Needing a Weekend for the Weekend

• Yes, I am glad it was a 3 day holiday weekend.
• Yes, I am glad that I was the last faculty in the parking lot on Friday so that I had minimal amount to do this weekend. 
• Yes, I am glad I didn't talk myself into watching the released Arrested Development episodes once I got the kids in bed.  All three mornings someone was up just after 6 am, making earlier bedtime a necessity (for me.)
• Yes, I am glad that we went to two different cook-outs as to minimize actual cooking in my own house.  
• Yes, I am glad for gorgeous, beautiful, non humid sunny weather to have spent a sizable amount outside with the boys. 
• Yes, I am glad that a chance encounter at the NC Zoo gift shop revealed the best toy since Matchbox cars: kid sized binoculars. Make that until Ben dropped his, losing a non-essential piece of plastic and then going into crazy meltdown mode demanding we retrace our steps over the entire zoo to locate.  

So why do I need a weekend to get over the weekend?  I'm really, really tired from being up uber early all three days, lots of fighting, lots of whining, lots of time outs, my loosing it so badly at one point that I was embarrassed not only by my kids but my over the top public reaction to them.

I took away planned a planned picnic at a favorite Raleigh Park, minimized screen time, took away toys, put people in time out, and walked out of a store carrying Ian like a football under my arm leaving a whole basket of items at the door.  I wish I hadn't dropped the F bomb in front of them at one point.  I made it 7 good years so part of me feels like this was long, long overdue.

I love Ben and Ian dearly, but it is weekends like these where there literally was not a minute that I was not referring them that leaves me more exhausted on the end as I was at the start around 5 pm on Friday. I desperately wish I had family alive or even close enough to beg them to take the boys for a couple of hours.  At one of the cookouts I actually hid, yes hid, on a swing in the front yard until being found after about 15 minutes.  I think I may have even drifted off in the nice weather, that was until I was summoned back to reality.

I'm heading into a hard week at work.  New state tests are rolling out that include 40% writing components that must be graded same day.  As part of our salary is now tied to testing results the pressure is on from all directions to deliver and hope of 6 questions you hit the right material from the semester of instruction.  Bill is already on call for last minute pickup as I don't know how long the grading will take each afternoon.

The directions on HOW to grade the assessments took a 90 minute meeting and a 60+ page guide.  To add to the craziness when the test must be given has changed so many times over this semester that the review time originally slotted now falls AFTER the test will be given and still must be used in an academic way.  Aka.. no watching Forrest Gump and calling it history.

On the flip side of all this crazy negativity is the Final Countdown is on for summer to begin. Despite lots of care taking this weekend, we did have some shining moments of enjoyment including most of the rest of our zoo trip yesterday. Bill got our grass mowed and worked on some house projects.

Speaking of Final Countdowns, Arrested Development is here people.  There are two types of people on this Earth:  those who get the humor and those who don't.  I'm fairly sure that passing category 1 is my litmus test for friendship.

I'm most likely MIA for the rest of the week.  Have a super four day week all, myself included.