Why is it that everything always happens at once? We go along for months with our schedules delightfully even, and then BAM. Not to say that I ever feel caught up on all the things I have to do (work, laundry, housekeeping, don't even mention photo albums around me...), let alone the things I'd *like* to do. But usually my stress is at a pretty even level.

My husband's birthday is on Valentine's Day, which is easy to remember, but hard to plan for. Ever try going out to eat on Valentine's Day? As long as you've got the midnight munchies, you might get a table. Several years ago, it actually fell on a Friday, which also happened to be the first Friday of Lent. There wasn't a shrimp to be found in the whole town that night--I believe we made mac and cheese at home that night after Red Lobster told us the wait was over 5 hours.

So my stress jumped a few decibels this last week. Thursday last week, we realized that we were down to 1 diaper. We normally buy them at Sam's club since they're a TON cheaper than anywhere else, but ended up settling for a quick dinner at Taco Bell and a run through the grocery store so that we could also buy milk and a few other things that we'd run out of--a trip to Sam's would have put Charlie way past her bedtime, which is never plesant. Friday I had scraped together 2 hours of flex time so that I could go shopping for a gift before picking up Charlotte. My husband is impossible to shop for, so I didn't end up really enjoying my baby-free time as much as I would have liked. Saturday morning was swimming lessons, and that afternoon we hit Sam's club for diapers. Also, my cell phone is completely dead, so we tried both Best Buy and a Sprint store to see if I could find a basic phone that would work (that's a whole other rant I believe)--both to no avail. Sunday started out with church, where I had no place to sit and ended up in the basement watching Charlotte play during hte whole service, followed by a quick lunch with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. We went out to dinner that night for the birthday celebration.

Monday I tried to make things easy by heating leftovers for dinner after working a longer day, but ended up with a screaming toddler and overcooked food anyway. She wouldn't go to sleep that night either. DH had to run to the grocery store for fruit for the Valentine's party while I tried to rock the kiddo to sleep. Yesterday we attended the party, and ended up with a playdate with Gavin, a friend's son who is 12months and in Charlotte's daycare. That was fun, and Charlie went right to sleep after playing for serveral hours straight. Today after work, we have a make-up swimming session since we'll be out of town this weekend, so I pick Charlie up from daycare, feed her a snack, schlep her to the pool for a six oclock class. Wednesday's we play Dungeons and Dragons with friends, and it is actually my turn to cook, but luckily DH's willing to trade nights with me--we start at 7 and the swim class gets out at 6:45. Tomorrow we have to do laundry and pack, and we're going to be out of town to visit my in-laws for the weekend.

Maybe next weekend I'll get a chance to sit and do something I enjoy without a toddler in my lap or other people around. I enjoy friends and family, but atI'm an introvert and just need time *alone* sometimes!