Monday...

So it is Monday again, the 2nd week of school. Have I lost my mind yet - the quiet is so overwhelming. Nope - just checked in and I haven't lost my mind yet. I am still getting use to and enjoying the calm and quiet.
Jilly is so much fun to have alone. She just toddles after me while I am doing things. Sometimes the joy is just too much for me. Today I was trying to fold clothes. She can unfold them faster than I can fold them! Ok - so take her off the bed while I am folding and let her cruise around the floor. So she takes things off my shelf (t-shirts, pajamas) faster than I can run over to her.. Ok another disaster, but nothing like the bathroom every morning.
Derek and I have to tag team shower these days. Normally we shower together - saves water and we can talk. Now, since Jilly gets up when we do, we have to tag team so someone can keep an eye on distructo-girl. One morning, though, I had to shower alone - Derek was gone. That was a horrible disaster! See Derek hasn't put the baby locks on the lower cabinets in the bathroom. I didn't realize how fast a 1 year old could empty a cabinet or a drawer (motherly forgetfulness - I should remember since I have had 2 before!).. So by the time I got out of the very fast shower, my under sink cabinet was half emptied and the cat drawer was pretty well empty too. Note to self - don't shower while baby is in the room!
So today is week 2 of trying the Fly Lady's approach to house cleaning. For those who don't know what this is, she recommends separating your home in to different areas or quadrants. Clean an area a day and by the end of the week, the whole house is clean.
This type of cleaning goes against my better nature - your house is never 100% clean at any one time, which is weird to me. However, it goes with my nature of simplyfing and not spending my entire Saturday cleaning the house.
Last week I tried doing this type of cleaning and got off track so I ended up doing a couple of days of cleaning on one day. This defeated the purpose. So back to week 2.
Successfully in a 30 minute span I stripped our bed, cleaned the toilet, scrubbed the bottom of the shower, cleaned the sinks, counters and mirrors, then vacuumed the master bath, bedroom, landing and 2nd landing. WOW this is easy. I even put the sheets in the washer and started dinner in the crock pot.. Wow if I keep this up, someone might really take me for domestic or something crazy like that!
It did feel good to get a lot of the work done in a short period. Let's see how tomorrow AM goes...

Monday is by far not my favorite day of the week. Not only is it the first day of school each week, but the afternoons are INSANE! I pick up the kids at 3, get home by 305 and send Jerrika up to do her reading. In the 30 minutes of reading that she does, I have to read to Jonathan for 20 minutes, wrestle Jillianne and make Jerrika's dinner. Oh and keep Jilly out of trouble.
At 350 (ya right about now) I need to have her dressed and ready to leave for cheer. She has her private tumbling lesson from 430 to 5. Today she wasn't fully ready to leave when it was time, but we finally got out of the door.
We got to the gym and she did her private - she is having a mental block again, so it was tumbling, cry, tumble, freeze.. It is a very frustrating bit for me - we had a mental block 2 yrs ago in Memphis, then again last fall and again this spring. I totally don't understand the mental blocks - why they happen and what makes them go away. Deborah is AWESOME and helps her get through it though.
Jonathan gets very bored at the gym because he can't go on the floor. Next week we're going to have to figure out a different approach for him. I bring toys but he needs to get energy out.
Jillianne is very busy all the time, so it is hard to have her at the gym, but we get through it. Everyone loves her and she goes around for loves from different parents.
Finally after Jerrika's private and talking to her while she eats, we leave and come home. Jilly is pretty well done by then. Luckily I had dinner in the crock pot today. Derek heated up some left over rice and dinner was ready! This was a new recipe - brisket marinated in beer. It was a bit different tasting, but very good. I do love my crock pot!!!