Back to Work

"Well, I should be sittin' in an air conditioned office in a swivel chair/...Instead I'm stuck here rubbin' these fenders with a rag/ And walkin' home in soggy old shoes/ With them steadily depressing, low down mind-messin'/ Workin' at the car wash blues." - "Working at the Car Wash Blues" by Jim Croce

Okay, it's not quite that bad. The girls' house is air conditioned and I'm not washing cars for a living. Instead, I'm knee deep in laundry and dishes, so that's not pleasant, and I had to sit by the pool in the heat and humidity while the girls had a two hour long swim team practice. I considered jumping in, fully clothed, but decided against it. The kids would have loved that though! Instead, I melted in the humidity which caused my hair to frizz out like I'm wearing a bad Afro wig. Have you seen the episode of "Friends" where Monica's hair gets horribly frizzy from the insane humidity? I think mine is worse.

Alright, alright, enough whining. It was great to have the girls back and continue with our summer lesson plans, but the real drag about being back to work is that I can't write all day like I have the previous two weeks. With being so close to the end of this book, I really want to pump out the last 25-30 pages and then start the editing process, but it will probably have to wait until this weekend. Tomorrow the girls and I start our Sahara Desert studies and have a lot to do, so I better get busy on a few last minute lesson plan details. Until tomorrow...

Bored

"I come home in the morning/ I go to bed feeling the same way/ I ain't nothing but tired/ Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself." - "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen

When did six-year-olds become bored with themselves? The girls had an early release from school, so I picked them both up at noon. Normally I just have Alana that early, so today was a little different. I was getting their lunch ready, when all of a sudden, Riley dramatically collapsed onto a chair and declared that she was competely bored with herself. What?! I asked her why and she said that she couldn't think of anything fun to do. I gave her some suggestions, all of which were shot down as soon as the words left my mouth.

Now I'm sure my family will quickly contradict what I'm about to say, but I honestly don't remember being bored like that when I was a kid. There were always fun things to do - games to play, dolls to dress, pictures to draw, books to read, shows to watch, and a little sister to pull me around on my skates while I held on to the jump rope I had tied around her waist. What? That's not what jump ropes are for? Oh well.

I think I need to add some more creative play and imaginative work into our lesson plans for this summer. That's when my real work begins! I will be homeschooling both girls from June through August, so my job goes from being approximately 30 hours a week to about 50. I better get busy! So many lessons to plan and stories to write, but never enough time. I guess I don't have to worry about being "bored with myself"!