mopping the floor

Today was one of the worst I've had in a long time.

Yesterday I got released from my calling at church to work with the youth....I have been serving in that capacity for nearly two years....and it was so hard to give it up. It has become a part of me and I have grown to love the girls that I've been working with so dearly. I felt more love for them yesterday as my service was ending then ever....so it was sad to let it go. But, at the same time, as I sat down last night to plan out the week I felt pretty darn free and I had a great time thinking about all the things I could get done without the responsibilities of that calling on my plate. I went to bed all ready to have a perfect week....to get a huge long list of things done and to be a star mom while doing them.

However, I woke up and got stuck on the first thing on my to do list: find airline tickets for summer travel. I spent the morning rushing back and forth between the computer and needy kids......none of the sites seemed to be working right, I couldn't find the flights/deals/airlines I was looking for....the kids spilt OJ and cream all over the kitchen and decided to "clean it up" which somehow involved many of the kitchen towels and getting it all over in their freshly cleaned hair...... after hours of deliberation about the flights and totally neglecting the kids I finally settled on dates and times and flights....only to find that the fares kayak.com were advertising really didn't exist on Delta after all. Totally frustrated, I took a break from the Internet frenzy to feed the kids Mac and Cheese while they were in the tub. Then, since they were playing so nicely in the tub I decided to go and to make the flights work.....I heard them splashing upstairs, having a riot.....and then, suddenly I heard dripping....a lot of dripping, in fact, it sounded like it was raining inside! I ran into the kitchen and it LOOKED like it was raining inside. I ran to the basement to find the wet vac and it was raining down there as well. I rushed up the stairs to find the kids squealing with delight as they threw cup fulls of water out of the tub to "kill the monster!" There was a few inches of water on the bathroom floor. I was frantic. The kids kept laughing.....I think seeing me that frantic kind of scared them, and the only thing they could think of to do was to laugh.....strange but true. I scolded them and told them that the house might fall down (I know, I know, great parenting....sadly, it's really what I said).

As I vacuumed up water and laid down all the bowls and towels in our house to mop up the kitchen and contain all the drips I heard Hazel upstairs crying that she was scared. I ran back upstairs and assured her that mom was only joking (a really bad joke), that the house wasn't going to fall down.....just maybe the kitchen ceiling....but that it would be ok....dad was a good fixer guy (and I hate that ceiling anyway!).

So, not a great day. At all. And I didn't handle any of it with grace. I'm working on that.

Our house now reeks of old wet plaster and our kitchen ceiling is kind of buckled and discolored in spots.....

As I put the kids down I asked them about their happies and sads....they both reported that their happy of the day was throwing water out of the tub.....luckily they reported their sads to be that it made a big mess. I guess they just couldn't deny how much fun they had had.

I'm sure that that fun wasn't worth the chaos it created.....but:

at least our bathroom floor has been thoroughly mopped.....it is cleaner than it's been in years.....

at least those "monsters" didn't get the kids while they were in the bathtub....

at least jeff came home just in the nick of time....to save the baby from her screaming while I finished up with delta....to clear the kitchen floor of towels.....to save my sanity.....

at least I got our summer travel all booked (I HATE Delta airlines).....

And, at least I can start all over again tomorrow. Thank goodness for tomorrow.