Phew!

The last three days have been constant activity - tonight I'm knackered (even 12 year old K is tired, and he rarely gets to that stage).

Usually our week has a very gentle schedule. I like to only be committed to one daytime activity per week where I have to drive for any distance. Usually it's a Wednesday homeschool group get-together. That plus our Taekwondo classes is enough for weekdays.

However, this week was different. On Monday, I buzzed around getting some housework done in the morning, then we visited Katherine and her boys in the afternoon. (Even my nearly-16 year old managed to be awake at the right time for that, so he could spend time with his friend.) After we returned home, we had a quick dinner, and then K and I went out to Taekwondo.

Tuesday, the 12 year old and the 9 year old came with me to town. We dropped our Festiva (yes, the one that broke down a little while ago) at the mechanic because it hasn't been running smoothly. Feels like lumpy gas! We then walked to ToysRUs so that the boys could buy themselves a tonne of new Lego with their stash of cash. It's surprising how what is normally a ten minute drive can be an hour-long walk. After we were done in there, we realised we were pretty close to Nature's Fare, so we walked over there and sat in their deli section for a while having a drink and a snack. Then we walked back to the mechanic, stopping on the way for a play at the rec centre playground.

When I spoke to the man who'd checked my little car over, it wasn't good news. In fact, it's terminal! He says (bear in mind that my knowledge of the workings of an engine could be written on the back of a postage stamp) the pair of cylinders on one side are half the pressure than the pair on the other side and it could cost about $700 to put right and he didn't think it was worth the effort. He reckoned we might only get two more months out of the car...sniff! (When I spoke to R later that day, he thought it might still be worth fixing, though if it does snuff it, we don't have to replace it immediately...we still have the Aerostar.)

Anyway, moving on! After getting the car, I had a couple of stops to make on the way home. One to a small local store that carries foods imported from Europe (pasta, sundried tomatoes, various oils and vinegars, rooibos tea), and another to the fruit packinghouse where they sell organic apples cheaper than anywhere else in town. Back home, another quick meal, and then out again to Taekwondo.

Today I had more errands on my To Do list. Unfortunately, they were in the opposite direction to my ultimate destination, the swimming pool at the rec centre. Never mind, we got them all done - topped up my banana and lettuce supply, visited the library for some much-needed reading material, returned a DVD, popped in to my accountant to return some tax paperwork, and finally headed to the pool. Only four families showed up, but we had fun anyway. The main pool was pretty cold, so we spent some time warming up in the hot tub, and for quite a while the water feature was turned on (a huge pirate ship) so the kids played around that while we mums sat waist deep in the water and talked.

Once again, home, dinner and Taekwondo.

So that's it. I don't want to leave my house at all in the next two days. I really like being at home. Not that I'll have nothing to do....my vacuuming still hasn't been done, and I'm overdue for a weights workout, and I just turned the heel on that sock so there's more knitting to be done. But at least I won't have to drive anywhere.

English-Canadian translations:
knackered - very tired
snuff it - die