My apologies to everyone since I seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth (especially to those whose emails and phone calls I need to return).
I love Girl Scout camp, I really do. It's just exhausting. There's no way around it. Give someone (okay a couple adults and a few teenagers) twenty kids, a 9am to 3pm time frame, some very sketchy program idea/schedule, and the outdoors (90 degrees, humid, with the nearly constant threat of thunderstorms) for a week and see how well they do.
My kids are becoming as worn out as I am, Zach was running a fever Tuesday night and Kyle is tonight, while Kelly and I fell asleep last night at around 7:30pm. I don't feel so great myself (skipped running club tonight) but thankfully tomorrow's the last day and we have a week break before the second session.
I've been seriously thinking about how it could be made easier on every one involved. Because school is about 9 to 3 around here and my kids aren't nearly as cranky at the end of the day (and I would hope their teachers aren't collapsing on the sofa every night afterwards). I know being outdoors is the biggest difference. And also each camp day's schedule can vary widely from one to the next. Or maybe it's just me that thrives on schedules and camp drives me nuts in this aspect.
Planning for every scenario is so mentally wearing. I.E if it storms right now, we need to have the lunches ready to go indoors or if it storms in an hour, we'll do dismissal differently or if it storms, this and this are canceled and we need to come up with alternate activities. Sometimes all the scenarios are played out at the same time.
Now I've forgotten the whole point to this post... Basically I'm tired and while I enjoy volunteering at camp, I'm not particularly fond of losing a whole week (or this summer, two). Stupid stuff isn't getting done around the house like laundry, paying bills, sewing, dry cleaning drop offs, blogging, relaxing, etc.
9 years of stay at home mom-ing has left me a bit spoiled I think.
"Little Bunny Foo Foo hopping through the forest..."
3 days down, 2 to go...
I'll be back sometime over the weekend because I can't quite think straight right now. Unless you want me to sing some camp songs.
Remember how I said I wanted to go back to Girl Scout camp at the end of June last year?
Well I really don't want to and in February, idiot me signed up for two weeks of Girl Scout camp this summer. The first week starts tomorrow.
I'm probably just psyching myself out about how it's going to be too much work and it's going to be hot (mid 90's). It'll be fine in the end. I'm just not looking forward to it.
How many blog posts a year am I allowed to complain about the kids?
This morning their fighting over the Wii woke me up at 8am. So much for sleeping in. The fights continued through breakfast, emptying the dishwasher, getting dressed, and putting on their shoes. It was kinda like those cartoon fights where the characters travel from place to place in a blurry ball of fists and feet.
Luckily other than some kicking at the grocery store, that trip went well.
In other news, Kelly seems fine today although yesterday really sucked because all she wanted to do was lay on me and puke up every single type of drink we had in the house. So needless to say, I really didn't get anything done other than many trips from the sofa to the bathroom with her.
I'm trying to remember why boarding school is a bad idea...
Let's start school break with... *drum roll*
A puking child!
Poor Kelly. Not to make light of her being sick but this seriously messes with today's plan of grocery shopping with a reward trip to the library afterwards. We'll see how she feels after lunch. (Crap, do I have food for lunch?)
I'm in a grumpy mood. I was yesterday too and since I'm sure no one wants to read me whining, I avoided blogging. Today, screw it.
The biggest thing is I'm not mentally prepared for the Big 3 to be home all summer. I'm totally prepared for Kyle to kindergarten in the fall though. All day with just one tagging along, it'll be heaven! Can we just skip July and most of August?
I keep reminding myself that it's never going to be easier, just different. For example, I'm not changing diapers and dealing with crying babies all day long. But I'm constantly answering questions, breaking up fights, picking up stuff (or yelling at the kids to pick up their stuff), and threatening to put a lock on the pantry and fridge. Do babies ask lots of questions? Do they leave their markers all over the bathroom floor? (Yeah, I don't know why they were left there either.) Do they demand trips to the pool and bookstore? Sometimes I think it was easier when they were all under the age of 3 and didn't know how to use the TV remote.
(Let's not even think about teenagers...)
I'm just tired of the mess. Last night there was a stack of Harry Potter books on the coffee table. This morning they were scattered all over the family room floor. I don't even know how to begin to figure out who did it. And likely one person "accidentally" (their favorite word) knock a couple over and then someone bumped another and then someone kicked one across the room and so forth. The Big 3 have also been bringing home their school supplies and old books. Granted I don't really have a place for those at the moment but I know that they definitely don't belong three feet inside the front door.
I'm not organized as I'd like to be at the moment and it's making me crabby. I'm also fighting the to-do list with things like "get fingerprinted for GS camp", "make dentist appointments", and "add antifreeze to the van". And I love Greg to pieces and know he's super busy at work but I hate it when he adds more crap like "figure out flex pay spending plan", "return sailing gloves", and "send request for college transcripts."
But you know, that's life. It's all the stupid little crap mixed in with the good parts. I just need to get through this stuff and try to appreciate the kids all being home. And set up some good rules for summer (they can read now, I'll post them on the fridge). And also try not to think about the random junk I'll have to do after I finish: "ask gym for proof of membership for work reimbursement" and "fix van decals."
I am moving in slooooow motion today.
School summer vacation is almost here and I feel there's nothing to look forward to. Sure we've got Girl and Boy Scout camps but since last year I learned that Girl Scout camp is a lot of work (I volunteer all day, all week) and Greg takes Zach to Boy Scout camp, that's not much to look forward to. We saw the in-laws last weekend and Sarah and Steven over this weekend but there's no more family visits planned...
I guess that is what is bothering me the most. The lack of visits with family. We always spend the 4th of July with family. And last year with Sarah's wedding, we were with my parents in Indiana for awhile. This summer? Nothing. Greg doesn't have that many more vacation days left to take and ick, it costs us $250 alone in gas to drive out to Ohio.
August is so wide open with nothing at all planned (other than Zach's birthday on the 9th and school starting on the 29th), it's like a giant black hole.
It'll be alright. I need to focus on Blue Kitty Designs a bit (especially since I've all but ignored it the last two weeks) and we have a pool membership for the summer. I think the kids are finally old enough that I could manage trips to the pool alone.
There's never a good balance. Last summer seemed too busy and this summer, not enough.
Anyone want to come out and visit?
I have found my new least favorite chore:
Cleaning spots/stains off the ceiling in the van.
How do the kids get that part of the van dirty anyways?
Also I never ever want to go to the beach again. Unless they start making sand-less ones.
Long story short, Greg requested the van be thoroughly cleaned as his Father's Day gift. (He may have used the words detailed and q-tips...) Since I'm cheap and didn't want to disgust any one else with the messiness of our van, I did it myself this afternoon. After 2 1/2 hours of washing, dusting, wiping, scrubbing, and vacuuming, if I do say so myself, it looks pretty good.
Although there weren't any q-tips involved. (But I did use a Swiffer duster and a whole container of car wipes.)
Happy Father's Day to Greg and all you other great dads out there!
More randomness:
It must be a boring few days because I'm way too excited that I've gone from "porcelaine I" to "beige perle II" in foundation colors. Although I'm still paler than 95% of the world even with my "tan."
In running, we ran a full 5k at training last night. My time was about 36 minutes and I didn't walk once (even up the two crappy hills on the course). I'm not counting it towards my 30 before 30 goal though, I'm waiting to count the actual race for that.
I have a new post on how to run errands with small children up over at Larger Families. Two words: internet shopping. lol
A few pictures and words about our whirlwind Ohio tour. (We love you Cincinnati!)
First stop, Greg's hometown to hang out with Sherry, her husband, and 7 boys. We went to BW3's for dinner. 12 kids, 4 adults, lots of alcohol... (Actually just one really good margarita for me.)
OH! And a beer barn! I miss Ohio...
Onto The Ohio State University graduation. (I stand corrected.)
The William Jefferson Clinton spoke and it was rather hot and sunny but we managed to find Patrick in the crowd of 7,916 grads. (Not a typo, it took 45 minutes to process in.)
Kyle has decided that attending the ceremony and wearing the cap means he now has a college degree as well. Sheesh if I had known it was that easy, I'd have saved myself twenty grand in student loans.
In current news, the kids are back in school (until next Wednesday), my sister and her husband are on a baseball tour of the area (yesterday Phillie, today the Yankees, tomorrow the Orioles) and are staying with us, and I'm so far behind in everything I'll be lucky to be caught up before I'm dead. So you know, everything is back to normal.
Hey, we are home (as of yesterday at 4pm). Pictures and more detailed updates tomorrow!
I love Target but their latest commercial is driving me nuts. As in the catchy little tune is stuck in my head:
"You say good buy, I say hello."
"Hello, hello!"
"I don't know why you say good buy, I say hello."
Repeat.
Stupid earworm.
Thank goodness I charged up my iPod for the lovely delightful 8 hour drive with my sweet adorable children to Ohio. < /sarcasm >
Orc Skeleton* versus Plot Ninja
I'm having a disconjointed kind of day. We're traveling to Ohio tomorrow for my brother-in-law's graduation from Ohio State this weekend. So that means I need to buy Kelly sandals, do laundry, clean the guinea pig cage, rent movies, vacuum sand out of the van, pack, and email Kyle's soccer coach. See? Disconjointed.
* provided by another brother-in-law
(And so my 3rd and newest brother-in-law doesn't feel left out since I mentioned the other 2, here's a self portrait of him.)
My money is on the plot ninja.
I miss writing.
You know the fiction stuff. Or the funny pieces like the unofficial guides. I think my blogging of late is missing that extra little snap too.
There are just not enough hours in the day. I've already sort of given up scrapbooking for Blue Kitty. That makes me sad and I'd hate for the kids' scrapbooks to all end in July 2004. There's got to be a way to work some light scrapbooking back into my schedule. Like a once a month crop at a scrapbook store or something. Besides the time crunch I'm experiencing, I can't stand to have more than one hobby out at a time. Sewing has obviously stolen the limelight and won't be "put away" any time in the foreseeable future.
And then writing. I received an email from a major parenting magazine who would like me to send them some pieces (nothing specific, kinda vague, may just be junk mail). And some of my favorite bloggers are now writing at several different web sites. How do they do it? I have an every other week gig at Larger Families and blah, I haven't updated the Blue Kitty Blog in ages. Writing daily at two or three places? I'm humbled.
The point is I'm starting to feel like I'm not a writer. I should strike out "writer" over there in the right column. (But I won't, in November at least I'm not lying.) Writing isn't even in my daily pie chart, see:
(Yes I just totally wasted 15 minutes of my life drawing a pie chart. That falls under "obsessing over blog, email, & Etsy" I think.)
Or maybe the point is I need to redirect my energy and time just a wee bit. I have goals (lots of goals), and it's easy to lose one in the shuffle as I focus on another.
(Eep, "exercise" didn't make the pie chart. There goes the 5k race, 10 push-ups, and 130lb weight goals. Maybe I should start running in place while in line at the grocery store.)
Although adding up the numbers.... If I gave up my family, that would free up at least 6 hours of the day. *winks*
What's your favorite way to boost your mood?
I think I'm going to try a little sunshine.
For those of you new here, last summer I did a little series with weekly activities to do with the kids over summer break, titled 50 Days of Summer. Nothing big and fancy, just goofy little things like "Paper Airplane Day". To be honest, I think we only ended up doing about half of them. Therefore I'm not revising or adding anything this year. (Real reason: a bit busy and lazy, fun mix huh?) Although I do plan to change the dates, restart the comments, and update the blogroll.
I'm posting this earlier than last year because some of you are already on summer break. We still have 2 1/2 weeks. Which depending on which day you ask me, may be a good thing...
I'm trying to have a Productive Day.
This week has been rough and I only touched the tip of the iceberg with my whining about "land sickness", Emily, Kelly, and traffic. Seriously the last three days if I could have stayed in bed, I would have. I even skipped my weekly running last night.
But today is June 1st (I like the beginning of new months) and a Friday and it's going to be a Productive Day! So far I've fixed a bank error, set up a toll free phone number for my business, and sent out Girl Scout camp emails. Next I plan to pay bills, post at Larger Families, start some laundry, upload Memorial Day weekend pictures, and run some errands (post office, grocery store, dry cleaners). Productive!
Quote of the Day: "If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." -Oscar Wilde
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