A moment to breathe...

What day is it today? Oh yeah, Thursday. They all run together lately. For some strange reason, I thought that school starting would bring a sort of respite to my world, that I'd be able to fall back into a nice easy schedule and things would be all wine and roses.

HAH!!!!

Last night, fueled by a PMS storm of emotion and a post-flu lethargy guilt trip, I got angry about the state of my side of the Little Mountain. My daily life has been a frenzied mess of running kids here and there, running the dog out and in, running to and from cabinets trying to satiate my son, The Bottomless Pit, and all the while bobbing along in a sea of laundry and blowing aside the dust bunnies. It really is everywhere.

On top of all that, I actually have a job. I'm an administrative assistant in the electric industry. I've done this work for many years now and I've been lucky enough to work from home since my middle son was diagnosed with autism. It's a blessing to be working from home since it means I can contribute something to the household while still being able to take him to the therapies he needs. It's also a curse.

When I worked full time, we got up very early and the kids went to daycare and I went to work. I came home and had lots of housework, but comparatively less than now because when you work outside the home, typically nobody is left at home to make a mess! Now that I work from home, there's always some other living thing here with me doing something to add to the sum total of my work. Then there's the annoying fact that my husband and I discussed and actually agreed that since I'm home and he works, I'd be responsible for all housework. Could I really be THAT stupid?

So as I sat knitting this morning at 5:11 a.m., I decided I needed a schedule. Here's what it looks like:

4:40-6:30 a.m. - Walk on treadmill, knit/read/listen to podcasts or audiobook
6:30-7:00 a.m. - Shower/dress
7:00-8:20 a.m. - Get kids all ready, clean up kitchen/pick up house/run laundry
8:20-9:15 a.m. - Get kids off to school (which means put Luke on his bus to the school across town, get Alicia off to her bus or drive Alicia to school when she's on crossing guard duty, take Ben to preschool when he has it)
9:15-11:15 a.m. - Work (or volunteer at schools when I'm scheduled)
11:15-11:45 a.m. - Pick Ben up from preschool/blog/clean up/laundry
11:45-1:30 p.m. - Lunch/laundry/clean up/knit/watch Knitty Gritty
1:30-3:30 p.m. - Work
3:30-4:00 p.m. - Clean up/await the arrival of Luke and Alicia
4:00 p.m. - Pick Alicia up at school when she's on crossing guard duty/leave for Buffalo (on Thursdays when Luke has occupational and speech therapy)
4:00-5:45 p.m. - On Thursdays, sit in the van and knit or read while Luke is at therapy (otherwise known as trying very hard to resist the temptation to fondle yarn at Silver Creek Cabin); on every other day, figure out what to feed the herd/clean up/laundry
5:45-7:00 p.m. - Clean up after dinner/dishes/homework/pick up/laundry
7:00-bedtime - Sit like a lump in my spot on the sectional (the chaise part!) with a pillow behind my back and knitting on my lap.

I'm really going to try to stick to this. The one thing I know is that I need my little bit of alone time each morning and my time in the evening to stay intact. I have to knit. It's like breathing and it keeps me somewhat sane, although that isn't likely to happen until I get a handle on the disarray of my home.

Anyway, knitting-wise, I realized yesterday that I was one month away from the second deadline I've given myself for completing the Ombre Alpaca (Acrylic) Blanket. November 10 is my brother's birthday and I am gunning for having it in his condo in the Bronx by that date. I'm 3" from joining sleeves and body to begin the yoke of the Cable Yoke Pullover. It is going to take an extraordinary amount of restraint on my part to set the pullover aside and finish the blanket. It would take next to no time to finish that sleeve and get going on the yoke, but I know that if I did that now, I would never be able to put it down until it was finished. I need something subliminal, chanting the words "Blanket first, the Pullover will wait". Here's where I am now: