One hell of a day

For starters, we rescued two baby ducks today.  A friend of a friend was not adequately caring for her two pet ducklings that she was given as a gift. They were kept in a dog crate in the backyard which was periodically flooded with a garden hose and so they were always wading in a cesspool of duck poo.  They seemed grateful to have a clean, dry place to lay down after we rescued them. They're now living with our chickens and I've got to keep an eye on them to be sure that they're blending together nicely. At first introduction, the chickens puffed up and chased them away from the food.  Not a good sign.

I was delighted to start my day with a nice yoga session with my friend Kate while our kids jumped and hollered all around us. Not a relaxing atmosphere, but we got the stretch in, which was my whole purpose.  Then directly afterwards I lugged around a 50 lb bag of chick/duck food and a giant bale of straw.  And then tried to pull the kids' playhouse uphill. So of course I pulled my lower back out. I'm on a heating pad as I type.

I also had my first day as a working parent at J.'s preschool.  It's not easy to keep on top of things with back spasms.  J. did great at preschool but I'm a bit uncomfortable to see her in yet another situation where she sits nicely and follows the directions and gets overlooked, where the kids who shout out loudly and jump up are rewarded with positive attention and get picked instead. My first reaction is that I want to switch her to an environment where she wouldn't get pushed around and her good behavior would be rewarded. But on the other hand, this scenario is a bit more realistic, right?  A life lesson in the making.

Best Moment of the Day: reading books to two fresh and clean little pajama girls before bed

Worst Moment of the Day: getting two pieces of bad news regarding work stuff at the same time. One through a phone call while at the same time reading the other on email.  

Thoughts of the Day:

Tomorrow is the last day of work stress that I anticipate in a while.  Today I did my working parent obligation for the month.  We skipped two evening meetings tonight bc I needed Jeremiah's help to care for the tired girls while I slowly did stuff with a hurt back.  The straw that broke the camel's back? I might be laying on it.