Rock bottom - that's where I can be found at the moment. How in the world did this day go from surprise love notes written in sidewalk chalk behind my car, adorable donkeys, bunnies, and candy sticks to rock bottom? Come join me as I walk you through my day.

It all started this morning when I took Megan to see her favorite donkey, Buckeye. It is amazing but he always comes to the fence to greet her. I think she is the "donkey whisperer."


Then we checked out the adorable bunnies.

Notice the blue around her face? I let her have a candy stick (gasp) when we visit the farm. She always chooses cotton candy flavor and it keeps her occupied while I buy some vegetables.

We had a wonderful morning. It was one of those mornings that make me tear up, so thankful I'm home and not missing a second of her cuteness. She was singing at the breakfast table . . . said "Mommy, I yube (love) you." I felt like I wanted to freeze everything and burn the morning into my memory for fear that the passing days would steal the freshness of the moment.

We came home from the farm and went in the backyard to water the garden. The hose had a kink and I walked over to untangle it. Megan picked up the nozzle and was looking into it, but I didn't realize that until she was screaming and completely soaked. Once I knew she was ok, I started laughing hysterically and so did she. Like I said, it was an idyllic, picture perfect morning. I think the birds were even singing, for Pete's sake.

It all went south at naptime, or what we formerly referred to as naptime. Now it is more like a scene from "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" . . . but I only have ONE monkey.

We moved her to the big girl bed and had about a week of sleep issues. After that, we had the problem solved and had our evenings back. Yeah, that was until Megan bit a hole in her binky, rendering it "unsuckable." We pondered getting another one (yes, we only had one), but I apparently had forgotten what a week of zero sleep felt like. Overconfident (and apparently insane), I didn't buy a new binky. Megan kept desperately trying to suck on it, telling us, "It's broken. Fix it." Sad, but not sad enough to make me buy another binky. So, we've had about a week of late nights (Megan still up at 11pm), super early mornings (5:30am) and no naps.

After two hours straight of me putting Megan back in bed this afternoon, I walked in and found her writing on her legs with a red pen. Where did she come up with a red pen? She didn't have it when I put her in her room.

At some point earlier in the day, she had somehow smuggled a pen into her room. Amazingly, she did not write on her freshly painted walls, new bedding, or new bed. You have no idea how grateful I was for that. Instead of doing laundry, making some calls for city council, cleaning up the kitchen, taking the dog outside, and starting dinner, I had to do a shakedown for contraband in her room. The sweep was clean. Seriously, I didn't picture myself doing that until the teenage years.

I gave up on the idea of a nap, especially since it was almost time for dinner. I brought her down to the couch and put on a movie. I so desperately needed a mommy time-out. I took this picture from up on the balcony outside my office. I was going to blog as a venting/coping mechanism but she came up after me and thwarted those plans as well. Ahhhhh!

So, you're still wondering how and when I reached rock bottom?

Well, most times when I have a day like today, John comes home and I'm like, "You're turn!" That didn't work so well tonight because John had a SPA APPOINTMENT. I'm not joking, but it is a little ironic isn't it? I actually cannot blame him. I bought him the year-long membership to the spa for his birthday so he could have relaxing massages once a month. (Without a paid in full membership, John would be less likely to treat himself. Being a computer genius is hard on your shoulders and back, and he deserves it.)

While John was being massaged, I was doing Turbo-Jam (cardio kick boxing) with my sister while our youngsters ran around the downstairs. It was supposed to be a stress reliever! I think the extra chasing burned a few more calories though.

Rock bottom came after John came home and it was bedtime. I was bracing for the hours of misery ahead when John miraculously found a new, unbitten binky and asked what we should do. "Should we give it to her?" He didn't want all the time we had suffered to go to waste. I thought about that for a second, then replied, "Give it to her. I don't care. We'll pack it up with her when she goes off to college. I can't take this one more night." Rock bottom!

I should be ashamed of myself, but I think I like rock bottom actually. My kid is asleep before the nightly news for the first time in a week.

They say God never gives you more than you can handle. Remember that, please, before you ask me when I'm having another baby. ha, ha, ha, ha, ha