May 5, 2012

Next Week's Menu


This is going to be me next week (actually I felt like this earlier today before I had some caffeine!). I found this picture when looking up under the image tab of my search engine "dead tired."


I usually try to go grocery shopping for the upcoming week on Saturday evening but, since I work tonight, I went last night after Casey was home for work and we'd all had dinner together. That means I didn't end up leaving for the grocery store until at least 8:45pm. By the time I was home, groceries put away, cat litter cleaned, talked to the husband, and ready for bed, I wasn't able to climb into bed until 12:30am. Then my kids woke me up between 6:30-6:45am (I was too tired to move so I didn't check but I was awake for a while in bed - in a stupor - before Casey got up to check on them and it wasn't even 7am when he got up).

Since I have been working all evening shifts, I have been on a later evening schedule than I would prefer and waking up has been tough for the last few weeks. Back when I was only working maybe one night a week, I would "recover" the next day and then be back on my normal schedule. Now, I can't seem to stick to "normal" and have been a night owl lately which isn't conducive to motherhood and isn't much to my liking either. I'd rather be tired at normal bedtime. Lately, I simply can't slow down, stop the thinking, and go to sleep until at least 11:30pm.

Anyway, you are probably wondering my point! I happen to be working the next four nights in a row at my job. This week's schedule ends on Saturday and the new week begins tomorrow so it wasn't really planned but just happened that way. That is a lot for this for-all-intents-and-purposes FT mom/homemaker! I still have to get up the next morning with the kids to fix them breakfast and dress them and clean/do laundry/do dishes. I want to cry and crawl back into bed.

But, here is the kicker...

I recently took on a new job of sorts. I will be babysitting potentially all summer for a single mom's two kids ("potentially" because the mother is applying for new jobs and if she gets one that is overnight - medical field - she already knows I can't watch her kids anymore). She only has one of the two children every other week so I will only have five children in my care every other week. Her daughters are five and seven so I didn't feel that I was stretching myself beyond what I am capable of. I hoped this would eventually take the place of my other job. And, it ends at the end of the summer so I'm not committing my life away to this lady or anything. Not that I would have minded longer, but we don't live in her kids' school district and even though we're less than ten minutes from their house ,she understands that I can't pack up all my kids to drop her kids off for school each morning. I think she has someone lined up for this fall already.

So, I start Monday!

At 6 AM... As in, she arrives at 6am. I have to be up at 5am so I can shower and get ready for the day. Luckily, I have a stall shower and there is no danger of my falling asleep and drowning in there. At least, I hope not...

So I'm going to be "dead tired." But, I'm not exactly trying to make you think I'm upset about all this. We are trying to buy a house and I needed those three days on next week's schedule to keep my "average" work hours at the level I need for our debt to income ratio. You know, I was blissfully unaware of debt to income ratios before I began this house buying adventure. Nonetheless, I am now painfully aware of it and I felt truly blessed that I got the necessary hours coupled with Casey getting his raise/new position he was due from his job (we only waited a few months but they had originally said "6 weeks"). So I am grateful for these next four days and for the three nights I'm sure to work the following week (which thankfully I won't be babysitting because the older sister is still in school for another two and a half weeks and the younger is with her dad).

With faith (and Dr. Pepper/iced mocha's) that God will give me the strength to get through these next few days, I will pray when I'm tired at my job. I will try to keep my mind on inspirational thoughts to motivate me to keep going as well as when I am home and I need even more motivation to be engaging with my children (and those I am caring for) and to continue to be a pleasing homemaker to my husband.

With that, I will share with you a praise and our weekly menu!

My praise is that I am getting to go with my family down to visit my parents and siblings as well as my sweet grandparents from North Carolina who will be out for a visit for my sister's high school graduation. We can only go for a quick weekend visit but it is going to be so much fun and extra special - though completely unplanned - that it lands over Mother's Day. We will have to drive back home Mother's Day evening but I am still just so excited to be with my mother and grandmother as well as my own children on Mother's Day. What a sweet blessing to end a tiring week!

Here's the menu:

Sunday
B ~ Frozen waffles
L ~ Chips and cheese
D ~ Oven tacos (These were my inspiration)
Monday (Today I begin babysitting at 6am)
B ~ Turkey bacon (it was on sale, otherwise, we like pork bacon)
L ~ Grilled ham and cheese
D ~ Smoked sausage spaghetti

Tuesday
B ~ Scrambled eggs
L ~ Bean and cheese nachos
D ~ Slow cooker pork loin roast with rice and veggie
Wednesday
B ~ Oatmeal
L ~ Fried rice
D ~ "Mama's Sausage Casserole" (we had this on menu last week but didn't get to have it due to an unfortunate event - the hamburger package was riped and had gone bad!)
Thursday
B ~ Turkey bacon
L ~ Grilled ham and cheese
D ~ Homemade pizza (crust)
Friday
B ~ Frozen waffles
L ~ Bean and cheese nachos
D ~ Out of town
Saturday
B ~ Out of town
L ~ Out of town
D ~ Out of town

I hope you have a great week!
♥Shari

1 comment:

  1. grilled cheese sounds good. do you use GF bread? can't wait until that "OUT OF TOWN"!

    ReplyDelete

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