Domestically Challenging

Sorry for not posting all week.  This week was pretty tough.  I got in some good workouts, but we had all sorts of house issues to work through, as well as the start of kindergarten for Keira.

First, I was initially planning (way back last year) to race at Steelhead, which is today in Benton Harbor MI.  I was unable to go due to school starting this week and it being too far to get back without having Keira miss school.  It was also more expensive than Muncie, due to additional gas and hotel night stay.  I was pretty upset for a while, then OK with it, and then at the beginning of last week, got bummed again.  I was reading people's facebook and blog posts and getting caught up in the excitement and wanted to be included.  Then, I got a call from Cristina.  She isn't doing it either for similar cost reasons, as well as it didn't fit into her overall plan that well.  That made me feel a little less left out, and better knowing that my racing partner in crime wasn't going to be there.  Then, I woke up this morning and saw that the swim had been cancelled.  Boy, am I bummed.  Not about the swim being cancelled, but that I am not there.  My swim is TERRIBLE, and with the rest of the course being pretty flat, I could have done well compared to everyone else, as well as have a killer PR (well, not sure how that would count with the whole swim out), but since I am SO bad at the swim and decent at everything else, well, maybe I would have stuck around for the roll down :)  It also doesn't help that sweet Soren is crying that he wants to go to the beach.  Yeah, me too, little buddy, me too!

Now, to the rest of the week.  It was brutal.  I probably would have done horrible at steelhead in all reality due to how exhausted I was all.week.long.  It was ugly.  School started for Keira on Wednesday.

Isn't she the cutest?
That little cutie needs to be at the bus stop at 7:05am!!!!  This just about killed me.  We had not been getting up at 7, let along being READY by then since last school year, and I haven't been up at 6am since Keira wasn't sleeping through the night yet, and I would go back to sleep!  I did used to go to work at 5:45am, so I know I can do it, but it is just an adjustment with training and having children.  I was pretty exhausted after 3 days of waking up at 6am in a row.   I went to bed on Friday night right after the kids went to bed.  Ryan was less than excited about that, and grumbled about how boring today was as I was trying to fall asleep.  He's been working longer hours, so I have had more time with just me and the kids lately.  Yes, Friday was very boring for me too.

Anyway, with Keira at school, it freed me up to run with my little buddy BEFORE my swim.  Yes, this probably contributed to my all out fatigue.  Usually I run in the afternoon, with a several hour break between my swim and my run, not less than an hour.  Also, I did meet some more of the moms in the neighborhood.  There are a bunch that run as soon as the kids are on the bus.  I may join them next week with Soren.

Finally, what really tired me out, is all the house stuff we did.  Thankfully, I have been rewarded for this by having an orderly house as well as a nice trip to the outlet malls for new towel and NEW JEANS!  Nothing makes me happier than new jeans.  Anyway, we recarpeted this week, which meant I spent one full day moving everything from the upstairs into the basement, and everything from the first floor carpet into the dining room/kitchen.  We had the carpet put in, and then we had to move everything back.  That whole process took 3 days of hard labor for me, and I didn't even install the carpet.  We built 2 dressers and moved them, as well as got the kids rooms unpacked finally.  We also got our new microwave and dishwasher installed.  I was thankful for the power outage we had last night because after my long stroller run with the kids, we did the outlets which was a lot of walking, and then IKEA for some more home improvement items.  With the power outage, it was too dark to work on any of those.  I did get my Allied Medal Hanger, but haven't been able to install it yet.  Maybe today after church.  We have several mirrors left to hang, as well as some artwork we need to hang still.

I have a few questions for you.  Anyone every make their own custom mat?  Is it hard?  We have some free artwork that will cost mega $$$ to custom mat.  We have frames that *almost* fit, but need a custom mat to really make it work.  The picture is wider but shorter than frame, and has its own white border, so we will just be cutting off white and it will have a thicker border at the top and bottom than the sides. 

Did you race this weekend?  I have some races in the works, but will post about them later.


How do you cope with getting up early FROM NOW ON!  I am hoping that now that most of the manual labor is complete, I will not be as exhausted, but I also have the task of maintaining the house, which I have never been the best at, but I am working on it.