Life with both the young'uns in school

I had so much planned for today...

After the kids got on the bus, though, I ran two miles.  Because I am out of shape, it drained me of energy for the rest of the morning.  It was nice, though, to get moving again...I was about two thirds of the way around the block when a dog literally opened the door to her house to come after me.  She was friendly, and because I didn't want her to wander off, I waited around for the owner to come outside.  Dog's owner is friendly too.

Afterward, I got to work on the shelf in the family room.  It used to hold a bunch of baskets full of toys--but over time, those toys got broken, or discarded, or donated, or returned to the kids' rooms.  So instead of six baskets full of toys, we ultimately had one basket full of markers, paper, and miscellaneous things.  Rather than cling to the idea that they need a ton of toys, I threw out a bunch of things and got rid of the baskets on the first shelf.  The baskets on the second shelf still hold some art supplies, but also apples, granola bars, fruit strips, fruit cups, cracker packages, and small servings of things I've packaged, like M&Ms, peanuts, sunflower seeds, or Cheez-Its.  On the top I'm gonna put some cereal dispensers and bowls so they can serve themselves when they have the munchies (within reason) or when it's 6:00 on Saturday morning.

This could backfire dramatically.  But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

By the time it was time for my guitar lesson, I was ready for the silence to be broken.

Were it not for the suffocating humidity (it's hot, but the humidity is way, way worse) and the fluffy stalks of doom invading my yard, I would have been pulling weeds for much of the morning.

These days will be productive.  I'll miss my kids, but they're so brave and wonderful that I am more than confident they will be fine.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. It's hard to believe, but next week's Hodgepodge will find us in the month of September. What's one thing you want, need, or hope to do still before summer officially ends?

Practice guitar a little more.  I have spent most of the summer running around, dealing with screaming, panicking, trying to find stuff, etc.  My guitar is feeling a little neglected.

2. When were you last at 'your wit's end'?

Genuinely not sure.  My wits go pretty far, and I learned many years ago that sometimes taking things "one day at a time" is too much, and your best bet is to take things five minutes at a time.

3. Describe a time you were figuratively thrown into 'the deep end'?

Dealing with Sunshine's health issues has felt a lot like that.  I have no idea what I'm doing with appointments or information half the time.  Thankfully, she has some amazing doctors and they are really forthcoming with honest and helpful answers.

4. Does the end always, ever, or never justify the means? Explain.

...eh, I want to say sometimes, but I've never heard anyone say this when they weren't planning--or doing--something really awful.  To that end, no, there's a better way to the end than terrible behavior.

5. What makes your hair stand on end?

The ear-splitting shriek of a five-year-old who can't find her favorite stuffed pony.  Good GRIEF but she can scream. (cringe)

6. I read an article on the website Eat This! Health, that listed 11 foods we can eat to help end bad moods. Basically it's a feed your brain so you're less anxious, grouchy and lethargic. The foods are-mussels, swiss chard, blue potatoes, grass fed beef, dark chocolate, greek yogurt, asparagus, honey, cherry tomatoes, eggs, and coconut. Which of those do you think would most help end your own bad mood? Which do you fear, if forced to eat, would put you into a bad mood?

Probably mussels.  I love most of the things on this list, and the ones that I don't love, I can handle in certain preparations (you know how asparagus is really good?  Brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, and grilled).  I can't say I care at all for mussels.

Now please excuse me while I go prepare a bowl of greek yogurt drizzled with honey.

7. What project around your home, office, or life in general feels like there is 'no endin sight'?

Decluttering.  I feel like every time we get near a good point, someone's birthday rolls around and someone ELSE overdoes it.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

School started today.  Scout is in fourth grade.  Sunshine will be in Kindergarten, but she doesn't start until tomorrow.  I ask them, every year on the first day, what they want to be when they grow up.  Scout says he doesn't know, and I like telling him he doesn't have to decide anytime soon.  Sunshine says she wants to be a doctor.

I'm so proud of them both.

35 years

Today, I turned 35.

I started my Saturday as I always do, with an early-morning trip to the grocery store (I go early on Saturdays because the store is not crowded and the crazy people who want to argue with the clerk for free crackers are still in bed), then laundry.

At some point, the laundry got set aside (it still isn't folded, I'll do that tomorrow, I promise!) so that my dear husband and kids could take me to opening day at the local Renaissance festival.

We had fun, with the games and the food and the shops and the shows.  The kids loved it, I loved it, my husband loved it, my daughter got her Halloween costume (she's going as a fairy, I guess), I did NOT get my Halloween costume (fun fact: the three-piece costume that you basically see runs a grand total of $300), we watched the jousting tournament, it was fun.

I do think, though, that I'll be taking my chances making my own costume.  It shouldn't be hard, she said.  All I need are some solid colored cottons, she said.

Famous last words.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Way back when (the Hodgepodge bicentennial to be precise) several of you submitted questions as part of a giveaway I was hosting. I went back to that list for inspiration today and found a question  submitted by Marla, who blogs over atMarla's Musings. Thanks Marla! 

She asks-At what age did you feel like a 'grown-up'? What keeps you young now?   

Hm.  I have no idea.  I guess when I graduated from college? Feeling like a grown-up happens by degrees, and a lot of them happen in a huge hurry between 17 and 23.

What keeps me young these days...not worrying about it.  I turn 35 on Saturday, so I've had a few of these thoughts lately, but in the end, I've earned every ache, every wrinkle, every gray hair I have.

2. When did you last buy a vehicle? Was this by design or because you had no other option? Was the car/truck purchased for your own personal use or was it bought for someone else to drive? On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being delightful and 1 being 'pass the Excedrin') how would you rate the experience?

The last time I was there for it was in 2008, and mostly out of necessity.  I was driving a smallish vehicle that wasn't terribly family friendly, and we'd just found out I was expecting.  It was welcome news, after having lost our previous child when I was 36 weeks pregnant, but it meant we would need a bigger vehicle, so we bought a van.

Two weeks later, we lost that baby too.  It would be another year and a half before we had a second child in the back seat.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate the experience a -72.  I hate buying vehicles.

3. Corn bread, corn chips, corn pudding, corn on the cob, cornflakes, corn chowder-your favorite of the corn-y foods listed? What needs to be served alongside your selection?

Corn bread!  With a nice bowl of soup or chili, please.

4. What's something in your life that regularly requires you to 'put your thinking cap on'?

Well, it isn't an issue these days, because school doesn't start till next week, but homework.  Maybe helping my kids with their homework is what keeps me young...

5. Share a favorite movie set in a school or classroom, or whose theme relates to school days in some way.

October Sky.  While it doesn't all take place in a classroom, it's heavily related and the main characters learn a lot of things on their own, which almost makes it more inspiring.

6. Reading, writing, and 'rithmatic' are commonly referred to as the three R's. What are the three R's in your life right now?

Running (having to be in a million places at once is exhausting!)

Religion (I love God, He's good to us)

Reading (reading three books at a time gets confusing)
7. What's something you've learned or tried recently you can say was as 'easy as ABC'?

Cooking new things is fun.  I got my pressure cooker out after a long hiatus last week and made chicken with it.  It turned out good, so I got out my pressure cooker cookbook and found a recipe for a bolognese sauce that I'm making this week.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Backyard kitty hasn't been around lately.  I hope like anything he found his way home.  

not sure why it's on my mind...

...though it's probably because I'm following a blog of a woman who's had some unfortunate circumstances with family planning.  (Which always kind of makes me laugh with scorn...family planning, as if it's up to us.)  And actually, I'm following TWO blogs of that sort.

When I first found out I was expecting my son, my husband told his parents almost immediately.  I was anxious, because I knew how these things go, and Heaven knows I was right as it applies to us (Sunshine was my fifth pregnancy out of six), but that was how he rolled, and what did I know at that time, so I rolled with it.

A few days later, we were at my parents' house, and I shot him The Look, and said, "Well, you told your parents, should we tell them?"

My husband shrugged/nodded, and I'm still not quite sure what that means, but my parents looked anxious.  My father looked like he expected a divorce announcement.

I simply responded with:  "You have until March.  Get used to the idea of being grandparents."

My father was overjoyed.  Mom looked like Christmas had come early.  My sister, who has NO filters, started in with "I kinda ****in knew this was coming!" but she was excited too.  From that day until the day my son was born, she referred to him as HER "jelly bean".  He'd probably still be her jelly bean, except we live nine hundred miles away, and he's almost as tall as me.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. When was the last time you relocated? Did you move yourself or leave it to the professionals? Are you happy staying put or is there a move in your future? Best thing about moving to a new city or town? Least favorite and/or hardest thing about moving house?

Four years ago, almost exactly, we moved from Kansas to Pennsylvania.  My husband had gotten a job offer he couldn't refuse, and they paid professionals to move us.  I do love our new city, and it's possible we'll move to a different home at some point, but I do NOT want to do another long move.

I would say the best thing about moving to a new city or town is it's a chance to see something new, learn something new, reorganize as you unpack, that sort of thing.  The hardest thing about moving is having to start over again making friends...I like to joke that I'm not good with names, so for the first year or so at a new church or job, I just call everyone Molly.

2. When were you last 'moved to tears'? Explain.

Is anyone gonna laugh if I say singing "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch of the last baseball game we went to?  

3. Do you have rules about eating in the car...any forbidden foods? What's the last thing you consumed in your car? Your go-to car snack when traveling long distance?

No, I don't...I probably should, though.  When we go on a long car trip I will do just about anything to make my kids happy, even if the van is a smelly, crumb-filled mess when we get there.  The last thing consumed in my van was probably water, though the last food was apparently some Twizzlers.  We all love them.

For long car trips, I almost always pick up a bunch of cheese and crackers.  Nothing makes kids happy in the middle of a fourteen hour drive like cheese and crackers (and juice boxes).

4. Share a favorite song relating to cars and/or driving.

For some reason, the only one coming to mind is "Running Down A Dream" by Tom Petty.

5. What's your most frequently visited drive-thru...Starbucks? the bank? the pharmacy? some other window?

hm, we don't hit drive-thrus often.  Seems like it might be Steak 'n' Shake.

6. "He who hesitates is lost"...would you agree? When it comes to making decisions do you generally act quickly or do you more often than not fall into the 'lost' category?

Not always.  Rushing into a decision is not always the best thing to do.  I tend to take my time with making decisions...as long as I have time to take.

7. When was the last time you got lost? Was it stressful or an unexpected happy adventure?

Getting lost while driving is an easy thing to do in this city.  A couple weeks ago, I was heading to the grocery store and I wound up getting routed around something that was going on up ahead, and I wound up on these winding little side streets through a nearby neighborhood.  I thought I knew where I was going, I thought I knew how to get back, but I didn't.  If my kids had been with me, it would have been stressful...mostly it just wound up being a chance to learn a little bit more about the roads in our area.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Scout has an interesting year coming up.  We got a letter on Saturday from the school informing us that he was being placed in accelerated math for the next school year.  He's also in the orchestra.  He's also in the band.  I'm very proud of him, but I hope it isn't too much on his plate.

Week in review

This was Scout's first week back from camp, and I kind of like to keep those things low-key. But here is a photo of him introducing us to his friend from camp:

He's very good with horses--every time he's there, it impresses me greatly how well he understands them, and how they understand him.  He'd be a good veterinarian some day, though I won't push him.

We also signed up Sunshine for her next year of dance classes.  Like Scout and his horses, dance is Sunshine's happy place.

Sunshine's bravery over the last year of medical difficulties has been amazing.  I wish I was more like her.  She's been patient and brave (if perhaps a little combative) over the last year, which included two MRIs and two angiograms.  I'm grateful we can keep track of her conditions, and I've been grateful that it hasn't been worse.  Given her level of interest every time we've been at the hospital over the last year, she'd be a good doctor some day--but again, I won't push her.

As for me, I'm not going to say I'm counting down the days to the start of school (but there's 25), but I am looking forward to watching them both fly again.

Meanwhile, we spend our summers at the park, at the amusement park, at the water park, and at the ballpark...