Thursday, June 16, 2011

Too Lazy or Too Busy To Post... You Decide

It's been an interesting week.  Since Monday I have -

*  done a bazillion (or maybe five) loads of laundry, folded and put away
*  unclogged and cleaned a very nasty toilet  (Who left it like that?  You OWE me.)
*  finished birthday shopping for the Father's Day / June birthday extravaganza
*  continued with our science study of Flying Creatures, setting up two experiments with the boys involving the birds' seed and location-of-bird-bath preferences
*  propelled the boys through their testing (one finished and two very nearly done)
*  canceled school and testing for good weather, meaning we needed to mow
*  mowed half of our yard myself with the push mower, which I think Kerry found free beside the road somewhere, and works about that well
*  made a calendar / schedule for next year's homeschool and started assembling notebooks and supplies (waiting for the back-to-school sales for some things)
*  made and organized a ridiculous amount of photo-copies for Tate and Gunnar's history projects
*  cleaned our shower, and I mean totally scrubbed the walls and floor, and even cleaned way down in the very nasty drain, which nastiness may just possibly have been mostly the fault of my former long hair (yes, I did get it cut, and it's about an inch and a half at its longest point right now)
*  made some progress toward tidying my office
*  gone for daily walks with Gunnar (missed today, though) to get our exercise, which presents a bit of a dilemma.

Gunnar and I both need more exercise than we're getting, and he likes the one-on-one of going for walks with me.  So I explained to him that we need to keep walking fairly briskly to keep our hearts and muscles working, which he understands.  However, OOOOO!  LOOK!  A SQUIRREL!  and four mama ducks with ducklings, and I found a robin's egg, and I hear a red-winged blackbird; can you see it, Mama? and Look! There are some feathers we need to collect for our bird study, and I hear a chickadee calling, and Mama, what is that bird? and What are these pretty purple flowers?  and Can we go and see the waterfall?  and Look!  It's the bald eagle going back to its nest and it's carrying something!  and I found an ant nest and I want to stomp around it to see them come boiling out, and Is it feeding time at the fish ponds, and can we go watch?

So I'm not entirely convinced that the exercise component of our time together is being adequately addressed, but I can't bear to squelch his interest in God's wonderful creation.

*sigh*

In other news, it's my birthday today.  I'm 45, and I don't mind admitting it.  So there!  ;D

I told my family not to get me a present because what I really want is a camera bag (and to pick it out myself).  Still, Kerry brought me flowers, Gunnar bought me chocolate (with his own money), and Wyatt and Tate chipped in to take me out to dinner to (their choice) Denny's.  After which we shopped for a camera bag, which I ordered online for twenty bucks cheaper.

Want to see my birthday presents?


 Okay, yes, the book is for the whole family.
 But this is for me :D

And now that my stomach is finally starting to settle, I'd better head for bed.

11 comments:

Felicity said...

Happy Birthday Julie!! I wish you many beautiful blessings for the year ahead, and may there be many more of your wonderful blog posts too!!
You're the same age as my husband, but you seem to have a much better attitude about it than he does... ha ha!

The dB family said...

I'd say too busy! Wow, you accomplished a LOT! Happy Birthday!! You and the Engineer are the same age :o)! I think the forties are turning out to be pretty good. Love your camera bag choice and hooray for finding it cheaper on line!

Blessings!
Deborah

tammy said...

happy birthday!!!! sounds like it was a nice one!

wow. you motivate me just reading that list! it's funny, as I tried to sleep last night I kept thinking how I need to get ryan walking with me everyday. great mom and son time, plus good exercise for us both.

The Hibbard Family said...

Happy birthday!!

leah said...

Happy (belated) Birthday! Your boys are very sweet - and I hope the dinner from Denny's settles in your stomach soon (g). Our walks go in a similar manner - there is much stopping-and-looking, which negates the exercise component. I'm going to try to get to the municipal pool this summer (though with two small boys, there won't be much exercise there, either). Perhaps we'll just make and fly kites. We end up running a lot, and they never really get up in the air - that's about the extent of my exercise these days, lol!

I love the new camera bag. I love online shopping - it saves money AND arrives at your door!

Rachael Starke said...

Happy birthday! You define whatever age you are looks like; it does not define you.

Thus endeth the fortune cookie lesson for today. :)

And I second the endorsement of swimming as a great exercise method. The main goal at this stage is just to have the goal and purpose of regular exercise part of your day. So - do both! (you know, in your copious free time, :) )

Choate Family said...

Happy, happy birthday!

We, too, have the exercise delimma. One of our daughters in particular has a hard time overcoming "a body at rest tends to stay at rest". Lately, though, she has been imitating some of Odette's ballet moves from "Swan Lake" up and down the hall. It certainly gets her heart rate up!

melanie said...

Hey there, my PNW Friend ~
Happy Day-after-your-Birthday!

The camera bag looks great - I hope you're over dinner by now ;-)

Jen's Busy Days said...

Happy belated Birthday. Do you think anyone woulda thunk to do the cleaning as a present? Oh, that's right, all males! lol

And by the way trying to exercise at a proper pace with a toddler is about the same as an experience.

Best wishes
Jen in Oz

Mrs. Squirrel said...

EEK! I need to catch up on posts.

A belated Happy Birthday to you!

It sounds like you had a wonderful day! And don't worry... I'll be 44 in July ;)

-J

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday my friend. Hope it went well.