Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm 32, soooooo old as one friend so kindly pointed out! I am not one to get upset about my age, I have earned every one of those years and don't you forget it.

October 19th 11:43 pm, not quite my birthday, I wake up with a jolt to the wretched sound of retching. Poor Lexi once again had the flu (4th time in 4 weeks). At 12:05am on October 2oth I looked up from cleaning the trail between Lexi's bed and the bathroom and comment to Lexi that this is not my idea of a very nice birthday present. She cried, I felt guilty, then she lost it again, thankfully into the bowl I had given her. I spent another 45 minutes cleaning the floor. I sure miss hardwood floors.

The rest of the day was spent keeping Lexi comfortable, answering many Happy Birthday calls (thank you!), and baking bread (I never bake bread, we were out and I was desperate). It is normally a day I would have gone grocery shopping, but alas the stars were not aligned. I think Jacob may be secretly wishing our other kids will get sick on grocery day, he loves homemade bread, too bad I don't love making it. However, I did enjoy kneading, maybe I should say beating, the dough into submission. It wasn't necessary, my Bosch could have done the job, I just "kneaded" a little therapy.

My sweet friend Alisa was the last call of the day and asked if I had enjoyed my birthday and if Jacob and I were going to do something fun. Having the day end was my idea of fun. Do you ever wish you could be a kid just for your birthday, when the day was just about you? I do. Oh well.

Thank you Alisa for going shopping with me for fun, on the 21st! It made the 20th easier to laugh about, and I'm doing just that as I write this post!

Exercise

I have tried to find an affordable form of exercise that I actually enjoy with little success. I have instead turned to productive exercise so, here is my new exercise regimen:

1. Let Kurt ride on my shoulders up to the bus stop each day. We go up the hill four times each day so it's quite the butt burn, and Kurt loves it.

2. Run up and down steps no matter what your carrying, including laundry baskets full of laundry. A bit awkward, but effective non the less.

3. Rip out ugly railing along front walk. This includes the use of a sledge hammer......also great for venting frustration. I have included picture of the ugly railing.

4. Move retaining wall away from fence (about 4 feet). Whovever put in the retaining wall apparently had no intention of using the gate because the wall blocked the gate. I have been digging out the six bushes and dirt to then replace the wall in sections. What you can see of the wall on the right used to sit directly against the fence on the left. The bushes at the back of the picture still have to be removed.

I have decided this is the most rewarding exercise I have ever done. I highly recomend it! The down side is that the neighbors find it entertaining to come and watch.

My Least Favorite Things

1. Homework - 3 schoolage children + homework + papers to be signed and read = 1 cranky Mom (Homework often takes 2 hours of my time each night.)
2. Whining - Enough said!
3. Call nights - I still can't sleep well when Jacob is not home. You would think I would be used to it by now.
4. Deciding what to make for dinner. I don't mind cooking, it's the decision process that I hate.
5. Cleaning - I know someone who loves to clean, I wish!
6. Living on super tight budget. After 11 years, "someday" wont come soon enough.
7. The flu - 2 kids 2 weeks and 4 rounds later I am still waiting for the two other kids to get it. Lexi had it 3 times.