Catch up work.

I'm still trying to find the time to get everything organized. Before we went on vacation, I was doing pretty good at the managing to get things done thing....not lately. It seems that since we came home, I have not been able to "find the groove" again.

I feel like I spent this last weekend spinning my wheels. I WILL GET THIS FIGURED OUT THOUGH!! Today is work again. I think that I need a full week of no work, no practices, no meetings, no interruptions and I might be able to accomplish something. Hopefully, things will change here soon, and I will get myself back in gear.

Jessalyn is full swing into Show choir again. She has 2 more practices today and tomorrow before school starts next week. Jake is just trying to get all of his summer plans accomplished before school starts. I think he said that he has a whole lot of playing to get done this week. Goof ball. Jessa is in the Crantastic singers again this year. They lost one of their members this last year, so they are dedicating their last song to her and many of the previous Crantastic singers are coming back. So far I think that there is about 34 regular active Crantastics and 25 previous ones (including Jake I think) that are coming back to sing and dance in honor of Kendra. It should be great.

School starts Monday and both kids don't seem to be dreading it like usual. I think they miss their friends. Lots of their friends live in neighboring towns, so it's not like you can just ride your bike over to their house. I think that they are looking forward to seeing everyone.

I took the dog to the vet and he got a clean bill of health except for needing to lose some pounds. He is a very large dog and now weighs 109 lbs. They want him to lose 10. He is one diet food now and is not really losing, so we'll see what happens. Maybe we can all get into shape by excercising the dog. Yeah right.

Well, laundry is calling my name. Have a great day. I'll try to get better about posting to this thing, as I "get my groove back" or is that "get back into my groove"?
dea

A weekend to remember.

You know the great thing about having older kids is the freedom (at some times). My kids are great kids and we trust them, so it's easier now for Will and I to head out for awhile and not worry (too much) that the house will burn down while we are gone. I had won a free hotel room in Black River Falls, so we decided to take advantage of that this last Friday and spend some time alone (a novel thought I know). My parents had Jessalyn over for a sleepover and Jake held down the fort here at home. He was going to have a cousin stay over, but that didn't work out, so he played bachelor all night and took care of the dog and cats. I think he was tickled to be able to do it. If anything had happened, help was just a phone call away. He did great!

Will and I got to do a lot of talking. Not about anything in particular, but just talk like we did when the kids were younger or even like when we were dating. It was fun. We went out to dinner and then we also went out to breakfast the next morning. WOW. It was great! I don't worry about us when the kids are gone. He's my best friend and we find plenty to talk about and things to do.

Saturday we came home and did a few little chores before heading out to a church family get together at our friend's house. Their last name is Fischer, so it's called Fischerfest ( like Cranfest, get it?). Anyway, it was a WONDERFUL time. We ate and ate and ate and played yard games galore. The kids threw water balloons and played games as well as video games after they all wore out. The adults that had not left yet started up these pitiful volleyball games. None of us were any good, but boy did we have fun. My sides hurt so bad from laughing. Then Jake and Jessalyn and their cousin Ryan came out and joined us. Jake is a card. You never know what he's going to do and when you added him into the already crazy mix.. things got interesting. It was a hoot.

Sunday morning we got almost 2 inches of rain in just a couple of hours. I slept in because with the thunder and lightening there was no way I could shower....so why bother getting up? We got to church just in time, but we made it. Headed home after church and believe it or not after some chores...I took another nap (it was one of those wet yucky days). In the afternoon, we went to the first annual Ken Oakes fish fry. Uncle Ken shared all of the fish that he's been catching all summer with us. It was great! Another evening of family and friends. We all sat around eating and talking. The weather had turned beautiful in the 70's and breezy. It was a great time.

Now we are back to real life after that minivacation of fun. Will and I are back to work today. The kids are out of summer school, so that's one less thing to worry about for now. I have a meeting or practice for either the kids or myself for almost every night this week (not how I like it to be, but oh well). The weather is cooler, so things around the house will be easier to get done. Last week the humidity was so high that it was all I could do after the mail route to deal with staying awake, let alone functioning. I do not like hot weather or humidity and it really does not like me either.

Hope you all have a great day.
dea

What to post and what not to post.....

Will tells me it's my turn to blog...ok....fine....except...what do I post about???? So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. It's almost too much to take in, and yet, we go on.....

We spent almost 2 great weeks in Florida and probably could have spent a couple more if we had been able to. We actually accomplished almost every goal we had for the trip with just a few exceptions, but they couldn't be helped. I didn't get to see some people that I had hoped to see, but due to some scheduling conflicts between our schedules and theirs, there just was not enough time. Next time though, I hope.

One thing that the trip did remind me of is how much I like to travel. I just love to get in the car (van) and go. Road construction during the summer can be a bummer though. We usually do most of our traveling during the winter and I had forgotten how much construction there is during the warmer months. WOW!

We completely switched our hours of operation in Florida. Everyone down there gets up much later and goes to bed much later. For me that was hard. I'm usually in bed at 8:30 or so and up really early. Some nights we didn't get to bed until midnight or later. That was fine while we were on vacation, but let me tell you the getting back into a normal schedule here was a killer. It was like having jet lag, but we never left the ground. I'm still a little out of whack due to other circumstances and it feels strange.

We stepped back into our lives and right into school functions (both kids had summer school for varying reasons). Jessalyn is back in show choir and now Crantastic Singers has started for Cranfest. I came back and almost immediately started into Cranfest meetings. We are now, I think, about 44 days away from the fest. Which means I have about 41 to get my jobs done. People start pulling in as early as the week before, so we have to have all of the maps made up, booths marked out, fencing up, signs out etc by the weekend before, with just a few exceptions.

I won a free hotel stay at a local hotel and it expires in September. Now we all know how busy I will be between now and the end of September, so I think that Will and I might go and use up that free night this coming Friday. I don't want it to go to waste and I certainly feel the need to get "away" with my hubby, even if it is only for one night. We will have to be back by 9:30 the next morning...so it's not a lengthy deal, but hey, you take what you can get.

Well, time to go and deal with the dog. He has a yeast infection in his right ear. That means cleaning twice a day and ointment. He's really good about it, but what a mess.

Have a great day!
dea