My Imperfectly Perfect Life: Back to the gym!

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Captain's log star date 4 of the 2018 new year:

Thursday was a good day. Going to the gym to get the blood flowing and seeing your kids run off some pent up energy always makes for a good time.

Knowing they should sleep better tonight makes you want to rub your hands together and laugh maniacally... I mean, it makes you feel good knowing they're staying active and healthy... Yea, that's it.

K1 ended up not going with us this time. We were ready to go, and he was just rousing himself from his dreamscape. It's okay. He was in dire need of a shower (teen boy funk anyone?) and had a few things to work on.

Lil Monster, K2, and I grabbed our gym must-haves: headphones, phone, water bottle, etc., and drove the short distance to our 24-hour gym on base. It isn't typically too busy around 10:45 and has a decent indoor track. We showed up and tried not to ice skate from the car to the building. As hoped, it wasn't terribly busy.

Our first energy burning activity, and the main reason for coming to this gym was the track. A mile was the minimum, so 8 laps. K2 decided he didn't need his phone/headphones this time, so he took off pretty quickly. Lil Monster and I needed a few more seconds to get situated. Her listening to music, me listening to The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston on Audible. I didn't get terribly far into the book, a mile isn't a long time to listen to much of anything, but it is interesting.

Next was to do a ball toss with their weighted soft medicine balls. The kids and I chose a lighter weighted ball, like 10lbs, and tossed it back and forth. K2 wasn't sure it would be much of a workout until we had done it about 20 times. His arms were starting to feel the burn! Lil Monster was more interested in giving wall ball a try. That was hilarious! I found her a 4lb padded ball and constantly giggled as she figured out the coordination needed to NOT get smacked in the face.

What? You don't laugh at your kids occasionally? Don't judge.

She finally got it, worked up quite a sweat, and said that going to the gym was the "best thing ever!" Can't argue with her there. I foresee a lot more gym time in our future.

Before we left, they decided to try out their rings and Tarzan skills. K2 figured the rings would be "too easy." Yea that is, until he actually did it. There was a lot of "wow, that's harder than it looks!" and "balance is key" commentary going on.

Lil Monster decided trying to climb the rope wasn't her thing. She was content practicing her Tarzan swing before I finally convinced them we needed to leave. More stuff to be done today!

After a quick discussion on the importance of refueling your body after a workout and deciding what to eat for lunch, I hopped on the computer to check my email quick. That's when disaster struck.

I saw that email. You know, the one no book lover, a frequenter of libraries, wants to get? The dreaded "overdue" notice from the library. Our borrowed copy of A Wrinkle In Time was overdue. I quickly hopped over to the library website to try re-checking it out. No dice, it had a hold placed on it. Sad face. That's what I get for waiting so long to start reading it.

Google to the rescue! I found the whole quintet at a local big box store for $10.99! How awesome is that??? You can also find the same set, if you NEED it for your home library, like I did, on Amazon here.

K2 and Lil Monster decided to tag along, they have Christmas money burning holes in their pockets, and off we went. We sadly returned the book to the library and then ran over to my AK besties house to pick up my produce box for the week. Of course, that always turns into at least 20 minutes of much needed "mom conversation," and the kids were using me for target practice with the laser beams shooting from their eyeballs as they waited in the car.

At last, we were on our way to the store. I scoured the place in search of the book set that their website said was in stock. No luck. K2 wasn't able to find what he was looking for and decided to help Lil Monster search for the toys she had in mind.

About to give up on my search, I finally cornered an employee who then ran to the back to get me one of the last two they had in stock. SUCCESS!!! Lil Monster and I left the store in happy spirits, K2 left the store just glad to be going...finally, as he says.

We eventually made it home, taking it slow as 'intelligent' drivers on ice normally do, where I tore into our new book set purchase and set the scene for chapter 2: Mrs. Who. No mention of Mrs. Which this time. I'm excited to meet her in chapter 3! Calvin seems to be an interesting young man. It will be fun to see how his character progresses through the story. Poor Meg. The authority figures in her school, and around town, have injudiciously pegged her as a troublesome kid with lazy tendencies. I just want to hug her and invite her into our realm of home education. I'm sure she would flourish in the right environment.

You ever notice how chapters seem so short when you get hooked? Yep, that's how I felt at the end of chapter two. I helped Lil Monster get her new accessories for her 'girls' set up, and promptly fell asleep in an event known to me as the 'I dealt with too many people today' nap. I guess K2 was feeling the strain as well since he napped long and hard. Naps are uncommon for that one, so I let him be. I probably shouldn't have, he was a bear to wake back up.