October 26, 2013
6am – My alarm went off and I promptly turned it off with no intention of waking up for a while. I’ve been spending almost every minute of my days lately feeling tired, and I didn’t want my Saturday to be more of the same. I was surprised when Jared nudged me and it was already almost 8am. I love it when the whole house sleeps in just a little bit. Before I had any time to think, I put on my running gear and laced up my shoes. If I give myself time to think about it, I can always find a reason not to work out.
8:30am - I drove to TimpView High School, stashed a water
bottle underneath a tree, and drove to the temple. While other people were
getting out of their cars all dressed up and ready for spiritual enlightenment,
I ran around them in my little exercise pants and started down the hill. I
changed my normal route a little bit today. Instead of starting off going
uphill, I went down the hill for almost a mile first. I got a much better
warm-up that way and felt like I handled the hills better because of it. There
are some amazingly steep hills around the temple and I try to take advantage of
them because I know I’ve got some major inclines on my Ragnar route. I wish I
could say I am training on a route that is harder than the race route will be,
but I suspect that’s not the case. I’m doing the best I can anyway.
10am – I finished my run. The first thirty minutes of every
run I ever do is the worst. I always want to stop. I want to walk. I want to go
home. But if I can stick it out for thirty minutes, I tend to finally get into
my rhythm. Unfortunately, by the time I hit my rhythm, my lower legs are
usually on fire, but today it was a different story and I was so grateful. My
last couple runs have been so difficult because my shins have been such an
issue, but this morning in the car I said a quick prayer. I asked that my legs
wouldn’t give me any problems today and that I would have a good enough run
that I would have confidence to know that I can do this race. I explained to my
Heavenly Father that I realize my shin condition is a small issue and in the
eternal perspective of things, doesn’t make much of a difference. But I want to
have a good experience in my upcoming race, and a good training run was what I
was asking for today. It wasn’t a formal down-on-my knees prayer and I didn’t
pray for much else, but I know God listened to me and He cared enough to give
me what I asked for today. I love when I receive answers to small prayers
because it helps me believe even more than He will hear and answer my prayers
about the big things.
After my run, I hurried home to check in with mom and dad.
Carrie and Adam had planned to come over today at 11am to help all of us clean
out mom and dad’s garage. It is full of boxes and stuff from their move and
it’s driving them crazy. Now that the basement is ninety percent unpacked,
cleaned out, and organized, it’s time to move onto the next big thing.
11:30am – After I showered, I grabbed a piece of pizza left
over from Brita’s party last night for a quick brunch. Then I hurried
downstairs to join the moving-in party. Adam helped mom and dad hang a bunch of
stuff on their walls for the first little while. Carrie and I spent a lot of
time talking about some concerns she has with Sarah. If our kids only knew how
much we love them and sacrifice for them. I hope I’m prepared for those
teenager years with my girls! My heart broke for Carrie as I watched her
struggle to know how to handle some tough situations.
2pm – We finally started the heavy work in the garage. There
were so many boxes in there and at this stage, it’s hard to feel motivated to
make decisions about what to do with everything. But we all hung in there. Adam
and dad hauled so many boxes and wore themselves completely out. Even though we
didn’t haul as much as the guys, Carrie, Mom and I still managed to wear
ourselves out too. By 4pm, the garage was totally organized and cleaned out and
ready for their car. That felt so good!
Once the garage was cleaned out, Dad and I took a van load to D.I., and then we came home
and Jared followed us in his truck so we could unload both of our cars at the
storage unit. The storage unit seems to be the perfect size. There is a little
bit of room left at the front, but not much. Feels so good to be at this point.
By 5pm we were home and done with everything related to the garage! I was so
grateful to have Carrie and Adam there to help. I know it was hard on them and
I know they have so much they try to accomplish on the weekends, but the extra
hands made so much of a difference. I hope we won’t have to call on them for
this hard work anymore after today.
The bad news from the garage clean out is that mom and dad’s
apartment has a bunch of boxes in it again. At least it’s nothing like a week
ago when they moved in and we should be able to take care of everything pretty
quickly. Once those final boxes are taken care of, all that’s left is odds and
ends – stuff like hanging more art and mirrors, getting mom’s tv mounted on her
wall, getting the electrician and cable company here to fix/change a few
things. I’m crossing my fingers that a couple weeks will be all it will take.
It would be so nice to have them settled by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.
5:30pm – Mom, Dad and I went to Brick Oven to grab some
dinner. Brita and Leah had already eaten and Jared took care of Meg. I wondered
if I should go with mom and dad after neglecting my family the whole day, but I
gave myself permission to be okay with it given the circumstances today. And
I’m so glad I went. I know mom and dad were happy to have me alone and I loved
spending time with my mom and dad. It’s not often that I get to be just a
daughter anymore and I drank up the chance to let my mind rest from the role of
wife and mother for an hour. It felt good for all three of us to sip on our cream
of broccoli soup and rest our tired bodies for the first time today.
6:45pm – When we got home from Brick Oven I peeked in the
kitchen window and saw Jared and Leah working on her toothpick bridge.
Her bridge eventually turned out like this:
Of
course mom and dad wanted to come in so they could ooh and aah over the
progress Leah was making. Grandparents are so awesome. They always have an
encouraging word and burst with pride at all the right things. They’re not
cumbered down by day-to-day issues and they just get to love and lift my girls.
I’m sure my girls don’t realize how blessed they are to be living with their
grandparents in this unique situation.
8pm – In the kitchen with the girls who were making popcorn
for us to eat with our movie. We wanted to watch “The Sixth Sense” but it
wasn’t available on Netflix or “On Demand” with our cable company. Big bummer.
I love that movie and Jared thought it would be a fun Halloween movie to watch
as a family.
The girls invited granny and grandpa to watch a show with
us, so we all sat in the basement family room and had all finished our first
bowl of popcorn before we even found one. We decided to watch “Coraline.” It
was a pretty freaky movie, and Meg might have been traumatized. I’m not sure
about that yet, but tonight around 2 or 3am I’ll know it was rough on her if
she comes into my bedroom to tell me about her nightmares. Meg can usually
handle stuff that I never would have exposed my older two girls to at her same
age.
Halfway through the movie, dad went to bed because he was
just sleeping in his chair anyway. But the rest of us made it until it was over
at ten.
10pm - Meg and I tucked granny into bed, then I got to work
yelling at my older girls to go to bed. That approach received an immediate
defensive reaction from both of them. I can’t say that I blame them because I
admit that I started yelling as I was walking up the stairs and before I could even
see what they were doing. But I was annoyed at that point because no one bothered to pick up a bowl or napkin and blankets and remotes
were littered all over the family room floor. Bringing bowls upstairs (when
you’re going upstairs anyway and have to pass right by the kitchen to get to
the bathroom and bedrooms) and picking up blankets off the floor are not hard
things to do, yet unless we tell everyone around here specifically what to do
and when, messes are the only things we can count on happening. Argh! …my girls
aren’t the only ones who can grunt as a form of communication.
I think I made peace with both Brita and Leah when I said a
quick good night. If not, we’ll start over in the morning.
11:45pm - Dragged my tired body into bed and anxiously looked forward to tomorrow being my last day of documenting every nook and cranny of life.
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