A day off? Um, not really.

I spent much of today in kitchen, baking two loaves of pumpkin bread as part of my fulfillment to last year's McKinley Elementary School auction. Someone had bid $40 for four loaves of homemade quick breads, and the bidder and I have had a devil of a time trying to catch up. We finally did, and I promised her two loaves this week and two after spring break.

So, I started the morning baking two loaves of pumpkin bread. Then I raced to to the pool to swim my usual half-mile. Then back home, where I parked the car in the driveway and fell asleep in the sun, it was so warm and I was so tired. Then inside, where I baked a chocolate-chip cake (Drew and Rachel have been so patient watching me bake chocolate-chip cakes for other people, it was really time for me to do that for them). Then I started some beef barley soup because we had run out of soups (we usually have two or three of my soups/stews in the freezer during winter). And because I had tonight off from work, I figured I'd make us all a really nice dinner, so at 5:30 I put roast beef into the oven. (In between all this, I made a doctor's appointment for myself and another appointment for a manicure/pedicure before work tomorrow). Then I picked Rachel up from school, brought her back, and we cuddled for a bit on her bed before she fell asleep -- her sniffles and cough are really taking a lot out of her -- and then I went downstairs to mix up the batter for Yorkshire pudding.

Then I wrapped up the breads in the fancy paper I had gotten at Michaels on Saturday and took them over to the person who had bid on them. Turns out she is the mom of two kids who know Rachel pretty well and the girl told me to tell Rachel that she hopes she gets to feeling better. Meanwhile, Drew served the beef and Yorkshire pudding to Rachel.

I got home, finished up dinner with Drew and Rachel, and then just sat for a while because my feet, legs and back were killing me -- I had about a half-hour at breakfast and a half-hour at lunch to sit down and eat. As soon as I finish writing this I am heading upstairs to turn in early. This mama is TIRED.