All by myself

Well, the title of this post is a bit misleading. Jeff was supposed to head out very early tomorrow morning for his first day of deer hunting. Around noon today, his ride called and said there was more to be done down where they would be hunting and so he wanted to leave then and spend the night at their friends place. Ok, ok, so it's a trailer but it just seemed too cliche to say that my husband was going deer hunting and would be sleeping in a trailer - yes we live in Arkansas! Anyway, as Jeff is on the phone I hear him saying, "well, I need to talk it over with Melanie and I'll get back to you." Sweet him. I am mouthing to him, go ahead and go, but he hangs up and very dearly asks me if it's really ok. I assure him it's fine (I did, but I also made this ridiculous face and said, "oh no, can I handle all 4 kids by myself, what ever will I do - yes, dripping with sarcasm since I do this ALL of the time and because sarcasm is the glue that holds this relationship together, and is why my 7 year old son is constantly being told to hold his tongue because he has NOT mastered the art of appropriate sarcasm and yes I know it's all our fault for being this way around him and who else can we blame but ourselves.). So dear husband hurriedly packs, I wash his clothes in scent-free detergent (we use this anyway) and do not use a dryer sheet when drying them because we don't want the deer to smell him (ironic because anyone who knows him could tell you he is capable of making his umique scent if you know what I mean:), while he runs to Wally world to do the gathering part of his hunting expedition. Jerky, check. Water bottles, check. Sweet-n-Salty chex mix, check. Breakfast bars, check. Diet Dr. Pepper, check. He came home, made his PB&J sandwiches and at that point I off-handedly ask if he would like me to stick a banana or an apple in his bag. Ha, Ha, Ha. Real men don't eat fruit while hunting! No, he didn't say that, but I'm sure that's what he was thinking. Oh well, I tried.
I picked up the kiddos from school and then we hit Wal-Mart our own selves for some movie night necessities - pizza, root beer, and powdered donuts for the morning. Normally I make our pizzas, but I couldn't muster the energy tonight. As of right now, all are tucked in bed except for Ryan who is talking to me from his bouncy seat. He and I are going to settle in on the couch for a movie of our own.
I was sad to have missed seeing my friend H and her kiddos AGAIN today. They are all recovering from the swine flu and with Will's horrible cough, I just didn't want to chance giving them his cooties. Poor kid sounds terrible, but seems fine other than that. No fever etc. but still. He covers his mouth about forty percent of the time - not a good enough average to be around people with recovering immune systems! Alas, maybe I will see her next year:) Instead of visiting with her, I spent the day cleaning. I mean deep cleaning. I'm doing a room a day in an effort to get it all done before it's too cold to open up the windows anymore. I'm running out of time! Oh well. I just get so grossed out when things get too dirty around here. and with two indoor dogs and 4 kids, well, it gets dirty pretty quick! Wish me luck getting it all accomplished, and pray for Jeff as he tries to bag his first deer!