this woman’s work

This here? This is the ellipictal trainer my mom LOANED me (see mom? I remember it’s just a loan!). I don’t have the plug for it yet so I worked out on it without resistance, which obviously is a pretty dang low key workout but you do it fast enough and your heart rate will get up there. I woke up this morning knowing that I was going to get on it come hell or high water and I wasn’t going to let any stupid little forgotten power cord screw it up for me! Brett will pick it up later this week when he heads over to paint my mom’s kitchen. (He is a gem!)

This is my first chance to get down to my desk because I had my sister’s kids for the morning/afternoon. The boys disappeared into the basement but the girls bickered and bickered and bickered. And flounced out of the room at each other. And came whining to me. Then made up and put on princess dresses and danced around until it was time to bicker again. Bicker. Flounce. Whine. Dance. Repeat. That was my afternoon. Also? Nobody liked my PB&J stromboli. Next time I’m making them boxed Mac & Cheese. Hmph. (Actually I didn’t love the stromboli either so I won’t hold it against them. I’ll hold it against Donna’s Day although there’s no one to blame but myself for making the dough from scratch. What a time-wasting fool am I.)

I don’t think they fight as much at my sister’s house and I think this is because 1) Madison isn’t as good at sharing as Lucia is; 2) my sister plays with them or at least sets them up with stuff. I generally don’t do this. For a former preschool teacher I have a remarkably low patience level for playing with kids. I’m a great one for rolling my eyes and saying, “Work it out yourselves! I didn’t take your tiara!” I’m a reluctant referee.

To be fair to myself, I had a rotten evening with my own girl-child. She woke up an hour after she went to bed and stayed awake until after midnight so I was burned out as soon as I rolled out of bed this morning (naturally, she rolled out of bed with me and followed me around chattering while I groped for the coffee).

But now — ENDORPHINS! I love my kids! I love babysitting! I love my messy house and messy kitchen and the funny way my garbage disposal smells and the pile of dirty dishes I have to deal with before I can cook diinner! That, my friends, is the miracle of endorphins. It’s like crack only good for your heart!