Solution?

Go to each party for a little while.

Have a very fun day.

Be glad you decided to honor the people you care about by taking time to celebrate them.

(See previous post if you're wondering what I'm talking about.)

Let's do the math.

There are times that I feel like everyone else around me is so much more efficient with their time.
How does everybody else stay on the go all the time? Moreover, how do they get there on time and prepared for the endless schedule of events?

We were invited to 6 kid parties and one grown-up party this weekend.
If you tally them all up, that's roughly 15 hours of partying in one weekend.

If your weekend begins on Friday evening, and you have to account for sleeping and church activities - where's the time for 15 hours or more worth of partying?

Now, lest I be remiss, I must mention that it's also Valentine's Day... A weekend I tend to spend mostly alone due to the nature of my husband's job. He should probably take a sleeping bag to work this time of year. :)

Who on Earth could keep to this schedule?

Apparently, most people have weekends this crazy all the time. I am so glad I'm not most people.

That reminds me, I need to schedule an appointment to remove the "Party Animal" tattoo from my forehead...

I jest.

Boy oh boy.

J. is having the twin boys from his class over for a playdate right now.
The fact that I have time to type any blog at all during a playdate is amazing.
The fact that twin boys are easier to entertain than my ONE son?
Not sure how I feel about that but the word 'vindication' comes to mind.

"She hath done what she could... " Mark 14:8

I might need a plaque with that on it.

Daddy.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I know it's a day late - but it's never too late to honor the man who has been in your life longer than any other.
A man who has always accepted me and thought the world of me.
My dad is the man who shaped for me all thoughts of what a man is supposed to be.

Daddy, you have always believed in me, my children.
I really believed as a little girl that I could do anything. You always told me I could.
I remember as a little girl loving to iron your shirts because they had your smell. I remember loving to wake up on Saturday mornings because, if we were real lucky, you'd be making your special pancakes.
I remember curling up on your lap and just being me and that was ok.
I remember when you would teach me how to use your pastels for artwork - and you would tell me the story of how you met Mom buying those very pastels.
I remember going fishing with you.
I remember you putting little dabs of perfume on my neck each Sunday morning, and no matter which scent I chose, you always smelled it all up and told me how pretty I smelled.
I love our little talks together - though they seem to be fewer and further between lately - your words are filled with the wisdom that only a life lived right can speak.
Thank you for giving yourself to your family. Thank you for investing in us. Thank you for being the man you have been.
I have a better picture of who God is because of you.

Thank you for letting me dance on your feet. Some days I still do.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you!

mombutt

I hope you're not offended by the title of this post. If you are, you surely must know how it pained me to type it.
This is my acknowledgement of reality.
I have tried to squeeze my booty into every style of pants/jeans/slacks/trousers available hoping for that one fit - THE perfect fit - to no avail.
It appears as though I must face the bitter truth of it.
I have mombutt syndrome in every cut of lower-half-of-the-body covering attire.
Care to join me?

Grumpf.

I have had to fight the grumps all day long.
It's my house.
I detest having a house that is all out of order. Filth everywhere. My house oozes today.

Normally, I clean all evening Thursday and then most of Friday so I can enjoy a clean house all weekend long. Well, at least part of the weekend it stays clean. Normally.

But Thursday entailed a mega big school-friends playdate, so no cleaning happened Thursday. And Friday I was bushed. I had a fever and sore throat and generally felt like last week's nachos.
So again, no cleaning.

Today, I woke up, saw the awful truth, and got grumpy.
I thrive in a clean house. I get all kinds of moody when things aren't right. I have to fight hating Legos and stuffed animals. Who hates stuffed animals?

So the story goes, I am overwhelmed by mess. Mess is inevitable. The vicious cycle continues in year 6 of motherhood.

Someday I'll lick the grumpfs for good... and then, about a week later, I'll miss Legos and stuffed animals.

Little League Try-outs

I am taking a sick little boy to little league tryouts tomorrow morning. It goes against my better judgment to have him around other kids, but if he misses the tryouts, he misses the entire season. Probably we will show up, fill out the paperwork, and come back home. There is no way I could keep him from playing little league this year - he's too excited...

I could not be more proud of my little man. He's everything a mother could ever want and more.

drop me a line

when our last computer blew its gaskets, i lost the majority of your blog addresses.

if i have been reading your blog, it is because i found your link on someone else's.
so here's the big question - can i make a blog roll on my blog with a link to yours on my blog?

mostly it would be for me - because i enjoy reading them and i am more prone to that type of enjoyment when access is easy.

in addition to everyone's permission, i need these blog addresses: (I haven't found them yet.)
camezi
Dewey Hafta
Enter with Thanksgiving
These 12 Acres

thanks!

The totally amazing truth of it all.

We got a new laptop!

I am so superduper excited about this development!!!

I have missed the abyss and I am sure the abyss has missed me... :)

Really, truthfully- so much has been going on over here in the casa that I am not sure one blog can catch everyone up.

Chris took the initial exam to become a fireman and did very, very, extremely well. He is through to the second round. He will begin the process which will last for nearly a year and if all goes well, he will begin training with the department in January 2010.

I have made it through the second round of interviews for a job. There are still at least two more interviews for me to complete if they choose to keep inviting me... Now that it looks more and more likely that he'll be changing jobs (and with it the incomes) I am more and more urgent in the chase for a good job.

The kids are doing great!

Jaron has his first crush. It is so adorable! He is "in-love" by his own description. Very sweet. He asked me to take him shopping for a Valentine's Day gift for her. He tediously chose pretty beads one by one to make a bracelet for her. What's even cuter? Their names rhyme.

Avery is loving ballet, and school, and life, and being a girly girl.

I am going to have to spend a good bit of time catching up on blogs now that I have re-entered the blogosphere. Wish me luck!

What I WANT to be doing...

I want to be reading blogs.
I want to be scrolling though your wonderful thoughts and the funny things that are going on with you.
I want to be changing my CHRISTMAS layout and taking the voting poll for the Christmas cards that never went out.
I want to blog about the reason my Christmas cards never went out - anti-climactic to say the least.


But...
I have to pay bills and check important emails in my 15 minutes on my dad's pc.
Somehow we MUST get a new computer soon...