1 am

Yesterday I got to play grown up for a little while.  My Norwegian neighbor (whose youngest daughter is Colleen's best friend), hosted a birthday luncheon for my French neighbor (who gives Colleen and Megan weekly art lessons),  I had an entire plate of food my kids would never touch, to include caviar, humus, and some other things.  Nothing that resembled a hotdog or chips.  All yummy.  And sherry and coffee to drink, and varied, exotic desserts.  All served on fine china with real silverware.  With no toys in sight.  No blaring teenager music.  No bickering kids.  It was fun.

Here I sit, with my face 6 inches from the computer screen downstairs, on my second awakening of the night.  I've been in with Mick twice because he has woken up crying.  Since his vocabulary is still extremely limited, and there are no signs of physical distress, I am thinking he's having bad dreams.   I have to leap from my bed as quietly as I can at the first noise from him so that the little princess who shares our room doesn't awaken.  Having forgotten to grab my pillow, in a search for something to lay my head on in Mick's bed (his face 3 inches from mine is not conducive to sleep), I found the big stuffed Shrek  in the closet, which Shane has claimed as his "own room", and where he is now sleeping peacefully in the toy box (lid off, of course!).  When the clock downstairs struck 1 am (marked by two chimes, since I messed it up last time I set it and now I have to subtract an hour if I am not looking at it to know what time it is), and I was itching all over because of some ant bites I got when I strung the Christmas lights in the bushes the other night, I decided to come downstairs and take some benadryl.  Descending the stairs, I noticed that the front door was wide open, and every single light was on.  Every one.  Anyone who drives by our house between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am probably thinks we never sleep.  One day we will have to pay for our electricity.  I have got to train these kids better! Molly forgot to do the kitchen cleanup AGAIN.  She and Katie have alternate nights to do this chore.  The kitchen is a wreck, and I could be fixing it, but I think I am going to try and catch some sleep on the couch before the next interruption.  Molly has drill in the morning, and I will undoubtedly hear her combat boots (yes, my daughter wears combat boots) on the stairs around 5:45, at which time I will gently remind her to do the kitchen before she leaves.  I already know it will be a delightful start to my day............