just got back from errands with all 5 kids. what? am i crazy?

apparently, yes.

first we went to the teacher store and shopped for school stuff that i usually desire but cannot have. thanks to the charter school, i'm gettin it. it was really enjoyable to order the kids to pick a science project kit each. they're so used to 'frugality' that they were arguing over which one to choose until i gently reminded them, 'one EACH.' it was like christmas!

then we stopped by the library which i should remind myself is never really 'stopped by' because my kids are bookworms and i practically have to pull them by their hair to get them to leave. then i discovered that my library card wasn't in my wallet. oh yeah, i took it out when i went on vacation. then i discovered that a's card (which is the only kids card we can use because the other cards have large fines on them) has a book on it. still. i have no recollection of that book. which is rare because i always preview the books they choose and end up picking them up off the floor several times before we return them. so i can't remember turning it in. then, to make everything better, i TOTALLY FORGOT our stingy library only allows 30 books checked out per card. that's one week for s, LITERALLY (that's for you honey). so i made them all pare down their piles and they were practically weeping. 'not commander toad, mom! not harriet the spy! NOOOOOOO!'

(this is really making me grin).

then we went to costco. it wasn't my choice, but when you're out of eggs, milk, flour, toasted sandwich buns and cheese there's no better place to go. we stuck to the list, except when we saw a display of charming girls' knee high socks, striped like dorries. i lost $10 to that cuteness. we ate samples of gogurts, tang, chicken taquitos (which are never as delicious as my mom's), bread and nutella (the kids were in paradise by now), fruit snacks, and i don't know what else. oh, sorbet. it was a great lunch.

we left costco with a 200 pound cart and i opened the back of my sizeable suburban to find: a large cardboard temple which had been used for sharing time all month. a 3' pile of library books. 3 soccer balls. 1 beach towel (?). thank goodness, the stroller. a wild pile of clothes flung about from our mobile emergency clothing supply. bag of trash. hm. i stood there in the sun at the back of my car sorting it for quite a few minutes before i could get any groceries in.

finally home. blessed quiet time! i thank the original inventor and especially my mom who taught me about it. that is why i am free to spend my time journaling my blog instead of cleaning up last night's mess. which is another story.