I had a fabulous post rattling around my head about back to school and all that I shall accomplish with 3 mornings at home and only 1 little person to occupy...but then I got distracted...

BB informed me yesterday evening that we needed to go buy a new suitcase.  Immediately.  STAT!  Yesterday, if not sooner!!!!  I asked why, and he proceeded to tell me that he's flying to Tokyo for a 10-day business trip.  Tomorrow...

Uh...ummmmmm...ok?  What do you say to that?!!?

GAH!!!!!

Ok, now that the panic is out of my system (for the time being), and I can breathe...

Captain went off merrily to his first day of first grade.  As a result, we have a very girly house today - Princess and Littlest One (soon-to-be-known as "Ham" for her sense of humor) are proudly and happily wandering from their bedrooms to the family room to the playroom in their various pieces of dress up finery - butterfly wings, tiaras, glass slippers, necklaces, rings, hats, gloves...and safety goggles...hmmmm...

We're watching My Little Pony, and I'm gathering all the goods for BB's trip to Japan...

Thank goodness I worked my little behind (ok, it's not little, and it is still there...) getting the house clean and all the laundry done over the last 2 days!

It was just one of those feelings of "something's coming" that I get sometimes - where you get this nudge to get as many mundane yet necessary things out of the way as you possibly can, and you work and work and work to get the house picked up and cleaned, laundry done, groceries purchased, goodies baked, and food prepped and stored, beds changed...you know, all the things you like to get done, but usually end up not doing until you have to?  That list...that never-ending list...

Well, I tackled it!  I labeled all of Captain's school supplies (thank goodness we don't have "community" supplies this year!), got all his uniform polo shirts organized and into his cubby organizer, along with hemming too-long pants, and making torn-at-the-knee-pants into shorts, organized the girls' clothing, cleaned all 3 bathrooms, changed all 4 beds, washed, dried, folded and put away said bedding, dusted the furniture, vacuumed the carpets, washed the hard floors, and even washed the inside of the windows (ok, I used a spray bottle of window cleaner and my microfiber cloths...does that count?!?!).  I took all 3 kids grocery shopping the day before school started, made 2 dozen breakfast burritos, and made a breakfast casserole (except I put it into muffin tins instead of my 13x9, so they're individual portions and I can freeze them), cookies, bread, and was all ready to make Spanish Rice, and taco meat for "pile-ons", when BB called.

I was so grateful that I was DONE with everything to prep the rest of the family for back-to-school...I can't tell you how nice it was to come home after our shopping (BB rode the motorcycle, so I had to meet him at the store) and dinner out (impromptu but in the budget!!), to a clean kitchen, knowing that this morning's breakfast only needed heated up!  I was able to give Captain his bath, get the kids to bed at their normal time, and only had to make lunches for my "boys"!  I did that last night, and BB and I still had time to talk and just be with each other, we still got bed at a normal time, and this morning, even though I slept a bit past the time I wanted to wake up, we were still out the door on time and had a stress-free morning!

All BB's clothes are ironed, pulled out of the closet and ready to be packed (which I'll do while the girls nap this afternoon, prior to heading to the bank and picking Capt up from school)!  His toiletries are laid out, items for his carry-on for the 15 hours that he'll be on airplanes are ready for him to pack in his carry-on bag...

I almost don't know what to do with all this "extra" time!!!

I am committed to this process of packing lunches the night before and sticking with my "schedule" of major chores that need doing!

And for the record, the last 4 weeks my house looks as though it imploded...and there are still things out of place, but everything is clean, and at least tidily stacked or lined up along the walls...

And now, it's time to make lunch for 3, get some little girls into their beds for quiet time, and to pack that new suitcase...