On September 10, Glenn left for a 9-day trip to Alaska to hunt caribou. I am going to make him guest post here very soon and overload us with pictures of Alaska and all of his adventures. In the meantime, I kept a running diary of the events that were happening while he was gone. It started off as a way to assign him demerits that he would have to make up for when he got back, but suprisingly, everything went pretty well and I have nothing err, very little to complain about. Dear Glenn:
Thursday: You left in the wee hours of the morning and I was successful in getting everyone dressed, lunches made, and all of us out the door in a reasonable amount of time. I did sashay into work an hour late but those are just minor details. After work, the kids and I went to the annual Montessori family picnic. You called while we there and several other parents overheard me (jokingly!) ask if you were having dinner at a strip club in Anchorage. I'm not sure how that will affect our reputation. It could go either way, really.
Friday: (We recently decided to hire a housekeeping service to come over twice a month. Friday was their first day) You should have seen this house after the cleaners were here. It was gorgeous! They did a great job with the details, stacking books, cleaning off tabletops, throwing away the little tiny pieces of paper that seem to rapidly reproduce in our house. It seriously looked like we never lived here. I seriously thought about finding a way to keep the kids out of the house until you come home. Next Friday.
Saturday: We all woke up early (of course!) and met up with Vicky at the Farmer's Market. We picked out some great peaches and a few other odds and ends. When I got back home, the kids were a little quiet and when I felt foreheads, I knew why. Both of them were running fevers. I missed you very much at that point.
Sunday: The Pauley Grandparents were at the house to help out with the workload and it was very much appreciated. They left after lunch and I looked forward to a chance to nap while both kids napped. Here's how that worked.
1:00 p.m. Reina falls asleep
1:30 p.m. Will is talked into a nap and heads to his room.
1:31 p.m. Reina wakes up screaming.
1:32 p.m. I take Reina downstairs in the hopes that she'll fall asleep on my lap while I'm watching football.
1:33 p.m. The football game is so stressful/exciting/irritating/frustrating/disappointing that the pounding of my heart and a few well-placed cuss words prevent Reina from feeling drowsy.
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. I wrestle with Reina to get her to fall back asleep. I include threats, intimidation and reasoning as techniques to get her to sleep. Reina is 19-months old and hardly speaks English. My techniques do not work.
3:31 p.m. Bored of fighting with me, Reina falls asleep.
3:33 p.m. Will wakes up crying. Loudly.
3:35 p.m. Reina wakes up.
3:36 p.m. I give up.
Monday: Aunt Vicky and I decide to take the kids to Fort Collins after work to visit some of our favorite grocery stores and eat something yummy for dinner. The trip goes pretty well until I get home. It's about 45 minutes after bedtime and I still have to bathe both kids, unpack groceries and watch the Rockies game. I only have myself to blame but it was a pretty frantic few minutes there. I did manage to get both kids cleaned up, but while I was bathing Will, Reina fell asleep on our bed and stayed there all night. As Will would say, we're having a sweepover!
Tuesday & Wednesday: I get up late, make kids lunches, drag everyone to school, go to work myself, work, go for a jog over my lunch hour, return to work sweaty and try to hide in my office the rest of the afternoon, pick kids up, try to survive the evenings. I have lots of help from grandparents and aunts and it actually goes pretty smoothly. But I am tired of bathing people and making lunches. I'm starting to count down the hours until you get back. This whole parenting things is really affecting my ability to lay on the couch and watch the Rockies' games. Will says that Daddy is far, far away and states emphatically that you are coming back and bringing him a present. I make a note to remind you to pick something up in the airport on Friday.
Thursday: I make it to work relatively on time. Pick up kids after work and go to the first MOPS meeting of the year. Will's not a big fan of the MOPS meetings but he does alright as long as he can be in the same playroom with Reina. I check on them at one point and they are sitting side-by-side eating dinner and just talking to each other. Awwww, that makes my heart warm. Except to think of them in the future, not having any friends, only hanging out with each other, and being known as "those weird Pauley kids." We might have to work on that.
Friday: It's Friday! You are coming home today! To celebrate, the kids and I have pancakes for dinner and everyone goes to bed without baths. I plan on not changing any diapers, making lunches, or bathing people for the next 10 days. Welcome home, honey! 
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