Mrs Van

First day was yesterday, Monday 28 December: Exercises done at 5am; Housework done; No extra-murals yet. Second day - Tuesday 29 December: Oldest (A) woke me up around 2am when he had wanted to go to the bathroom. One of the dogs had had a runny tummy. Down the passage, right into the front rooms. Luckily I couldn't smell it (sinus due to mozzie stuff burning), but I had no choice but to clean it up... at 2am. Cleaned it, washed the floors, then decided I might as well use the floor wash liquid that has an oil/shiny thing in for wooden floors. So I used that, and did that too. Was back in bed just before 3am, couldn't sleep for a bit, but finally fell asleep around 3h30-ish. That was the last I remember looking at my cellphone. I got up at 5am, put on the coffee, got back in bed and got up 5h45. Did all the rest except exercise, which I did now just before 14h00. It is terribly hot and humid, so I've dunked my head under cold water hoping not to get a heat headache. It seems to be helping somewhat. Exercise done at 14h00; Housework done; (yesterday actually as I had a lot of towels to wash - so nothing for today) Nothing else. EDIT: I'm doing well with finances - catching up nicely. I think when everything is up to date, I'll try out GnuCash, but it might just be better to stay with the spreadsheets and keep sending them to B's mom, and the accountant to put on accounting programmes, and do the official taxes part for tax/SARS.

Around middle January I'll be here for nigh on 6 years. For the last year+ I slowly but surely lost almost all my fitness. I've maintained some strength but nothing like before. So here goes... getting back on track to become a Super Woman - Super Wife - Super Mom. I'm an early bird, no matter what I try. I can easily get up at 5am, make coffee, feed the pets, then get back in bed and sleep some more. But I've decided I'll leave that for weekends, so that it is a real treat. At the moment I'm not home schooling our two boys, so I'm "on holiday"... sort of. I am trying to catch up on doing our finances in between taking a break. This is close to the schedule I used to run a bit more than a year ago, before I realised I was heading for a huge fall and needed to take things slower. Get up at 5am on weekday mornings (I naturally wake up that time, winter or summer); Put on the coffee! Exercise! Feed the pets; Start with breakfast for the four of us (hubby, myself and our two boys) at 6am, pack hubby's lunch; Get the house sorted: unpack dishwasher, make our bed (boys do their own), tidy the house, etc. etc. Quickly go on Fb or NF; Start home school day at 8h30. Finish around 13h00-13h30; Lunch break; Either house work, finances, or extra-murals for the boys from 14h00 on wards; There isn't much of the latter; Start dinner prep around 16h00-16h30; Feed the pets; Have dinner around 17h00-18h00; Do whatever needs doing OR play games OR read OR... Go to bed around 21h00. Those highlighted activities ^^^ are what I'm going to focus on, as well as the schedule in general. There are going to be days where I don't exercise in the mornings, because Murphy happens, then I'll try to do it in the afternoon if possible. If I don't get to it... mmm... I'll cut myself some slack. Let's say 3 passes throughout the challenge. EXERCISES: Mondays and Wednesdays: (exercise inside) High knees X elbows 20x Reverse lunges 10x Pushup burpees 10x Band rows 20x Tuesdays: (exercise outside) Jumping jacks 30x Tire pulls 10x (tire weighs 7.5kg pull for ~10-12m) - I jog down our driveway with the tire, put it down, jog back to the end of the rope, pull the tire in; repeat 10x Tire flips 20x (old tractor tire weighs ~15kg?? I actually have no idea anymore, but it isn't very heavy) Squat, put hands under tire, lift up, flip, repeat 20x Russian twist 20x (15kg weight plate) Sit on floor with knees slightly bent, leaning a little backwards; hold weight plate in both hands, twisting from left side to right side of bent knees; repeat 20x to each side Jump rope 30x Thursdays and Fridays: Walk around the neighbourhood for ~ 30min. We have very steep hills. This would be a good start on cardio again. HOUSE WORK/FINANCES/EXTRA-MURALS etc.: Mondays: Vacuum and dust furniture; R's music lessons will start again middle to end of January, then we'll have to drive to neighbouring town if I can't arrange online lessons Tuesdays: Laundry/Washing AND/OR Saturdays (depending on how much there is to wash) Wednesdays: Clean bathrooms and those odd places and things in the kitchen (wiping down machines, bins, other than the regular everyday cleaning) Thursdays: R's fencing lessons start around middle to end of January again. Drive him to neighbouring town. Fridays: Do Finances. This is my weakness. I hate finances. I'm really going to try and do it once a week, and not procrastinate. Also making some changes, and there'll be changes to banks, etc. Saturdays: 1st Sat. of the month: Wipe down all the open shelves and on top of wooden curtain boxes; 2nd Sat. of the month: Wipe all the light switches, electrical plugs, door frames, those kinds of things; 3rd Sat. of the month: Wipe all the inside window sills, ceiling and wall corners that gather dust, etc. We have pets, this accrues frequently; 4th Sat. of the month: After washing the wooden floors, oil/polish them. Wipe down all the skirtings; 5th Sat. of the month: Only in those months that have a 5th Sat. and no consecutive months, so this will happen roughly twice a year - Wash all the windows inside and out.

So glad to see you. Still catching up with your last two posts from the last challenge, just so I'm on the same page as you

All the space shows will be represented, it seems. Brandt and I just finished the first season of The Orville from the dvd shop. We loved it. Almost like a skit on Star Trek from the good old days.

I'm going to pull myself up by my shoelaces, get my act together and charge up my Super-Wonder-House-Woman-persona to get back on track... that is as soon as the new forum/challenge is up. Here is a look-see what I have in mind. I absolutely have to get back on a set schedule if I want to get out of this slump. I also realised that I wake up at 5am, no matter whether I'm 'on holiday' or not. Winter or summer, dark or light, I'm awake at 5am, so I might as well use it. Weekend mornings I'll get back in bed with coffee and snooze some more, Saturdays are usually my weekly grocery shopping day anyway, and Sundays I'll focus again on Bible study and watching a sermon online. So... every weekday get up at 5am and... EXERCISE: to build my strength up again, as well as cardio - general fitness and health Mondays and Wednesdays (inside) High knees 20x Reverse lunges 10x Pushup burpees 10x Band rows 20x Tuesdays (outside) Jumping jacks 30x Tire pulls 10x Tire flips 15x Russian twists 10x Thursdays and Fridays (outside) Walk - get Brandt out of bed and we go walking through the neighbourhood for about 30min. Between 6am - 8h30 it's breakfast, make the house neat, make the beds, etc. etc. Pack Brandt's lunch... Between 8h30 - 13h30 it's school. Then afternoons (after 14h00) will be reserved for HOUSEWORK, EXTRA-MURALS, and the other computer/admin work that needs doing. Mondays: Vacuum and dust Rocco music (I'm hoping to move this to another day, or do it via chat) Tuesdays: Washing/Laundry Wednesdays: Clean bathrooms and kitchen (things like wipe down the machines, dust, the not-normal-everyday-wipe down, cleaning things) Thursdays: Rocco fencing Friday: Finances (yes! I'm going to keep up this time and do things a bit differently) Saturdays: I'm going to do each cleaning thing only one Saturday a month, but I might have to do some more washing every Saturday 1st Sat of the month: Wipe down all the open shelves and on top of wooden curtain boxes 2nd Sat of the month: Wipe down all the light switches, wall plugs, niches, etc. 3rd Sat of the month: Wipe down all the window sills (inside), and dust all the ceiling corners, other corners that might contain dust webs 4th Sat of the month: Wash and oil/polish the wooden floors, sweep and wash stoep 5th Sat of the month (only those months that have a 5th Sat, and not consecutive months - so basically about twice a year ) Wash all the windows - inside and out. Now to get a good gif that fits this Super-Wonder-House-Woman image... ideas and suggestions are welcome.

Hope you had a lovely Christmas, and will have a blessedly, good, prosperous new year.

We actually had a great time playing the card game. There was nothing really naughty, just a reference to "kiss of life", and a seductress who steals a unicorn out of your stable. I think there are more references to death (sacrifice or destroy unicorns) which could possibly upset younger players. Anyway... we had a great time. Hope you have a great time with your family/boyfriend, a blessed Christmas time and a wonderful New Year. 🎄

Last update: Nothing on the exercise front. We sort of bought Christmas presents for the family when I found board games on sale online, and found Risk and a South African board game cheap at the China shop. That was the sole reason I went to the shop in the first place. I bought Adam a card game called Unstable Unicorns. I got Risk for Rocco, as he absolutely LOVES playing with plastic soldiers on any printed map, thinking out strategies, actually using topographical information where he can. He isn't using the board game as it is intended (at the moment), but has had so many imaginary battles play out already. When the neighbour's boys came over yesterday afternoon, he showed them some of his strategy ideas, but they couldn't keep up, so they switched to computer games and some 'real life' wrestling. All was safe and no problems or injuries. They were here for four hours, and the near silence afterwards was a blessing! I bought a board game on general knowledge about South Africa, for home school, and we'll take turns playing the various games we already have on Friday mornings after school. The boys nearly begged me to change things to clear most of a Friday again so they can choose and play a board game as part of their learning. So I shuffled things around on the schedule for next year. I told them that the board games/games have to include Scrabble, Hangman, the finances math game, and the games asking general knowledge (or South African knowledge) questions, and they had no problem. So not just 'fun' games, also proper educational, although those are fun too. Otherwise I had a huge fright when my microwave suddenly made three electrical "pop" sounds and I could smell electrical burning, the other night. It still seems to work 100% though, but I'm going to take it back and have it looked at after Christmas. Shops are busy, and people are standing in queues out the doors, at the moment. Luckily it has a two year guarantee and the 'magnetron' a five year guarantee. We only bought it in May 2020, so not even a year old. Might be damage or something because of all the on/off with the electricity going on. I'm not even going to comment on the ridiculous Covid restrictions reinstated again. I decided to leave the finances till after Christmas. I am trying to find an easy accounting programme in the meantime, but I'm taking this week as my break. And on that note... Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas time - with family and friends, where allowed/applicable, or restful and quiet (like us) where applicable. But please stay safe and be blessed. May your New Year be great and be the start of new plans and for dreams to come true. ❤️ Love you lots. I'll be back in the New Year.

My boys wake up at 5am at the moment to play computer games. Rocco found a new one where he has paragraphs to read and then make choices and take action. That's as good as it gets to have him read without being forced to. Hope you have a restful break and are on the mend. Have a blessed Christmas time and a good New year.

I hope you are up and about very soon. Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year, for you and the family. Hugs for Baby Bird.

I wish you and the family a wonderful, blessed Christmas time and a great New Year. And hugs to my little girl.

Wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Hope you have a great, blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

School's done for the year! Friday was our first day off, and I embraced it fully, while the boys were restless and mentioned so many times that it felt funny not to do schoolwork. I assured them there was work for them to start with if they really wanted to. They assured me in turn that it really wasn't necessary, they'll figure out what to keep themselves busy with, and promptly started playing computer games, swapping out with playing outside. Neighbour's two boys also came over Thursday afternoon. They had celebratory "end of school year" cake with us. I might have started a thing there. Brandt had his hair peroxide/peroxided. He is now orange-blonde, because that was what he wanted. *roll-eyes* I tried to sleep in this morning (Saturday) but was wide awake by 5am. Now it's 22h30-ish, I'm tired, but can't sleep. It's hot, humid and my head keeps going round and round on some political and other issues. I haven't bought any Christmas gifts, and not sure I'm going to. The boys got their computers and their more than happy. Neither Brandt nor I need anything, or want anything in particular, so *shrug*... Mentioning the computers, we used so much data to reload some of the boys' games and programmes, that we are limiting our internet usage. We are trying to tip-toe to the end of December, with only trickling use of data. To buy extra is expensive to say the least. But some good news on the internet front is that the fibre company contacted us and they'll be putting in our fibre termination point early February. We're in for a lot of changes in the new year. I'll make a renewed effort next week to get on the exercise wagon. I'll also be trying to catch up on all the finances. I still haven't found an accounting/personal finance program that is NOT online, and which will suite our needs. If I don't find one I'll have to carry on with the spreadsheets, or try to think of a way to make it more time/effort friendly. The thing is, I actually don't know what I want, or need in a programme. Hope you have a good weekend.

Also glad on the negative test results. *HUGS* to get you through this time.

Or in our case... good neighbours leave one space where the kids (from either side) can climb over to come/go and play. We have boys and they too, and we always first get permission from the other family, but there's been many a 'fence climbin' ' to play between the two properties. Hope your back and sinuses clear up quick.

How are you doing? How are the pains? Otherwise you and Baby Bird seem to be on a roll with things: mastering those sounds, making delicious sounding food, creating DND characters...

You can do a lot of math learning using Lego's, but I'm assuming that's not quite what Slothboy had in mind. Maybe show him some of the Math Antics videos. I'm not sure whether he'll like that kind of humour, but if he does, he might want to watch 'just for fun', and catch up on his math facts? Or maybe you all just need a break. Still hoping that things improve for you on the Covid side - I hear there are American doctors who rave about specific well known meds? Steroids or something? Hoping when you see the doctor he can prescribe something that will help.

LOL I know this feeling, except B and I thought we were morning people through and through, as we were/are always awake by the time the sun comes up (winter or summer). Then our kids were born... they put us to shame. If they go to bed anytime before 8pm, they are up and AWAKE by 4am. Even now as teens (especially now that they are teens and we are kissing late 40s and early 50s), their bedtime is 9pm-9h30pm just so that they can sleep till at least 5am. But they have learnt to keep themselves busy in a quiet fashion by now. There's hope in your future That is amazing! Wow, so glad you got it, and the lady went through so much trouble.

Sounds like a lovely day. I'm glad little Bit had a good time at the church's nursery. As you know we got the boys the computers for Christmas, and they are already using it - gaming and school work. I didn't get B or myself anything though, and just now mentioned that the tree will be empty on Christmas day. We've just had new lock down rules brought in - again. The gist is that malls or shopping centres are out; there will be a huge 'Christmas shopping' market opened up on some sports ground/field somewhere (I couldn't care enough to read the address) in our town, and people are allowed to shop there. B says it's more restrictions that have been placed on shops and malls in general, than the shops been ordered to close. At the moment I'm not even contemplating going to the market.

I'm so sorry you had all this drama to work through. Hope your nose is feeling better now. *HUGS*

I like your Thankful list, and good luck with the Adventure list! I don't have any special meals planned for next week; I'll take it as it comes, meaning I'll cook whatever I feel like at the time, or if hubby or the boys ask for something specific and it is in the fridge/freezer.

Thanks Rho, that does put things more in perspective. I do so know what you mean about carrying that heavy bag of pet food around! Done that, as well as carrying some new weight plates (2x 10kg and 2x 5kg respectively) I bought for Brandt these last two, three weeks, from the shop to the car, or lift out of the trolley (shopping cart - the car guard couldn't lift the 10kg weigh plates), and car to house.

Thanks guys. Yes, I did a lot, but no proper exercise. A lot of movement and functional fitness activities, but no proper exercise as in my exercise routine. And the same again over the weekend, and so far this week. I did a lot of cleaning over the weekend (outside and storage room - I was very frustrated with how things have just been stacked around and thrown in by Brandt and Eric), and I did A LOT of cleaning yesterday and this morning in the house. Especially scrubbed the shower floor just now while the boys were doing math. My arms are actually tired, and abs still feel like I worked them from yesterday, although I can't really say what movement it was that worked them so well. So again, functional fitness, but no actual exercise programme followed. We are getting a lot of rain; humidity is sky high, and mozzies are breeding as if it is the end of the world, and they have to go out on a high note. I've been burning mozzie spiral deterrents, using insect repellent-liquid-electrical-plug-things... last night I would have said they were winning this battle. This morning things are more on our side. They own the night, we win the day. The battle is real! But all these deterrent smoke and sprays in the air is giving me serious sinus problems, so I sound like I'm very sick, although I know it is basically from the poisons in the air. Tomorrow is a public holiday, and I tend to keep it as a day thanking and praising God for keeping His hand over our forebears in the battle of Blood River. The Boer/Voortrekkers/Afrikaners made an oath that they, and their descendants, would keep the day as a special day for Him, because he saved the 250-300 of them against thousands of Impi's who stormed them. Otherwise nothing new. Hope you have a good week.

Sorry, I did nothing so far this week. I feel like I've been stuck in front of the computer for the longest of times. The boys' registration for next year has finally been paid. She helped me with different math options for the year after next, because we had an incident yesterday which made Adam cry, and made us realise that dyslexia definitely has an influence on his way of learning and understanding math, not just reading. Rocco had his last fencing lessons and competition today. I had to help ref (counting points and hits), and really felt like I was thrown in the deep end, but the kids and adult fencers were very nice and accommodating my inexperience. The coach also bought me a little gift (scented candle and chocolate) to thank me for all my help this year, which I didn't expect at all. As much as I enjoyed being a part of it, I'm exhausted and glad it's end of the year. A lady at B's one office tested positive with Covid, BUT she actually went on holiday a day before she started feeling sick, and only phoned Tuesday this week to let the office know that she tested positive. She's basically been off for two weeks anyway, and had no contact with anyone there, so the doctors said the offices should only close till tomorrow and everyone can go back on Monday. On the Covid note: we hear and read that there is a HUGE upsurge in the country, and they are naming hospitals and areas where things are hectic, our town included, BUT here, we actually don't experience it! The hospitals aren't busy, there aren't long queues, there isn't any sign of this "surge in numbers" that the media and government is talking about. Well not in our town. So I'm wondering about the validity of the news. That's about it. B's marshaling at a Ferrari race this Saturday. I think it's the last one for the year. Now I'm going to have a BIG mug of coffee! XXX