Quiet Weekend

It was a nice, calm weekend.

We thought about visiting my folks on Saturday, but Matt reminded me that Dad was on a camping trip, and Mom was out (or at least didn't pick up the phone) when I tried to call.

The de-cluttering project of the weekend was to gather up the assorted boxes of stuff for goodwill that were stashed all over the house and take them down to the thrift store. Except when I got there, they told me about a new federal regulation (new as in, just went into effect last week) that prohibits the re-sale of clothing, toys, and assorted other goods intended for the use of children under age 13. (More precisely, these things can't be resold unless they're first tested for lead buildup, and as 99.9% of secondhand stores aren't equipped/can't afford to do this testing, they're just rejecting the items.) Which seems completely and utterly ridiculous to me -- how many people actually rely on secondhand stores to clothe their kids? And the economy like it is, and now these people are going to be forced to go retail? Absurd. I had four boxes of kids' clothes in my car, most of which was in really good condition (some of the baby clothes were brand new or only worn once, even). Plus a boppy gym, a baby bath tub, and a brand new toy stroller.

It's enough to make me weep. Guess I'll be getting back on the Freecycle list; there's nothing in the law that prohibits giving stuff away. In the meantime, I stashed all the boxes and junk in our storage unit just so they weren't still cluttering up the house.

We went out for Mexican Saturday evening, and that worked out really well -- Alex was happy to sit in the high chair and eat french fries, and Penny actually ate her chicken nuggets before starting in on the fries, and my fajitas were awesome, even if I had no idea how to add it up for the diet.

Sunday we slugged around the house and ran a few errands. Matt spent half the day trying to convince the TiVO that it really did want to play nicely with his iTunes-purchased music. I took Penny to Target with me to pick up some pajamas for Alex, and while we were there I just happened to swing by the electronics department, and lo and behold! they had Wii Fits in stock. So I snapped one up, and a console.

After that, I ran over to the other side of town and finally bought a new pair of black shoes -- my old ones were so stretched out they were practically falling off my feet with every step and giving me cramps in my arches if I had to walk any distance in them.

And about the time we got home, it started... snowing. Even though it was 45 outside. Great big fat flakes, in a thick flurry. Penny and Ray put on their coats and ran around in it, crazy with joy, even though it wasn't sticking anywhere. I brought Alex outside for a few minutes, too, even though he didn't want to be put down. The snow shower only lasted for about an hour, but it was fun.

After we got the kids into bed, Matt hooked up the Wii for me, and I spent about half an hour trying out the various exercises and "games" on the Fit. I'm still trying to figure out how it'll fit into my schedule, but my goal is to try to get 20-30 minutes of Wii play in every day that I don't make it to the gym. It's nowhere near as intense a workout, but it's a "something is better than nothing" strategy, and I have some vague idea that I might eventually coax Penny onto it.

So, all in all, an especially satisfying and relaxed weekend. Now, let's hope for a similarly calm week.