Rescued

Let's discuss Monday shall we?

Day started with me forgetting about a pretty important appointment.  I thought it was today.  Got a call saying this very kind, very busy man was waiting for me at the school to discuss my JP.  Nice.  Got there an hour late, but at least it happened.

Rest of the day is mostly a blur of catch up and frantic pacing.

Get home with two little boys who got so wound up they were literally running and screaming in every direction.  Phone rings... its the landlords.  They are in the process of getting the house de-leaded and certified.  This means we are getting a new picture window, front door and a few other new windows.  It also means that when this happens, we need to leave the premises for at least 48 hours.  Yesterday, when I answered the phone I was told that we would need to be out THIS Wednesday until Friday.  Mind you that during this 10 minute phone call, both boys were chasing me and SCREAMING, "I want to talk! Talk! Talk!  Its my turn!  I want to say HI!"  Over and over and over. 

Now, normally for a couple of adults this is no big deal.  But I also have a dog and three cats that need to find a place to stay.  Cats are easy, they're going to mom's house.  Clancy??  I think I'm smuggling him into the hotel room.  I have not a clue.  Its two nights, which isn't so bad.  Its the notice that stinks. 

Fine.  I needed to pack.  And clean.  And get things ready (furniture moved to center of rooms, nothing left out, toys packed up and put away).    Boys were placed in a bathtub of suds.  I grabbed the cordless phone and started calling parents and sister Kathy for ideas on how to tackle this.  While talking, I ran downstairs, grabbed clean clothes from dryer, started new load. 

In the time it took for this to happen, Seth had scaled the shelved in the bathroom (built-in wall unit thing), reached the TOP shelf and grabbed my makeup bag.  He and JP then proceeded to open every tube, bottle, compact and paint the tub and themselves.  This took around 5 minutes. 

My tub looked like the Clinique and Estee Lauder counters had a toxic melt down in my tub.  Lipsticks, foundation, mascara... it was everywhere.  I estimate the cost of these items to be around $250. 

Now, I really lose it.  Not in anger that they did it.  Well, a little.  It was everything piled on top of itself.  It was insanity in my house.  Boys were scolded and put in time out.  I call my mom again to vent a bit and then hang up to deal with boys who were now running naked through the house.  I honestly didn't know where to begin.  I reached for some clothes for them and Clancy starts barking.  The only time he barks is when someone is at the door.  Great!  Who the hell is-?

It was my mom.  And she was armed with a bag of popcorn and Grandma powers.  She sent me to do my chores and dressed the boys, she swept the floors, she did dishes, she helped clean their room and keep the little tornados under control.   

I got almost everything done.  Tub is sparkling clean.   Four loads of laundry washed, dried and put away.  Floors vacuumed, Seth and JP happily watching Shrek Christmas Special.  She was there maybe 90 minutes and I swear we did about a week's worth of cleaning. 

Amazing.  Simply amazing.

Thanks Mom.