Summer exercise (or "How a farmer’s wife gauges her weight")

The beautiful weather has arrived, and with it the busyness it brings to our farm.  And suddenly, this farmer’s wife has remembered why she doesn’t normally need an exercise program.

As I carried large rocks from my old herb garden site to put around the newly planted fruit trees, I noticed the newly-fixed wheelbarrow.  I could use it to move the rocks to and fro, I thought, but no, this way I’m building even more arm muscles than I’ve already obtained carting around my growing girls.

Each time I bent to the laundry basket to hang out laundry loads one through seven this week, I was working on building those abs of steel.  And every box I lifted during my frenzied spring cleaning burned at least a few chocolate chips’ worth of calories, I’m sure.

As I changed into work clothes to prune some trees and weed my “ditch” flower bed, I grabbed my old work Levi’s on a whim.  Not only did they go on, but they zipped up!  An occasion which has not happened since before my last pregnancy.

And that is how a farmer’s wife knows she’s doing enough weeding and housework to make up for the hot chocolate and graham crackers she shares with her hubby when he gets in late at night: when her jeans fit.

Not that I won’t keep plopping to the floor in five spare minutes to work those tummy muscles a little extra hard with a few push-ups.  But I’m having a hard enough time at the moment finding the spare moments to exercise the wrist that hurts all the time. 

Not that I am doing anything but drinking gallons of ice water and ice tea on these warm days.  But I can’t resist the coffee my hubby prepares each morning, and I relish those extra moments over something warm at night (though usually it’s hot tea instead of hot chocolate like it was last night, I promise). 

Not that I do anything but cook with healthy, natural vegetables all summer long.  But they’re often followed by a bit of dark chocolate.  Or accompanied by a bit of pink lemonade.

Because my jeans and my husband’s eyes are my trusty “scale”.  And according to them, I’ve made some progress since Losing It began. And I know it will keep on going, because summertime’s here, and with it all sorts of the natural exercise that is in the life of every farmer’s wife.

So in the spirit of down-home exercise and eating, may I present that to-die-for hot chocolate recipe (which is also delicious chilled)?

Homemade Hot Cocoa
(my own variation upon Hershey’s and Betty Crocker recipes)

Boil 2 minutes:
1/3 c. water
2 to 4 T. sugar (I like it bittersweet, so add sugar to taste)
1/4 c. baking cocoa or 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

Add & stir ’til heated:
4 c. milk (you can use 1 c. water and 3 c. milk, but it’s not quite so rich)

Finish with optional toppings & flavorings:
dash salt or cinnamon
1/2 t. vanilla
spoonful marshmallows
dollop whipped cream

Here’s to a summer full of natural exercise and jeans that still fit when winter comes!