OK - here it is.

For two sweet days I have had absolutely NO plans.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah...........

I managed to stay in my pajamas until 11am on Monday. I would've stayed in them all day except for the dreaded P90X work out, to which I am for some reason committed. I worked out earlier today so I've spent most of the day clothed.

But the BIG news is not about me and my exciting summer. The BIG news is that tomorrow I drive up to Sacramento to pick up my ManBoy. Yes, he has been away for a week. His first stay-away camp. I know, I know. I'm overprotective and most people send their kids away at about 5. But we never have felt the need to foist him off on someone else until now. (well, we would've sent him to this brainiac camp last year that he qualified for with early SAT scores...brag...brag....but it was $3K for two weeks- uh, no.)

This summer he attended two fencing camps. One in Placerville at Hangtown Fencing, and one in Sacramento a Hristov/Czikany Fencing Club. The coolest part is that the coach for the Sac camp is named Hristo Hristov. Pretty cool name, huh? AND, he is the head saber coach at Princeton (be impressed).

ARG stayed with a family who has taken good care of him. He has fenced six hours a day and done lots of reading, gaming, movie-ing and sleeping in his off time. For me it has been strange. It has been like a part of me was missing. Like, now, where did my leg go?

I really LOVE when ARG calls and texts us. I feel so much better to know he is OK multiple times per day. I think I will cry a lot when he goes away to college. And when all three are gone? Oy. Let's just say I started crying in Trader Joe's this week when I heard some sappy song that reminded me of time going by......I am pathetic like that.

One especially cool part of picking ARG up is that on the drive home from Sac is FENTONS! Yum! That seems like the perfect way to end fencing camp and re-bond with my ManBoy. Right?

Where is My Summer?

Summertime is here. Supposedly.

But I'm still waiting for my down time. My restful time. My time to stay in pajamas all day.

(Wow - I was looking back through some of my old posts to find one I'd written about staying in my pj's all day. Hey! They're pretty good! I was an awesome blogger there for a while. I even laughed at my own writing. Boy, has my life changed.)

Let me explain the reasons why I am not fully enjoying summertime just yet. First and foremost, my darling ARG hasn't finished his schoolwork! Arg! ARG! This means that I have to continue bugging him to actually complete his work, while enforcing the NOCOMPUTERTIMEBECAUSEYOURNOTDONEWITHSCHOOLYETBUDDY rule. Then, burden of burdens, I have to help him if he needs help. Bleah. I am sick and tired of transitions and introductions and conclusions. I've had it up to here with x squared - y squared over y squared - x squared. And I haven't looked at the logic book for a YEAR. Can you imagine how much I'll have to study to be able to help him study? Man!

Next, my girls are in ballet camp. Which is super and awesome and lovely and all that. For me it means dropping off and picking up each girl at different times, and packing a lunch - something I NEVER do.

Can't forget to mention that derned P90X which takes up a chunk each day. And yes, I 'm getting stronger, but my mighty muscles are still covered with a nice soft layer of fat.

Honestly? I do have more time off now than I do when all three kids are in school. But I think I need a major detox to be able to slow down. I'm still all "OK! Now I've gotta do this. OK! Now I'm going to do that." Even if I take a nap (oh glorious nap) it is a brief respite from the rest of my frenzied life.

I'm wishing for a week or two when I have the WHOLE day with no plans. No one to oversee. Nothing to get done.

Will that ever happen again? Maybe when Mike and I sneak away for our 20th anniversary next year.

Crazily enough, for all the kvetching I do about my frenzied, kid-filled life,  I burst into tears today when I heard the lyrics from Unchained Melody:

"And time goes by, so slowly
And time can do so much"

I had just dropped of ARG at Skyline College for a math placement test and MiniMe didn't want to come into the store with me for the first time. "My kids are growing up!".....*sniff*....."The small kid part of my life is over FOREVER!"....sob. 

Life is weird. And unpredictable.

YogaX

I hate yoga.

I despise it. I loathe it. I dread it.

I have to do it this morning. My trytogetpumpedup program says today is the day.

Not only is it so crazy hard that it makes me want to cry. It is booooooring. I know there are millions of folks who just swear by yoga. Even good friends (you know who  you are) love it. And I'll admit that I have probably approached it the wrong way. I should be doing some beginneritssoeasy class. But no. I'm doing YogaX - an extreme yoga workout.

Another complaint I have is that it is so looooong. An hour and a half. All the other P90X workouts are about an hour (or less!). But Yoga? Uggg. (shuddering) It's too long.

As I grow older I become more convinced of what I knew as a young swimmer. I am a sprinter. I love to sprint. To go all out for short periods. I never was good at long distance swimming. Running? Well, I rarely ran more than 4 miles - but at least there was some visual or audio stimulation there. And with this crazy X program, I love the weight lifting, the pull ups, the squats. You go as hard as you can for as long as you can, then you STOP. And it's OK. You sweat. You pant. Your heart pounds. Your muscles burn. You feel GOOD!

With Yoga you get into some fantastically twisted, painful and impossible to hold position and then the instructor says, "Now breath. Again. Stretching. Reaching, Breathing" for like a minute or more! If I wasn't sweating blood I'd fall asleep. And it's just oh so motivating when one falls over during a yoga position. Really makes me want to get right back into it. And that weird music. WAAAwawawa  WAAAwawawa. Drives me nuts.

Then there's the clothing issue. Since you get into all kinds of crazy upsidedown positions, you can't wear regular work out clothes. T-shirt? No way - it'll hang in your face while your leg is in the air and your face down by your knee. Everything has to be fairly form fitting, though not restricting. Sigh. I could never do yoga in public.

The only fun time I've had with yoga is when I did it with Hubby. We talked and complained together the whole time. It was us against the DVD. Nice.

This morning I am alone. Hubby off to work. Kids asleep. Even the dog is still asleep. But if I'm going to fit it in today, it has to be now. Ack!

Saaaaave meeeeeee!

Sleeping In

Today I slept in.

It was a luxurious, once in a blue moon occasion.

I went to bed on time last night too. It wasn't a late night that prompted the decadent lying in. I did it because I could. And usually, I can't. There are a variety of factors that force me to wake earlier than I'd prefer: MiniMe coming in and wanting to "snuggle" - which means touch my face and bounce and laugh and generally wake me up, Hubby getting ready for work, Lucy barking, anxiety, Rosie's 8am phone class...etc.

But today, when Hubby got up at whatever ungodly hour he arises, and clunks about getting dressed, making coffee, jangling keys...etc. I rose only slightly from my coma like stupor. I knew it was still early and I rolled over. Mmmmmm.....

About 7:15 I woke up again thinking I'd better get up and wake up Rosie for her 8am class. But I felt defiant. Rebellious. "Who cares if she misses one class?" I thought as I dozed off again. Later I heard her bumping about and talking on the phone, and felt content in my decision. She had gotten up on her own. Mmmmm. Roll over again, snuggle in the blankies and fade to black once again.

It's summer, after all! I deserve a good sleep in during the summer. I work my tail off all school year and I want to be a bum in the summer.

I finally woke up once and for all about 8:45 when MiniMe came in. She has been sick, and must've needed lots of sleep last night (thank GOD).

It felt soooo good to not rush. To not feel pressured. To luxuriate in laziness for one morning. But did I let it end there? No way.

Later in the day? I took a nap! Ha ha ha ha ha. It is the polar opposite of my normal life. But I thought, "Hey! It's summer and I don't HAVE to do anything in the next hour." So down I went on the reading chair with my feet up, and a blankie covering me. Aaahhhh. I probably only slept for 15 minutes. But it was lovely to just sit/lay there with my eyes closed, thinking of nothing.

Isn't that great?