Caitlyn Nicholas: Putting Wheels Back On

Monday, August 16, 2010

Putting Wheels Back On

What with conferences, a plethora of kids parties and school-y stuff thus far August has lurched along with much of my hard won organisation flushing itself down the toilet. What has surprised/dismayed/stunned (pick one or all) me the most is how fast the wheels fell off.

I was out-of-the-house busy from Wednesday to Sunday, missed making meal plans and shopping on Thursday. This led to three nights of take-away, everyone buying their lunches, scrounging to feed people over the weekend, and a heavy reliance on the egg pile in the fridge - which was great, but when you've not had time to make bread... sigh.

In my defence I tried to do the shopping on Sunday. Miss 6 had a party down in Mosman and I optimistically took myself to Mosman IGA. Ah ha. Ha, ha, ha. The. Prices.

I know they change the prices depending on the supermarket location but this was ridiculous. In the end I bought the ingredients for dinner (spag bol), some orange juice (Miss 4 has mouth ulcers, poor little mite, so am upping vit C) and some teabages (Nerada, not even the fancy pants Twinings ones - that were priced at $15.99, and are $9.99 in our Coles) and the whole lot set me back $54.

So, due to all the take-away and unplanned spending the budget has blown out. Thank goodness for Hubs who diligently kept the washing ticking over - though now there's a gigantic a clean clothes pile. No surface of the house is clear, and the kitchen is a disgrace.

Been to Coles this morning, and right now I am multi-tasking writing this and cleaning and redesigning websites, plus I've got an extra kid-free hour up my sleeve today. So am glueing the wheels back on. Slowly. And with much effort. Much as I enjoy being around people, I always find it really energy sapping, and today I'm tired and want to snug in bed, reading all the Mills&Boons I picked up at the conference. Yawn. Not be to though.

One thing the few days of chaos has reminded me of, is how I admire Mothers Who Work - full time, part time, anytime, anywhere. I mean, yes, I work - writing and homemaking - but its flexible, and I have a high degree of freedom. I do not have the pressure of working away from home, and ladies who do... I salute you.

:)