently my brother and I are the only ones suffering this side effect of aging). And I have discovered one more thing. Those nasty black chin hairs that have the ability to grow to half an inch before you notice them??? They eventually turn gray (and have the ability to grow even longer). You know those pictures of people scratching their chin in an expression of earnest concentration? They are not thinking of anything besides "I wonder if I have any chin hairs today ..."

And on that note, I bid you adieu. Happy Tuesday ... may it be a hairless chin day for you all!!