I also fell short on my Turkey Day Tread and Toss. I stopped treading and tossing about ten days in. Suspect you knew that already. Just weren't enough hours in the day, even for ten minutes of exercise and five minutes of tossing.
There is so much that I want to do every evening: grasp for sanity by attempting to stem the chaos with some tidying and cleaning, exercise, lie on the couch and read novels in the glow of the Christmas tree, sit on the couch next to hubby and catch up on the hours of DVR we have backlogged since he's been working so much, respond to emails, write blog posts, visit and comment on all the blogs I love, start online holiday shopping, figure out what I am shopping for, fold laundry while watching Bridget Jones's Diary, and on and on an on.
I feel like that paperboy in Better Off Dead with his "I want my two dollars!" My refrain, and forgive me if I've mentioned this to you before, is "I want my two HOURS!" The two hours when MEP answers only to MEP
"Yes, MEP, I do want to sit on the couch."
"Yes, MEP, this is the moment to finally walk to the alley trash bin with the broken toy stroller the boys keep fighting over."
"Yes, MEP, I would not mind a dish of ice cream. Just a small one."
"Yes, MEP, cleaning the bathroom while listening to an audiobook doesn't sound too bad, all things considered."
Did you hear me in the back? "I want my two HOURS!"
The boys go to bed slightly later than they used to and Sweet P is fond of waking up an hour or two after she has seemingly settled for the night. End result is that those precious two evening hours are constantly threatened. Indeed, the only way to preserve them is to stay up later than I should. The later I stay up, the less energy I have for the next day. The less energy I have, the messier and more chaotic things get and the more I have to do the next evening. I'm constantly playing catch up.
I know, I know, people have it a lot tougher than old MEP. Believe me, I know that. But still, I want my two hours. Is that so much to ask? Maybe don't answer that.
Tell me instead: how do you spend your "two hours"?
9 comments:
Oh, man, I know this cycle. Too often, I DO stay up late to get my two hours in (like, um, now). Then it's seven Dr. Peppers to make it through the next day. But I still keep doing it.
That's pretty much the definition of insanity right there, isn't it? Wait, don't answer that.
I am totally trying to get my two hours in right now, even though the two hours just got eaten up by me folding laundry, moving piles around, getting more Christmas crap out, wrapping up Christmas books (don't ask -- sounded good until Dec. 1 was tomorrow), all while trying to FINALLY make it through a three week old episode of Glee. Then I remembered I hadn't made coffee, so I had to do that, too, and now L. will soon be awake for his "middle of the night" feeding. Guess I spent that two hours trying to do everything I can't do one-handed.
I feel you, sister.
It is 12:22 and I am about 20 minutes into my 2 hours...I stay up late for the precious silence, but certainly won't be up til 2 to fully cash in on it tonight. Had I not had some business work to finish for tomorrow, I would have spent two hours this evening doing the following: walking on the treadmill (a recent addition inspired by your tread), watching DVR'd shows, making lists of what I'd like to get done, surfing the internet for Christmas gifts, going into the storage room to take inventory of what I've already bought, washing my Christmas dishes so we can start using them, putting away my Thanksgiving decorations, setting up the mini Christmas trees I bought for the porch, and perhaps sending an email or two from an acutal computer instead of from my phone or itouch. Those are just off the top of my head...
I am looking into my crystal ball with a prediction...in five years, you will get your two hours, I promise.
What will you do until then?
Fight desperately for any amount of time you can, and forgive yourself when you don't finish your to-do list/meet a goal/have a messy house/have a crabby day. When you are knee-deep in baby and toddler hood, this is the only way to make it out with your sanity (almost) intact.
Once the older two kids were in school and Gabe turned four, I suddenly had that two hours, and sometimes more. Next year (don't be jealous), all three kids will be in school all day long. If I could send some of my hours your way, you know I would!
TWO hours? I would settle for two minutes.
My love, is there any way I can subscribe to your blog? I so dearly lurve you and I'm so much better when the little emails come in... because I am a space cadet... you know...
No such thing as 2 hours here.
More like "grab a minute when you can."
It doesn't stop.
My husband finally is realizing this.
ALso: I have a poem up today that I thought of you when I typed it in, I thought, "MEP will really feel ths one."
I love to torture you like that, you're easy. (love you)
I'm telling you, you need 11 hours. Aim high. Nothing wrong with that, right? Worst case scenario, you split the difference and get 6.5 hours. Which is still 300% better than two. Ask Santa real nice-like and bet you get your gift!
I spend it online. Way too often...
My two hours are spent multi-tasking. Watching a show with the hubby, reading a blog or ten, responding to emails. But if have to make a phone call, decorate the tree, clean, fill in the blank, then those quiet hours go away. As they seem to have been doing a lot lately. And then I get behind and my Reader has 1000+ posts that need to be read and my inbox is crazy full and our DVR is 95% full. And I have friends that I've barely spoken or corresponded with in forever. I'm living for the days that Heather talks about, when we have those hours and more. Sigh.
Post a Comment