Life's rich tapestry

Oh, Nablopomo, you are a harsh master sometimes! Here I am again, blogging via iPhone on a wee little 3G signal.

I told y'all yesterday that our Internet is way slow for a couple more days...so this is where we find ourselves. But don't worry--we've got each other! (Isn't that in the Growing Pains theme song? Or is it Family Ties? "Rain or shine--all the time!")

Anyway. I haven't mentioned...it's been raining. Today it was more rain. With the rainy raining of the rain, not to mention the general raininess off the last 3 days, we haven't gotten out much. I'm starting to get how I get when we don't go out much. Here are some things that happened. Please skim for your enjoyment and information:

--Grace and I went to the gym. Well, she went to childcare there and I tried the step aerobics class for the 2nd time. I told my sister, and she was all, "Oh, is it 1993?" LOL, Beck. L. O. L. I thought that maybe this time I would find all the combinations and steps easier to follow. Um, no. The instructor was very sympathetic, though.

--I made 4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Grace. Four. She calls them "jellies", as in: "Mom--jelly!" like a surgeon asking for the next instrument. She asked for one about 9 times, so I figure I did okay in only making 4.

--I made 2 quesadillas for Grace and 1 for Nate. My life involves a lot of tortillas. Have I ever told you that before? It's true. Tortillas and peanut butter, all the live-long day.

--I nearly cleaned all the bathrooms 2 times. Wait, that sounds misleading. I don't mean that I cleaned all the bathrooms 2 times, I mean that I almost *started* to do it 2 separate times, and then didn't. I blame the rain. Sometimes it's disheartening to do chores you just did a few days before. Like when you shave your legs, and then a month later? You gotta do it again.

--That is an old joke I stole from Bette Midler.

--I built about 6 Lego towers today "with" Grace. She knocked them all down. It's like she doesn't appreciate my work, you know? I also built an awesome Lego throne for Barbie. You shoulda seen it, it was sweet. Grace? Knocked it down.

--Nate went on a school excursion today to a farm. He says he milked a cow. I didn't believe him at first, but his hand motions looked pretty darn accurate.

--Ava is auditioning with a friend tomorrow for the school talent show. She and her friend are singing and dancing to that Katy Perry song, "Firework". Hmmm. I'm not sure if they've really practiced much, but I'm trying not to be a helicopter parent and am just letting them go for it. I'm impressed too...there is NO WAY I would've done something like that in 2nd grade!

--Tonight I went back to the gym for Pilates. (Twice in one day is rare for me.) The instructor had us doing all kinds of exercises with those giant bouncy balls. Are you good at those? What's the secret? Please tell me.

--I have very poor balance. I almost rolled right off that ball about 6 times. I was grunting, a little. This instructor was also very sympathetic. I was trying very hard just to balance on my hands and knees, much less do all the stuff she was asking!

--After a few grueling (for me) sets of pushups on the ball, she said: "If you're finding these increasingly impossible to do, that's good. It means you've performed to failure, and you've pushed yourself further for next time."

--Or something like that. My arms were shaking so badly on the pushups that I was having trouble focusing. But I thought that phrase, "performed to failure" was really interesting. At least, it gives me a new perspective on my workouts. "Oh no, I'm not asphyxiating back here and tripping over my feet. I'm performing to failure--it's all good."

It's 'sposed to rain the rest of the week. Perhaps you'd like to stop by for a jelly? Or could I interest you in a Lego Barbie throne? You don't find those everywhere, you know.

Sent from my iPhone