Day 9 - to the beyond!

Day 9 - How you hope your future will be like...

Depending on what I'm doing - this can change daily.

It's almost like a bad scrubs episode.

Scenario 1:
Being Single

I wake up at my quaint little house.  It's time for a morning run.  I call my dog, Udo, the Weimaraner.  I feed the chinchilla (he's sleeping now) and we are out the door.  Jogging around my neighborhood (because I'm in like the best shape of my life for a 45 year old).  I stop to talk to some neighbors.  They're always so sweet. They ask about work, my dating life, and then invite me over for dinner- which I graciously accept.  They shout to bring my signature dish (a dessert of some type) as I jog off.  Udo and I get home, I feed him and then grab my lab coat and bolt out the door.

I park right in front of this large skyscraper downtown.  My parking spot has my name on it (heck, yeah!).  The corridor is beautiful with fountains and polished tile floors.  I wave over at the front desk.  She picks up the phone and says to the receiver "that's right, she's coming now".  Walking down the hall in my coat and briefcase, I keep gazing at my watch.  Even in my future (that's right!), I'm never on time.  I walk into the board meeting and sit.  I'm not uber late- just a few minutes so I don't even make a big stir when I walk in.  The speaker introduces me and I open my briefcase and begin my presentation.

Following my presentation, I receive an applause.  As people file out, a few stop to specifically tell me 'wonderful job' and such.  I feel such accomplishment.

After work, Udo and I head over to the dog park.  We play catch for awhile then I let him jump in the lake.  We get into my baby SUV and are off, mud and all.  I drop Udo off at home and head off to spend some time with the girls.  Children at heart, we meet up at the arcade for a drink (non-alcoholic) and play games for about an hour.  One needs to leave to get to her kids, the other has another meeting, and the last two just decide it's probably time to head home for early meetings tomorrow.  I glance at my watch and realize, once again, I'm late too and hit the door.

I stop by a sister's house and drop off a box.  She says something like, "awesome, this will really be of help!".  I stop by one other sister's house with some brownies I made the day before and say "happy birthday!"- you know, I visit teach her.  Plus, I remembered her birthday because I'm a GOOD visiting teacher.

Finally, I make it to my destination.  It's one other person's house, I sit on a chair in the back of the living room.  They're closing the discussion to the book we're reading and discussing a possible movie night.  One woman turns around and we laugh about my tardiness.  I hang out for about a half hour or so and enjoy the snacks.

It's pretty late by the time I get home.  Udo is snuggled up on the couch as I catch the last of the news.  I walk over and pull my recipe for the dinner thing later.  Sitting down, I eat some late dinner and write down a shopping list.  I get ready for bed.  As I'm reading, Udo jumps up and curls into a ball on the other side of the bed.  I put down my scriptures, set my alarm, and turn off the light.

Scenario 2
Mom

*RING*, crap- it's time to get up.  I quickly put on some clothes and pull my hair back into a flip and run down the stairs.  Eggs on, cereal to one place, toast to another, etc.  I put some cheerios on the high chair and get down and smile at my 1 year old.  He smiles back and then throws a cheerio at me.  I call up the stairs that breakfast is ready.  I can tell by the 'thumps' on the stairs who is first: the barely teenage daughter, the 11 year old son, 6 year old son, and finally the dad.

The teenage daughter sits down and yawns- she rolls her eyes at me as I put her plate down.  The older boy has his head down on the table and mumbles a 'thank you' as I place his food next to his head.  The little boy is wide-eyed and bushy tailed.  He hasn't stopped talking since the top of the staircase but no one is really listening to him.  Adjusting his tie, hubbie sits down at the table.  I greet him with a smile, a quick kiss, and a bunch of food he doesn't really want to eat (cholesterol and all).  When dad clears his throat, everyone sits up and we say a prayer.  The baby now threw a cheerio at dad and he stands, picks him up, and gives him a big hug.

As everyone leaves for school and work, it's time to get busy again.  After cleaning from breakfast (thank you dishwasher!), the baby plays with some pots and pans while I sit at the table and scribble a shopping list.  Scooping the baby up, it's time to go for a meeting!

Getting into the baby SUV (I'm determined to have one), the dog (a springer spaniel) jumps up and sits next to the carseat.  We go over for a 'mommy and me' morning activity.  The kids play together and I listened to the speaker.  We each tried to make the craft- mine turned out- ok, I guess.  The 'super mom' perfected hers and the mom next to me and I kinda laugh at it.

After class, the baby and I go grocery shopping.  It's fairly eventful trying to stay out of people's ways with our cart, blocking 'grabby' hands, having a near toddler meltdown I wasn't quite ready for and then a poopie diaper just after stocking up on the frozen foods threw me for a quick loop.  After paying and getting in the car, I scold the dog for trying to sniff the food, mostly for fear she would pull something out and eat it.

Returning home, I turned on the oven and started on lunch.  Baby had some fruit, more cheerios (his favorite- they were actually toddler puffs anyway) and a protein drink, I made myself a quick sandwich.  Making dinner and placing it in the oven covered and on superlow, I had other chores to get to.  I put the cranky baby down for a nap and then started sewing.  I was slowly working on a dress for the teenager, I had to fix dad's pants because he's always putting holes in them somehow, and I needed to look up easy ways for a 2nd grade science project ideas.

The teenager came home.  I made her a quick snack.  She slammed everything down on the table.  I asked how her day was and she put on her headphones- it's going to be a long few years with this one.  She picked up her phone with one hand and the snack with the other.

The baby started to cry, I picked him up and brought him to the living room, just behind the baby fence.  Poor thing, he hates it- must feel like a jail cell.  His little pouty eyes are heartbreaking.  I hand him a toy and he plops down right there.

As the 11 and 6 year olds gets home, I have them and the teenager start on their homework as I continue dinner.  I help the 11 year old as much as possible, but even his math and science are getting out of my reach.

Basic dinner is completed, I hand out plates and the children set the table the rest of the way.  We say a prayer and eat.  Dinner ends abruptly, as usual, because we have activities to get to.  First, I drop the 6 year old off at soccer practice.  Next, the 11 year old goes to some sort of band instrument instruction.  Finally, the teenager needs something from the store for her activity later this week and we make a quick trip to Walmart.  I look at the time and pick the kids up in backwards order as instrument practice isn't as long as soccer practice.

Getting home, hubbie is watching the news.  The kids scatter- the teen to her room, the boys to the table for more homework and the baby walks/crawls over near dad, 'hiya champ!'  picks him up and holds him in his lap.  I fix dinner for him and clear a spot at the table for him.  The boys have moved on to the living room and are fighting over the remote.  Baby is in the high chair with a snack and I sit and have a salad with my hubbie. We talk about his day at work, I talked about the 'super mom' and her stupid amazing way to get everything perfect.  He tells me not to be so hard on myself.  I smile and tell him the same thing.  We share a quick kiss then dad calls everyone together in the living room.

He pulls out his big scriptures as I put the baby to bed, and we each take turns reading.  The six year old stumbles over the majority of the words, but is able to repeat well.  After reading, the 6 year old (his turn) and I say a quick prayer over the snack.  We all gather back to the table and sit down together for a 'midnight' snack at 8:30pm-ish.  I made it when beginning dinner prep earlier in the afternoon, but dad leads a family discussion on everybody's day- one good, one bad, one need to work on concept.  Asks anyone if they have any major struggles, asks if anyone has anyone that we need to pray especially for, and lists activities and schedules for tomorrow.  We say family prayer and the kids head off to their rooms.

Hubbie and I sit at the table awhile more and discuss if we have anything to worry about currently.  We go back to the living room and watch 'our series' on TiVo.  I sit on his lap in his big easy chair.  Cuddled together, we talk about the characters in the show and joke back and forth.

When the show ends, we go to the bedroom.  The baby stirs and dad goes to check on him.  He's ok though.  He comes back and snuggles up under the covers.  He puts him arm around me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight dear", "Goodnight sweetheart".

There are bunch of different scenarios including: the parents, living in a box, 'going rogue' style where I live off the land with hubbie, single adoptive mom, life partner (not quite like that, but having housemates), single widowed mom, and a few more that I can't think of currently.  These take awhile to write though- and read I'm sure, so I'll leave it at these two.  I think they cover a good array of things...