Relief

In the past week I received good & clear test results for two biopsies and a mammogram. Talk about a huge sigh of relief! When I got the last bit of happy news Friday afternoon, I felt a huge weight lift from me. I still have a dental matter to take care of, and a couple tests the neurologist wants done before I go in for a follow-up. When that's all done, I'll feel even better. As far as doctor's appointments go, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of following my New Year's resolution to take better care of myself. Other than that, eh, not so much. When I went to the neurologist, the nurse weighed me and heartlessly told me the wretched number. I've avoided such knowledge for quite some time. Now that I know I weigh as much as I weighed the day I gave birth to my first born child, well obviously I have to do something about that. I have never dieted in my life as I have zero will-power. Like absolutely none. But I can continue to make long term dietary changes that will positively affect my health and hopefully, my weight. I'm not one to focus on numbers on a scale, but I have a personal mental hang-up with wearing clothing above a certain size. I have to start exercising way more. Stress tends to immobilize me, and I've had no shortage of stress lately, but it's time to clear my head and get moving.

Household stuff is stressing me out too. A couple weeks ago we had a big discussion with the kids about chores and responsibilities around the house. They seemed to get the message, and started out okay. But now they've already totally forgotten everything we said to them. Here's my problem. They are so busy. Bethany, in particular, has a lot going on. Between school, homework, and after school activities, she doesn't have much free time during the week. And if she isn't home, I feel bad making Connor and Lucy do chores. Same goes when Connor isn't home - I feel bad making the girls do chores. And it's definitely not balanced - Bethany is home way less than the rest of the kids. So what do I do? My current wimpy path of trying to be fair is not working out. I need to come up with a happy medium, because for the little time they have to clean, they sure manage to make some massive messes. And I'm not fine with Chris & I just doing all of it, for several reasons. Like they need to learn responsibility, they should know something about how to keep a house in order before they move out on their own, and, well, honestly, I hate cleaning. But if we divide the work up by 6 (okay, more like 4 and a half for the time being) it's not nearly as overwhelming. Two sloppy, unorganized people should not be permitted to procreate. Not that I, ahem, know anyone like that.

I was slightly worked up about Lucy starting full-day kindergarten, but thankfully her first week went well. It was a short week, but that's just as well. The long days are definitely wiping her out, and she ended up at the pediatrician's office Thursday due to another asthma flare up. But she's now on a new preventative medication and I'm hoping that will help. One kid sort of under control, and then Mattie suddenly came down with a nasty cough yesterday afternoon. It's looking like I'll be at the pediatrician's office yet again in the very near future. That's how we roll around here. Putting out fires one at a time, while new ones are starting up in the meantime.

My immediate tasks at hand: Exercise more. Stress less. Get house under control. Healthy kids. I got this.