Absenteeism.

Yes, I have been an absentee member of the blogging world. Hence the title, "Absenteeism." What a horrible word, by the way. It immediately makes me think of some sort of illness. Too many e's. Yes, that's weird of me, I know. Its not that I haven't had much to blog about. I have, I've just have had no desire to blog about it. Our summer started much earlier than most peoples, as preschool ended the middle of June. So perhaps its that lazy summer attitude. Well, no, because that would mean I'd have to call myself lazy, and I'm not about to do any such thing!

So this now sounds bad, because I'm going on about being lazy and then say I'm going to steal Linda's blogging format. Not at all to imply that Linda is lazy. She's highly efficient. Thus, I shall do a Linda blog post and get down to the nitty gritty.

School

This one course a semester thing is slightly killing me. Its just so boring. Yeah, yeah, I realize, I'm a stay-at-home Mom, I should take easy and be happy with it, but its actually boring to the point that its fairly hard for me to stay focused. I'm hoping its just the course, not the next two years of the program! Its currently reading break of which I am taking full advantage of, to work ahead, that is. Its been so low-key, a break almost seems ridiculous. Yes, you students, I know, I know... this is a nice problem to have.

Working Out

I've been going to Curves for just over a month now. I'm scooping up all these Groupon type deals on fitness centres. Its fairly brilliant (in my opinion). I get two months here, one month there. Technically no commitment, and I'm getting variety out of it. Eventually this sleeping around will have to end, and I'll have to commit to one gym, but for now, I'm enjoying this "loose" lifestyle.

Curves, by the way, is a fascinating place to work out. I must admit, the workout is a bit tame, and I'm no workout casanova, its just a really basic workout. So in this instance I'm really glad its only a two month commitment. The clientele seem to be ladies who are, well...older, and haven't done much working out, ever. Its supposed to be 30 minutes, start to finish. That part I like, but then I start doubling up machines and it ends up being more like 45 minutes. But the chatting! Its almost deafening some days. Its a big circle of machines, all facing each other, so if you go at certain times, there can be up to 8 (or more) ladies all nattering away. I probably come off as very antisocial, but I didn't come to chat...I came to burn fat (I should seriously get that printed onto a workout shirt).

I'm trimming up. Of course not as fast as I would like, but I am feeling much healthier. I really appreciate how Curves does the monthly weigh and measure, and they also have the body fat calculator. Somehow 33% body is healthy for a woman, which seems really high to me. I mean its right on the cusp of unhealthy, but you can be sure that I lived up that percentage point all that I could. "You mean to tell me that 1/3 of my body is fat?" Ugh! In my first month I got it down to 30%, so that already seems a little less offensive.

I've also been using our elliptical quite a bit. It faces the computer, so some days I workout to Youtube videos (you can make up your own playlist, its brilliant). Other days I watch documentaries about the Oka Crisis or heck, poverty in Canada. You know, just to mix it up.

Children

Both of the kids are well. I think they are enjoying this freedom that summer brings. Although I always feel that I lack in the activity department. "What, you mean you don't have a craft and a daily activity for them set up?" Um, no. Not really that Mom. At all. We get outside, basically daily. The park. A walk to the mall. Picking up garbage (we are volunteers in Edmonton's Capital City Clean up Program). Play dates. I'm also hoping to get them into swimming lessons for 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in August. So we're keeping busy.

I'm also working on a daily quite time for the kids in their rooms. Abbi is way beyond the point of napping, but she still needs some Abbi time throughout her day. Gabe is off and on when it comes to napping. Seems to be about every 3rd day he'll take a nap, and thankfully he's getting to the point that if he does miss the nap, he isn't an absolute beast by 6pm. So I've let them pick out their toy or activity and I set an egg timer in the hallway outside of their rooms. Once it goes off, they are free to come out. Its been working quite well.

But really, this egg timer business is really all about me. Not sure how other Moms spend all day, every day with their children, but I definitely need a break. So my egg timer time usually includes a cup of tea, a book, the elliptical or the computer. And no, I generally can't do all of those things at once. I'm not superwoman people!

Husband

The husband is also keeping busy. This is generally not his preferred state of being (unlike me). But 'tis the season. Summer means lots of side work, and renovations. Thankfully we're not doing anything major around here this year (other than a "measly" back splash in the kitchen). He's picked up a job with a lady in our church, building a set of stairs and installing some doors around her house. He's also slated to do some work at Rob's parents house and possibly their neighbors. There's never a dull moment for a carpenter, especially a married one.

He's also been teaching his guitar lessons. We have 3 students in our current session. They end next week, although the plan is to start another 8 week course the next week. The house has to be immaculate and the kids and I clear out for the hour. It does take a good amount of effort, but its really been nice in that the house has been staying organized. The kids and I generally go to a friends house for a visit or walk to the park. With the basement finished, we can hang out down there, which we do on some days as well.

Summer Vacation?

This year, I'm thinking no real vacation. Like you know, those people, the ones who spend 3 whole weeks on the Island during the summer. Ahem. Yeah, not this year. We will be sticking to the Prairie region for the most part (sorry Mom!). We do have a wedding in Kelowna to attend. We are over the moon because it's just Rob and I going. NO KIDS!

*Cue heavenly angels singing.

We are also planning a long weekend trip out to see our friends in Saskatchewan who had a little baby girl a few weeks ago. So little mini vacations here and there, but nothing major at this point. Although the temptation is always there for me. But I figure, why leave Edmonton when its actually nice and sunny? We'll have to plan a vacation for mid-January.

Kijiji

Yes, it keeps me busy. I've always got something for sale. Rob would like to set up a heavy bag in the (ahem, MY) craft room. This has been a bit of a contentious issue, but the first reality is that the room already needs to be more functional than it is. So that's led me to be posting a gazillion items on kijiji. Not only does it make me some extra cash (I've easily made $50 this week), but it gets the room to a place that we can move stuff around and have space in the middle for his heavy bag.

Anyway, that is a Linda-cized version of a blog post. Easy peasy, and hopefully it no longer feels like I have missed 2 weeks of blogging ;)