Written by: Amy
making chicken stock from because they don’t sell it here.
I’ve had many people wondering what we do all week
here. I’ll try and take you through a
typical week from my perspective.
Monday through Friday we wake up in time to roust the girls
out of bed. Abby is usually already up
or close to it. However, Colleen ALWAYS
needs a nudge to start her day. She
doesn’t like leaving her cozy warm bed.
It is usually choose-your-own-adventure breakfast but we eat together in
the kitchen at the small table that only has 2 chairs. How do 4 people eat breakfast with only 2
chairs? By using sneaky
take-the-nearest-chair-first rules. The
suckers that don’t get a chair have to stand.
I insist the girls be dressed, fed, teeth brushed before
they start school at 9 am sharp. They do
not always appreciate this as they feel that since they go to school online,
they should be able to go when they want in whatever attire they want. On this, I get to have my way because I’m the
parent and in charge. I have relented
and allowed Casual Friday to be PJ Friday.
But, the 9 am start time is set in stone. I have a deal with them that if they get
straight A’s, then they can have school in bed.
They are close, but no bed-time school sessions have happened yet. You wouldn’t believe how motivated this makes
them to get straight A’s. It works even
better than a trip to Disneyland.
Once they are set up and into the groove of school, Ker and
I head to the fitness and leisure center in Bettystown. It’s a tiny facility attached to the Neptune
Hotel with some treadmills, elliptical and stationary bikes. It offers classes—like spin—for 30 minutes a
couple of times a week. I have attended 2 spin classes and even though they
were only 30 minutes (the ones at home are 60), I got my ass handed to me both
times. I could barely walk after the
last one. I haven’t been back to the
classes since because I’m a wimp.
The gym offers several perks that are missing in my gym experience
in Portland. First, the people are some
of the nicest fitness trainers I’ve ever had. They are completely
approachable. I pissed one of them off
early on and she isn’t my biggest fan, but the other people are very kind and
interested in stopping for a chat. It’s
nice because they are not super models, fitness zealots, or Barbies.. They are
real people who sincerely want you to get the most out of your gym experience.
I go to the gym for fitness, but I also go because the gym
offers my only chance at a decent shower.
The water pressure is so bad at the house that I have extra motivation
to go to the gym. And, while I’m there,
I work up a sweat so I can justify using their showers. It’s a win-win situation.
If we don’t go to the gym, Ker and I run other errands or
just go exploring in the morning. Ker’s
got to work at noon-ish till 9 pm and the morning represents his free
time. So, we make it a point to go
somewhere so he doesn’t feel housebound.
Also, the kids need some parent-free time and the morning is a good time
to let them learn in peace.
Once we come home, it’s time to make lunch and Ker goes to
work. Abby is generally finished with
her lessons for the day so she has free time.
Depending on the day, Colleen may or may not be done with her
lessons. If they are done, I drag them
off for adventures. And, I never know
what those will be. It could be a
library day, or a beach walk day, or who knows.
We spend a lot of time getting groceries and meal planning.
I have a lot of time on my hands. So, I fill it with books and I now watch TV
shows on Netflix. I find that I don’t
have the stamina to sit through a lot of TV.
I start to get twitchy. But, the
upside of all this time is that my house is clean ALL THE TIME, my girls get my
undivided attentions, Ker gets my undivided attention, and I can think.
Sooner than I expect, it’s time for me to cook dinner. One of the girls is “cooker’s helper”
depending on the day (odd days for Abby and even for Colleen), Ker takes his
“lunch” at dinner time. We eat and
depending on the day (even days for Abby and odd for Colleen), one of the girls
does the dishes while the other cleans off the table and does laundry.
Around 9 pm, Ker is done with work and is ready for some
chill time. The girls have LiveLessons
week nights at 9 pm, but some are at 5 pm and 7 pm for Abby. Since the school is based in Oregon, all
times run on Oregon time. Once
LiveLessons are done, we hit the sack to do it all over again.
Weekends we try to go and explore Ireland. I always look for a hike we can do. I just love it. Otherwise, we head to explore castles,
historic landmarks, good tours or craft breweries.
I gotta tell ya, it’s kind of awesome.
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