My Friday

Since we've been living with my in-laws, Finley's been sleeping very very little. Like three-hours-a-night "little." We've been trying to figure out the best place and way for her to go to bed each night and thankfully, by Thursday, we got a handle on her schedule.

Finley woke up at 5:30. It was my "turn," so I got up and brought her into the living room. When we came through the kitchen, my mother-in-law was already up. (Kristen's dad had left to hunt before 5, and my mother-in-law, who the kids call "Sugar," was still up.) Finley drank her morning cup of milk and then headed immediately for the large bathroom down the hall. I followed her, not knowing what was going on. Apparently, Sugar was back there getting ready and Finley was more interested in sitting with Grandma than with Dad. Sugar and Finley watched the Wiggles while Dad went online to check out "Bee Movie," which we were thinking about going to see later in the day.

Sugar headed to Wal-Mart at around 6:30 while Finley began her morning ritual of climbing on every single piece of furniture as she watched the Teletubbies. (Yes, Wiggles and Teletubbies in a one-hour time period. I may never recover.)

Jonah woke up just before 7am. I thought Kristen might be almost done sleeping, but as I walked past our room to get Jonah, I heard MASSIVE LOUD CRAZY SNORING emanating from my betrothed. Rather than risk her wrath, I decided to let her keep sleeping. Eventually, Sugar showed up with donuts, so I woke Kristen up. While the family devoured donuts, I grabbed and extra hour or so of sweet sleep. Who says Dad can't sleep in on his days off?

Once we all were up, we began the dance - who was showering when, deciding if somebody had already dressed Finley, making plans for the day. We made plans for lunch before Krist and her mom headed out to get a haircut.

I got dressed and tried to occupy the children awhile. (I like to "occupy" the children by allowing Finley watch hours of cartoons and letting Jonah play dozens of levels of Gamecube. Does that make me a bad father? No. It makes me a very smart father.)

We headed out about 11:15 and ran by the movie theater to check "Bee Movie" times before meeting the girls for lunch. We had lunch at Cheddar's then headed home for Finley's nap.

After Finley was down, Jonah chilled out while I....wait...what did I do? Oh, yeah. I slept. It was awesome. Kristen and her mom got back around 3 and dragged me out of bed. Jonah and I got ready and headed out to see "Bee Movie" at 4:30. It was great; when it was over, Jonah exclaimed, "I didn't have a favorite part, Dad. I loved all of it!"

We got back home around 6:15, ate some supper, bathed, read books and got both kids asleep eventually. At some point during the supper/bathing/books/bedtime ritual, Kristen looks over at me and says, "Oh. The carpet folks are coming tomorrow morning. We have to go rip up carpet at the new house tonight." I'd like to tell you that I smiled joyfully and responded as any upstanding, Godly, hard-working husband and father would in a similiar situation.

But that would be a lie. I got grouchy for just a minute, but Krist stopped me before I could really get going. In a voice that truly expressed the stress and agony of moving and still not being "moved," she said, "Please don't get mad about this." So I didn't. We drove out to the new house, but my parents weren't there, so we started looking for a tool or two to get the carpet up. Nothing. Finally, I grabbed one of their Ginsu knives and put it to the test. A few slices, and forty minutes later, the carpet and pad were in a dusty, nasty pile in the backyard.

My mom showed up during the job, so we talked a bit with her, then headed home. We stopped and filled up Sugar's car, then got back to the house. Kristen watched TV and bathed while I exercised. I got in, took a shower, finished this blog, and then went to bed.