For lack of a better subject...

There are days I get pretty frustrated.

Frustrated that I don't have enough time to blog everyday.

Frustrated that the tiny little details of each and every day, get wedged in between the important things.

Even though I LOVE my job, even though all the busy paperwork reminds me of when I was a kid and dragged my mom's nightstand into her closet to play office for hours, it still takes up ALOT of hours in my week.

When I try to stuff time in my week for work, sporting events, laundry, making meals, trying to craft things for our first flea market debut, laundry, making things for my etsy shop, laundry, meals, church, responsibilities at church, laundry, grocery shopping, and that ENDLESS laundry...well, you can see it's a little frustrating.

I often want to sit here,

or lay here,

but feel too guilty to take time for myself.

Sunday we had a meeting/lunch for the responsibilities Brent and I have at church, as leaders of our Sunday School class.  The pastor told all of us that BEFORE we take care of the people in our class, we should make sure we are TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES.  We have to feed ourselves spiritually and mentally before we are worth anything.

He's right.

It helped ease my frustration a little.

It still makes me a little irritated that my "free time" doesn't come till the kids go to bed at 9:30 and homework is done, and showers are taken, and supper is cleaned up, and bills are paid.

I'm exhausted most of the time, and I have to wonder if it's just this phase of my life.

I AM ready for summer.  I'm ready for the freedom to go upstairs and work on crafts when I FEEL like it, not when I know I NEED to to complete an assignment.

I want to be a blogger like Meg or Shannan who share their lives with me everyday.  I want to have enough to talk about that you want to hear.

Stick with me people, it's one of my goals.  It's on my list!

A Trip and some treats

Tomorrow I'm headed with Evan to Chicago for his VERY LAST field trip before heading over to the junior high/high school next year.

We're headed to the Museum of Science and Industry.

I'm excited.

He is too.

I'll share some pictures when we get back, but before then, I want to share some "treats" with you.

In my rare spare time, I've been trying VERY hard to build up my inventory for the first 3 day stretch my cousins and I have at our local flea market.

It's the end of May, and I'll be honest, I'm freaking out a little.

I'm worried I won't have enough stuff for three days, but I'm STILL working.

Here is a preview of some of my favorites.

Are any your favorites?

I still have plenty of other things up my sleeve, but if you have any suggestions, let me know!

Ah, sun.

We've seen MANY cloudy days around here for what seems like weeks now.

Spring in Indiana has proven to be very wet, cold, and cloudy.

I MISS the sun.

It's amazing just how much better I feel, happier even, when the sun is out.

Sunday afternoon after the kid's baptism class at church, Grace asked if I could take her to the track to practice her hurdles for her meet tomorrow.

It was FINALLY warm enough to do it, so I agreed, even reluctantly, it was Sunday afternoon, and I wanted to relax myself.

But it was a warm day, and while she practiced...

Evan and I walked the track.

I'm not sure if this is her sport or not.  She LOVES the socialness of it where she can hang around and talk with her besties between the events they are in.

That's what she's all about at 13, socialness.

It felt good to have the sun on my face, even though it didn't help for taking pictures.  I just randomly snapped, not being able to even see what it looked like on my smartphone. (so, sorry if they are terrible.)

I sure hope this warmth continues...we've got places outside to be!

Oh well, spring in Indiana...never know what you're gonna get!   Happy Spring!

Comedy of Errors

As I sit here listening to the thunderstorm outside, I can't help but reflect on the day I had today that started off on a not so great note.

I was reminded of my dad this morning and his love for comedic actors and how things just never go right for them.  I felt a little like the character "Dorf" played by Tim Conway.  I can STILL hear my dad's laughter (which is QUITE contagious) when we first watched one of those movies when I was a kid.

My day started like this...first of all, every Wednesday is late start day for our school, so the kids get on the bus 20 minutes later, start class 20 minutes later, etc.  I HATE late start Wednesdays.  I have to get this kids on the bus during the time I normally get ready.  Yes, they are old enough to watch for the bus, get ready, etc...but it's getting them focused to do those tasks that takes the time.

Anyway, today, I went back to the bedroom to get ready and relied on them to watch for the bus.  Brent was on the computer in the living room, so he could keep them on task.

20 minutes after they were supposed to be on the bus, they were STILL here.  Weird.  Evan, who was the lookout, swore he didn't see the bus.  We thought she must've sped on past and forgot them.  (Although later in the day, I called transportation to report it, thinking they had a sub that forgot them, only to be told our driver DID stop at the house, and honk her horn a couple times.  REALLY?  Why did NO ONE hear it?)

FIRST not so great thing about the day.

We decided Brent would take Grace to the high school, and I would take Evan to his school since it was only a couple blocks from where I started the morning.

I had to rush a little more since Ev was so paranoid that he would be late and get a tardy.  In the midst of hurrying, my curling iron slipped and burned a little of my cheek.  Great.  Looks like I gave myself a hickey.

We got to school on time, but I realized I forgot my phone on the bathroom sink.  I can't be without my phone in case Grace's practice gets cancelled, or someone from the office calls me, so I RUSHED back home (thank goodness I'm only 8 minutes from the preschool where I start) and got my phone and RUSHED back to work, where I met the kids I help getting off the bus at the preschool.

JUST IN TIME.

The preschool day was a little rough, and there were some tantrums, which we all would've been better off without, but it was finally over.

I went back to the office, finished out the day, ran to the store before I had to pick up Ev from ISTEP prep, headed to the high school to get Grace, (where I practically fell asleep while reading my book and waiting,) only to head home and start supper, all the while I'm quizzing Ev for his spelling test.

I did some laundry, got the coffee ready, took the clean clothes upstairs for the kids to put away, got my clothes ready, and STILL have to get the menu planned so I can get groceries tomorrow night.

SIGH.

EXAGGERATED BREATH.

At least we weren't late this morning, right?  There's gotta be a bright side to the day.

I wonder why I'm so tired.....!

12 Things on the 12th

Not to be pretentious or anything...but I thought I'd share 12 things about myself...on the 12th.

You may already know these, but you may not.

Stick around and see.

1.  My favorite color (s) are red and turquoise.  Preferably together.

 2.  I try to wear a necklace everyday...and I have alot...because I really like them.   I would add these to my collection if I could.

 

 3.  I love to sew.  I never thought I'd say that after freshman Home Ec when I made a skirt and very fashionable 80's vest! (It was PEACH!)

4.  I would love to have a rotary phone in the kitchen.  This aqua one would do just fine!

 Growing up, we had a harvest gold one in the room between our kitchen and living room.  It had a super long cord that you could move from room to room with.

5.  I got braces in 7th grade and wore them till right after my school pictures in 10th grade.  My 7th grade boyfriend also had braces, and the running joke in our class was that if we kissed, we would get stuck together!  HI-LARIOUS everyone!

6.  I took piano lessons for 6 years while I was young.  I had a really old teacher who I didn't  like very much.  She was the scariest lady.

7.  My favorite subject in school was Math and English.  I had the best teachers.  One of them is Grace's math teacher this year.

8.  I LOVE TO READ.  Enough said.

9.  My favorite place to go is Chicago.  We go up there at least once a year, sometimes more.

10.  If I could do anything as a career, it would be to be a librarian, scrapbook all day long and get paid for it, own my own vintage shop, or host craft weekends every weekend at my house, and get paid!

11.  I never want to camp ever again.  It wasn't bad as a kid, but the thought of doing it as an adult, holds no appeal for me.

And lastly...

12.  I'm glad I started writing this blog...Never thought I would ever do anything like this...my sister was always the writer, but it's been a great experience.

What swirls through my head

I'm ITCHING to get in my garden.

I NEED to get peas and potatoes and some other early cold weather vegetables planted.  I'm waiting for Brent to get it tilled.  We have heavy clay that gets rock hard.

I'm dreaming of getting it all in the ground, knowing what work I have waiting for me this summer when it's all up and it's time to can/freeze it for the winter.

Ideas from Pinterest go on my gardening board daily.

Things like this...

I'm imagining different colored sunflowers mixed together.  Now, just to find the tank...
Since I LOVE the smell of lavender, and I already have some galvanized buckets, I'm thinking these need to be made.

 I also have an old radio flyer wagon on my porch, and the kids are selling geraniums for 4-H, so there you go...

 In my garden, I have a section just for cutting flowers.  My favorites because they are so hardy and pretty, and last up until fall are zinnias.

I'm a big fan of these flowers too, but I'm not sure what they are.  (if you know...enlighten me!)

When I find an old sink, this would be great for my back patio...

with an old coke crate to go with it.

In general, I LOVE flowers, I love the dirt, and I love the feeling that I'm growing something good for my family.

I think this motto pretty much sums it all up!

Do you garden?

Friends

I fell asleep last night on the couch, only to wake up this morning at 5:45 when Brent left for work.

He's the boss this week, and had to get things done.

I went back to bed, but couldn't go to sleep.

I read for awhile, and then closed my eyes, and had the STRANGEST dream.

It was about my high school best friends.

(this is NOT me and my best friends...just a picture of friends.)

We were once inseparable.  We had a love/hate relationship since kindergarten.  There were days we would HATE each other, (and fight), but we always patched it up again. 

Let me just preface here by saying, I have probably been a very bad friend over the years to my high school best friends because I haven't kept in touch.

It's probably been my fault.  But maybe not.  Maybe we just grew apart.

You see, we went to different colleges, but when we were home for the summer, we did hang out...but we'd already started finding different friends, friends who might become our "adult" best friends.

One of my friends got married first...to her high school boyfriend.

I got married next, and had the first child.

Then my 2nd best friend got married.

We moved to different towns, and our kids started growing up.

We started becoming friends with the parents of our kid's friends.

In the dream, I was talking to a guy friend we were all friends with.  We were back together at a school function after YEARS of being apart.  I was asking him questions and one of my best friends said, "Well, you just don't KNOW him anymore...WHERE have you been?"

In the dream I felt CRUSHED.  In real life, after waking up, I felt CRUSHED too.

Have I really been that bad of a friend?

I've talked to one of my best friends over the years, but not the other.  I blame it on schedules, different towns, etc.  Probably not good enough of an excuse.

This past summer I missed my 20th high school reunion.  It was my parent's 40th anniversary party and my sister was here from out of state, and we were taking family pictures together.

I had mixed feelings about missing it.

I keep in touch with the friends from high school who live around here, and who I still have things in common with.  Our paths cross when they cross.

I have lots of other friends, though.  Friends I went to college with, friends from church and work, and friends who are parents of my kids' friends.

Is that so bad?

I can't help but feel guilty about it.

I LOVE my children's friends.  They've had them since they first started school, and they are good kids, with great parents to match.

I HATE to burst their bubbles and tell them they may not still have these friends when they are my age.

So I won't tell them that, but secretly, I hope they DO still have these friends.

Tell me, am I wrong?  Do you still have your close high school friends?