Doing Double Duty

Feels a bit more like triple or quadruple, actually. The Husband is away on business again (there was an overnight trip last week and this week's is four days) which means I'm the sole point of contact for pretty much everything right about now.

We're managing, mostly because my expectations for myself and my actual abilities are completely in line with one another - the three of us are alive, safe and fed. Fortunately, The Girl's favourite supper is macaroni and cheese "from the box." No homemade ooey-gooey goodness for her - she demands the finest in cardboard noodles and orange powder. She does have a slightly discriminating palate; she won't eat store brand - it's gotta be KD.

At the end of the day, if the above three criteria are met, I reward myself with some self-soothing chips and dip and some mindless television before heading off to bed to prepare for the next day's chauffeuring, cleaning, cooking and colouring of Pokemon pages duties.

Had my first experience with the US healthcare system today. The level of choice is overwhelming; back in Canada, one phoned around desperately looking for *anyone* taking new patients. Yet yesterday I nixed one pediatrician simply because she was a full 20-minute drive away and my local clinic is only about 8.

Today's visit was mostly successful; the receptionist yesterday neglected to tell me that today's doctor was only filling in and usually sees patients in the 20-minute-away location, so I'm not sure if we'll stick with this particular doctor. But he was quite kind and hid any annoyance he might have had towards my kids who were wild, flatulent monkeys in his office; hopefully his on-site colleagues have similar levels of tolerance.

It's a beautiful fall day out there, so I think this afternoon will be spent biking around the lake with The Boy and then we'll try to get some more park time after we pick up The Girl. Gotta run these monkeys hard if there's to be any hope of a good night's sleep!