For the past few months I have been struggling with not being able to get everything done.  First, it was working for my dh in the business.  I work from home but it was still taking most of my afternoons.  Then we started school.  Then our oldest daughter's basketball team started up and we run the team.  Then there was Christmas.  I just can't seem to get ahead and stay that way. 

Once I become bogged down and my regular house chores are not getting done I give up.  I won't get it done anyway so why bother doing any of it.  Pretty soon I am sitting at the computer longer than I should be and ignoring all that I can.  I have cycled through this before but not to this extent.

Every once in a while I have a break through day or even a few days.  I get the house cleaned up.  I am on top of what needs to be done for the week and school is getting done.  Yesterday was one of those days.  The house was cleaned.  The laundry was done all day and is fairly caught up.  Meal were made.  School was done as it should be.  I spent the afternoon doing some prep work and relaxing with the dc instead of sitting on the computer.  A good day.

It is funny how being diligent in the work God has given me can energize me.  This morning I am actually excited about getting off the computer when my allotted time is up and getting the day going.   I need to do what I did yesterday, everyday.  I need to be diligent in the work the Lord has given me. 

Our second oldest (a daughter) is a little slow in getting her school work done.  She always does it well but not quickly.  As she has entered high school the workload has increased and she doesn't always get it finished.  For a while now I have wondered if I am giving too much work or if it is her not staying focused. 

Monday she came to me and asked if she could do something with a friend on Tuesday afternoon.  When she asked she was about 5 days behind on some subjects.  We discipline for not getting school done by taking away the use of one thing (TV, computer, phone, social activities..) each day they are behind.  They don't get them back until they are caught up.  She knew she couldn't do anything until all of her work was done. 

On Tuesday morning she got right to it.  She managed to get everything caught up and do the work for that day. Imagine that!   

This morning I told her my questioning was over.  I now know she can do the work I am assigning each day and I could probably assign a little more.  I am not sure she was thrilled with the new revelation. 

Saturday evening our oldest had a basketball game about 45 minutes from home.  We got there early and decided to eat at Subway before the game.  When we pulled in to their parking lot the brake on the back wheel started making a very loud noise.  It was obvious, even to me, that the brakes were metal to metal.  Thank goodnees my parents were once again at this game.  We were able to get home after the game incident free.  Thank God!  It sounded funny only one time and tapping the brakes fixed it.  Apparently the brake pad broke and slipped down on the brake so it was getting caught. 

While waiting for that van to be fixed we went back to the 12 passenger we were driving before we bought the nicer 15 passenger.  I took it this evening to drop different children at different practices and run to the library.  When we arrived at our final pick-up we unloaded to go in.  It is at our church and we wanted to use the facilities. 

When we pulled in I debated on taking my purse in.  Since they were only going to be another 5 minutes I chose not to.  It took our 2nd son quite some time to get out of the van.   I looked back and he was messing with different doors. You would think I would begin to clue in about these things but I just told him to hurry.  Finally he came and as he approaches me he asks if I have my keys.  I told him I didn't and the smile quickly faded from his face.  He had locked the doors.

I told him it was okay because, if I remembered right, when you hit the power locks the side door no longer works. As I walked back to the van it hit me he had been messing with that door.  He concured that yes he had manually locked that door.  Then I remember that we keep a key on the outside of the van.  I look and nope, it isn't there. 

We got inside the church and I called my husband who is 45 minutes away at a game for our oldest dd.  Again, thankfully, my parents are there (do you think they are thankful at this point?).  They agree to bring her home and my dh takes off to save us.  Five minutes later he calls and asks me to call the police to see if they will open it for me.  The next town over won't do that any more so I had my doubts. I called and the 911 operator told me they will.  I call my dh and he turns around and heads back to the game.  I headed outside with the child who got us where we were.

When we got outside I explained to the child that he was going to need to be there to help the policeman if he needed it and to say thank you when he was done.  A few minutes later the policeman arrives.  My ds held the flashlight for him and he got it opened.  Our ds definitely thanked him.  I ran back in to get the rest of the dc and we headed home.

I truly hope this is the end of our vehicle woes.