Adventures with the Ahrens's : The blog in which it's the day after and Duck for a Buck.

So, you all know how yesterday's workout out went. If not, let me tell you about it. I was frustrated, didn't accomplish it, and failed. Every muscle in my body hurts today. All night, I felt every movement- including breathing. I have some Epsom salt with lavender, and might end up in it this afternoon if I can make it into a bath tub without assistance. Moving on.

Charlie earned enough points doing his Accelerated Reading program to be "Coach for Half a Day." That is a huge accomplishment. A.R. reading and testing is not mandatory, however, it is strongly advised and while there are general guide lines for reading three books a week, he reads ten. (Yes, if we are going to do anything, we are going to do it all the way.) I come in one day a week and help the class do the testing, and I really enjoy my time getting to know his classmates. Today was the day he signed up to go and do the "Coach for Half a Day." He was really excited about it. More than I realized, seeing as he woke up at 5:30 AM! He turned the lights on, and Shay was yelling at him to turn them off, and he wouldn't. That woke me up. That is never good. The morning was rough, since I had to get out of bed. (If I tell you that it hurts to breathe, you have to know that I am not even kidding about this. I had no idea so many muscles were used to breathe. How come my muscles are not more developed since I have breathing for years????) So, movement, of any kind, is excruciatingly painful. His answer to his waking everyone up with the lights is that it was his day to be "Coach for Half a Day." At this point, I am cursing the A.R. program, the award system, and that class I tried yesterday.

I make it downstairs, and eat my oatmeal, but don't have enough time to start drinking my tea. (I make a pot of tea with one tea bag o decaf plain tea, and one tea bag of a green tea, and drink all 90 oz. throughout the day.) I mix in one packet of a generic "Emergen-c" type of vitamin C packet in the morning cup, and then take some green tea pills and apple cider vinegar pills. I think it is helping me stay healthy, and I really want to make some changes in my life. I succeeded that yesterday. I changed my comfort level. I am not comfortable. Mission accomplished. So, I realize the time, and Friday's I go and sell rubber ducks for the PTA at our school, before my time in Chaz's class with the A.R. testing. I must have put my vitamin C packet into the mug to remind me to take it with my cup of tea when I got home today.

It was a rough morning. Yeah. That's my 1000 mg. of vitamin C. Not so effective this way.

I earned my title this morning.

The migits are entering school and "Duck for a Buck" lasts until school begins. We are there for about 45 minutes. Katie, the main chick for this committee, and I, have a great time. However, our amazing sales have dropped significantly in the past month or so. Often, I would see children come with more money to spend, but walk away with most of their money. Our selection is still quite varied, so I was not sure if maybe this duck thing has just fizzled, or if we are falling down on our enthusiasm. Katie found our answer. It was us. We failed them.

Katie got this genius idea to sell a "duck of the day." It was actually about 20 or more "Duck of the Day's," but every time we wanted to move either the last duck from a variety, or one from a variety that isn't selling at all, she would name it the "Duck of the Day," and if you bought it, you would get a song from us with your name in it. The kids started gathering around, and that was where it all began. Katie even suggested I do tricks, after she heard my singing. I am not sure if this lies within the fair labor act or not, but if I am challenged to do something, by golly, you can bet your pretty panties that I will follow through. It wasn't until I was mid-air in the toe touch that my body decided to have a conversation with me.

This is really the types of ducks we sell.

Me- I'm doing a toe touch for this child who just spent a buck!
Body-Um, no you aren't.
Me-Yes, yes I am! SEE?
Body-Hey genius- you can't do that anymore! And remember what you did to us yesterday?
Me- (feeling like I just took knife to every bit of connective tissue in my body) Um... yeah, about that. Where were you three seconds ago to tell Katie that if she thinks "we" should do tricks, she needs to step up her game?

So, the only trick I was able to perform after those shenanigans was wiping my own tears. Oh holy hell that hurt.

The songs were fun, but I don't know where Katie learned to sing the "Name Game" song, but she's doing it wrong. We will have a PTA meeting (just the two of us) to work on our incentive package for purchasing a piece of plastic. I must go now. I need to save my finger muscles for if I have to call 911 for help. They are the only muscles in my body that work right now.