Today

Today I:

• Slept in until 7:45. I stayed in bed and thought about my day while I very slowly woke up
• Ate breakfast (Bob's 10 grain hot cereal)
• Trimmed and cut back bushes and trees and ornamental grasses in our yard, pulled out dead plant matter from last year and cleaned up the beds to make room for all the new bulbs pushing through the dirt. Raked and deposited all clippings and pullings in the yard waste recycling bin
• Cleaned off the front porch
• Organized my food storage
• Bought a birthday present
• Took Jonah to his basketball team pictures and game
• Grocery shopped, bought kids new church shoes
• Cleaned the garage
• Took Jonah to a birthday party
• Prepared class list and activity calendar for the new Beehive class presidency
• Picked up Jonah from his birthday party
• Made breakfast for dinner: bacon, pancakes, scrambled eggs with OJ to drink
• Cleaned up the kitchen
• Made Heath Bar crunch ice cream for tomorrow
• Made sugar cookie dough for Valentine cookies tomorrow
• Washed and folded 3 loads of laundry
• Solved the great Pokemon meltdown (DS in time out for one day)

You might notice I didn't have "shower" or "eat lunch" on the list. But I don't think I stink too bad, and I had an extra piece of bacon at dinner to make up for missing lunch.

Now I'm sitting on my bed, listening to the rain pound against the window. I'm exhausted, my muscles ache and it feels great! I have the latest Juliet Marillier book in the Sevenwaters series that I'm going to read as soon as I snuggle up under the covers.

It feels so good to relax when I've worked hard. This is something I try to teach my kids. I don't think they fully get it yet, but I hope that some day they do. It is impossible to fully enjoy leisure and rest without having worked.

And I'm fully enjoying it tonight.

Overheard in Bed

I woke up suddenly this morning at 12:34 am. I'm not sure why I woke up but I didn't have two seconds to ponder that question because Robert started talking in his sleep.

"This is a weird, weird . . . "

Oh, this is going to be good, I thought. I couldn't wait for him to finish his sentence.

". . . weird . . ."

A weird what!

". . . costume." And then he finished with the profound, "Inside a costume."

Was he in a costume? Was the costume in a costume? Why was the costume so weird?

Regardless of the unknowns, there was no doubt I'd just heard the world's funniest sleep-talking ever. I would have laughed if I hadn't been so tired. I thought of that British woman who started taping her mild-mannered husband's nightly sleep-talking rants and made big bucks creating her own website and t-shirts featuring his nocturnal utterances. Maybe I could do something like that?

I knew one thing for sure. I had to write this down so I'd remember it in the morning. I rummaged around in my nightstand for a pen and found a notebook and started writing in the dark. However, the dry scratch sounded suspiciously like a pen out of ink. I rummaged some more, repeating the costume monologue in my head so I wouldn't forget.

I found another pen and wrote, hoping the pen was working. I even underlined the 'd' in weird to identify the weird emphasis Robert had given to that letter each time he's said "weird."

Then I tried to get back to sleep. But my mind was running with the possibilities: should I get up and post this immediately on Facebook? How would I phrase it? How long would it take for my computer to start up and actually log into Facebook? Could I do this and still get back to sleep later?

Luckily, before I could act, I fell asleep.

I woke up around 7 am, feeling a giddy anticipation about something.

Of course! The funny sleep-talking!

I grabbed my notepad and read what I'd written. The pen had failed at one point, but I'd pressed so hard into the paper I could clearly see the words written in the dark of night. I read.

"This is a weird, weird, weird costume. Inside a costume."

Hmmm.

Not as funny at 7:04 am as it was at 12:34 am.

Good thing I didn't post it on Facebook.

On Call

A mom's work day may end when the kids finally are asleep in bed, but in reality, she's on call 24/7. From the time you push that baby into the world until they start sleeping through the night, a mom works both the day AND night shift. Once sleep habits are firmly in place, you can still expect to be woken up in the middle of the night to clean up barf, change wet sheets, sooth away the bad dreams, take temperatures or administer medicine.

One survival skill every mom acquires to cope with the night shift is to do all these things while half-asleep. If you can stay half asleep, once you get back into your own bed, dreamland will be easier to slip back into. And this is important. Just because that kid kept you up half the night does NOT mean they'll let you sleep half the day.

And if you have healthy, sleeping kids who never have bad dreams or pee accidents, your being able to do various tasks while half-asleep will still come in handy. Because every once in a while, depending on how much water you drink before you go to bed, you will have to get up to use the . . .

. . . well, you know.

So the key to getting up in the middle of the night is to keep one foot in dreamland and one in reality. Above all, you should NOT think of any of the following things in your time out of bed:

Money
Stuff you have to do the next day
Men in clogs
Unfinished craft projects
Business ideas
Writing ideas
Kids who insist on wearing the same outfit every day
A slide show presentation you are doing the next day in school
What time the indoor track opens
What you are making for dinner for the next 3 nights
What you need to get at the grocery store
How the universe is endless
The perfect comeback to a certain Facebook status from 2 weeks ago
Money
Whether or not you took the garbage out
How you shouldn't have eaten that second piece of chocolate cake
Money

Just learn to keep your mind empty and you will be asleep in no time.

Good night.

Blah

I'm not fishing for compliments. I just need to vent a few things. So if you feel the need to pat my ego, which I love by the way, don't leave a comment on this post. Just send chocolate.

I love to write. I'd write even if I was the only one reading it. But make no mistake, I really love when people read my writing. I love it even more when people pay me for my writing. I would love to be able to earn a nice income for our family by writing. For a freelance writer this means being self-motivated, self-starting and self-promoting. Blah.

You have to call people or e-mail people and submit things and ask them whether or not they want to buy the thing you wrote. This is never a fun thing for me. However, over the years, I've had pretty good luck with my minimal efforts. But minimal does not a "nice income" make. So for the last few months I've tried to step it up.

While I did sell one thing to the New Era in October (payable upon publication on an unknown day in the possible or not possible future) I've been turned down for the last three things I've submitted to another magazine. I've tried to find other homes for those articles with other local magazines, but so far have had no luck. Blah!

I should mention that when I shared these woes with a friend, she offered me a writing job for a music magazine. So, that's good. But still. Rejection hurts. Especially when I'm not sure what my next step should be, or sure if I even want to take it when there will probably be more rejection. I'm fairly confident that I have some writing talent, but how can I know for sure? (Please, not a cry for your kind words. I just need to get this out. It's therapy).

So, blah. That's how I feel. I'm currently in a writer's critique group where I'm getting feedback for my first ever attempt at middle grade fiction. I'm sure I'm embarrassing myself, but feel that if I don't at least plow through this, making my best effort, there will always be a big question mark in my life. I already have so many question marks. I don't want any more.

I'll keep taking the risk. My skin will keep getting thicker. I just wish I had a few more go-to's for writing opportunities.

Well, actually, I wish that my writing was in huge demand and I had so many opportunities that I had to tell people "no" instead of them telling me no. And then there would be a bidding war and everyone would be vying for my great writing skills and I'd just have to take a break from it all. So I'd take a twelve-day Mediterranean cruise with Robert where I'd find inspiration for a best-selling book during a night-time gondola ride in Venice.

And I'd get a treadmill desk so I could write and exercise at the same time.

No Pity

Remember when I wrote about going downtown to the Portland Timber's store and getting our pictures taken?  Well, check this out. By the way, the photographer told us all to give him our best "no pity" look.

I really didn't like the way my picture turned out. It makes me feel old. It's a bit of a let down when you feel like you're 25 to realize you look like you're 42. Sigh.

Does This Make Me a Beekeeper?

At church I work with a youth group called Beehives. They are 12 and 13 year old girls who do not wear beehive hats on their heads, but I thought this picture was cute and so are my Beehives. Now that I've typed the word a couple times, I realize how silly "Beehives" sounds. So maybe I should explain that the beehive is really more of a symbol of industry. The girls are able to set goals to be productive and stay busy with many good things. And I think at one time maybe 100 years ago, they used to keep beehives as one of their projects.

Okay, enough about why they are called Beehives. They just are.

On Sunday I needed to make an announcement about our weekly activity. We are doing three heart attacks. This is when you "attack" someone or their room or front porch, with a plate of goodies and lots of cut out hearts with sweet messages on them. The girls are excited, but I needed to take care of some business so the activity would run smoothly. I needed people to sign up to bring cupcakes and frosting and candy decorations.

This is how the announcement went down to my class of 12 Beehives:

Me: I need to go over a few details about this week's activity.

(Three hands shoot up in the air)

Me: (to Beehive #1) Did you have a question?

Beehive #1: Where will you be at 7:45, because I'm going to be late and can meet up with you at 7:45, but I need to know where you will be? Do you think you will still be here at the church decorating the cupcakes? I just need to know where to show up because I'm going to be late.

Me: Well, I'm not sure where we will be at 7:45. I'll probably have a better idea at the activity. (To Beehive #2) Do you have a question?

Beehive #2: I just think that we should probably figure out who's bringing what so we don't have a bunch of the same stuff.

Me: Right, I've got a list here and I'll go over everything. (to Beehive #3) Yes, Beehive #3?

Beehive #3: So, who are we going to heart attack? Because I have this friend and I think we should do her. It would be so awesome.

Me: Okay. Why don't you let me go over everything and if you still have questions you can ask when I'm done talking. I need 4 people to bring 12 unfrosted cupcakes.

(crickets)

Me: I'll bring one dozen. Can someone else do another?

(crickets)

Beehive #4: I can bring cupcakes

Beehive #5: Okay, I'll bring cupcakes too.

Me: Great! Thank you. Maybe 3 dozen will be enough. How about frosting? Anyone? (crickets) Just a can from the store will be fine. (crickets)

Beehive #1: So, do you think I should meet you at someones house while you are heart attacking? Cause I'm going to be late.

Beehive #2: I can't bring anything because my mom has already gone shopping for the week.

(The bell rings signaling the end of class and the room clears out at lightning speed, except for...)

Beehive #1: So...

Me: Why don't I just give you my cell number and you can call me.

I do love my girls. They are such a refreshing change from my boys and I find it very helpful to listen and see what is going on in the lives of these young women. Every one of them is talented and beautiful.  But sometimes their apparent lack of focus, the way they fly from one topic to another, or their cute little buzzing they do with their friends during class, when they are supposed to be listening to the lesson, makes me think think the beehive is a actually a very appropriate symbol.

One Mom's Tip: Exercise on a Budget

I always speed walk with a huge grin on my face.*

I hate to pay for something I can get for free. Which is why I've had a hard time justifying a gym membership. Okay, I'm not being completely honest. The real reason I don't have a gym membership is that we have lots of other places to put our money besides a gym membership.

But seriously, why pay for something you can get for free?

How do I get my gym workout without the gym membership? I open the door and step outside. I get a cardio workout by speed walking or jogging. I do a little warm up stretching before and cool down stretching after and the best part is that I didn't have to spend time driving somewhere before I could start exercising. If I walk/run for 45 minutes, I'm done and back home after 45 minutes. No commute time.

If I want a little strength training I just pop in my 30 Day Shred DVD and grab my hand weights. It's a 20 minute workout that really delivers. I did pay for the DVD, so I guess that isn't actually free. And I paid for the hand weights too. But those were both one time purchases that I've continued to use for over a year.

You could check out other exercise DVDs from the library, download free walking mixes from iTunes, or get ideas for interval training from online articles. All free, free, free. 

For a few dollars, you could invest in an exercise band. It is small, versatile and compact (unlike that stupid, stupid exercise ball we have that no one ever uses, yet takes up an entire corner of our guest room), and watch some youtube videos on how to use them. 

Do you have any tips for free or low cost work outs?

*Actually, this is true when I listen to the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me NPR podcast on my walk (free download from iTunes).