Restless energy

I was at the school til 8 PM tonight. I was not alone. Most of the other teaching staff was still there as well. Just so many details to get ready for the first day.

I am home and full of restless energy. I should have gone for a walk but there were too many little things to do. Dishes were all over the kitchen from the supper I missed. Laundry from DS1 now that he is home again. Towels. Lord do my boys breed these things? Writing out the cheques for the boys. There will be fees of over $100 each when they go to register for school tomorrow.  Floors to sweep and counters to wipe. Paid a few bills online and filed those bills in my office in a box.

DS1 ended up working tonight. We didn't expect that. He wasn't even supposed to be home til tonight. I think BIL forgot that. He got paid and brought his cheque home. Handed it straight to me to see. Love that training is paying off. He will go deposit it tomorrow.

Garbage out. The few bottles/cans we had go in the recycling. Boys have their stuff at the door as DS1 will drive them over to register. I have to leave early as we are doing a breakfast for students/families before classes start. After school DS1 has hockey tryouts for the Junior A team. DS2 is looking forward to seeing his friends since he's been gone most of the summer.

Clothes for tomorrow are picked out and tshirts ironed. I swear they just shove them in their drawers. Llibrary books are in the vehicle so I don't forget to return them.

I feel like I'm already back on the wheel. trapped LOL

Here's to a night of no weird 'first day of school' dreams/nightmares.

Bought with airmiles

When I knew that DS was going to BC I checked out using Air Miles for the flight. There wasn't enough for both of them to go using the miles. I looked at hotels that were sponsered in the area but they were not well 'liked' in online reviews. I rented a car for them while they were there using the miles.

And while I was there I browsed other rewards I could redeem (read 'spend'). Some things are ridiculously prices in miles. Some things I'd never use.

But I DID find a couple things I spent my miles on.

I picked up HELLO Canada - 6 months, 26 issues, for 260 miles.

I also picked up Money Sense - 1  year, 7 issues, for 75 reward miles.

I have to admit, it was fun to spend :-)

Do you save your reward miles for flights, or use them on other things?

Back to school for the Money Tree Family

Well I start work today.Two days of meetings and then the kidlets start on Wednesday. And then the whirling treadmill begins again.

There is a whole ritual that I seem to go through for school start. Each year it gets refined a little bit, but the basics are always still there. It makes those first few weeks go so much smoother.

So for all of you who didn't realize how anal I am, prepare for TMI lol

Back to school routines:

• School supplies are bought, unpacked and put in backpacks by mid August
• Any new school clothes are bought and everything in their drawers and closets get sized and donated if too small
• Money jars are filled and budget/expenses are updated
• Vehicles are washed and cleaned inside and tanks filled. I made DS1 do this with his car before he left for BC hockey
• All bed linens are washed. Bedrooms are dusted and tidied
• Fridge is cleaned out and restocked with fresh fruits and veggies.
• Pantry is cleaned and restocked with basics
• Some meals are made ahead and frozen like stew, ground beef ready for spaghetti/taco/sloppy joes etc
• That miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen with pens and such is cleaned out and stocked with working pens and notepads
• Bathrooms are all cleaned.
• Recyclables ( bottles, papers, cans etc) have all been taken in.

• Garage is cleaned out (ish)
• I go through my clothes and give away some that are past wearing or I have given up on fitting me
• All the basics are restocked:toilet paper, kleenex, paper towel, cleaners, trash bags etc
• A roll of toonies and a bundle of $5 are in the drawer for the occasional days when I let the boys eat from the small cafeteria at school.
• My Mom's calendar is ready to go

My Last Day

of summer

I can't complain. I really can't. I get a long summer. but like everyone else coming off holidays, I have a last day before work starts. This is it. It feels very bittersweet.

I know getting back to routine is always good for me, but it does start to feel like a hamster wheel after awhile - and I am afraid to get off it without getting my foot caught in the spokes.

So I am curled up on my couch with fresh coffee in hand, watching an episode of Gail Vaz Oxlade on Slice tv, and plotting how to spend my last day.

I had 2 whole days alone - Thursday and Friday. DS1 was gone to hockey camp in BC and DS2 was at bible camp. I spent one long full day at school working and the other I spent shopping for household things and cleaning and laundry....updating budget and expenses etc.

It felt very luxurious being at home alone. Does that make me a bad mother?

speaking of bad mothers, when I went to pick DS2 up from camp yesterday I got there early. I know they are all busy wrapping things up so I stayed  in the parking lot with my window open and read so I wouldn't take away that last time from DS. I saw him way off but didn't say anything. He and his friends were sitting at a picnic table. Voices carry. I heard him say once "WHY WHYYYYYYYYY does my  mother have to be here?" Then again 10 minutes later I heard him, in response to someone, saying "well I want that to NOT be my mother sitting over there in the parking lot" There was such venom in his voice.  It hit my soul. I turned the vehicle on and spun out of the parking lot and headed back to the highway and just drove and cried til I could pick him up and not cause a scene there. He's never spoken like that about me (as far as I know). It was a very long hard day for the two of us. I felt hungover by supper with the emotional drain. I am not sure what I did wrong that he feels that way about me.

So today I can choose to spend time at home with DS2. head to the city with him to watch a movie. or go to the school.  I guess we will see how he feels when he wakes up.

I watched the memorial yesterday of Jack Layton, Leader of the Opposition. Another person (who happens to be a national politician) gone too soon. His son spoke, very well, as did his daughter. I am haunted by something they said....a quote from their father.

"You can wait forever for perfect conditions, or you can make the best of what you have right now"

on my bookshelf

Thanks to the inspiration of My 1/2 Dozen Daily,I thought I'd share what is on my bookshelf. (Note: by bookshelf I mean in the bathroom, on the floor of my bedroom, in the livingroom and in my suv.

I just finished this one. I had read a different 'knitting brings us all together' kinda book by Debbie Macomber but this one was different. At one point I was mad at a plot point and put the book away for a week, to ...........teach it a lesson I guess?  lol

I am reading this one for work. Just nicely started it.

I think I am the only woman on the planet left who  hasn't read this. I have trouble with these kinds of books. I feel like I'm supposed to DO all the things in the book and then tend to feel like a failure if I don't. I suspect that was not the intent of the author LOL

Sister #3 gave me this as an early birthday present. Looks interesting.