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May
14
- 1-
My state has been barraged by storms this week. Typical for this time of year, but always scary. So far, the storms have missed us, but they’ve hit within 30 miles of my town. Keep Oklahoma in your prayers; I just cannot imagine being hit with such devastation, but so many in so many areas have been recently.
- 2-
We dodged a different kind of bullet this week. My car needs some work done, some expensive work done, and I’ve been dreading it. I’m the kind of person who will put it off until one day, the car simply stops working. Thankfully, my husband doesn’t operate that way 
The good news is that the repairs are covered by the warranty – whoop! Finally, some good news.
- 3-
I’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of the blogosphere lately. No, I shouldn’t say that. Overwhelmed by the kindness of bloggers. The people behind the words. I used to view the blogosphere as a kind of sorority, and everyone already had their BFFs, with no room for the new kid. In reality, I was just afraid to say hi. You all are NICE! Seriously, I’ve met some incredible women and I’m so happy to call them Friend.
- 4 -
I’ve had to do a little bit of letting go this month. My oldest son has always entered the local art show for the past, oh, seven or eight years every May. He has also made it to the State Music Competition in piano for the past six years in May. Not this year. Eighth grade has been tough, and he’s so busy with marching band that he just couldn’t do it all. I can totally relate to that, and I don’t want my kids to be so busy that they burn out. But as mom, I so miss those art shows and piano competitions. My other son plays baseball, so I can see him “perform” several times a week during baseball season. It’s different with art and music. Competitions don’t come around as often. Less opportunities for mama to gush about her baby
- 5 -
One side of our fence has a hole in it. A tiny hole, but big enough for our neighbor’s dog to slip through. This has been a concern for us. Let me demonstrate why:
Neighbor’s dog: (not the actual neighbor’s dog, but very close)
Our dog: (our actual dog, every bit of him)
See why I was worried? I was afraid Coach might mistake the little whipper snapper for a snack. He’s very gentle, but I worried that he might try to play with the tiny dog, and if the tiny dog snapped or scratched at him, well, I was worried. So when I came home yesterday and saw that little dog prancing around my back yard, I got nervous. Then I saw Coach, calmly sitting by the back door, half asleep. Not excited at all. Whew! He’s a keeper.
- 6 -
I’m going to have to limit my computer time today and this weekend. We had some friends that live about an hour away from here that were hit by yesterday’s storm, so I’m going to go help her with the clean up. In the midst of all this devastation, it is encouraging to see how people are so willing to help.
- 7 -
I’ve got nothing for # 7 Please keep us in your prayers, it’s been storming here since yesterday and no end in sight. Rain I can take, tornadoes are another story altogether. Be safe!
Linked at 7 Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary and Caffeinated Randomness at Under Grace and Over Coffee.
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May
7
-1-
The last thing my son said to me as I dropped him off at school today was “I may be bringing a friend home after school. If her parents say it’s okay”. There are a couple of things about this statement that I need to discuss. First, bringing a friend home means that the house should be reasonably clean. A reasonably clean house means I need more notice than a few hours!!! The other thing is that he said “If her parents say it’s okay”. Her?! A girl?! This actually makes me happy, because I want my sons to be comfortable bringing all their friends here, even gurls. But it also means that the house has to be even cleaner! If it’s a group of boys I don’t care as much; they probably don’t mind or even notice that “boy smell” that never seems to leave. But a girl probably would notice and might be as grossed out as I am whenever I go in their bathroom. So, I’m cleaning.
-2-
I’ve been messing around with my blog, which can be dangerous. See my Inspiration list on the right sidebar? See how longggg its getting. I’ve found so many great blogs lately, I want to share them all. But I need to organize them. So I added a Blog Love page for all of the blogs I’m reading. I’m going to start rotating the blogs listed on the sidebar, a few at a time. I’ll rotate them by theme. There are blogs on parenting, cooking, writing, faith, decorating and more, so I’ll highlight a certain theme and leave those up for a few days then rotate. No I haven’t done that yet! That is my plan, hopefully I’ll get some time this weekend to actually do it. But really, they’re all great reads so dig in and enjoy them.
-3-
My 8th grader is marching in our little town’s parade on Saturday. He’s marching with the high school band, which in these parts is a huge deal. They take their band very seriously and have won numerous competitions. I am so glad that band is a big deal, because it’s a big deal to him. In the tiny town I grew up in, it was all sports, all the time. I didn’t play sports. I wasn’t a cheerleader for any sports. I was in the band. Now I didn’t have a passion for music like my son does, but at my school you either did sports or band, so there I was. But my boy loves music. I love it when my kids are passionate about something.
-4-
This is a little side note about giveaways here. I am still waiting to hear back from the winner of my first iPod touch giveaway. The winner has 72 hours to respond to my emails. I will email every day for those three days; if I don’t hear back in 72 hours I’ll have to let random.org select another winner. My point here is please, puleeze make sure your email is valid, typed in correctly and that you check it fairly regularly. I know things come up, people leave town, all of that, which is why I allow 72 hours. The funnest part of having a giveaway is the winner’s response, so I really want to be able to reach my winners. That is all.
-5-
I’m going to include this in my Must Reads tomorrow, but it’s worth posting twice. Shaun Groves wrote about the people most affected by the Nashville flood. I don’t watch the news or read the newpaper, and this week I’ve been too busy to check the online news like I normally do. I knew about the flooding but hadn’t “seen” the devastation. This is so heartbreaking. He included a link for the People Loving People organization; they are collecting tents, clothing and camping gear for the homeless in that area, and you can go to their website to donate.
-6-
I mentioned this on Twitter but I just have to share it here. I had to run to the pharmacy last night right around 5pm, which is not a good time to try to go anywhere quickly. As I was coming home, I realized that traffic was stopped in both directions, with at least six cars backed up. I immediately thought it was a wreck, which can stop traffic for a very long time. But as I inched closer I realized that all these tired, busy, anxious to get home people had stopped for a mama duck that was leading her six babies across the street. Seriously, isn’t that the sweetest thing ever? I like to think that even in our crazy, chaotic lives, most of us would stop for a family of ducks, even at 5pm.
-7-
Are you still reading? I hope so, I saved the best for last! Last week I started a weekly blog carnival, Monday Motivation. It was a huge success! Well, um, not really, but these things take time So I’m asking earlier this time, giving you a little notice. Please, please, please join me on Monday, or Tuesday even, and link up your motivation for getting started in a new week. This can be pretty much anything: a restful weekend, a project that is due, the end of the school year, the start of summer, something you’re looking forward to, something you’re glad is over, a clean house (not that I would know anything about that..). Anything that you have had happen or that is going to happen that has you motivated to get up and get moving on Monday. See, it can be anything! Share it here please! And, as an added bonus, you can use my Monday Motivation button if you want to. Please play along with me I’ll post the Monday Motivation linky before midnight on Sunday.
For more 7 Quick Takes Friday, visit Conversion Diary.
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May
8
1
I was so excited to go to the Tulsa MNO last night, but the planets did not align correctly and I couldn’t be there. I had everything worked out, precariously balanced so that I could go, but then two Scout activities were rescheduled for last night plus a Parent Meeting for incoming 6th graders. Even with the excellent juggling skills that all moms have, I could not find a way to get my husband to all three events. I’m sure they had a great time and I’m going to be checking all their blogs for MNO posts. I will definitely be there next time.
2
Did you catch that I said I had to go to a Parent Meeting for incoming 6th graders? My baby is going into 6th grade. Who allowed this to happen? Why did no one ask me if it was ok for them to grow up so quickly?! I have a hard time believing I’m 40, but an even harder time believing my kids are almost 12 and 14. It’s just not right.
3
My last day at work is tomorrow. I’ve gotten over my doom and gloom from the other day and am actually looking forward some quiet days before school gets out. Not quiet as in nothing to do, but quiet as in plenty of time to clean the house and take my kids shopping to replace the clothes and shoes they’ve grown out of. Maybe I can sneak in some time to read a book too. I just can’t complain about that.
4
The other day a boy came to our door to see our oldest son. They’re in scouts together and just recently realized that we live in the next neighborhood over from them, so he walked over. My husband answered the door and asked the boy how he knew for sure which house was ours. The kid said his mom told him to look for the yard with all the weeds! Kids are so honest. It’s been so rainy here that we haven’t gotten any yard work done. Luckily my husband is like me and just thought it was hysterically funny.
5
Speaking of yard work, my husband and kids mow a couple of yards for people. They started out a couple of summers ago doing it just for elderly neighbors but then friends of friends started calling and their “client list” grew. My sons do most of the work and keep most of the money, Mike keeps a small portion to cover the gas. This is teaching them about saving and spending and keeping their commitments even when they don’t want to, and I just think it’s great. Anyway, they got a new customer this year and mowed for her a couple weeks ago. One day this week we finally had a dry day and Mike thought he better get hers mowed again. He ran over and did it real quick while the kids were at piano lessons, just to get it done before more rain hit. The lady wasn’t home so he mowed and then left her a voicemail. She called him back that same evening and told him she recently moved. As in, doesn’t live where we thought she lived anymore. As in, some lucky person came home to a freshly mowed lawn and they’ll have no clue who did it. It really is a good thing that my husband has a sense of humor, what can you do but laugh at that?
6
Some new families recently moved in our neighborhood and they have younger kids, boys around 7-9 years old. These are the cutest boys, they started a Hotel for Dogs club and stopped by one day to tell me that if our dog ever got out he could come to their Hotel for dogs and they would help him get home. Cuteness! They also come over almost every day and ask if Nolan can play with them. Nolan does go outside and hang out with them once in awhile, but I know it’s not his choice of things to do. I had to explain to him that since he’s the oldest those little guys will really look up to him, so he needs to be nice and go outside once in awhile. At almost 12, he does not want to hang out with little kids, or maybe he just doesn’t want anyone to know that he hangs out with younger kids. I think he’s ok with shooting baskets or playing ball with them but he refuses to join the Hotels for Dogs club
7
It’s just crazy how busy this time of year is. Year end field trips, concerts, scout activities, band practice, State piano concert, recitals. And that is just the past 2 weeks! I don’t know when or how the poor kids will have time to study for semester exams. It just seems to get worse every year. We are all looking forward to school being out in a few weeks. My kids go to Scout camp and Tanner will go to band camp but that’s the extent of our summer plans so far. I’d love to hear what kind of excitement you have planned for this summer, I can travel vicariously through everyone else.
For more 7 Quick Takes Friday visit Conversion Diary.
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Apr
24
I’ve been reading 7 Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary for awhile and finally decided to join in. Today especially, quick takes are about all I have time for.
1.
Nolan and my husband are leaving on a Boy Scout camping trip tonight. It’s Nolans first campout since moving up to Boy Scouts, and they are going rappelling so he is very excited. Mike won’t go on all the campouts, but he wanted to go rappelling too and I wanted him to be with Nolan on this first one. The last time my guys went camping Nolan came home with a gaping wound that required many stitches and a long healing time, so I gave my husband strict instructions this time – do not slap a bandaid over an open gash! Seriously, that was the first injury in many years of camping so I’m not worried. I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend actually
2
Getting them ready for the campout is almost as much work as actually going. I’ve done grocery shopping for them and am now finishing up their laundry so they have clothes to take. This is all laundry that I’ll be doing again on Sunday when they get back and dump their smelly clothes and gear on my floor. It’s supposed to rain this weekend so that will mean mud covered stuff. My oldest son has started doing his own laundry, which is great. But, and there’s always a but, he will wash very few things and use a huge amount of laundry soap. He did this last night when I was at Nolans ballgame. I knew we were almost out of laundry soap but I thought we had enough to get todays done. Tanner did one load and it was probably just his things, and the soap is gone. Everything is a multi step process – teach them to operate the washing machine, but don’t assume they automatically know that they need to fill the machine with all the darks, not just their three items that are dirty. I should be happy that he’s doing any laundry, but we’ll be having a little laundry lesson tonight.
3
Tanner is going to a school dance tonight. He wants to spend the night with his friend, go to the dance and I’ll pick him up sometime tomorrow. Thats all fine with me, but even though I know his friend I need to talk to a parent to confirm that this is ok with them and that they won’t be walking home from the dance. I’d rather pick them up myself at night and take them back to his friends house. Parents are hard to reach sometimes. There are parents and step parents and they all work different hours. So I still haven’t talked to any parent. I told Tanner that he needs to either get me the dad’s work number this afternoon or have the dad call me, or else I will be making a surprise appearance at the 7th grade dance. I told him, either way is fine with me, I already have my outfit picked out and I’ve been practicing my 80’s dance moves. What do you wanna bet I hear from his friends dad pretty quick
4
One of my very good friends is coming to visit me tomorrow, since most of my family will be gone. When I first moved here she was one of the first people that I got close to, and she moved about 2 hours away a couple of years ago. We try to go see them a couple times a year but rarely do either I or her get to come visit by ourselves for some girl time. We have absolutely nothing planned, which I think is best.
5
We’ve started baseball again, so we are spending 3 out of 5 week nights at the ball park. Which is fun but makes life hectic. In one day I had to shuffle piano lessons, youth group, NJHS community service, a haircut and make it to the baseball game. This does not include the time spent feeding the hungry starving guys that live here and trying to find time for homework. It doesn’t help that we all have spring fever and homework is the last thing they want to be doing. We’re counting down til the end of May.
6
In exactly 13 days I will not have a job. I posted before that my project was ending and I was hoping for another to replace it. No project yet and the jobs I have applied for are still in the interviewing stage. My normal response to this situation would be to panic and lose sleep and work myself into a frenzy of worry. But right now I’m surprisingly calm about it. I want and need another job, and I’m hopeful that the job I’m currently interviewing for will turn into something. But I know that the anxiety of worrying like a maniac doesn’t help me get a job, so I’m just praying and hoping and thinking positive that somehow it will all work out. This is a new path for me and so far it’s working better than the anxious worried road I usually take.
7
After my friend leaves tomorrow I want to rent a movie. Since my husband will be gone it will be a movie just for me! My first thought was Twilight, since I’ve read the books but haven’t seen the movie. But I’m open to suggestions. I love movies and there are many that I haven’t seen because we usually have family movie night, which eliminates a lot of movies that I might want to see because no one else does. If you have recently rented a great movie or have a long time favorite, please leave a comment and let me know.
Any comment you leave on this post counts as an entry to win a fabulous prize in my Blogiversary Giveaway going on through April 30.
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Grab the button and join me for Monday Motivation
My boys
Where did those little guys go?Cuteness overload
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