BUSY

I've been busy. Reeally busy. As in, barely-have-time-to-breathe busy. Partly because that's just the way our lives are these days, but partly because we've been busy with all that spring yard-work that seems to crash down on us in April and May every year. There are definitely pros and cons to home ownership. I love our house, but it sure takes a lot of work to keep it going! It's really like having a third child. A large, untidy and slightly pitiful looking child....

So all this busy-ness has led me to re-evaluate how my day is spent. I'm homeschooling Sofi this year, teaching eleven students (that's about six hours a week), and preparing and planning five weddings for this spring and summer. And that's just the sort of extra-curricular stuff, not counting the laundry, cooking, cleaning and, oh yes, let's not forget Judah.

In addition to all this, on Wednesday I had a follow-up appointment with my midwife to discuss the new meds I'm on (for the PCOS). It hasn't seemed to help much with the physical manifestations of the condition as I had hoped. But the really discouraging news is that she said that they don't really consider me to be at "full weight-loss potential" until I'm exercising 90 minutes a day. That really sunk my boat. All the research shows that PCOS-ers who lose even just 10% of their body weight can significantly reduce the condition's long- and short-term effects on their body. So losing that weight could help with the acne, hair issues, fatigue and all that other stuff. Killing several birds with one stone, so to speak.

The truth of the matter, however, is that there's no possible way in the current reality in which I find myself, that I can fit in 90 minutes of exercise a day. Just no way. So in my re-evaluating of how I spend my time each day, I'm trying to squeeze every possible second out of each hour. And I'm getting depressed about how much the condition of my body is determining how our family lives. What we do each day, how much time we have to do fun kid things and our ability to take our time over the eternally important things.

So, this morning, I chucked it all over and spent the entire morning with the kids at the park. And then struggled all afternoon (during naps) not to feel that I'd "wasted" the day, as I used the precious time-without-kids to mow the yard instead of working out.

There is no big conclusion or deep realization to end this post. I'm just venting. Although I'd appreciate any suggestions from mom's who've figured out free ways to exercise (a LOT) without sitting the kids in front of a movie every morning.