WITL 2018 - Thursday

So, Fun fact --- the time is wrong on my camera--- possibly from my trying to upload photos yesterday.  So many (but not all) of these photos are time stamped to maybe four hours earlier (so like 2:48am instead of 7:48.... it is mysterious). Therefore it will be a bit less precise today. 

7:48am - E is dressed with his now WAY too small Mario costume on top.

7:49am - M is doing chores - vacuuming (RIP Robby) and B is doing dishes (again). 

8:02am - M heads to be bus stop early after giving Moose his walk.  Her friend Clara is sometimes waiting early so they use the time to talk.  The cookies are for the Janitors as the parade of cookies and teacher gifts continues. B & E's teachers' got drink gift cards today and B delivered cookies to his two other teachers (he rotates rooms) and to the art teacher. E brought a present for the Pre-k cafeteria worker. 

8:29am - Car drop off line with E... who may be picking his nose? and is kind of over photos. 

9:02am - my desk - new this year - double monitors -- always, double phones, double headphones, double keyboards, double mice, etc... It takes a lot of technology for me to make telecommuting seem easy. (Hint: It isn't always easy and when the technology doesn't work it can be quite a mess... but for this day it is fine).  Also my work buddy - Moose-- he spends my work day taking a series of naps, but picked a good lighting spot today. Oddly, he almost never takes his naps in my office.  This may be because when he was a puppy there was a pen right where he is napping in this photo--- so perhaps we've trained him to do a few things. 

12:48pm - Urgent care--- I finally accept that this cough is never going away on its own.  I got oral steroid, and antibiotics, and a cough medicine that makes me too sleep to work. (Note from the future: I was back at Urgent Care Monday for more medicine as I still didn't manage to shake the cough enough to work.)  I am not great at going to the Doctor, but I am obsessive about being able to do the best job possible while in DC so I fought really hard to eliminate this cough before getting on the plane. 

3:21pm - picking up E from school--- After roughly 11 years of picking kids up from school/child care in the afternoon we are entering the last few weeks of this being an every day routine as next year all three will generally ride the bus. (If all goes well...)

3:26pm Every two months since October we've gotten a Butcher Box shipment. I added a couple more things this month so now it is in two boxes? It isn't cheap, but the meat tastes delicious and I feel better about helping small(er) farms and more sustainable agriculture. It also means that this is most of the meat we'll be eating so less need to run to the store. 

3:50pm - M & Clara getting off the bus and B and Gibson walking home. 

Here, I think, M is deciding that she wants her chore to be making baked potatoes for dinner. Random, but tasty!

4-4:30 - These are the photos from that magic window of time after they get off the bus where I hear their stories, go through their back packs, talk about home work and activities, and generally we just hang out and eat snacks.  This window is made possible by my weird work schedule and I so cherish it as I know it may not always be there, but is a trove of information and quality time. 

5:14 - What happens after that magic time is swimming (for B) and chores for those that haven't finished them yet--- E is not handling chores well lately because he "doesn't want to do ..." insert whatever a chore is. It is very frustrating for everyone. 

5:52pm - M's last regular Girl Scout meeting of the year - complete with final camping plans and lessons.

7pm - B is home from swimming and Moose is very happy to see him.

7:01pm - E is getting electronics time.  I usually do yoga or some sort of exercise during Girl Scouts and cook dinner with Brent. 

7:29pm - Girl Scouts is ending with a friendship circle and everyone saying something they were grateful for this year.

7:54 - Dinner included hamburgers (because the Butcher Box arrived) and baked potatoes (because M made them).  Brent had to leave for dorm night before dinner was over as sometimes happens, but the rest of us carried on.

8:46pm - M snuggling moose before bed.

8:46pm E taking his anti-biotics

8:47 Moose watching everyone head upstairs as he watches from below. This also shows the disaster that is the crafting table in the background.

8:49pm - M is finally in bed-- the delay was mostly reading and getting everyone through dinner and baths that didn't even start until after dinner.

8:53pm - E being weird.  This is a normal part of bedtime and possibly why it takes so long.  
Even B is tired and slowed to a stop putting on his ointment.

After that, I read and check my social media before bed and begin shutting the house down.  I'm actually in bed before Brent gets home around 10:30, but glad to talk to him for a bit as we wind down the day.