It couldn't be!!!!

Doth mine eyes and ear deceiveth me?!? Do I actually have both daughters sleeping and NO assignments pending for work?? It's a miracle! So, I can try to make a dent in my blogging back-up...

The weather has been out of this world gorgeous. We have been outside every chance we get, visiting and re-visiting parks and taking lots of walks. I even decided to start walking to the grocery store, with the lofty ambition of making both my body AND the planet healthier. Okay, in all honesty, I'm more concerned with saving a few(?) buck$$$ on gas than saving the planet, but it sounded noble anyway. This has backfired in two ways. First, taking several smaller trips instead of one large trip (a necessity if I'm going to fit my purchases in the ample-but-still-not-as-big-as-my-trunk stroller basket) has produced the unwelcome side effect of more impulse purchases. More visits=more sales seen=more money spent. Not good. The second backfire, in regards to my walking to burn calories, is this: Elianna walks at a speed that rivals the rotation of the earth for speed. Add the fact that she has to stop and examine every rock, blade of grass, vehicle, etc. along the way, and also must stop to socialize with any human being we come within fourteen feet of... you get this picture. I honestly don't think my heart rate even notices the difference between walking with Elianna and sitting on the couch. The proverbial straw, though, was the day I dragged the girls up to Meijer, and about 1/8 of the way there Elianna decides she doesn't want to walk anymore. So, she is in the stroller with Selah on her lap, and you can imagine the yowling and arguing THAT causes. We get to the store, I get my shopping done, check out, then let the girls ride the penny horse about five times so I have a chance to rest. By now they are cranky and tired, the stroller weighs a ton since it now carries two children AND a basket crammed full of groceries, and I still have to WALK home. About 1/8 of the way back, I kick Elianna out of the stroller, since I figure her complaints are a fair trade for the extra 30 pounds she's adding to my burden. We walk... and walk... Elianna is complaining, Selah is shrieking because I won't sit for ANOTHER ten minutes and let her stare at the ducks in the ditch, (Mind you, we sat this long at least on the way there staring at the ducks in the ditch) and I am practically chanting this mantra in my head: I am saving gas by not driving the truck. I am saving gas by not driving the truck. I am... what the heck!!! That's my truck!! I look up to see my hubby driving merrily down the road... in our gas-guzzling Dodge. I was seething. "What are you doing?!??! He looked at me innocently. "We needed a new propane tank. I'm heading up to Meijer. You wanna ride?" So, I gave up. I threw the stroller and groceries into the bed of the truck, threw the kids into their car seats, then got in and proceeded to ride RIGHT BACK to the store I had just labored to walk to (and most of the way home from). I managed to spit out, "Why did you take the TRUCK instead of the car? Don't you know how much gas is?" He just shrugged, the usual eloquent manly response. I was too tired to care.

Anyway, my misguided efforts to save both body and planet aside, we've been keeping busy and spending as much time out and about as possible. I'm going to try to get some blogging done today, so stay tuned!!!