The Days, They Fly

Right now, I should be starting a load of laundry. Or putting away the rest of the groceries. Or tidying up the remains of the day from the living room. Washing the dishes. Wiping yesterday's playdough project off the kitchen table. Calling the lady who e-mailed me two hours ago with the Subject: Call Me.

I should be doing SOMETHING.

Instead, I'm stealing a few moments to write here. Because if I wait until I have The Perfect Picture and The Perfect Story...well, I think we all know how that works out. My days are flying by. At times, the moments crawl...and then they don't. You know?

Last night, I put Ying Ying to bed around 9:30. Normal. I go in at 11 to feed her again before I go to bed. Again, normal. She's so used to it, she can eat in her sleep. Literally. But she decided to just snuggle in and get comfy. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. 48 minutes later, I'd had enough. My eyes couldn't stay open, I was falling over in my chair. Tears were running down my cheeks as my eyes watered and begged me to go to sleep. I pried her off, put her in her crib, and went to bed. Lo Gung was already asleep, and I followed him quickly.

The next thing I knew, it was light. Lo Gung was getting up to go to work. He was getting dressed. He was saying goodbye. "Goodnight!" I told him. He just looked at me. "Huh?" "Oh" I replied. "Goodnight!" He tried again. So did I. "Goodnight, honey!" Finally, when he turned around to leave after giving up, I realized...I don't know what I realized. But I suddenly knew that "goodnight" was not the appropriate response to this situation. I forced myself to wake up enough to get a "have a nice day!" out. Then, he turned and looked at me, confused. "Umm....did the baby wake up last night?" I was only marginally more awake...but...I thought...maybe?....no...uhhhhhng (why are mornings so early in the day?!) No! The baby DIDN'T wake up! How...odd. Combine that with an awesome workout this morning (hooray for Zumba!!) and a sunny day...I was positively giddy today.

Wednesdays are my longest working day of the week. Ming Wai has no school on Wednesdays (half day Kindergarten thing), so she spends the day with my Mom and her cousin. The rest of the elementary school gets out at 1, so I start teaching at 1. Four half hour lessons, plus one half hour group lesson. The baby, mercifully, slept in the Ergo carrier through two hours of lessons.

After the lessons, I spent an hour on the phone with every Fred Meyer, feed store and fishing shop in town, trying to locate a cheap source of live red wriggler worms. Why? Because my pet chickens need pet worms to eat. Duh. (It made total sense at the time...) (Nobody in town has them, except my Grange...and I don't love their prices. Oh well. Fishing season is coming soon, right?)

At 5, I threw Siu Jeun and Ying Ying into the car so I could go and pick up Ming Wai from my mother's. As I was leaving, my Dad came out to chat in the driveway. Mid-chat, he suddenly stopped and looked down at my head. "Hey! You have a lot of gray hairs!" Umm...yes. I got my first gray hair when I was 14, during a particularly stressful year at school. Let me just tell you now - I am not what you would call a Calm Mother. Thus, the gray hairs.

The day wrapped up with a date with my love. We drove down to our old neighborhood, about 15 minutes south of us, and went to one of our favorite pho places. We, literally, had the place to ourselves. On the downside, I felt remarkably awkward trying to discreetly feed my baby. Plus side - when I finished my glass of water, the owner could hear my ice hit the bottom of the cup, and was at the table instantly with a fresh pitcher of water.  That was nice.

And now...it's nearly 10. The groceries still need to be put away. The laundry still needs to be started. Writing about dinner has made me thirsty again. But, there will be a little record now. Proof that these days are coming, and going, just like they should. I am a mother to three now...and it's time to find my new Balance.