Livin' la vida loca

It's been one of those weeks -- you know what I mean.

Sunday -- Babs spends more time out of Mass than in it, following a whining fit. To unwind, Darwin and MrsDarwin watch the second half of Patton in the evening. Highly recommended, by the way. That evening, everyone ends up in Mom and Dad's bed.

Monday -- Dentist. 'Nuff said. MrsDarwin wrestles with strapping in three children in the back of the Camry and swears that we need that minivan soon. That evening, everyone ends up in Mom and Dad's bed.

Tuesday -- MrsDarwin gets up early to go for the first of her three weekly runs leading up to Saturday's group run in training for the half-marathon in Feb. The girls work on their growing mud pit in the back yard. (Anyone know anything about ways to lock an outdoor faucet?) Mom and Dad lock the bedroom door, which leads to pounding and rattling of doorknobs at 3 am.

That evening, the Darwin family ventures out to the new outlet mall, so MrsDarwin can get something new to wear to Wednesday's business dinner. As the girls play on some rides, Babs announces, "Stinky!" A frantic call is placed to MrsDarwin, at the other end of the mall. While MrsDarwin and Babs rush to the bathroom, Darwin takes Noogs and Baby to a children's store to buy a new dress (which comes, handily enough, with a plastic bag for wrapping the soiled dress). Noogs feels it keenly that her younger sister gets a new dress as a reward for pooping on the old one, and wails all the way home. The weary parents yield to vile temptation on the way home and stop at Sonic for milkshakes and hamburgers. Baby is delighted with everything. That evening, everyone ends up in Mom and Dad's bed.

Wednesday -- MrsDarwin intends to get up for the second of her three weekly runs, but the alarm doesn't go off. Darwin comes home early from work with a nasty allergy attack. While he drains in the recliner, MrsDarwin takes the kids to playgroup. MrsDarwin wrestles with strapping in three children in the back of the Camry and swears we need that minivan soon. While the kids play and the tv blares, MrsDarwin suddenly feels keenly her lack of intellectual companionship. She wrestles with strapping in three children in the back of the Camry and returns home. Darwin and MrsDarwin drop off the kids with the sitter and head for the business dinner. Baby screams all the way to the restaurant but makes up for it by devouring bread and apples during the appetizer and sleeping through the rest of the dinner. Good girl. That evening, Mom and Dad lock the door, but Mom forgets to relock it when throwing the whining cat out of the room, so everyone ends up in Mom and Dad's bed in the morning.

Thursday -- Five minutes before the alarm is set to go off, there is a knock at the door. MrsDarwin groggily splashes through the kitchen (?) and finds the neighbor there, who apologizes for waking us up, but did we know that there's water pouring out of our garage? MrsDarwin rushes to investigate and finds that a hose has slipped off the water softener and is flooding the garage and part of the kitchen. Darwin and MrsDarwin sop up water and wring out towels and are VERY grateful that most of the furniture has been moved from the garage to the living room after painting. MrsDarwin misses her morning run again. The girls are inspired by all the water and head out to the back yard to work on their mud pit. Darwin pulls the big crib out of the garage and vows that it's being set up tonight.

Tentatively for tomorrow -- MrsDarwin goes running. Darwin goes to check out, and possibly buy, a minivan.

How's your week so far?