Row, row, row your boat

If all it took to make it rain almost continually in this desert was my buying a family membership to the neighborhood pool, I suppose it's a good deal. If we'd done it years ago we'd be living in a...wet desert.
The kids tried swimming today. I got a phone call. "M-m-mom? C-c-can you pick us u-up? We're f-freezing!" I drove the three blocks and got them. Child Five was elated because He got to spend some of his pennies at the snack bar.
So much rain (or "moisture" as the natives call it) for such a dry place. The new lilac bush, which was a Mother's Day present from my sister, loves it.
I think the weather has encouraged a cold in Child Six, however. He's wheezing with congestion, his nose is stopped up or running, and I think he has a slight fever. His meter is also set on "hold me constantly." Poor kid. I have to keep handing him to one of his sisters to get anything done and he's not amused. They do their best, but they're back in 30 seconds, shoving him into me while he cries and tries to get into my arms. "Here, Mom. He wants you."
Child Six is also beginning to walk now. He's taking up to 10 or so steps at a time now. He also says, "Daddy," "baby," "tree," and "kitty." Does he say "Mommy"? He does not. That's gratitude.
Husband put in a bid on eBay and won a rowing machine. Since the seller lives in Utah he figured no one else would bid because of the horrific shipping charges, and he was right. Today he took the back two seats out of the van and drove the 50 miles or so to pick it up. I envy him the time in the car, quietly thinking a thought or even listening to the radio with his full attention. (I sometimes try to listen to talk radio. It's mostly a futile effort. Kids in the car = constant questions, comments, complaints, etc. It's not conducive to quiet contemplation of current issues. Maybe that's good. Current issues are mostly stress-inducing anyway. Thanks, kids.) The thought is that he and I will use said rowing machine for exercise and weight reduction. It could happen.
Husband thought a rowing machine in particular would be nice because I was, long ago in a different century, a crew rower. Yes, I, lean and fit, arrived at the boat house at 5:30am each day in the summer months and enjoyed the quiet beauty of nature on a smooth-as-glass harbor, the sun rising in the east and causing the water to shine liquid orange, the gulls and other birds crying welcome to a new day. Nothing marred that bucolic scene except the jarring sound of "Stroke! Stroke! Six, [that would be me], get your eyes in the boat!" and the sweat dripping into my eyes. Sometimes I viewed that glorious scene from the coxswain's seat on a men's boat and I was the one happily yelling, "Stroke, stroke! C'mon, only one more mile!" but inside I was really crying. The coxswain's seat was not meant for human behinds, even in my slim days. I would arrive back at the dock with such a case of butt-cramp.
That being said, rowing machines are a good way to exercise the whole body at once. I'm excited to try it. When I wean Child Six in September I am, once again, going to lose the baby fat. It will be hard. It will take long. The incentive is that I gave away my "skinny" wardrobe, so if I lose the weight I get to buy a whole new set of clothes.
Oldest Child wanted to spruce up her new room (she got her own room for her birthday as there was a vacancy. My brother moved out to a different city), so today she bought some craft paint and plans to paint big flowers on all her walls. She finished one wall today and will continue tomorrow. It looks pretty cool.
We also took a trip to the library today for some much-needed reading material. I signed up the kids for the summer reading program, but with my normal memory problems, they will be lucky if I remember to mark off, sign and bring back their papers for monthly prizes, much less make sure they read every day. At night we have been reading A Little Princess, which the girls really like. Child Five is less than impressed, however. His tastes run more toward Thomas the Tank Engine and Curious George, so I make sure he gets some of his favorites read to him.