I'm beginning to like this new schedule.

It's still a challenge getting up in the morning with no one else awake. I'm still trying to figure out the best route to take to work that early in the morning. We're still working out the kinks, but I think it's worth it.

Yesterday I met Mom and Dougie at our favorite local craft store. She was looking for yarn so that she could also participate in the Bernat mystery crochet-a-long (follow along on Wednesdays here). I'll be posting my progress on here, don't worry. I found a soft, light-weight teal yarn I'm planning on using to knit a sweater after my favorite store-bought one. I'll adjust the pattern as I do it, however, to account for my height and a little more length in the sleeves.

We got to the bus stop to wait for Audie and Chloie, and I let Dougie play with my phone. He received great joy shaking the free "rolling dice" game and adding the numbers together. We got everyone home, homework done, and planners signed. They even washed out their drink containers and cleaned their lunch boxes! Chloie finished her homework first and asked to play her PS3 game, Audie asked to do his Hama beads set from the movie Cars. He made a trophy and an image of Lightening.McQueen. Dougie played with Chloie on the PS3 for a while. We had Mac-n-cheese with hot dogs for dinner, and I taught the kiddos how to rinse their dishes in the sink after meals (something else they're going to take more responsibility for). We left for the church for Scouts on time today; I love how this schedule doesn't make our evening activities so rushed and hectic. I scoured the house for Audie's form, but couldn't find it, so I had to get a new one from Sister Vincent. I was able to work on redoing the visiting teaching routes while Chloie and Dougie played, and JaNae and I sat there for another 45 minutes after Scouts were done going over the results. I plan to go in a little early Sunday to finish up and get everything printed out for the supervisors.

We stopped by Lowe's to see Tim. His boss, Chad, got to meet the whole family finally, and we purchased more 3/4" screws for our dresser project. By the time we got home, it was late. I mean LATE. 9:30 is well past their bed time, and I'm starting to see that it's almost past mine, too. With this new schedule, I can't seem to get up and exercise. I'm planning on going to bed by 9:30 tonight and do my walk tomorrow morning. Luckily, I haven't gained any weight back... I'm still sitting at 273. We'll see how I feel about getting up tomorrow.