tired

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Let me just start by saying that the fact that it’s Sunday night and I’m about to start a full work week scares me just a little. Because really, my body is telling me that it should be Friday. How tired am I? I’m so tired that the best title I could come up for, for this post was “tired.” So sad.

I mean, not only do I feel like I’ve been hit by a Freightliner (just to be different), I feel like I’ve been thrown to the side of the road and then rolled off a cliff. Okay, maybe not the cliff part, but definitely the side of the road part. Perhaps more proof that my body just doesn’t operate like it used to.

I think it all started Saturday morning when I, perhaps foolishly, decided that this was the morning that I was going to overcome recent aches and pains and give it my all in my Zumba class. It definitely felt good during the class, partly because I felt as though I was conquering mind over matter, but by the end I was already kind of starting to feel like I could have been mistaken for a puddle of rain water on the floor. But there was no time to waste because we had limited family time ahead of us. Showers, naps, snacks, a load of laundry in, 10 rounds of clean up and we were headed out of the garage. First stop: lunch. Second stop: Best Buy to research new camera options.

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culture shock

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When you’ve spent most of your career working for public relations agencies in Washington, D.C. – or really – doing anything in Washington, D.C., there’s bound to be a certain amount of culture shock when you start a job not only at a zoo, but a zoo in Portland.

Six months in, there are still so many days when something happens and I think, “Wow, am I really at work right now?” Like today when I’m at my desk and we start hearing a loud quacking-like sound. And your first thought is, “Is that a…a…duck?” Why yes, it is. Just a duck in the office. That’s normal, right? Or, the line of six-year-olds who stroll through with their camp counselors. That’s normal, right? Or, the teens having a meeting in the conference room across from my area who are giggling like, well, a bunch of teenagers. That’s normal, right?

Then there are the times like yesterday when you have on your Outlook calendar something like: Zoomer training, 11am – 12pm; please bring your driver’s license. What is a Zoomer, you ask?

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memory…lost in the corners of my mind

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A few weeks ago I realized that Ian’s Sunday afternoon swim class would be starting again soon. I couldn’t remember the exact date, except that I was positive it was sometime in the second half of July. Mental note to self: Look up swim class start date.

A couple of weeks ago I remembered that Ian’s Sunday afternoon swim class would be starting again soon. I also remembered that I had forgotten to look up the specific start date, except that I was positive it was sometime in the second half of July.

Last Sunday I thought again about how Ian’s Sunday afternoon swim class would be starting soon. And, I thought about how I really needed to look up the specific start date, though I was positive it was either this coming Sunday, July 17, or the following Sunday, July 24. Either way, I’m no fool and knew it was definitely time to move this little task up on the priority list, even if it did mean having to open the cabinet in my desk at home to pull out the piece of paper that would give me the answer I needed.

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celebrating the fourth

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I thought I’d post some more selections from our Fourth of July weekend around the Mount Hood and Hood River area. We do love that we can do a weekend getaway – that really feels like a getaway – about an hour from home. Makes the drive quite nice!

(And yes, the lavender fields smell as good as they look.)

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tick tock

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This morning I was actually sweating when I got in the car to pull out of the garage. A little morning workout before heading to the office, you ask? Nah. I mean, who needs Richard Simmons when you have Elena? Every morning feels like a race against the clock (and my toddler) to get out the door – and let’s just say I’m rarely the winner. This morning was certainly no exception.

It all begins innocently enough – a shower, a cup of coffee, throw some bread in the toaster for Elena and Ian (who is already downstairs and looking at me longingly for some food), grab some cereal, pour two cups of milk, start to get together the things for my lunch. You know, same gig, different day. Once I’ve got things well underway, it’s time to wake up the littlest Burpo. I opened the door, set to pick out the clothes for the day, and find her sitting there quietly in her crib with an unpleasant smell permeating through the room. Oh jeez. As soon as she saw me, she immediately started pointing down with an innocent “Uh oh. Uh oh. Uh oh!” I won’t go into gory details, but any parent knows what I’m talking about and “uh oh” isn’t what I felt like saying as I’m looking at the clock. Tick tock, tick tock. Luckily Jeff, who was about to head out to drop Ian off at school and then take off for a few days on business, was still downstairs. I certainly didn’t want him to miss out on the clean-up fun so I kindly requested he come up. He worked on the wall – exclaiming something about Elena needing to eat fewer berries -while I got her changed, both of us washed up and downstairs to corral her in the chair for breakfast. Tick tock, tick tock. Meanwhile, I headed back up to get things soaking in the laundry sink.

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