Me and Bear Grylls.....or, The Adventures of a Temporarily Single Mom

So tonight, of all things, Aaron and I conversed on the phone about Bear Grylls.

With a very short amount of time left before our daily phone calls will cease, this was our subject of conversation. One child was asleep on my lap, the other two were nestling themselves into bed, and last week's episode of Man-vs-Wild was on my tv. Aaron had watched it last week; I catch the last 15 minutes of it when it's a

week old.

Thus are the adventures of a temporarily single mom.

Aaron often wonders why I yawn all the time on the phone and why I say it's so hard for me to get up in the mornings. He doesn't understand why I don't cook the elaborate meals like I do when he is home. He balks at me not being able to keep up with the one television show that I am semi-addicted do (currently, I'm two weeks behind; no worries, though, thanks to Hulu). He scolds me for not blogging every single day.

And he is not the only one. My students know better than to bug me about when I'll grade their papers and hand them back. Some girls in one of my classes had been bugging me since the start of school to read a book they were crazy about.....I finally did, on the plane two weeks ago.

Now, I may not be busy gallivanting across the globe, biting the heads off fish I caught with my bear hands from some Scottish river or cutting the skin off a dead seal only to wear the skin as a shirt for warmth. But I've got some daily adventures of my own, although I've yet to field off phone calls from the Discovery Channel.

Take this afternoon, for instance. Since leaving school at 2:45, I:

- spent 30 minutes at the dentist (cavity free, but my new daily cup of morning coffee is staining some of my teeth. darn.)

- aptly ignored each and every one of Reagan's questions thrown my way while the hygenists' tools were in my mouth. Good thing I got to bring my children along to entertain the dentist's staff.

- waited on two trains to cross my path on the way to the sitters'. Luckily, the trains knew that I am into multi-tasking, for they both went by at the same time. Taking a hint, I grabbed the newspaper on the seat beside me and made my grocery shopping list for the week.

- somewhat illegally had to cross the railroad crossing with the cross guards still down. All is well.

- picked McK up from the sitters and politely turned down her request to have a sleepover with all of her little friends there. I love it that my 4-year old does not yet know that my "maybe" really means "uh, no".

- got the mail. Nothing exciting.

- took the trash to the curb. Extra large pile, since I forgot to do it last week. Whoops.

- let the dog in to play with the girls when we got home. Haven't done that for the past 2 nights. Whoops.

- started a load of laundry produced by a child who peed the bed last night. That hasn't happened in a while, and I most certainly did not miss it. I hate pee sheets.

- fixed supper for a friend and her little man who came over for dinner. Crispy chicken and fried potatoes. McK helped to peel the potatoes....kind of. She quickly learned that aiming the peelings onto the floor instead of into the trashcan results in a happier dog.

- helped K finish up her book report (while cooking dinner).

- clipped coupons from the Sunday paper (while cooking dinner).

- cleaned off the kitchen table (while cooking dinner).

- sewed up a hole discovered in a favorite stuffed animal (while cooking dinner).

- swept up the kitchen floor (while cooking dinner).

- supervised R's homework (while cooking dinner).

- had dinner with my offspring and our guests.

- cleaned up the after-effects from dinner.

- watched a puppet show, listened to K play yet another song on her recorder, and played Little People with my little person (but I was forced to be a boy).

- made sure all 3 kiddos had their baths. Cleaned up the mess that followed in the bathroom.

- talked to ASC on the phone.....twice. Overheard one child say, "Dad, I am happier when you are here." Told myself not to cry.

- scooped up ice cream for three girls' snacks. Then wiped chocolate off three girls' faces.

- led a search and rescue party for a stuffed animal found hiding out underneath the backseat of the car. Owner was relieved.

My adventures may not be tv-show worthy, but they certainly keep me entertained....and busy, and tired.