Day 127

The first thing I came into contact with this morning? Not the children, not Tim...not even Jelly. No, I was greeted downstairs by 2 slugs in the kitchen.
Now...I don't have a problem with slugs...in fact, I think they're kind of cute. But apparently I don't like having them in the kitchen. Seeing them lying there, slithering slowly past the dishwasher, I felt like gagging. I didn't pick them up. I decided I would let Tim see them. As I ate my banana, and drank my juice, Tim was taking forever to come downstairs, and one of the slugs was slowly disappearing into the small crack between the dishwasher and the cupboard. Aw Crap!

Eventually, when Tim made it down, I told him he had slugs in the kitchen. His response? "Oh No." Not a WHAT? That's weird! But a "Oh No". Apparently, this is common? He told me it happens every now and then in the winter. Great, good to know. Guess I'll be watching where I step from now on. Slipping on a slug, after all, is not a good way to start your day.

The boys sauntered downstairs. First it was Zach. As I had finished my breakfast, I was doing a crossword, and looked up just in time to see him scurrying off in the opposite direction. I called him back, and he spoke to me from where I couldn't see him. I told him to come closer. I then explained that I am going to be living here for the next few months, (he wasn't getting rid of me anytime soon), so he is not to run the other way when he sees me in the morning. I told him I would not do this with him each morning. Instead, he is to come in, and tell me what he wants for breakfast. Giving me the look of death, he slumped over to the table and began mumbling his sentence. I made him repeat himself, and he told me he wanted a brioche. I did not get up to get it until he said please. After getting breakfast for him, Nathaniel came down, then Josh. I did each of their courses, and then they all went up to do teeth and hair.

As nobody finished their homework lastnight, we of course had to do it this morning. Well the boys had came down late, so I already knew it was going to be a challenge. Who am I kidding? I knew lastnight that we wouldn't get everything done. Josh read me the last pages of his book, while Nathaniel did his times tables. It was 8:45 by the time Josh finished reading and giving his summary, and I told them we now had to hurry to school. I ran upstairs to do what I needed to do while they were supposed to be getting ready at the door. A lot of screaming happened between the 3 of them, mostly because Josh and Nathaniel were trying to get Zach ready and he wouldn't listen. Josh HATES being late for school. Probably more than anything. I ran down, toothbrush in my mouth, and stuffed Zach into his coat. I ran back up to spit and finish brushing, and hurried back down to finally, 3 boys at the door. We left and I explained that we had to walk briskly. Zach was lagging behind as he usually does, and Nathaniel wasn't far in front of him. I told Nathaniel he had to hurry up. "I'm faster than Zach!" he said. To which I answered, "Yes, and Zach is 4"...and before I could finish my sentence Zach was running ahead of me...guess that's one way to get him motivated. I then finished my sentence with Nathaniel saying "and he's running, there's not much more he can do". Zach was just far enough ahead that I could still see him, but he got a rocket up Nathaniel's bum so we were walking much faster. In fact, I think it was the fastest walk we've all done yet. I told them it was 8:58, and we legged it up the last of the path. We arrived at school miraculously on time. Josh said goodbye and went to his class. Nathaniel lined up at his, and I took Zach over to his portable. He had some questions about giving in his lunch money and how he was going to get his pasta today. What a cutie. I answered, and he went in on his own. I then walked home.

When I arrived, I changed, answered the phone, then got my shoes on and headed out for some exercise. I got to the sidewalk and began to run. I was so excited! I ran down the high street, past my hair dressers and up and down a few different streets. I continued running until I couldn't handle the pain in my shoulder and rib anymore. If I took one more running step, I would have keeled over in tears. I could not believe the pain shooting through me. It wasn't fair! I was so angry! I had only run 15 minutes, and that was all I could do?!?! While I was happy with myself in the simple fact that I was finally doing some real exercise, I was still very disappointed that after what will be 3 years in May, I still can't go for a proper, lengthy run. That in itself almost had me crying my eyes out. I walked it off. I walked around quite a bit of Kelvedon. I went down a street and up to the school paths, then back up to the high street where I decided to try running again. This time I got through 10 minutes. I probably could have gone 5 more, but thought I should cool down before going into the house. So I slowed down, and walked up over the bridge past the river, and then turned around and came back. Checked for water in the outside fridge...no such luck. I took my shoes off at the door and did my weigh in. It says I gained 4 pounds since doing it last (Before South Africa). I feel like I've gained much more than that, but then again I can't go by the wii balance board anyways as it's so unreliable. I then did a 15 minute cardio work out, logged everything I've done so far this morning and realized I had done 115 minutes worth of exercise. Not too shabby. Especially knowing that I'll be walking to and from school quite a few times today. In fact, on that note, I'm going to go shower, and walk up to get Zach.

I just got back from dropping Zach back off at school, and have a few minutes to type before going back to school to get Josh.

I got a nice surprise when I picked Zach up today. It was his first time staying for lunch, so I didn't need to get him until 1:15. When he came out, he hustled over to me and leaned against me. It was almost like giving me a hug! Without the arms. We walked together up to the high street, and got a few things at Boots. We continued home, and once in the door, I made the two of us some hot chocolate. We sat at the table and enjoyed some together while having a conversation. He of course didn't want the whole thing, so he left the table and went to look for a movie to watch. He couldn't find "Superman" so he searched for something different. While he was on the hunt, I was looking online for hip hop classes. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to venture out to Chelmsford to take one on my own tomorrow. We'll see how brave I get between now and then. Zach was running out of time to watch anything, so I told him to just watch a TV show and I put Spongebob on for him. He sat behind me, and I spoke to my Mom for a bit online. Not too long after, we left to meet up with Heloise at the school, where she was picking up Nathaniel, and taking those two to swimming. Josh has football until 4:20, so for the next 20 minutes, I'm going to relax a bit, watch "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", and then walk up to get him.

Well, I went to get Josh, and they ended up finishing football late, so Heloise arrived before Josh even got off the field. I went to the car to sit with Nathaniel and Zach. We listened to Hedley, and eventually Josh and Heloise came back to the car. We got home, and while Heloise made supper, I made the boys do their homework. We then ate, did some more homework afterwards, and now they've gone up to bed. I'm sitting down to watch some good TV now :D Heloise has to go to a PTFA meeting (School), so unfortunately she's going to miss "Glee". She's trying to think of an excuse as to why she'd have to leave the meeting early. I don't think she's come up with one though. Anyway, going to go relax with the TV and Msn. Good Night xx