Sunday, December 09, 2007

Who said you needed sport to stay fit?

This weekend, Orange-X drove to Holland to see his daughter before Christmas and that left me alone at home and busy as a bee. Of course, I could have gone with him, but since we only have the weekends to really prepare for Ma and Pa's visit over Christmas, I decided to stay here and take care of a few things. Plus, the older he gets, the more it stresses Dale when we both leave.

On Saturday, O-X woke me up at 6:20 am so that I could at least enjoy a coffee and a short chat (as far as my brain works at that time of day!) with him before he left for a 6 hour drive. I was thinking of going back top bed, but decided otherwise. I went through a few blogs, had 2 more coffees and by 9 am, I was already washing our drapes and looking through our Christmas decorations. While the one set of drapes was in the machine, and armed with a bucket of vinegar water, a cloth and the wiper, I started cleaning the windows and the sills (heck, why didn't I do the walls, while I was at it!). In between washes, I vaccumed and hung up a few Christmas decorations and cleaned some more. My Mom gave me a call while I was doing the dining room windows. While my whole upper body was hanging out the window to clean the outside with the cloth in one hand and my Mom (the phone) in the other, people walking along the woods nearby stared at me, shaking their heads, probably thinking I was insane. I wish someone had taken pictures. It must have been a funny sight.

This past week, we've had quite a few stormy days and regular rain showers, so that whatever leaves were still left in the bushes left and right from our (15 m2) backyard, they were all scattered in our backyard. As a matter of fact, quite a few had found their way to the stairs that we use daily, leading to the courtyard and were dangerously wet and slippery. So today, I spent a good part of the afternoon in the garden picking up about 150 litres of wet(!) leaves that I carried out to the green recycling bin. To relieve my aching muscles from the unusual body movements (don't tell me you hang out the window once a week to clean, do you?), I decided to throw in a few washes.

I think I've done my share of exercise for the weekend and am now enjoying a nice glass of prosecco while listening to Christmas music. Uhm! What were weekends meant for again? Please, someone remind me?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Weekends are for enjoying the fresh air, remembering how lucky you are for having such a cool place, and enjoying your music and drinks on your own terms! (Be thankful you weren't in an all day class!)

Sometimes weekends alone are great. I need to clean more than I did.

Haddock said...

Gardening and household chores are always a good way to stay fit. But weekends should really be for having fun and relaxing! :)

The Big Finn said...

I think a busy, and physically demanding, weekend like that just makes you appreciate all the more the ones where you sit around like a slug doing nothing at all.

Shammickite said...

The wine and the music are a fitting reward for all that house cleaning activity. Me? Well, I've done no housework at all, and haven't made any preparations for Chhristmas apart from making a Christmas Cake... a priority in my house. But I did go to a delightful Christmas Music concert last night and I have posted a pic of a local sleigh ride.... so I'm getting into the Christmas spirit gradually.

CanadianSwiss said...

ET: I DID enjoy the fresh air. Thank goodness I don't knoe the meaning of allergies! ;)

Hadock: Thing is, I did enjoy the "different" exercise (minus the back pain, of course. LOL!)

TBF: Exactly! I shall take you words as truth, my friend! So next weekend I do nothin'... well almost. Call me half a slug (just don't throw me off your balcony, okay?)

Ex-S: Good for you! I'm thinking of baking chocolate chip cookies over the weekend. Now, how do I tell OX that he's got all the cleaning ahead of him next weekend... Maybe I just won't. Heh!

Jay said...

Wow, you just won the productivity award. You put the rest of us to shame.

Ginnie Hart said...

You've just reminded me of all that I need to do back in Atlanta once we get home this weekend, CS. UGH! I guess I needed that! :) And was O-X really in shouting distance this past weekend?! Well, soon it will also be you, and I can hardly wait. 2008 is for us, Babe!

swenglishexpat said...

How do you get the tidying-up and cleaning done? Just invite somebody, leaving you no choice! Good old rule. But you don't always have to be as adventurous as you, flirting with death in public view! ;-)

CanadianSwiss said...

Sorry, for the long wait. Blogger didn't let me post comments this morning!

Jay: Thanks, but I think most times, I should win one for laziness!

Ginnie: Ooops!... Sorry for that. I know your yard is way bigger than ours! And yes, 2008 wil be our year to meet up :)

Swenglish: Hey wait a minute!... That involves cooking, too! (which I don't mind). And WHO will clean up the messy kitchen afterwards?? HMMM?????!

Unknown said...

Once I get going, I really hate to be stopped, when it comes to cleaning. But I do so loathe the whole affair. I work best under pressure and will wait till the last minute to do major cleaning.

Hope you and X have a wonderful visit and a Happy Holiday!!

Isadora said...

Sounds like you struck a perfect balance between work and play :) Considerate of you to keep Dale company. My Ferko and Gigi resented my going away for 2 days as well. Now they are constantly following me and are under foot. So there is a lot of cuddling to make up for my 'sin' of omission.

CanadianSwiss said...

Babz: You and I really seem to be similar characters ;)

Isadora: Thanks for visiting! Yeah, cats are like that. Dale usually gives us the cold shoulder treatment, but only for about 30 seconds. Then it's purrr, purrr and not leaving our side :)

Anonymous said...

Ho..., je t'ai retrouvée grâce a M.P. Mon portable est à l'hôpital et très malade....Mais pas foutu j'espère...
Je reviendrai.
Ritabisous.

CanadianSwiss said...

Bon de te retrouver, Ritadaphné :) J'espère que ton portable se sera rétabli pour les Fêtes!