Some days are just like that. And one more little thing will send me off my rocker.

I'm having stressy dreams. Last night it was about bike riding, and the Big Ride. Probably brought on by posting, just before bed last night, that it was exactly one month till D-day. And I was feeling bad about not having ridden my bike this week. And I know Marc is concerned about our collective bike fitness, but mine in particular.

So last night I dreamt that he got up and went for a training ride himself. (As if to show me up as a lazy slob or something.) In the dream I wake up as he gets home. "Where did you go?" ... "Blayney" he said. Blayney?!! Some inconsequential country town 2 hundred odd kilometres west of Sydney (so around 800km from here)... For god's sake, how on earth did I come up with Blayney?

Then later we are 'sort of' on the rest day of the bike ride... and staying in some place, and I am getting all stressed about where we are leaving the bikes, in case they get pinched. And the kids are swimming in a pool. And for some reason their old preschool teachers are there. And one of them is floating around in the pool in her sleeping bag, for heaven's sake. . And then next thing Marc decides to leave and ride ahead, and I have to follow with the kids (how that works with him supposedly riding the triplet I don't know.) So I am trying to stay calm, as if this is a test of my ability... and then next thing my mother and sister turn up on bikes.. (As if!)... my sister all red faced, and wearing a pink? shirt! And so I am underwhelmed that they are there... and stressing about coping.. and I wake up as I am hyperventilating because I can't find our tandem. It's been stolen.

Somewhere in there I was also having a dream about other stuff being stolen... sort of arriving home (though it is not my current house), and seeing gaps where the TV and computer should be, and pointing at half screaming, half gasping because I can't breathe.

Do you think I'm going mad?

So today is supposedly Clean up our House day... And I just flipped my lid when I stuck my head in Cait's room to wake her up (it was only 10am!) I point to a light blue item of clothing on the floor of her room. "What is THAT?".. knowing full well it was her dirty school uniform.

"I am washing NOW , and it had BETTER go in the wash, right NOW". And I continue on downstairs, collecting the dirty laundry from the middle bathroom as I go. I put the coloured load of washing on first. So I figure I give her enough leeway.

I have since put on the light wash.. and just now, as I pass the middle bathroom, I see the shirt on the floor in there!

I flipped. She may have three shirts for school, so Monday and Tuesday are right, but it means I have to make sure I've washed that one for Wednesday.. (and thus if I have to do that what is the point of having three shirts), and anyway, it's the goddam principle.

I did my 'nana. (To use a favourite phrase of strauss!)

And I ranted about the clean up progress so far in the playroom. Zoe has bits and pieces stacked in all sorts of corners, as part of some combination of her own made up Fisher Price world, and Barbie world combined, and anything else she can lay her hands on combined. Wooden blocks, marble maze structures. Gah... it's everywhere. And I know it's kind of cruel to make her dismantle her imagination, but the place needs to be vacuumed at some point in time. (I hate to imagine when the last time was...)

So, they are all upstairs suitably chastened and .. um... attacking the clean up. I had pointed to this gigantic tub of soft toys and said "These must be culled!....I mean, you are all beyond Bananas in Pyjamas and Lulu dolls now, for heaven's sake."

Just a little while ago I hear this rather upbeat and cheeky "Mother! Oh mother!!"... I grumble. What have they got to be cocky about?

Cait comes downstairs. "We just emptied the soft toy box completely, and guess what we found right at the bottom?!" She stretches out her hand, and dangles these elastic bands... for the sleeping mats. They were lost - oh - a year ago - and their 'loss' was discovered while we were preparing for last year's Big Ride. I had made up another set from some elastic I had kicking around at home, but that elastic had gone floppy, and so I've had 'new stronger elastic' on my shopping list (for the past several weeks actually - just hadn't got around to it.)

I had to laugh. And I hope you will too, Marc (reading this over in KL...) After you finish rolling your eyes.

They are making me laugh some more, because Cait has just come downstairs again, saying "You should see how many of the Barbie dolls are dismembered!" [Ed: OK, she didn't actually say that.. she's just asked me while reading this post what "disembered" [sic] means... but whatever she said, that was certainly the gist of it!]

"And Alison just said to Zoe "What have you been playing Zoe? Midsomer Murders ?" "



Well I had better hang this second load of washing out, and join in the fun. I use the term "fun" advisedly, because the sounds from upstairs are fluctuating between hilarity and loud voices raised at each other in ire.

If nothing else, we might try to have some more fun taking photos of Stuff! that really, truly, we just do not need.

Labels: clean ups, daily