managing things

We had a really nice weekend. In fact, I told my mom that I even got a little bored on Saturday night. How rare is that? I really needed to recharge, I feel like it's been non-stop for weeks on end. Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market, staying inside to escape the 90 degree sun on my sunburned arms and face, a 2(!) hour nap with Laithe in the afternoon; we turned the air conditioning on.

Sunday I woke up feeling more rested than I have in a couple weeks at least and was pleased to find that when you get rest that turns into energy. Shocking! John had to work in the afternoon so Guthrie and I, and to a very small extent Laithe, turned our attention to the house and things are tidier. Actually, by bedtime it looked like a shithole, but it only took 5 minutes after everyone had gone upstairs to make it better. Whatever. I know in my heart that the floors were mopped. I read this post the other day and it was good. I forget to celebrate the tasks I do get done, remembering only the ones that I don't.  Think about the piles of laundry and forget that no one has gone to school in dirty underwear yet! So, I'm going to practice this week reminding myself that I am in fact doing this mothering, marriage, adulthood thing, and doing it just fine thank you. Just because no one else gives me credit for the hours of work I put in doesn't mean I shouldn't. You know? That came out kind of snarky, I didn't mean it to. It was more a comment on our society as a whole not valuing women's work.

This morning at breakfast I sat and made our meal plan for the week. I've been pretty steadily doing that for a few months now. The weeks that I don't do it I can tell a huge difference. I was pleased to discover that except for a few items it'll be a pantry/freezer week. I love that. We're trying to put a sizable amount of money into savings each month as we've got some plans in the works - more on that in a few weeks - and pantry/freezer weeks mean we can turn the $150 I'd have spent on groceries over to the savings account. Sweet. Actually probably a little less than that as we have neither toilet paper nor garbage bags in the pantry. And I need to find another ace bandage for John. Our Mother's Day was a little rough - while we were working in the back yard he fell down the cement steps and sprained his ankle. I'm pretty confident that the people at the ER underestimated the amount of damage he did - although his xray was fine - as they gave him 4 days of Ibuprofen and 4 days of pain pills. I'd post a picture of his bruising and swelling, but it's kind of gross. Yesterday, when things started looking up a little bit he came down with a cold. Fun times. Poor guy.

Also my garden is looking good. Not as tall as others', but remembering that I didn't even get anything in the ground before Memorial Day last year, I should feel good about it. The neighborhood kids are excited about it, every day checking to see the growth. The oldest girl on the street was helping plant some marigolds to keep the rabbits out and they were almost dead in their little pots. She was concerned and I told her that we'd water them and then wait and see but that marigolds are hearty. She asked me what hearty meant and I said resilient, which wasn't entirely helpful, but we talked about what that meant. She thought for a few minutes and then asked "is that why they're called Miracles?"

happy monday to you!