Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Having a Wee Bit of Trouble Keeping Up

We survived Birthdaypalooza!  Cake week 2013!  The children turned 2, 4, and 6, and were each thoroughly celebrated.  Also, we hit Millennium Park last week and took a day trip out to the Illinois Railway museum.  My mom came to visit for a few days, and we threw another pool party.  Georgia had her first soccer game.  Joe coached his first soccer game.  School starts this coming Monday, which means we bought school supplies today and will be spending parts of this week cramming in every last ounce of summer adventure while we still can.  Meanwhile, the organizing and unpacking gradually continues while I try to suppress the urge to yell, "I HATE MOVING!" and start swearing under my breath (or crying) every time I can't find something here.

I have so many pictures I want to share.  I really enjoy blogging but am finding it harder than ever to find the time.  (I blame the whole moving process more than anything.)  Can someone please tell Joe that we need a full time nanny so his unemployed wife can just catch up on her hobby?  : )

We ditched cable TV when we moved, but after a month with no television whatsoever, we got an Apple TV and started one episode of "Arrested Development" a night (sometimes two) until we got through them all.  Now we've started rotating between "Louis" and "Orange Is the New Black".  Sometimes we skip TV for the day all together, and every once in a while we watch a "Daily Show" or "Colbert Report" from Hulu instead.  At the end of the day, it really feels good to veg for that half hour or hour.  I know this is a common sentiment of adulthood, but it really does feel like there are not enough hours in the day for all that we want to do.  I don't know why I'm telling you our TV watching habits, I guess I just sometimes wonder what we're doing wrong because I envision other people having more free time.  I am probably wrong about that.

But my parting question for you is this (and I do mean this sincerely, so please leave a comment here personally or anonymously to answer this little poll of mine): 

WHEN DO YOU READ?  

Like, not just surf the Internet, but actually pick up a book or a magazine or a Kindle and read for pleasure or education?  I don't care if you're fitting it in once a month or three times a day or in 5 minute or 3 hour increments, but I am just really curious when other people are figuring out when to read.  Commute? Bathroom trip? Before bed? During kids' naps?  Never?  Please share.


Next up in bloggyland:  Waylon's 1st birthday.  (Yes, he just turned two.  Are you still with me here, people?)


Edited to add:  I think part of my confusion and consternation comes from all the things that I'm not fitting in my day but used to be, not all that long ago.  Like better cooking.  And thrice weekly weight workouts.  And slightly better self care, in the form of daily showers.  And probably more TV.  And blogging.  Like, 3 or 4 months ago.  It's tempting to chalk it all up to moving, but something just isn't adding up, because if I'm being completely honest, we're also not spending too much daily time working on that, either!  At least we are getting our sleep.  Joe and I are united in our love of sleeping, which is great from a health standpoint, maybe not so much from a productivity standpoint.  We could probably use one (or more) of those late night pushes where you stay up til the wee hours just to get something done, but we just don't have it in us anymore!  (Truth be told, I'd probably be the dumb one to go for that, brushing aside the consequences that would come the next day when the kids got up, but Joe cannot stand for it.  We are a "we must turn out the lights and go to bed simultaneously" kind of couple, which I'm beginning to think may be a little rare.)


7 comments:

Sarah said...

I wish I could say we had plenty of time for that stuff, but we don't, and we only have one child. The TV is almost never on, and I've pretty much given up on reading fiction because I can't get through a book before I forget what was happening. I've also given up on movies, but have been trying to make lists for when I'm old and listless and have time for such things. My limited leisure time is usually spent either on the computer (and especially shopping online) or doing yoga. I keep saying I'm going to put the computer down and do more reading, but it's not happening. It's my "wind down" time that ends up taking more time than I intended, but it seems silly to pick up a book when I'll just be dealing with silly demands for water, a fan, or new pajamas from Little Miss at night. Dom and I are also doing extra certifications for work online which means more computer time.
Anyway, I do need to get back to the books.
I still have the recurring nightmare where I forgot about a test or completely forgot about one of the classes on my schedule until the semester was practically over. I think it's time to pick up a book.

Maggie said...

Oh see I am probably switching out reading for TV -- not that I have anything against TV. But I find myself wanting to sit in bed at night at read as opposed to finding something on TV. My reading also takes place out on the back porch while the kids are playing in the yard. Right now you've got Waylon and letting them just play for a serious period of time probably isn't possible. Plus, I will institute quiet time a couple of times a week. Which isn't quiet and doesn't last very long, but I will also read then. The difference here being that I rarely do gym stuff and I'm not sure my "self-care" really includes working out. I do that more because I know I should not because I enjoy it or its benefits so tremendously. My working out totally ebbs and flows. I'd choose reading time over working out any day of the week. But maybe that will change when the seasons change and I'm not outside so much.

Emily said...

I wrote you a huge response but Blogger rejected me. Short answer: we watch TV like you (one episode per night on Apple TV - currently The West Wing); we manage to prepare home-cooked food, but I miss actually cooking for fun; I don't work out but I walk to work and find that only by including it as something I already do in my routine is exercise something I will do; I fail horribly at taking pictures/documenting our life; I read for a few minutes before bed or instead of TV time and generally pretty trashy stuff so the plot is easy to pick back up. Oh, and you probably feel like you have more kid work because you have more kid work; aren't your kids now doing different things rather than all doing the same thing?

Kelly said...

Vacation. That's really the only time I read, which is so sad because I REALLY love to read. Like you, though, I just can't seem to find the time to do it. It seems like there are always other things I "should" be doing - laundry, dishes, cleaning, playing with the kids, (occasionally) exercising, etc... I'm hopeful that one of these days I'll once again find time to read :)

Side note: on vacation a month or so ago I read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Not super uplifting, but a great page-turner. If you do find some time to pick up a book, I'd recommend it as a quick read!

Kate said...

Thanks for the tip, Kelly! I find that I am someone who has trouble turning the "shoulds" off in my head. (Sometimes I think this is why I am not the best-suited person for stay at home motherhood. Perhaps in that regard I did better with a regimented work schedule.)

All of these comments are very interesting, thanks! Sarah - I really admire your yoga practice. Maybe you can teach me how to get going on it when you're in town?

Working out for me is well, hmmm...how do I put it? I am not one of those people who ever grows to truly *love* doing it. It still always feels like an obligation. However, I do love the way I feel afterwards. And when regular exercise is *not* a part of my life, it really shows in my mental state and mood. So, that's why it feels critical to me.

Confession: part of my problem is that while I love reading, I do not think I've ever been a very fast reader. The other problem is that no matter how much I love what I'm reading, it almost always puts me to sleep (if I'm reading before bed)!

Danni said...

I am childless (at least for the next 7 months) but still don't really read. I have, however, been watching Orange is the New Black and am pretty much obsessed with it.

I am also a terrible blogger. So don't worry I'm not judging -- you do much better than I do.

katandkarl said...

Reading? Between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. maybe once a week. Because I am crazy and need less and less sleep to function. Also, reading is my go-to avoid reallife/moving/unpacking so I've finished at least 6 books in the last month. :)

Orange is the New Black - YES. Thinking about House of Cards next?

Moving is the devil - as evidenced by my LACK OF POSTING FOR A MONTH. Maybe I should be doing that b/w 11 and 1 a.m.?