I'm Not Dead, Yet

Again, I'm way over due to get a post here.  I do have a good excuse fro March, however I have nothing for you for February.  Apologies, only, I guess.

March found us welcoming The Girl home from her mission.  It was a great day that turned into a great weekend as we whisked her away to St. George to see The Boy, who had midterms so he couldn't come north for the airport arrival of his sister.  We spent the weekend together as a family, just playing games and relaxing in the little bit of sunshine that we could find.

The follow Monday we headed home where Genius Golfer and I had to head back to work.  While The Boy got some roadtripping in for his spring break before finding his way home on Thursday. The rest of hte extended family began rolling in that evening. We enjoyed a great with my parents,my aunt, uncle, cousins and bonus cousins and my aunt and uncle from Idaho.  Friends and other local family came over Sunday to hear The Girl speak in our sacrament meeting.  She rocked her talk!  I was impressed--and I am pretty impressed with her anyway.

As the Sunday afternoon gathering began to disperse, The Boy went back to the southlands for school and a bunch of us took a quick nap.  The next morning my parents packed up and headed home.  I headed back to work, GG had work things to take care of and The Girl was left home alone.  She quickly made housework her own and set out to find a job for the summer.  She got a LOT done around here for me while she was looking for work.  I kind of missed all that she can get done while I'm at work.

Thursday that week I came down suddenly with the worst kind of cold/flu I have had for years and years!  I felt like a truck had hit me and then back up to run me over again and again.  YUCK!!  Even now, I am still struggling with a cough that won't let go and a raspy voice because of it.  I had some kind of viral bronchitis plus a sinus infection for good measure.  A week of antibiotics, lots of rest, cold meds, cough syrup and a humidifier did the best they could, and I made it back to work in almost a week.  Yikes!! I do NOT recommend it for anyone!

Another One Bites the Dust--Week, That Is

It's Friday again.  Finally.  I never realized how true that song by Loverboy in the early 80s really was: Everybody's Working For the Weekend!  I feel like I am all week long.

Last night The girl finished her Temple Prep class.  That is one more thing off the "to do list".  Sunday she'll have her interview with our new bishop and then our stake president and get her recommend--ready for Wednesday.

But first we have some other things to check off her list and that will take much of Saturday this week.  The men of the house are headed south to St George again fro another tournament for The Boy.  At some point this week he hit a 2-over-par round.  I think that might be his best yet.  I just hope he is having fun while also improving his game.  If not, he is a bear to live with until his play improves.

The schools are winding down to graduation on the 31st for us.  My sister's district is done this week with my nephew's graduation on Monday.  I'm not sure what time his graduation is, but since he didn't do announcements I guess am fine since I already sent his gift.

My boss talked to me yesterday and asked what I was making hourly right now.  I told him "$10".  He told me that he was giving me a raise and that he'd make it retroactive to May 1st--since yesterday was the end of the pay period--so the increase will be in my check on the 20th.  That is very nice.  I don't know how much it will be yet.  But every little bit helps.  And I do like what I'm doing--most days.  I feel very blessed to find a job so close to home and with people I like.

But on the other hand, I am looking forward more and more to our Alaska trip in June.  My brain needs the break as much as my body.

Happy Friday, friends.

Gotta Run

Nothing much to post today--but The boy has is wisdom teeth consultation this afternoon, it's Office Manager's last day at work, I'm training a new afternoon office girl (again), I have an appointment to give blood after the oral surgeon's appointment.  And I think I may have gotten my lower back issue solved, after a week of near-tears afternoons and evenings.

Oh, and I received the nicest "MVP" award from our high school's PTA yesterday.  I will blog about that soon.  It's been a week and its only Thursday.

Blogging Fail

I have aspirations to write every day.  But real life doesn't always factor in time to do that.  So I apologize.

This past week I had 40+ hours at work--even with only working a half day on Monday so I could attend the PTA meeting at the high school.  I closed every day this week, usually by myself.

A mammogram started out the possibly worst day at work I have had since I started--though calling Genius Golfer for an emergency mango smoothie helped a great deal.  I had a digitalized file misalign itself spontaneously on 20 embroidered shirts before I saw what had happened, as I was worrying about the name, thread color and getting the right name on the appropriate sized scrub top for those 20.

The Boy finished his ACT prep class that I paid for him to attend, and took the ACT yesterday.  But when I asked him if the class helped, he told me "no and that he still thinks he probably didn't do really well, and that the whole thing sucked".

The Girl called one night this week and talked to me for an hour and a half trying to understand the Affordable Care Act, the situation in Syria, and details of the government shutdown. She has a final in her block class for Honors Scholarships and Grants and their two-part final is a "mocktail party" with professors and other adult mentors wherein she must "cruise and schmooze" and then, the next day, she has an interview by a panel of these same mentors and professors who are free to ask her about her academic goals, her past experience, her course work and current events.  She needed clarification on some things, but talking about these things just made me more irritated at the world.

GG had an "interview" with a group that is creating a database, mobile app and website for weights & measures technicians for the state...one of the partners is in our neighborhood, but they were really having the other partner meet GG to see if he'd be a good "plan B".

I did get to see a movie with my Dear Friend Amy yesterday.  We saw GRAVITY on the IMAX-3D screen.  I'm not generally a 3D fan, but this was really well done....and incredibly intense.  I caught myself holding my breath throughout the movie.

I know it isn't a great excuse.  But there are days when blogging about my stinky life, isn't worth revisiting the stink itself to write about.  Does that make sense?  I'll keep trying, and hope this week is better than last.

Too Much Time On My Hands....

I've been without a calling at church now for a week...and I think the lack of scheduling is wreaking havoc on my ability to manage my time.  When I was really busy, I didn't have time to be flaky.  Now, I have more than enough tie to do things and I am sadly not getting everything done as it should be.

For example, to day I had a morning meeting with the administration at the high school.  This is a standing meeting and it is each week at the same time.  I got there fine and afterwards ran home to start/change laundry before I needed to be back to the high school for the next thing I had to do at 10:45.  I did the laundry bit, but then got way-laid and was just barely to the next thing at the high school.  That is not like me.  I am usually early and ready when it is time to start, especially if I am in charge of something.  This time I ran in like I had all the time in the world....except it wasn't my time.

I think I got more done when I had my life scheduled more tightly.  I didn't have time to sit at the computer and wile away the hours.  If I had extra tie I was very conscientious about reading good books and trying to use my time as wisely as I could.

Apparently too much time is a curse, rather than a blessing.  I just hope they put me to work soon.  But it really makes me worried about when my PTA life ends.  I'd better find myself a hobby.  Or a job.

Oh--That Clears It Up

In case anyone wasn't clear what I do every day.  Here is the definition:

Today is Reality Town for the 8th graders at our Junior High.  So that is where I'll be all day.  But it is a terrific program, and my favorite day to help out at the school.  But I'm a little tired just thinking about it.

Deep Breath

I feel like I have been running at marathon pace all week.  While the week isn't quite over yet, today gave me a moment's pause and I could take a big deep breath.

At what point do I determine that I have run without getting weary and have walked without fainting?  Is there a sign when you get to the point just beyond this?  I think I may have just reached that point just beyond.  That can't be good.

I remember the first two months or so of the school year are the worst as far as a PTA time drain.  I can feel that.  But I still wouldn't give up getting to work with my school(s).  I love feeling a part of what is going on, and feeling like what I do can make a difference to the students there.  To my students, there.

But I am looking forward to sleeping in.  Someday.

Calendaring

Before we begin, The Girl is doing fine...no lasting horror from the morning back-out.  But her head is congested and her nose is runny still.  Must be January and mid-winter colds just seem to hang on and on.  We're hoping she gets feeling back to normal before she swims in the Region HS Swim finals this weekend.

Last week, I felt I was eyeball deep in "things-to-do" with more meetings than I had evenings for, and family things that needed attention.  I think that emotionally feels like what the tar pits must have physically felt like for the dinosaurs.  You know, "If I stop here, I may never get out of this," kind of feeling.  So we plow through and hope everything gets done.

A very wise and dear friend told me, after hearing about the schedule I was trying to keep for the next several weeks or so, that I needed to keep my calendars from this time in my life.  "Someday," she told me, "You will think you can't do it all, and when you look back at the calendar from now, you'll know you can."

She had a point.  I know I was busy when the kids were little.  I was out-of-my-mind-busy then.  But it w as a different kind of busy than I face now.  But even knowing the differences, I know I have been crazy-busy before and I got through it.  I can  do that again.

Just a Hunch

I had a big PTA meeting yesterday.  I am in charge of one next week.  We begin Ward Conferences on Sunday and we had a pre-conference meeting last night.  I am timing a swim meet this afternoon.  It is the end of the semester today.  Monday is a holiday for the kids--I must think of something for them to do besides veg out in from the TV or computer screens. YW Basketball began last Saturday.  And Winter Camp (a leadership retreat for YW in our stake) is coming in two weeks.

I feel a little like this pair under the flock of pigeons.  My hands are full.  And I might be getting pooped on some times.

But I really don't think I'd have it any other way.  I like being busy and I like having some place to go and some thing to do and people to see a long that way. 

So for all my belly-aching about what is on my plate, for the most part, I have served myself.  I eat at the Buffet of Busyness. 

Oooh. I should have stopped before I got to that title.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Wide Open Calendar

This idea of a wide open calendar almost never happens to me. But today, at least on my calendar, had absolutely nothing on it.  And I loved that idea.

Of course, having nothing on the calendar, is not the same as not having anything to do.  I can't remember the last time I had nothing to do.  Maybe I never have had that situation.

Instead, today I had no pressing appointments or reasons to be anywhere--other than to take The Girl where SHE needed to go.  But I tried to do that patiently and with a little more joy than usual, especially as she examined beads, and jewelry making pieces as our local JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts.  Oh, that is nearly enough to make anyone crazy.  But I digress.

I then spent the afternoon doing some sewing, or rather, mending, really.  I hemmed two pairs of pants and a skirt for a dear friend.  I hemmed two pair of jean shorts for the Girl.  I repaired a skirt of my own and repaired a cinch-sack backpack The Girl likes.

In the course of doing all that, I had to make a run to the hardware store for four metal washers--it is for the backpack repair.  And knowing I was headed there, I remembered the unused fence bracket I had purchased back in May or so that has since sat on the kitchen counter waiting to be returned.  So I grabbed that and the return paid for my washers.

Now the pile of sewing and repairs is out of my office and off my desk.  If only the other piles of stuff could vanish that easily.  Oh well.  I guess sit will just have to wait until I have another wide open day on the calendar.

What a Difference a Nap Can Make

I got home from church yesterday at noon and promptly went to bed. I figured I would nap for an hour and then get ready for a meeting with our Stake Youth Committee, then go on with the family to celebrate our nephew Bryce as he was made an Elder in the church.

Instead, I was awakened at a quarter to four with the words "You up yet? It's time to go."

Holy Cow! I slept right through my 2:30 meeting and right on almost to 4 PM. I must have needed it.

I pulled two days work--Friday and Saturday--running one of the two bull pens for our county finals swim meets at our pool. Easily they were five plus hours in the sun each day. I attempted to keep up the energy and enthusiasm for the sake of the kids, if not their parents also, that everyone might have that much more a good time.

A swim meet is a lot of hurry up and wait. Our kids are great in that they get that, but sometimes it is excruciatingly boring waiting around for your race to be called. So I try to do what I can to make it minimally enjoyable while they are sitting and waiting with me.

Following Saturday's meet, we celebrated The Girl's birthday by taking her and a friend to Park City where we did some back-to-school clothes shopping at the outlets there. My memories of outlet shopping must be getting old--the deals were not what I had hoped, but it was a fun evening nonetheless. Then to finish the evening--now full on, night--we stopped at Macaroni Grill for some dinner and headed home.

I imagine that the nap was medically necessary. Without it I certainly couldn't have gotten through the family gathering without snarking at someone. And I'd never have had the energy to stop by and crash another neighborhood's party to deliver a birthday day gift to Dear Friend Taffy.

Ah, the joys of napping. Wish it was at least a weekly tradition.

Still Waiting

I can't believe it is already June 28th! What happened to summer?! Who described this time of year as the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer"? Crazy, yes. Lazy, not on your life.

Saturday I got The Boy off to Timberline camp--scout camp with a leadership emphasis. He'll be gone a week. I had fanciful plans to get a lot of things done while he was gone. I think I may get to about a third of them.

Next week at this time, The Girl and I will be off to Girls Camp for a week and by the time we get home, immediately have another swim meet, it will be the middle of JULY!

People, what is going on here?! Where does the time go?

The week after we get home, The Boy and Genius Golfer--in his role as assistant scoutmaster--are going to Scout camp for a week. I'm still not exactly sure where they are going, but GG is going too, so I have sort of delegated that worry to him. They will get home in time to have the final week of swim practice and the county finals meets (The Gold meet is on The Girl's birthday) and then it will be August!

Yikes!!!

So much for the opportunity summer will give me to sit by the pool with my favorite book and a big cup of ice water with my feet up. I'm still waiting to pencil that day in the schedule.

Exhaustion Defined

I did nearly six hours at the pool this morning, running on a bagel, and a bottle of water. I seated almost 250 kids in 82 events with the help of 4 other parents. I kept swimmers from age almost 6 to 18 in the heats & lanes they were assigned and only managed to lose one heat of 11-12 year old girls on their way across the pool deck to the starting blocks. (I wasn't any of those girls' mom.) We created an entire event of 9-10 year old girls with no entries in the space of 5 minutes. I got really chewed out by only one mother. One set of parents thanked me for my attitude and cheerfulness with the swimmers. And another parent asked if in my "real" life I taught preschool, because I "am so great with these little kids". (I told them no that at noon I turned back into the Wicked Witch of the West.)

I watched about thirty minutes of the USA vs. Ghana World Cup game while we ate lunch. That has been edge of my seat intensity. Good soccer. What a beautiful sport to watch when it is played well.

I got The Boy to collect his scout gear and be ready when the ride came to pick us up. Then rode shot gun with Dear Friend Kelly--my partner in running the bull pen this morning--to get three boy scouts to their Timberline Camp about an hour and a half away with Kelly's three your old stuck in the car seat with us the whole way.

Now it is nearly seven and the breakfast bagel, and lunchtime chicken strips have long since burned away, and yet I am too tired to care. Just.Want.To.Sleep.

Oh, How Things Change

This is what was going on around here in 2005. Five years ago, already. Hard to believe.

It is not what is going on around here today.

Today, The Girl and I were at the pool by 5:30 AM setting up and them working the Triathlon today--a fundraiser for our summer swim team. The Boy got out of it because he was a scout leadership training camp out last night. Genius Golfer was golfing--no surprise--but today was the tourney to try to qualify for the State Amateur tournament coming later this summer.

I had put in an eight hour day before 1 PM today, and was so tried I just got up from a nap. The Girl had lunch and then went to work for almost 3 hours, before the pool closed due to bad weather. The Boy had all his camping gear drying out on the patio, but had to quickly bring it in when the rain began in earnest, and now he and GG (who shot an 80 today, but didn't make the cut) are off to get a new throttle cable for The Boy's dirt bike.

GG already has promised dinner out tonight, so we will all get a break and with any luck, we will all get to bed early enough to recover from a very busy weekend.

Boths Ends of the Spectrum

I have activities on tap today that cover points across the spectrum. This morning I am heading up a morning of indoor soccer for the Young Women in our stake. We have never done this but so many girls have requested it that we thought we could at least try it. I have a couple of "expert" soccer players leading the learning and coaching and will ref the scrimmage game.

Then I am off to photograph the selection of the new 2010 Strawberry Days Rodeo queen. They have an interview portion at our library and then out to the Rodeo ground where these girls will ride for the title. I've never covered this event for Strawberry Days before, so it could be very interesting. The Girl is curious too so she is coming with me.

Finally, we have two nephews--they are brothers--receiving their Eagle Scout award tonight, along with six other boys in their troop. Boy that is a lot of Eagles at one time. But it will be very cool to see. Let's hope the inspiration will rub off on The Boy who should be done with his stuff for an Eagle next year some time.

Speaking of The Boy, at some point this morning he will come home from an overnight cam pout and will have laundry and other stinky things I will take care of, certainly. Then Grandmama is picking him up for a birthday lunch date with her--lunch a little shopping, and they will meet us at the cousins' celebration tonight.

Genius Golfer is, well, golfing. He went out early this morning to get his round of 18 in and will be back in time--or so he says--to help me rototill the garden spot I have started working on in the back yard. Between my scheduled things today I need to run to the garden place and pick up a couple bags of stuff to mix into the ground so tomatoes will grow. I'm planting on Monday--so the first will be done for my tomato babies.

Man, writing this day's events out is making me tired already. I'd better quit planning it and start living it. Happy Weekend, everyone.

Too Pooped To Party

For a Thursday night, it sure feels like a Friday. I am pooped. I can't really say I did a lot of running around today, but I did blow the whole morning with our niece helping her learn some family history navigation online. We found tow long-lost-cousins in a 1920 census record. They were kids. And one didn't make the next census, she died at age 7. Bummer. But my point was, the three hours we were working on it, flew past--at least, once the baby went down for a nap. The rest of the day I fought a sinus something coming on, and the rain moved in and sucked all my sunshiny happiness out the window. So, I am snuggling in with my girl Jane, that's Miss Austen to you, and nod off to bed as early as I can make it there.

Tomorrow is another day. And a Friday, I might add.

10 O'Clock and All Is Well

It is St. Patrick's Day today, and I was a little late off the start. I picked up 21 "gold" coins--really they are chocolate--yesterday at the grocery store and had planned to leave them all in GG's computer bag and over the kids' beds during the night so they woke up to leprechaun gold this morning. But it all went south last night about 8 PM when the kids were discovered to have lied to me (The Girl) and not done their after dinner chores but played outside instead (The Boy). I was so frustrated I grounded them. So, no leprechaun visits last night.

But this morning, there was no computer or TV--per the grounding regulation they both got last night. That was good. They got off to school with only a reminder to brush their teeth prior to the carpool leaving. So far so good.

Then I got on the phone with our dental insurance because I received notification that they didn't cover our February visit for regular cleaning and Xrays because we weren't within our coverage period. That coverage started in January, so they had some explaining to do. Instead I discovered that the dentist's office had our old group number still for three of the four of us, amd consequently I didn't have to wait for 45 minutes for the next available customer service operator to take my call in the order in which it was received. Easy fix with the office and claims will be resubmitted.

I headed out for a walk in the sunshine and my iPod was stacked with 80s tunes. I feel better after the 45-60 minutes I can walk and absorb the sun.

Now I am done exercising, done fixing insurance trouble, and done getting kids to school. The day is nearly mine and beyond a drop in visit at Costco, I have very few things that HAVE to be done. With the sun shining, what more can I ask?

Reschedule

After my crazy day yesterday, I am trying to get back on schedule today.

I think part of my scheduling trouble comes from having Thursday reopened to other things. When my Thursday was reserved for time with Dear Friend Tammy, I was a pretty well ordered girl. Since her passing, that order on Thursdays is gone.

Nothing is guaranteed but change; isn't that what they say?

The other trouble today, specifically, is the kids are out of school tomorrow for a district vacation day. So it feels like a Friday, but I have things to do having nothing to do with Friday. I think I am rambling now too.

Happy Thursday, or is it Friday?!

Later that Day

It is nearly bedtime, and here I am finally sitting down to write. What a day.

I got Genius Golfer off to an out of state work assignment this morning. Actually he got up early and rive himself to the airport while I was too tired to get out of bed to do yoga, much less drive to the airport. Bad wife...

Then I drove kids to school. And without even a shower, yet. Yikes!

I don't remember what I did all morning. I am sure it was important. Geez, it took all morning.

I finally got a shower about 11 AM, and then I put on my walking shoes and headed out to a ceramics class about 25-30 minutes away, uphill from here. It has been a while since I have been out to run/walk/jog/pretend. I was winded much sooner than I expected. A couple of friends stopped me, as they were driving home, to make sure I hadn't hit my head so hard at some point today that I had lost my car someplace. Good friends.

With a cheerful friend, we got 7 ceramic temples cleaned and ready to fire--we make these for our young women who finish their YW Personal Progress goals. We have 15 to do. So we are halfway done with the first step.

Lucky for me, my cheerful friend drove me home, by way of a small errand at Walgreens. I was pooped.

Then I did some other very important stuff until the kids came home from school. Just don't know what it was. I told you, I was pooped.

Then we were off again, this time to the elementary school where The Boy volunteered at the Space Center, and The Girl is helping with rehearsals for the school play, and I got to listen to and judge about 6 kids perform their "Storytelling" pieces as we select a handful for their Storytelling assembly coming up soon.

Then came home and got dinner going, and some other very important stuff, to be sure, and then picked up The Girl--she took longer than we did--and finished dinner and got everyone to tonight's Young Women and Scout activities.

Whew. Some days are like this. And some days like this make me want to go to bed early.

That Was a Little Unexpected

It is almost 6 PM already. Where has the day gone?!

I had a great idea to write about today. I guess I'll table it for tomorrow, or Friday as tomorrow looks busier than today.

I sure hope I get things "caught up" from my week that was preempted by Jury Duty. I thought I was doing pretty good, but I guess I was overly optimistic.

Stay tuned, my friends. The weekend is approaching.