Getting out of hand

We went to Singapore for a visa run late last week. For us, and given our purpose, it was quite a quick hop. Left Thursday morning back Sunday afternoon. But in the 3 days that we were gone the world sort of descended on my house. We have interns here for the summer, they're fabulous but they bring with them a little bit of a different job. I'm a girl who needs transition time before a new job and making a worrisome visa trip is not a helpful way to transition. My good best friend JJ has been packing up her life and getting ready for an extended time in the US to work on her Master's degree. I was trying to help her prepare for that transition. I did a terrible job and think I saw her for a sum total of an hour the week before she left.

The combined force of interns arriving, a trip to Singapore and JJ leaving has meant a major disaster when it comes to the project table. The Interns brought 60+ pounds of homeschooling material. A trip to Singapore means the normal shopping for things we can't find here that we kind of like. Indian spices, dried cranberries, marshmallows, chocolate pop-tarts (sweet heaven!), English Breakfast Tea for Jonathan and Rooibus tea for @ and I. JJ cleaning out her house means her kind loaning of an Ipod speaker, a microwave and the gifting of a lifetime supply of spices, dried goods and a fridge full of candy and chocolate sauce. All of these things are blessings. Chocolate pop-tarts and chocolate syrup, how could they not be? But here's the thing, its all on my project table and it all needs a home. And from the looks of the project table one my accurately deduce that we are going to eat Indian spice covered cranberries and read kindergarten books for the rest of our lives.

The table also has the various residue that @ brings into the day. A page scribbled with a pink crayon, half a pink crayon, a wand, the Thomas Kleenex box he wants refilled so that he can again use 20 kleenexs in a 5 minute time period, a half pack of travel Kleenex he is making due with, a school note detailing in vague terms what might happen during the last week of school. And the interns brought over a bag of treats for the upcoming Holiday English Club, "maybe better to just leave them here" the girls said.

I started to work on the homeschooling material. I had to retreat to the coffee table to put together the world's biggest instructor's guide for a kid in kindergarten.

The problem lies in the fact that I've tried to clean it off. Notice the food items have a home. But now it is time to go ride bikes and make dinner (hmmm, wonder what that is?). So the table waits another day.

This is why we will always have a "project table".