March 15, 2004 - 2:15 p.m.

Better Than Expected

Today has been a pleasant surprise as a whole. This morning I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill for the first time in ages. I expected the endeavor to be humbling, but it went pretty well. I was on the treadmill for 35 minutes, plus a 5 minute cool down, and only walked a total of 8 of those minutes. Woohoo!

After the gym I was very productive during the rest of the morning. I cleaned Percy's cage, did some dishes, started the laundry, looked up a recipe for Irish soda bread to make with the kids, and picked up ingredients for the bread at the store. I guess I am starting off this week with a bang!

Dealing with B has also been surprisingly pleasant so far today. I was sort of preparing for the worst for a couple reasons. He's been a total attention hog ever since the lead up to his birthday. He wants to the focus of the entire household to be all B all the time. Secondly, this weekend, I took the girls on their way overdue birthday outings. B will get his next, but since he just had his birthday, he couldn't understand why I was taking the girls first. He was unable or unwilling to wrap his mind around the concept that the girls had been waiting since the fall for me to take them out. So both times I showed up to collect one of his sisters as well as when I returned with them, he got angry and rude. I expected today to be an extension of that behavior, but so far I have been utterly wrong. When I picked him up at school he ran out and threw his arms around me, which totally melted my heart. After lunch, I walked him across the street to his friend's house for a playdate, and he sweetly told me to have a good time having my peace and quiet while he was over there. :) Very cute, and I must say I needed such a reminder that B is a great kid, even though he's been masquerading as a spoiled monster lately.

Remember how I said the nice spring weather wouldn't last? Last week's Nor'easter managed to miss us completely, but now they are saying another storm is supposed to hit tomorrow evening and dump six or more inches of snow on us. Ick. If it really happens, I will be especially happy to escape to Virginia this weekend!

By the way, I finished the Dan Brown book on Saturday morning, less than 48 hours after I started it. It was one of those books that was so good I was actually sad to be done with it. I think I need to get Angels and Demons very soon. The DaVinci Code really made me want to learn more about art history. It taught me a lot about the paintings that figure into the plot and left me wondering what inside stories I am missing when I look at other works of art!

H started reading the Chronicles of Narnia this weekend, and has already finished The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The set she has is numbered with The Magician's Nephew as #1, but I recommended she start with LWW. I wonder if it really matters, though? I just feel that it is a better introduction to the series. Feel free to agree or disagree in comments. :)