Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Humbling Day...

*heavy, tired sigh*
Today was a great reminder to me at how HARD physical labor for 5+ hours can be when unaccustomed to it. I typically pride myself for being in good shape, running at least three times a week; however, today put me in my place!

We got a late start because of some trailer/skidsteer difficulties DH was having; so we didn't actually hit the job site until about 10:45 (RIGHT when it was starting to reallllly get warm!) I definitely got the worse end of the deal today. Since I didn't know how to run the skidsteer, I was doning the rake and shovel :0( Within 10 minutes, the sweat was already rolling, and another 10 minutes later, I had a pool collecting at an undisclosed location in my undergarments.
And not much longer after that, the front of my shirt started resembling one of those butterfly inkblots!!!

THANKFULLY I needed to leave by 1:30 to pick up the girls from summer school. *chuckle* I was toast!!! So, after getting them, I headed home, sat down, drank about a gallon of water, put my head down, and napped for about 30 minutes. What a WUSS!

At 3:30, we needed to leave again to pick up Candace from daycare. I was really very much refreshed after a little snooze; after picking up Candace, we came back home, had a quick dinner, and headed to the job site with sand toys in tow.

DH was MORE than surprised to see me!!! At least by now (4:30), the sun's angle was a little less and more clouds were rolling in. So, I grabbed the rake and shovel again and started spreading some CRAPPY topsoil around the yard. Seriously, the homeowner didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for good topsoil (can't say I blame him), BUT this stuff was terrible! CLUMPY, SWAMPLY, MOSSING, and TERRRRRRIBLY difficult to spread!!!! So, he may have saved some on the topsoil, but the labor got boosted a bit because of the extra time we'll need to put into it. We spread as much as we could, but we'll (DH) will need to go back and rerake, hopefully able to break up the clumps once the soil dries out a little.

Anyway.....I headed home around 7:00, with three MESSSSSY girls! At least they kept themselves entertained in the dirt with the toys. We stopped off at McD's for some sundae's, came home and bathed, and now we're relaxing with a Veggie Tales movie before bedtime.

I'm debating if I have enough energy or motivation to head downstairs to quilt the OC wallhanging I basted up last night. I think, rather, I'll keep my biscuits parked in my glider, ripping out the babyquilt, and tuning in to some show (or I'll throw a DVD in the player)

Thanks for tuning in today---I'll think twice when I whine about the MENTALLY taxing days I have at school. There has been more than one time when I've stated "I'd rather have a laborous, 'non-thinking' job anyday!!!" Today was the reminder I needed that each job can have their Pros and Cons.

4 comments:

Candace said...

Now I feel really lazy. A woman and her son (26 yr old) came to the door today looking for yardwork, and so I had my yard done. They are going to edge and trim every 2 weeks, and I am just going to mow. Just mowing the yard is enough on a hot day. You were using different muscles in different ways, so don't feel bad.

Amanda said...

Oh, my word, you are going to be SO stiff today!! Perhaps a run will loosen things up a bit. Take it easy.

Lori said...

Okay, I will try not to stump you today with my typos...LOL

I am not sure which labor is worse
Physical vs.mental

I do know they both affect my body just in different ways.

I was looking at your post about rednecks and almost piddled...so thanks, I think?????

scraphappy said...

The grass is always greener, isn't it? Take a long hot bath and you can spend the rest of the day feeling good about helping out in a pinch. I'm guessing you'll feel it tomorrow.