pushing

I pushed myself too much yesterday. Luc woke up in the middle of the night because his diaper exploded (yuck!) and the bed had a big wet spot on it. This was around 4am. I tried for an hour to fall back to sleep, but it never happened. I got up, waited for it to be daylight, and then started to work in the garden. For 2 and half hours! I cleared out all the plants you see growing on the wall in front of the house and under the stairs here. Then, I weeded out the flower beds along the driveway.

Alex has almost finished painting the top trim of the house and the wall where I cleared out the plants. He's also attacking the walls on each side of the driveway. This house will look brand new!

The day before yesterday, we arranged with my neighbor for her to come help me with some hard-to-reach cleaning around the house. She is a saint! Really, her name is Reine, which in French means "queen". She's one of those rare people that doesn't mind cleaning and was more than happy to help me out since she herself didn't have cleaning help when she was 9 months pregnant. Reine has a son my age and a daughter in middle school, and she can really keep up a pace when it comes to scrubbing. She arrived and immediately attacked the bathtub; something I've been putting off for a while now. While it wasn't totally gross, there was still a stubborn ring around it. Her secret? Laundry detergent (powder). Next she moved to the kitchen and washed all the windows. Wow! We can see out of them again! She shared her secret for them too; prewash with vinegar and warm water, then use your window cleaning product. Meanwhile, I used the vaccum all around, washed a few bedroom windows, and occasionally stopped to make sure Luc was OK. It's amazing how much more cleaning can get done between two people. I was motivated by her incredible energy. She kept telling me, "it's OK, sit down, you need to guard your "force" for the labor you'll be in soon!" She stayed for 3 and a half hours and finished up by washing all the floors; again, vinegar was her secret ingredient.
I could hardly keep my eyes open at this point and my back felt completely broken. I knew it was too late for me, that I would spend the rest of the day regretting all the work I did. I took a 2 hour nap when Luc did, but still spent the evening with a significant amount of back pain. It is not until today that I can look around the house and enjoy how much cleaner it feels. I vow to do nothing today. It is hard to find that balance where I feel as though I'm being really productive, but not pushing myself too much. Yesterday I was at one extreme, and today I will recouperate.