I'm tired because...?

I asked Rob if he could recollect anything I had done these past few days that would have made my biceps sore. He gave me that "you've got to be kidding" look and sweetly reminded me of the load of wood we gathered yesterday. My response, "Oh, ya." When we get wood we've settled into a routine. He cuts the wood. I haul the wood, often reminding him to cut wife sized logs.
As I've finally relaxed and am headed to bed I realize it's once again 2 a.m. I've come to the conclusion that I keep weird hours. And until I manage to add a few more hours into the day I'll probably continue to go to bed at 2. It also occurred to me that I'm tired because my work day didn't end until way after midnight. (Those extra hours will help my workday end sooner.) I'll give you a peak into today's workday, it's been a long one.
Since my kids like to be woken up and won't use alarm clocks I'm up at 7:10 a.m. Yes, I realize that's not early but waking before 9 is a sin in my world. Hm, probably because I've only been asleep for 4 hours. The kids are on the bus by 7:45, dogs brought back into the house and I jump back in bed by 8:30. My next alarm clock is the bus rolling to a stop in front of the house bringing Colten home around 11:30. Total sleep time= 7 hours.
Today Rob, Colten and I made a quick trip into St. George for an ENORMOUS WalMart run. Once a month Rob and I replenish the food storage and try to add a little to it. It's convenient to do regular grocery shopping during the same trip. It takes me 45 minutes to make and revise the food storage/grocery list. We've also settled into a routine as we shop. I fill the cart, he gets me an empty one. Rob checks out with the full cart as I fill another one. We continue our pattern until everything on the list has been checked off. We managed three carts today! Poor Colten was a little cramped on the way home as he had to share half the back seat with groceries. The kids were home from school by the time we got back. Hooray for more help unloading groceries!
Now the chaos truly begins. By the time the car was unloaded it was almost 5 p.m. Dallon had football practice at 5:30. Kason had scouts at 5:30. Bethany wanted to play with her friend. AJ was dying to try out his new Xbox game. Kim was willing to ride her bike down to the park with Dal to practice. I think Colten was glad to be free. The dinner menu tonight consisted of frozen pizza due to the fact that I had other plans.
I turned on the oven so I could heat the bottles of applesauce and apple butter that had been previously made and stored in the fridge. There were 5 (1/2 gallon) bottles of homemade applesauce and 9 (pint) bottles of apple butter to heat and process. I also had a mound (small mountain) of tomatoes on my kitchen table that were in desperate need of attention. As the tomatoes are being prepared for a homemade steak sauce, the other bottles are being processed, I looked at the clock and shook my head. I WAS A TERRIBLE MOTHER!!! It was 6:30 and I had forgotten to take AJ to gymnastics. In my canning bliss I had completely forgotten to watch the time. I'm going to have to beg forgiveness from AJ and his gym teacher. I'm still having guilt.
Rob, being the sweet husband he his, told me I ought to start setting more alarms. Ya, thanks honey. :)
A few more bottles were being processed, the steak sauce was started and boiling down and kids were returning home. I returned home from picking Dal up from practice (7:20) and Rob had a truck load of wood to be unloaded. Many hands make light work and it was done in a flash. Since all of the bottles were now out of the oven I could start dinner. We threw in the first pizza and I took AJ, Kason, Colten, Beth and Kim for a run.
Kason, Rob and I are going to run a half-marathon with my mom and sisters in January. There is a 5K that my kids want to run. Because Kason, Rob and I have started to do a little running everyone else thinks they need to run too. I've been promising that we'd go on a mile jog so go we did. It ended up being a run/walk with a lot of stress on my part. There was only 1 fit, 3 stern moments and a few tears but we made it a whole mile. The 5K training has ended until January. My poor sanity can't handle it.
It's now 8 p.m. I'm making sure kids are showered. Rob is handling reading time. Pizzas are being rotated in and out of the oven as they're cooked. Homework is being finished and reading logs signed. By 9:00 the sauce is moved to a better pot, all bottles have been processed, backpacks are ready for tomorrow and we're settling the kids in the living room. Wait, things are still a mess. Quick cleaning time and we're back on track. 9:15 scripture reading. This sparks a good conversation but turns to talking about Grandpa Hod. Tears are shed on my part. All kids were sent to brush their teeth and get in bed. We only had one argument tonight so it was relatively smooth. By the time it's quiet it's 10 p.m.
I need a coke. Rob and I go into town to acquire my sanity beverage, a nice large Diet Coke. When we return home we measure out the last ingredients for the sauce and pick up the kitchen. Rob is getting ready to head to bed so we get in some much needed snuggle time. It's 11:30 and the sauce probably has about a half hour left. I didn't want to leave it on the stove all night so I tidied up and adjusted the seasonings. Around midnight it was looking and tasting pretty good. I got it into jars, put them in the fridge and finished wiping down the kitchen. 12:40 a.m. and my work day is complete.
Have you ever tried to jump into bed after walking in the door from work? Doesn't work so well. I personally need some down time. I tucked the kids and dogs in bed and hopped in the bath. A nice hot bath, add in some pine nuts and watching Dancing With the Stars is a recipe for relaxation.
Here's where the insomnia part comes in. I'm relaxed, lying in bed, and I got nothin. I can't sleep. So here I sit at 3:30 in the morning blabbering on my blog hoping to see a glimpse of sleepiness. I'm hoping to readjust my work day and bedtime in the next week. I'd love to be in bed by 10 but let's be real, it's not going to happen, so midnight is my goal. But until then, at least I know why I'm so tired.