The Bitter and Sweet of life

Yesterday was a typical "day in the life"for me.  It was all over the place.  I worked on my closet conversion (pictures to come), made a run to the airport, baked, cleaned, played, argued, and threatened (and administered) many a time out.  I missed yoga, but squeezed in a run.  I took my daughter and a friend to the pool and hosted a sleepover.  I cleaned up potty accidents (of both the dog and preschooler variety) as well as a gigantic kitchen spill.  Yet, at the end of the day, I still looked back and felt completely unaccomplished.  I "did" a lot (hooray!), but finished little (boo, hiss!).  Task completion  had alluded me for another day.


Just as my day lacked all sense of fluidity, so will this post.  On that note, I tried to break up my mid afternoon with a treat.  I suffered from the, Liam didn't nap and I need a second shower (I mentioned all of the accidents, right?), blahs.  This is the part of the day when I usually start rooting around for my french press.  It doesn't matter if it is at the peak of the sun in the peak of the summer.  I love my hot coffee mid afternoon.  The feeling isn't mutual, so I have been struggling to cut back.  Inspired to find another indulgence, I decided to try a new recipe.  Instead of torturing my stomach with coffee, I decided to love on it with lemon and mint.  Here was my starting point:

two trays of ice,  one pot of green tea, 2 lemons, mint and sugar to taste 

The Bitter:  Just as my iced lemon mint smoothing was reaching perfection, my blender started leaking.  The leak was more like a wild gushing of cold lemon juice all over my new countertops.  Granite countertops and lemon juice go together about as well as my nervous system and  the afternoon french press.  I frantically mopped up the mess.  All that was left was a watery hunk of lemon slushy.  So, I added more tea to the ice mound.  This was my final result:

The sweet:  It was actually pretty good.  Not as good as I imagine my wasted smoothy tasted, but super refreshing.

The Bitter:  Sacrificing myself for my daughter (..sigh..), I gave up my Thursday yoga class to save her play date.  It, indeed, needed saving from pesky, grumpy little brothers.  The Sweet:  The afternoon started to look up when I was relieved from duty at 5PM for a run.  By this point, the only person that needed a run as much as I did was my seven year old.  So, we walked over to the UPS campus for a jog on the super soft, amazingly wonderful track.  This was the first time that I have ever taken Jack with me on a "real" run.  The track there is pretty much fence contained, and I am trying to let go of my overprotectiveness.  With sun was shinning down and Mount Rainier smiling over our shoulders. it seamed like the right opportunity.

The Bitter:  At times like these, I realize just how much my children have grown.  They aren't babies anymore.  The years, while often slow, have passed and the time has slipped away  The Sweet: While I ran, paced by my breath, Jack jumped on and off of the track.  He barreled past me in total abandonment, and then walked when he ran out of steam.  He ran the wrong way to charge me with a huge shiny grin and then grabbed my hand to run with me.  When he lost interest, he sat on the bleachers are watched football practice.  By the end, I ran 3 miles.  Not the most impressive or vigorous run, but I still ran and got my sweat on.   Most importantly, I ran with my child present!  A day I thought would never come.  We are entering a new era, it is both bitter and sweet.