catch up
I’m sorry to have been absent for so long! Thank you for the comments and emails asking me how we’re doing. It’s been a crazy couple weeks. Grandma is recovering well, and her spirits are high which is a very big deal. We hope she can come home the end of July. I realized today as I made the two-hour round trip again that this is the 7th time I’ve made this trip over the past two weeks. Sadly, that’s probably more trips to see her than I’d made year-to-date.
On top of all the extra driving, The Narrator has been wrapping up a really big project at work, and he’s been working super crazy hours. Crazy as in, coming home to sleep for 6 hours then going back in to work. Yeah. We’ve all been super tired.
And training? Sigh. training. With The Narrator working so late, I haven’t been able to make it to the Y nearly often enough. Good thing I’m not doing an event until October. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if T-Rex weren’t loudly refusing to go to the play area. It’s rather tiring to drop off a screaming kid and only get 15 minutes in and then have the play area workers come get you. Poor guy. I’m so tired of summer – the Y is soooo busy and the play area extra full, so I can’t blame him for not wanting to stay. One day last week, however, I did have a really good day. I biked for 30 minutes and then ran for 30 minutes. I was so proud of myself! And my legs reminded me for two days just how proud of myself I was!
I’ve seen God’s provision many times throughout the craziness of the past couple weeks. One such case was the fact that my Mom already had tickets booked to visit us this week. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have extra hands. Then yesterday The Narrator found out he has a 3-day out of town trip next week. He’s leaving the same day my Mom was supposed to leave. We checked on tickets tonight, and changing her ticket to stay until he gets back didn’t cost very much, so she’s staying to help me until The Narrator gets back home. Whew!!
Through the busyness I’ve been learning a lot of good things about myself and about God. One thing I discovered was that when my brain is completely fried, I unwind best by papercrafting. Hence, the lack of blogging because I’ve been fried a LOT, but I have made some really cute birthday cards. Somehow cutting and gluing recreates me when I have no brain cells left.
Anyway…. it’ll be a few more days until I get back to my writing routine. This weekend is our 11th anniversary and my Mom is down here to watch the kids so we can go to an island weddding and make a mini-getaway out of it. We’re thrilled!! And the kids are loving, loving, loving having Grandma here. Oh my goodness, what a riot!! 
I’m not sure who’s having more fun, them or her!
Informed
Little Miss Sunshine informed me this week that she would like a snowman cake for her 4th birthday. She would also like a bigger go-cycle for her birthday (meaning she wants a bike instead of a tricycle). And she would like for her bigger go-cycle to be pink.
Her birthday isn’t until January. She’s soooo my daughter!!
Today, T-Rex re-decorated our tan couch with pink lipstick, knocked a glass off the counter and broke it, and ripped the stand off the back of a picture frame.
He is sooo The Narrator’s son.
FYI, isopropyl rubbing alcohol takes lipstick off a micro-suede couch quite well.
I’ve made the one-hour trip (two-hours round trip) to visit my Grandma in the hospital and then rehab center, five out of the last six days. She seems to be doing well and I think she’ll recover fine. She’s motivated and determined. It’s been very nice to visit with her and help her out during this time. It’s the least I can do for her after all the years she’s been there for me.
Because of those trips, I only made it to the Y once for training. We’ll just call this triathlon pre-training week #2. I’ll get started for real eventually. Maybe.
It’s been quite the week around here!!
Filed under Funnies, Little Miss Sunshine, T-Rex | Comments (2)a long 24 hours
It’s been a long 24 hours. Last night this time, I was leaving a hospital an hour from here after visiting my Grandma who fell on Monday and broke her hip pretty seriously. I was happy to drop everything and be by her side – I’m the only family for 1200 miles. I’ll tell you the story when I have a few more hours of sleep in my brain and can think more clearly. Please pray for her recovery and traveling safety for family members coming and going across the miles.
Be back soon.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)Resentment throbs
My thighs are throbbing. I suppose that’s a good sign. It means I actually got off the couch and made it to the YMCA this week. Easier said than done.
Monday morning, I woke up actually excited to begin to train for this crazy triathlon. The Narrator found (all part of his plan) a .pdf of a training program for me to follow. It said I was supposed to bike for 30 minutes on Monday. I knew that getting to the Y 5-6 times a week was going to be tough. Monday morning was Little Miss Sunshine’s dance class (complete with new tap shoes from Payless and no drama whatsoever, hooray!). I had schemed in my head that I would go after the kids got up from their nap, and if they slept too late for me to fit in a workout before supper time then I’d go after supper.
Little Miss slept until 4 p.m. Not enough time to get there, check them in to the play center, do the bike ride, get them unchecked, get home, and get dinner on the table before every one was completely cranky.
So I planned on going after dinner. Then The Narrator called. He had to work late. As soon as I hung up the phone, both kids hit high levels of whine. I lost all motivation to train. Ever.
Just then an old friend showed up at the front door – Mr. Resentment. I opened the door just a crack, and he stuck his foot in. “Uh-huh, not today,” I said. He looked at me surprised. He never asks to be invited. He doesn’t have to. Resentment is smart, he knows just when to show up, when the mood is right for conversation. “I’m changing things around here,” I informed him. He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He never says much, just a gentle prompt to get me going. “He worked out over lunch.”
I wish I could say that I shut the door at this point, knowing the conversation was headed nowhere good. But I was tired. And lonely. And a little conversation felt good. “I know, I know, so he can do his workouts over lunch and not have to worry about kids schedules and snacks and drinks, he can just pick up and go, so that’s just the way it is! I’m the MOM!”
“He’s working late.”
“So, ok then he works late and it’s a long, tiring day for me and I have the kids longer than usual and just won’t be able to get a work out in at all. I can’t do anything about it. It’s not fair, is it? No, I’m not going to go there. No, it doesn’t seem fair! No, I know he’d rather be here and he….” I sighed, knowing what I had to do.
“Resentment, I AM going to do this race. You can’t stop me. You tire me out and weigh me down. So, this is goodbye. Don’t come back. And if you do, you won’t be welcome. End of discussion.” I slammed the door.
By the time The Narrator came home I was exhausted. He kept urging me to go to the Y anyway, but I didn’t. I just didn’t feel like it. And we needed diapers. And I felt like sewing, because sewing makes me happy.
And here, I thought this was about training myself for swimming, running, and biking. Looks like it’s going to be a lot more than that.
(I finally made it on Thursday. And Friday. Two days in a row! Hence, the throbbing thighs.)
The bet has been called
In November of 2006, I lost a bet with my husband. Lesson learned: never make a bet with your husband especially when you’re under the influence of post-pregnancy hormones.
The Narrator’s sister was living in town at the time and had met a wonderful man on e-harmony. We knew he was going to propose (because he had asked us to try to find out what kind of ring she would like), we just didn’t know when. He was coming to visit over Thanksgiving while the in-laws were here. The Narrator thought Future Brother-in-law would propose during that trip. I thought he’d wait until she went to visit him over Christmas. Apparently those baby hormones made me feisty, and we made a bet.
He proposed over Thanksgiving. The Narrator gloated. My price for losing? Doing a triathlon with The Narrator. Yes, a triathlon as in swimming a crazy distance, then biking an insane amount of miles, then willing your legs to run a few miles or 10 and dropping from exhaustion at the finish line. Fortunately, I had just had a baby, and so I was exempt from any physical activity for at least six weeks eighteen months.
Last weekend, the subject of the triathlon came up again. The Narrator started talking about how he had convinced most everyone at work to do one with him, and then he said, “D’s wife is going to do it too.” I narrowed my eyes, knowing exactly where this conversation was going, “Good for her” I sneered. His eyes lit up, “You know you still owe me one.” Silence from me while I racked my brain for a list of legitimate excuses. I proceeded to list the things I do not have that we would have to buy, not limited to but including: a bike, googles, swim cap, and race attire. “Oh, we can work that out. Trust me, I’ve been researching and I’ve got it covered. And look, once you have a bike, we can get one of these and have family outings on our bikes.” He then whipped open the K-Mart ad and pointed to one of those pull behinds toddlers can ride in. He’d obviously been scheming this conversation. Oh, but the icing on the cake was this: “Hey, and when you do this with me, then you’ll be making those pants a size smaller!” He was totally referring to a conversation we’d had five minutes prior to this one where I was lamenting over a pair of pants I was sewing and how I’d had to make them a size larger to fit my hips. He’s a smart one, that Narrator.
I sighed and asked the time frame. He then informed of the Publix Famliy Fun Weekends which is a series of sprint triathlons through the summer and fall. The good (?) thing about a sprint, is at least it’s only (insert sarcasm here) a 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. Ha. I’ve never run more than 2 miles in my life, let alone after doing all that other stuff first!!!!
He’s shooting for the August 2nd event. I’m stalling for mid-October. I really don’t think that 8 weeks is enough time for me to get in shape. It’s more than getting in shape for me, it’s figuring out how to fit in training with two toddlers in the picture. Good thing the Y is open 5:30 am to 10 p.m. Gulp
And so, let the training begin. (And just for the record, I wrote this while eating a triple chocolate decadence brownie as a last hurrah!)
Filed under Story Girl, The Narrator, triathlon, trying new things in 08 | Comments (8)