April 8, 2003

Yep, that's what I want to be doing: sailing away on a sleepy voyage, curtains blowing lightly in the breeze, scent of incense in the air, silence except for my happy little snores.  No alarms.  No kids.  No husbands asking me where their high school diploma, last known lighter and 7/8" socket got off to.  Just me and the Sandman in a naughty tango of passion.  Ah, the things I fantasize about these days...

Instead, I will clean the dining room and kitchen like mad and give the rest of the house a kiss and a promise.  OK, maybe a French kiss because I have to find a few loads of laundry so people aren't naked.  Tonight, I'm going to watch a few episodes of the first season of Star Trek TNG and go to sleep part way through.  Blisssss.  Dinner is shepherd's pie again.  Eric really enjoyed it and it's very easy.  Make mashed potatoes.  Brown ground beef with some onion, garlic, pepper and salt, sort of like a meatloaf sans the oatmeal/bread crumbs.  When it's all crumbly up together, you throw some mashed potatoes into a casserole dish, pat it into a little pie shell, pour the ground beef stuff into the 'tato shell, cover the ground beef innards with more potatoes and gently pat it out over the top to cover it and meet the edges of the mashed potato shell.  Cover the whole thing with shredded cheddar cheese and bake it until the potatoes start to crisp a bit and the cheese melts.  Scoop it out and serve it.  I'm making chicken tenders since Eric is the only one who likes the shepherd's pie. 

I got the tortoise all habitated.  According to several internet sources, they don't do well in glass aquariums since their vision isn't so that they can get the concept of glass and they'll keep trying to go through it.  I did notice him doing that.  I also read that they need lots of space, unlike my water turtles who just need ample swim area and a rock to dry on.  It's recommended that they have their own fenced off little yard area, but I can't quite do that because our back yard is very small.  I paid $12 for a 55 gallon Rubbermaid tub, filled it with dirt from our back yard,  a nice rock or two and put a flower pot in it so he'd have shade.  I also added some Timothy grass (which smells wonderful).  I was really surprised by how much he enjoyed his new digs.  I didn't know what a burrower the little devils are.  He plays in the Timothy grass and every night, burrows under the dirt and hay to sleep.  Yesterday, I dragged him outside for some sunlight and he really loved that as well.  I tried him again today, but he crawled into his flower pot right away, so I'm guessing he's not in a sunny mood today.    I'm very surprised by how much I'm enjoying him.  I just wish I could find a place to put him where Nathan won't throw the whole junk drawer on top of him.

As I mentioned, today is dining room and kitchen day.  Yesterday was for the boys' room.  Dylan's dresser gave out in a big way, so I got a smaller Rubbermaid tub to hold his clothes and tossed the dresser.  Got everything all cleaned out and streamlined.  I figure if I do a major overhaul on one room a day and just breeze over the rest, by Friday, I can do a general cleaning and have things nice for the weekend.  I can handle it in small chunks, but thinking of redoing the whole house is too intimidating for me!! 

A few folks have written to ask how I'm doing on the weight loss and nothing has really changed much. I'm still working on a primarily protein-based menu and trying to incorporate more movement into my life.  I'm going at it slowly, on the premise that the changes you love into your life will stick, but the ones you force into your life are temporary.  I need to transition to an overall healthier lifestyle, so I'm taking this year to do it.  My biggest challenge by far is the exercise resistance.   The food choices are doing great.  I guess I hadn't said anything because there really wasn't much more to say.

Life is blessedly quiet and I love that.  This time last year, I was praying for this exact life and I'm feeling very blessed and joyful for how things are now. 

So now I'm off to clean and try not to grumble about that part of my life.   Somehow Joyful Cleaning sounds like an oxymoron.  :)

Have a great day!

Good God, She's Verbose!  There's More!