Have you ever had one of those days where you stretch lazily in bed and think, "The whole day is unplanned, a blank slate!?" Then you eventually put your feet on the floor and actually drag yourself out of bed, then the day becomes a blur of activity that you never imagined? I had one of those days yesterday. The first time I was awakened was by Alia "scream-whispering" in my ear that her FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME ("Aquamarine") was coming out on DVD this Tuesday and can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get it? I said, "For the love of all things holy! Yes! If you will let me go back to sleep right now." I did eventually get up and Stucco reminded me that we needed to go retrieve our vehicle that we forgot (yes, forgot) to bring home the night before. (No, we weren't drunk, just mentally not all there after attending graduation at DU for Scott's friends!) So we got the car from the Daniel's Fund first (In case we might forget again.) Yes, we are mentally "stretched" these days. Then we had a wonderful lunch at Wahoo's Fish Taco. Yum! The rest of our day's blur of activity started with my one innocent little comment, "Do you want to go see what's at Tagawa Garden Center?" So we met-up at home to drop the car off safely in the garage. Then I got the bright idea to bring our dogs with us to the dog-friendly garden center. If you've never taken an 8-month-old lab puppy to the greenhouse before, let me tell you, it will take you 3 times as long to get through the building because everyone wants to pet him, give him treats and tell you about their dogs at home. We finally made it out of there (not that we wanted to leave, but the puppy did end up peeing near the fertilizer and I didn't want to think of what he would do next.) As we were headed home, I got another brilliant idea! After dropping the dogs off at home, I dragged my family to the garden center at Walmart. Stucco wasn't thrilled with the idea of hanging out with all of the "knarlies" at Walmart, but he indulged me. We innocently wandered around the parking lot where they keep large garden supplies and we came upon a tent that shaded several square yards of sod. The light bulb dimly shone over both of our heads as we decided to embark on a seemingly simple yard project. We decided to purchase a "small amount" of sod (20 rolls.) We wanted to do a test area in our barren backyard to see if we could bring some life to the desert. One of the "knarlies" who was working there suggested we put manure down first and lay the sod on top of it. We did as we were told and purchased 9 large, heavy bags of foul-smelling fertilizer. When we got home, Stucco and I surveyed our dusty, dry backyard and realized (a lttle late in the game) that we needed to finish laying the bricks in a path to our new greenhouse BEFORE we lay the sod down. By now it is getting late (4pm.) Stucco starts digging into the scorched, hard-packed earth, trying to finish the path, while I start pulling weeds. I get the seemingly logical idea of wetting-down the dirt to loosen the soil so it will be easier for Stucco to dig. I wet it down and the water proceeds to form a slippery top layer of clay-like mess. I apologize to Stucco as he slips and slides all over. He says "Thank you anyway" while trying to bear the disaster. He's a trooper! Meanwhile the kids start to starve so I suggest they make Easy Mac for themselves for dinner. Keep in mind, I have shown them how to make it a few dozen times, so I thought it would be fine to let them make it without supervision. I was terribly mistaken!! A few moments into "making their own dinner" The children run outside to where we are still slaving away on the yard screaming that smoke is "EVERYWHERE!" They, unfortunately, weren't exaggerating. It really is a simple process to make Easy Mac. That, presumably, is why they call it EASY. I came into the house and had to keep low because smoke was literally pouring out of the microwave. They had forgotten the crucial step in making the mac-n-cheese where you add water. It is the first step. It really is easy. Maybe I was hoping for too much. I left our dear children to themselves once again with specific instructions to make PB&J instead. Whew! I rejoined Stucco in the yard where the sun was hot but at least there was fresh air. To make a very long story a bit longer, I put all the manure and sod on the right side of the greenhouse and proceeded to flood the yard with the sprinkler as I tried to water the grass. The sprinkler hasn't worked well since the puppy mistakenly thought it was a bone. Stucco was able to make a great start on the path. We both took showers, ate sandwiches and called it a day. So much for a "blank slate!"

P.S. I have a new-found love for PB&J sandwiches.