Forced Exercise II

I am just catching up after not having Internet access for several days (or even time to go find some). I am getting lots of "forced" exercise. First it was moving stuff. Then it was working on removing old vinyl. We also now live in a house with steps. Right now a lot of stuff got unloaded into the basement so I am making many trips up and down the steps. My legs are sure feeling it.

cough cough

My asthma has kicked in, and I've been coughing for weeks. That's my excuse for not getting any appreciable amount of exercise for almost a month which means I'm completely out of shape for skiing (assuming I can stop coughing long enough to try to ski). Of course, getting enough sleep would be helpful. Or remembering to use the inhaler that I finally got.

But it's December and life is always a little bit crazy. I've been feeling like the Grinch, and everyone else at home is completely into Christmas. We got a 10 1/2 foot tree that looks great. Michael and they boys did a great job decorating. There are tons of presents under the tree already. We've opened some (that came in the mail unwrapped). We've even got most of Timothy's birthday presents under the tree, as well.

I shouldn't be too grumpy because I'm done with shopping. The gifts are all mailed. I'm not thinking about the holiday letter until we get past Christmas day. Still, I haven't finalized plans for Timothy's birthday party or sent out any invites. I haven't started packing, I don't know when my in-laws are arriving, and their room isn't ready.

I've started a second new project at work which is overwhelming. It's good news because it means I'll likely have enough work to go full time later in January (because Michael has requested a 12 month unpaid leave of absence). Hmm... I wonder why I'm stressed.

No matter how much things change, they stay the same.

Bad Habit

I wish I could stop doing this - I eat something I really like, and I feel hungry, i want more, so I have more and then I've had too much. Made pierogies for lunch today, and the first few I boiled, then fried in a little butter so they were crispy, and had low-fat sour cream on top. Not great, but not so very horrible. Until I made another batch, omitted the frying because I wanted them NOW and they were not nearly as good. And then I was uncomfortably full because I'd gobbled them down.

I'm slowly losing weight, but not if I eat like this! Bleah.

I hate cold rainy days

I didn't let William play outside today because we had more rain than snow. I am now paying the price because he is whiny and bored. We are going out to dinner with friends - their daughter just got admitted to MIT. William doesn't want to go, he doesn't want to try Thai food (even white rice) he wants someone to play with ....

Ok, i didn't get much done today, and I spent a long time on the couch with him watching TV - I understand that he's bored but leave me alone for 5 minutes!!!!

Arrgh - it is compounded by the fact that I offered him several different things to do this afternoon (making cookies with me, eg.) and he declined them all.

Forced exercise!

Well, I'm a little proud of myself. We got about 9 inches of snow. Steve's away. The only chance I have to clear it is when the kids are sleeping. So, having never used the snow blower before, I learned how and cleared the driveway. It's kind of a beast to meneuver and manage the direction of the snow while working on our hill of a driveway, but I did it! And then followed up with a good scraping with the shovel and salting (our driveway is steep and impossible to get up with any amount of snow or ice on it.) Yes, the house is still a disaster (and -- gross -- there's been cat barf on the carpet in my office for 2 days) but I'm glad to know that I can do the things I need to, even on my own.
Of course, I just found out that school for Owen is cancelled tomorrow morning, so it's less urgent that I be able to get out first thing, but I still have places to go! I wonder if Sierra's gymnastics is cancelled....

One load down! Many more to go

I got one load out of the storage unit. It at least made a difference in the storage unit. There are many more loads to go but I am counting it as exercise!

Just a little more than yesterday....

I'm alone with the kids this week, and sometimes I use that as an excuse to not get anything done. But this week I've resolved to go to bed each night with the house a little cleaner or at least a bit more done than when I woke up in the morning. Yesterday that wasn't hard, given that the house was a disaster when I woke up, but I did manage to clean all the old condiments out of the fridge and wipe down the downstairs bath before going to bed. Plus, the kids and I did manage to get the Christmas tree decorated! They were actually a big help! Now if I can at least get the candle lights in the windows the neighbors won't think we're the Grinch family. Anyway, I've got so much to do around the house, if I can keep up this goal of just a little more each day, even after Steve gets back, perhaps it will eventually all get done! And if my house cleaning and to-do's get under control, perhaps I can feel relaxed enough to stop and exercise once in a while!