Busy Day

I feel like I was running pretty much all day today, but I also feel like I got quite a bit accomplished.

After I dropped the kids off at the bus stop (about 7:15), I headed off to the gym. I'm going about three days a week now, the days I don't have my niece, which is lots better than I've been doing for the last several months. I'm feeling better about myself for it, too. Right now I'm just doing cardio when I go so I can get myself moving. I hope to start some weight training within the next week or two. I've also started eating better. If I can just keep up my motivation, I should finally be able to lose the weight I want to lose.

I came home and the hubby was having his breakfast before heading to work for the day. I was kind of surprised to catch him at home, since he's usually gone before I get home on the days I go to the gym. So I saw him off, had my breakfast and sat down to chill out a bit before getting my shower. I got a phone call from the guy who was coming to replace the windshield in my car, much earlier than I expected. The insurance company gave me a timeframe of 12-5 p.m., so imagine my surprise when he called just after 10 this morning! After getting directions to my house (this new part of the subdivision can't be found on Mapquest or similar programs), he told me he was on his way. So I hurried upstairs to jump in the shower and get dressed before he got here. He arrived sometime after 10:30, and had my windshield done by 11:30. Awesome!

I couldn't drive the car for about an hour after the windshield was replaced, and the hubby and I were pretty hungry for lunch, so I hopped on the bike and rode over to his office to meet him. We rode over to our favorite Sushi place for lunch (I figured that was a safe bet for my diet). That place is excellent! There's only been one thing there that I've been unimpressed with. It wasn't BAD, but it was bland and not nearly as good as everything else we've had.

After lunch, I rode home, got in the car, and took off to take care of some errands. I had to go over to the courthouse because when I tried to renew my tags on my car, I found out that there were still outstanding taxes on it. Since my car is titled in both of our names, I have to pay half the property tax on it (the hubby's half is exempt since he's military). Either my math was a bit off or I was a bit slow sending it in (remember my previous posts about procrastination?), because there was $4 and some change left over. Ooops!! So I went and took care of that and got the registration renewed before I had to meet the kids at the bus stop. Then the kids and I took off to get it inspected since it was due as well. We waited there for a while for them to get that done (amid complaints from the kids about being bored and thirsty...always fun), and then headed home. So my car is good for another year. The kids did their homework after we got home and I relaxed for a bit before getting dinner started.

After dinner, the kids helped me clean up the kitchen. They have asked me for a while to let them help load the dishwasher and such, but I've always just done it myself. Tonight, since they wanted to help so badly, I let them go to work. The baby girl rinsed the dishes and the boy loaded the dishwasher. I was putting leftovers in the fridge and doing other things while keeping an eye on them. He asked me a few times where to put certain things, and I'd guide him. I also showed him that he could sort of "stack" things on the top rack to make a bit more room, since he was putting them flat. Other than that, I really didn't have to rearrange much of anything. They were so enthusiastic about it. If only they'd keep that enthusiasm! Heck, if only they'd apply that same enthusiasm to keeping their own rooms clean! They were just tickled to have been such a big help to me in the kitchen, and honestly, I was tickled to have the help. They're great kids! Maybe I've done something right after all!

After they went to bed, I set to helping the hubby with his bike. It's also time to have it inspected. This is the one he had the accident with back in March. When he did the work to get it back up and running, we had to figure out how the front brake switch worked because we noticed the brake light was staying on all the time. I found out how it worked, and we got it working properly for our trip to D.C. in May, but I noticed when we were out riding the other day that his brake light was staying on all the time again. Before we went to D.C., we also noticed that the brake light wasn't illuminating when he used the rear brake, which we weren't too concerned about at the time, because we usually use both brakes. But we figured it would cause a problem for the safety inspection. So one of the things I was doing this evening was trying to find out how to help him fix that problem.

I did some research on the internet and found out how to fix the front brake switch (beyond the temporary fix we did a couple of months ago). I also found out where the rear brake switch was located on his motorcycle. So then we went out to find it and fix it. Turns out when he had his extended controls put on last year (some time in October I think), the shop that did it did not put the switch back together properly. Apparently, they got in a hurry and one of the prongs was bent so wasn't engaging properly. Once the hubby got in there and figured that out, we were able to get it working. I was quite proud of myself that I'd found the answer he needed to be able to help him fix the problem. I also got down there to see where the switch was so I'd know in the future, and would be more likely to be able to find it on mine, although mine's a little different.

After that, we came back in and I finished writing a paper that I've been procrastinating on (imagine that...ME procrastinating!). And now I'm just trying to relax a bit before it's time to hit the sack. But I'm rather satisfied with what I got accomplished today. I have a lot to do around the house that I didn't even touch today, but sometimes other things have to take priority!