Friday, March 27, 2015

7 Quick Takes about Zumba Problems, the Importance of Staying Hydrated, and Something That May Burn Out Your Retinas

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! That means 7 quick thoughts for the last 7 days.

1


Thanks to everybody who voted for me or at least thought about voting for me in the 2015 Bloggies.

You can hear the winners announced live on the Bloggies' Twitter feed and Facebook page from 8-10:30 PM EST Sunday night, or you can just assume the outcome from the excessive bragging or awkward silence on my blog Monday morning.

2


In a recent Twilight Zone moment, my 8-year-old said to me, "Mom, I'm glad you let us play on the iPad but not too much." I just stared at her dumbfounded, thinking, Who are you and why are you inhabiting a child's body? 

I'm pretty sure at 8 years old, my dream day would've been eating Lucky Charms for every meal and watching 10 straight hours of Animaniacs. Moderation was for old people.

3


It's been a month since joining Twitter and the verdict is: I like it. I never thought I'd be saying that about any social media, but I like having mini-conversations with other bloggers I admire:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


4


You know the kind of day when you're exhausted and the kids aren't listening and your husband is working late and it's 6:30 PM but you still don't know what you're having for dinner?

Well, I was having that day and my 3-year-old told me to "be happy."

I was still grumpy, so I asked her, "What if I don't feel like being happy?" (I know, I'm so mature.)

"Drink water," she advised.

5


My 8-year-old is memorizing her times tables at school. Every day, she does a page of multiplication problems for me to sign and correct.

Not only does correcting get old (some days, I admit to just glancing at it and marking them all right as long as I don't see any letters or irrelevant doodles instead of numbers,) but this week is times 12, and that's a problem for me.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


When I was in school, I only needed to memorize my times tables up to 10. Meaning that I don't know off the top of my head what 11 x 12 is.

So actually correcting this requires me to do math in my head. At the end of a long day. While I'm also trying to cook dinner, monitor piano practice, keep the baby from knocking over the Lego tower, and wipe someone's behind in the bathroom. Sure, no problem. Anything else you want me to do? Levitate, perhaps?

6


Technically, March 20th was the first day of spring. But for me, it isn't really spring until I've had my annual garage freakout.

All winter, we've just been tossing stuff in the garage, averting our eyes, and running inside before we freeze to death. On top of that disorganized mess, there are the sleds, scooters, and balls my kids have dragged out and strewn everywhere over the last 4 months.

With the nicer weather on Thursday, I stood in the garage surveying the carnage for a good 30 seconds, then spent the next hour Googling 'garage organization' and muttering to myself.

I'm not even going to show you a picture of our garage because it'd either (a) make your screen explode, or (b) cause permanent ocular damage.

7


You know what? Fine.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
AAAGH! MY EYES!

I hope you're happy.

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15 comments:

Rachel said...

During the 6 weeks we were in Malaysia, a primary school task was convincing my 8 year old baby sis to memorize her times tables. It must be the golden age. She never seemed to 'get' them during those 6 weeks, but these days she's been reciting them to me randomly on Skype calls since we've been back in China so I guess something finally clicked...

Tomato said...

Your kids are scarily wise beyond their years. Drink water, such sound advice, especially from a three year old, lol. I also dislike times tables past 10... that's what calculators are for! And your garage looks better than my garage, which only houses junk for two people, who do not live in the cold. Very upsetting.

Unknown said...

Your garage looks considerably better than a couple of my kids' bedrooms. Perfectionists have a whole different perception of the word 'mess' than other people.

Jenny Evans said...

Not pictured was the bag of birdseed that mice apparently got into and scattered everywhere.

Jenny Evans said...

My perception of the mess may be influenced by the fact that my way to the empty garbage cans is blocked by 3 bags of smelly trash. Thanks for the reality check.

mumturnedmom said...

Ha, my garage beats your garage, mainly because you can fit a car in yours... :)

Jenny Evans said...

You guys are really making me feel so much better about my garage!

Jenny Evans (sister, not author) said...

Fingers crossed that you won the bloggie! I rarely vote for things like that but I LOVE your blog. I don't know how you find the time to post so frequently, they are always thoughtful and well written.

Jenny Evans said...

Thanks, Jenny. In answer to how I find time to blog, see the #7 photo above.

Kelly M. said...

Our basement is where everything I need to get rid of gets tossed and by spring, the water starts leaking in and reminding me, I actually need to get everything out. If there wasn't such a sense of urgency, I'm pretty sure it'd be full to the ceiling except for a path to the washer and dryer.

sharon rowe said...

Thanks for sharing on Monday Madness link party :)

Anonymous said...

In the blink of an eye your kids will be grown and moved out. Then you can clean your garage :) Enjoy every minute of them now while you can.

Unknown said...

That's how my garage looks except there are moving boxes everywhere too....and a shed that looks the same. My three year old told me the other day we were going to China. I had no idea she even knew that word.Thank you Team Umi Zumi.

Jenny Evans said...

My 3-year-old just started watching Umi Zumis too - I'd never heard of it before but it was at the top of the Amazon Prime queue and I really wanted an uninterrupted shower, so...

Jenny Evans said...

At the very least, I'll have to find a new excuse for why my garage is still a mess!