Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Not Dead Yet

I am mostly recovered from my cold (except for a TRULY impressive cough, but it's occasional), but now am knee-deep in the joys of consignment sale. Yes, our church consignment sale is happening again this weekend, and I am again running it. This time with less pre-sale support than ever, although that's mostly because I'm bad at asking for help. You have your own stuff going on, I know, and I wouldn't want to impose. Not a good feature in an event chair, I'm afraid.

However, things are actually reasonably organized and (fingers crossed) somewhat advertised, so the main issue now is getting my OWN junk tagged and ready to go. I have remarkably few clothes on hangers, but a large pile of games and books, so I guess that's progress.

But I should go make more progress - since I have a back-to-school event tonight, one tomorrow, and then setup for the sale Thursday afternoon. Time is running out...

Monday, September 21, 2009

Thanks for Sharing

John came home from a business trip last week, and brought home a cold. Very thoughtfully, he has shared with JC and I. JC recovered in 2 days, I'm on day 2 and feeling like something the cat dragged in. I'm crossing my fingers I'll feel better tomorrow.

It would help if I was sleeping better. Not that THAT has anything to do with consuming caffeinated beverages at dinnertime, or the impending consignment sale at the church that I'm running, or anything like that. No, no, stimulants and stress couldn't POSSIBLY be the problem. I sat down to watch football and knit yesterday afternoon, thinking I'd take a little break and then get to work, but ended up sleeping through most of the 1pm game. It helped a little, but not a lot, which is how I knew I was sick.

So I'm moving in a bit of a fog today. So far I've blown off the grocery store, which really can wait until tomorrow. But I did drag myself to the gym, but unfortunately that apparently has sapped both my energy and my motivation. I have to pick up both boys for a dentist appointment in an hour, but am I going to get anything done in that hour? Not likely.

So I will drink some (more) orange juice, and lots of water, and NO caffeine, and hopefully sleep well tonight. And feel better in the morning.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Now It's Real

The second week of school has started. The first full week, really, so now there will be actual homework (bringing home forms for me to fill out doesn't count), and the beginnings of our usual schedule. William's soccer practice is at a manageable time, but I still don't know Rachel's, so there is a little uncertainty.

JC survived his all-day band practice and competition on Saturday - they even placed first, which is pretty impressive considering they'd been practicing since 8am in the rain, ate dinner at the school, then got on the bus to compete at 8:45pm after an hour and a half bus ride. I picked him up about 11:45pm. He was remarkably chipper, happy they won, and very wet and stinky. Hoping it doesn't get much worse than that.

Our weather has done a 180 to bright, sunny, moderate to warm temperatures. Perfect September weather, really. I had thoughts of mowing the lawn but alas, laundry beckons, as do bill paying and other lovely tasks like cleaning the litter boxes. Unfortunately, blogging only delays things, they don't go away, so...

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Nine Nine Oh Nine

I've been loving writing the date on all the school forms today. I "entertained" Rachel at breakfast this morning by reading her all of the "nine" facts that were in the paper in the article on the date.
All my little chicks made it to their appointed places and had a good day today.

I get the "bad mom award", because when I went to take a picture of William at the bus, my camera battery was dead. Of course, John had his Blackberry so we did get a picture, although it's a little fuzzy.By the time Rachel left, I had changed the battery. JC, of course, did not tolerate any pictures, nor was I allowed down to the bus stop. I contrived to take the garbage to the curb after he walked down to the bus stop, but the boys were standing off to one side of the street and I couldn't really see them.
Everyone had a good day (William described his day as "GREAT!" but couldn't tell me anything they did), only Rachel had "homework", although it seemed to be a survey about how she feels about science. I filled out all the forms, and just have to write the check to join the PTO at William's school. We went out to dinner at Red Lobster - John left this afternoon to a trade show in Europe, so JC was doing puppy eyes hoping for seafood (John's allergic, JC loves it). Tomorrow is a full day of school, with band practice (JC) and an orthodontist appointment (Rachel) and choir practice (me), so we're jumping right into busy. But the routine will be good.
Speaking of which, I've gotten to bed before 11pm the last two nights, and it makes getting up at 6am a WHOLE lot easier. Huh. Who woulda guessed?

Monday, September 7, 2009

Happy New Year!

Somehow, the start of school feels far more like "New Year's Day" to me than January 1st. This is the new beginning, the fresh start. It's going to be an interesting year. JC is going to be far busier this fall than he's ever been before - could be good, no time to get bored, or it could be a disaster. It WILL be an adjustment. He's had few activities outside school for the past couple of years. Rachel will have her first taste of changing classes, although we don't know how much she'll be changing yet. And she's a bit of a worrier, so hopefully her teacher will be understanding. William will have to contend with higher expectations in 2nd grade. He has a hard time focusing when he's doing seat work, so that's going to be an ongoing challenge.

I've realized I have a consignment sale in 4 weeks, so I really need to get on the stick for that. I have activities to create for our Sunday School kick-off next Sunday, and of course, all the support activities for everyone else's needs. John will be leaving for Amsterdam on Wednesday, so he'll get a taste of the kids' first half-day, then be gone for almost a week. To his credit, he is upset that he'll miss JC's first performance and competition for marching band. But there will be more!

School starts Wednesday. Tomorrow is our dry run - I've told the kids that I'm waking them at school times tomorrow. But that means I have to go to bed as well. Ugh. I'm looking forward to the school year - except for that waking up thing.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Quit Whining

I just wrote a big whiny post about band camp and missing bus schedules and...deleted it. The weather is beautiful, I'm very proud of JC for how well he has handled band camp, and if the bus schedule doesn't show up, I'll drive Rachel the first day.

We are camping in Pennsylvania this weekend. By ourselves. I'm bringing knitting, a book (maybe two), and while I will pack my swimsuit, I have no actual intention of using it. I'm going to eat whatever I feel like (for the most part) and just chill. I have packed cookies.

Tuesday will be a whirlwind of activity, with school open houses, dentists appointments, and more band practice, but on Wednesday? They all go back to school. Just a half day, true, but Thursday will be a regular day and hopefully that calm while they are gone will enable me to handle the after school chaos with equanimity and grace. Mostly.

And the best news? John is making huge strides on the deck. I need to take some pictures, but we've gone from the slow progress of hole digging to the lightning speed of framing. Kazaam! It's awesome!