Day 200

The sun is in the sky oh why oh why would I want to be anywhere else?...Ok so I still definitely wouldn't mind being home, but today was 100 times better than most. I woke up, got ready, and went right to work. The sun was shining, and I was happy before going downstairs. It got me thinking...If it didn't rain, would we appreciate the sunny days?

Before I made it downstairs, Zach came to my door complaining that Josh was bugging him about not being able to bring something to school. I told him to ignore Josh, as he didn't know what he was talking about, and said I'd be down soon.

When I did go down, I somehow managed to have everything done in plenty of time, and that definitely helped keep me happy. Zach had asked me if we could do the Indiana Jones lego, and it was sitting on the stairwell as I came down...but I told him it would have to wait until after school. Josh did his spellings, Nathaniel his times tables, and while Josh read to me, I folded laundry. When he was finished his 10 pages, I called Zach into the kitchen. I was folding the last couple of shirts, and got him to do his flash cards with me. Heloise had come down by then, and when he was finished with me, she was waiting for him to look at his school book. While they did that, I ran upstairs to do my teeth, and was down in a flash. I filled each of their water bottles, and put them at the door with their bags. Then I went into the playroom and started tidying up. Heloise told me she'd walk them up today because she had to go to the Church with Zach's class for an Easter service of sorts. I said ok, and the boys came to join me in the playroom until they had to go. We were all laughing and having a good time while they got their coat and shoes on.

Once they left, I knew I was going for coffee with Michelle, but also knew I had a few minutes before I had to leave. I finished the playroom, folded some more laundry, brought it upstairs, and then was on my way. When I got to Freeport, I took my lipstick out of my purse and dropped it down the side closest to the buckle. I was sure I wasn't going to be able to get it back, but after a couple of minutes, I managed to grasp it. When I looked up, Michelle's car had pulled in just one spot over from mine. I got out, and she had Raffi and Emilio with her.

The 4 of us walked into Starbucks, and she bought my tea. We had a good conversation, and I got some Emilio and Raffi cuddles that were very nice. Once we finished there, we went into Baby Gap, where Raffi got a hat - he looked adorable - and then into Mama's and Papa's. When Emilio started to cry, Michelle decided it was time to leave. We talked for a bit in the parking lot, and then I headed to Coggeshall to get rid of the recycling. The music on the radio was great this morning. On my way to Starbucks it had me laughing out loud as they played "Endless Love", and when I pulled into the parking lot in Coggeshall, it took everything in me to turn the car off when "Viva La Vida" came on. I sorted the recycling, and had a conversation with an elderly gentleman. I then drove back to the house. Heloise was home by the time I arrived. I came in, put a load of laundry in, changed out of my heels, and ran outside to take pictures of some daffodils as it was super nice out, and they looked amazing. When I came back in, I made myself a white chocolate mocha, sat down, wrote a letter, and then cleaned out the drawers in the breakfast room. When that was done, I came up to my room to start packing some of my stuff. That was hard because I have no idea what the weather will be like when I come back here. I want to take a lot of my heavier stuff home...but if I come back and don't have any hoodies here, I could freeze. I chose carefully, and then went back downstairs to do some more laundry.

It was about 2:30 when I decided I could sit down for a minute. I made Heloise and I some tea, and I did some crosswords. All of a sudden the skies went completely grey, and it poured down. It was gross, but I wasn't letting it affect my mood today. At about 3 o'clock I asked if Heloise wanted me to go get the boys so that she could keep working, but she said she would as it was more than just her boys that she was picking up. I asked if I could get supper started, and she said she hadn't thought that far in advance, didn't know what we were having, and it was too early anyway. I said ok, and came upstairs to quickly check some e-mails. I wasn't on too long while she was gone. I went back down, folded some more laundry, and did some more crosswords. The doorbell rang, and I welcomed Josh, Sam, Zach and Arthur into the house. I asked Zach if he wanted to do the Indiana Jones plane, and he said yes. I asked if Arthur would want to, and Zach told me he'd ask him. I walked around sort of aimlessly for a little bit, and then walked back to the playroom. I asked Zach if he wanted to do it, and if not now, to come get me when he did want to. He said ok, so I went back to doing crosswords. It was then that Josh and Sam came in to see if I wanted to play Wii with them. We had so much fun. We were playing Super Mario Brothers. Heloise had started dinner, and I asked if there was anything I could do, or anything she needed help with. She said she had it all under control, so I continued to play. After a few levels, she asked if I'd run to the post office for her before it closed. I did just that. I don't know what it was, but I was in such a good mood that after getting my coat and shoes on, and closing the door, I felt like running. I ran up to the high street, and started to feel out of shape, and sore, so I stopped. I was still happy though. I went across to the post office, dropped the letter in the bag, and walked back home.

When I got back, I watched Josh and Sam play Wii for a couple of minutes while I cleaned up the mess Zach and Arthur had made. It was soon time for dinner. We all sat and ate, and when they'd finished, I helped clear up. Arthur has got to be one of the messiest eaters ever. Josh was getting ready for Judo, and Heloise was out of the breakfast room when I grabbed the broom. To give you a little bit of an idea on just how messy this boy is...his fork was in the corner of the room, peas were surrounding his chair, and there was squished potato all over the floor. Brigitta came to pick Arthur up, and after thanking me for cleaning up, Heloise took the rest of the boys. It was her turn to take to Judo, and she dropped Sam on the way. Nathaniel was at his house playing with Joe, so she'd pick him up on the way, and Zach wanted to go watch with her. When the house was empty, I finished cleaning up the dinner mess, did another load of laundry, grabbed my computer, and started folding some more. I switched the TV on, and spoke to my Mom for a little bit on Skype. When she left to go out, I turned Lost on. Great episode! I was confused after watching it, but after speaking to Tara about it, I'm pretty sure I know what's happening. While watching the episode though, I was all over the place. I took my laptop with me as I folded, put away, and got more laundry. I also watched as I washed and dried dishes. Eventually I decided it was time to relax. I sat on the couch and watched the Apprentice, but it was at the beginning that the boys got home. I was also trying to have a conversation with the Starbucks guy at the time, and trying to focus on an important message I was sending to someone else. The boys were very hyper and making it difficult to concentrate. They were talking about Justin Bieber, but Nathaniel was mistakenly calling him Richard Beaver. Then the 2 of them attempted to do the moonwalk, and Josh was talking to me about John Cena and the Undertaker (even though he doesn't watch wrestling). They all sat down at the table for toast and hot chocolate, and I finished my messages. They then went up to get in the bath and bed. I began watching the Apprentice again, and when my computer began to die - before Heloise came back down - I came upstairs. Halfway through, I paused the episode to go do the last of the laundry. I said goodnight to Heloise, and Tim had just gotten home so I said good night to him as well. I came up, exhausted, got in the shower, watched the end of the Apprentice in disbelief. Happy about who's gone, but dumbfounded by the way they left. As soon as that finished, I began writing this, and now I can barely keep my eyes open while I listen to very good, but very calming music. Who am I kidding? Anything would put me to sleep right now. So on that note...Day 200 is done, and I'm going to sleep. Good Night xx Ah yes, and I've been informed I do not have to get up early tomorrow SCORE!