WEEKEND WITHOUT OIL

This past weekend was WEEKEND WITHOUT OIL. It was a great thing that was put together and get people to be a part of. You didn't even have to spend/donate money, and you got to stay home [no worries about being somewhere on time and having to rush to get ready]. Did anyone take part in this? We did in my house. It was quite fantastic, to be honest.

On Saturday, we cleaned a few things around the house in the morning because the house was a little messy from the night before. I did a load of laundry, too, because the hamper was almost full. Then Mark got the boys' pool set up and filled with water. We didn't let the boys go in it right away because I wanted the water to warm up some before they got in it. So after the pool was filled with water, we got the boys ready in their swim wear, put them in strollers, and walked to Dollar General to get a few items. It took us about 10-15 minutes to get there, and we were walking in the blistering sun. By the time we had gotten there, Mark and I were sweating kind of badly. But you know what? I am a person that does not mind sweating, which is a great thing because I sweat a lot. After we left Dollar General and got back home, we let the boys out the strollers and they ran to the backyard and got right in their pool. They were so excited! I stayed out back with the boys at first because Mark wanted to get some stuff out of the house and garage - towels, chairs, a book, etc. The boys thought it was hilarious to start splashing me with water. I eventually got so drenched that I just got right in the pool with them and sat down. It felt nice! The boys and I had splashing fights in the pool, and they thought it was the greatest thing that mommy was right there splashing along with them. After a little while, I got out of the pool and sat in a chair next to Mark while he read a book. Eventually, I talked Mark into some yard work because of yard was looking a bit more than insanely ridiculous. We didn't use the lawn mower or any gas-powered equipment to do the yard work we finished since it was Weekend Without Oil. I enjoyed doing some yard work, even if it was really hot. [At our last house, I did 95% of the yard work simply because I enjoy doing it.] After we were done doing yard work for the day and the boys were done in the pool, we came inside and watched the Pan Pacific Championships on NBC. [If you know me, you know that I love swimming and have even met some of the swimmers on the US team!] I made dinner, we ate, and then we all just sat around for the rest of the evening. It was a great Saturday here.

Sunday was a great day, too! As soon as we woke up, we got ready for the day, then walked to Dollar General for a few items. On our way back home, we stopped at the gas station right around the corner and got a gallon of milk. [Have I mentioned how much milk Mark and the boys do not go through now?! It's so nice that we have cut the milk consumption in this house by more than half of what it used to be about two months ago!!] When we got home, "Phineas and Ferb" was on Disney, so we decided to rewind it back to 9:00 AM when the first episode was on so that the boys could enjoy their hour of the show. While the boys watched the show, I put a load of laundry in the wash and folded the load that I put in the dryer the night before. Then Mark and I went into the sun room [or Florida room as some people call it], and we went through the stuff out there. There was stuff in there that we knew we could get rid of, and that's what we did - we got rid of the stuff we have no use for anymore. We got rid of quite a few things, and we were able to compact stuff into few boxes. Also, we packed some more of the boys' toys and got rid of some others. I am happy that we went through more stuff and got rid of things we do not use. When we were done with that, I made lunch. After some time of playing, cleaning, and the boys taking a nap, I went into their room and went through the clothes in their dresser and closet. I took all of the cooler weather clothes that will be of no use here and old clothes out of their room, and then Mark and I went through everything piece of clothing. We made piles as to what would stay and what would go. [I've got some boy clothes size 6 months to 24 months/2T that we're getting rid of, if you're interested. All in great condition still and mostly Old Navy and Children's Place stuff.] After the piles were made, I started folding all of the stuff we're keeping and putting them into piles base on size, sleeve length, pants, shorts, etc. Once I was done with that, I packed it all into a suitcase bound for Florida next month. I then watched the Pan Pacific Championships on NBC because I can't get enough of swimming in my life! [I follow the sport year-round and I even know what's going on in other countries. Seriously, that sport just sucked me into a hole and I don't ever want to come out!] A little bit later, I had a headache coming on that not even medications could control, so I had to take a nap. After my nap, it was time for dinner. I didn't make Mark and the boys dinner because they were eating meat, so that was Mark's job to make them dinner. I had some spaghetti for dinner. I love spaghetti! Once we all finished eating dinner, we watched some of the Little League World Series, then Mark turned on a show on Animal Planet about Africa's Great Rift Valley and we watched that till we all went to bed. [The boys LOVED seeing the fish. All Brayden could do was yell, "NEMO! NEMO!" the whole time the fish were on the TV. When it cut to a commercial break, he grabbed a remote and tried to rewind it so he could see the fish again, but he grabbed the wrong remote. HA.]

Weekend Without Oil was great in our house! It made me realize a few things that I wouldn't have realized otherwise. Plus, it was great because we didn't drive around in our car and pollute the air even more than it already is. Instead, we got some exercise together as a family and had fun, all for a great cause! Because of this past weekend and how successful it was, I think we may do a weekend without oil at least once every month. Anything to help the environment.