Vacation Catch-up

Typically I post blogs about vacations a bit sooner.  Like, when we are actually ON the vacation.

I found that a bit difficult with no internet access.  My boys really think it is time for the local lakes to offer wi-fi at each campsite, because, come on, how will every body see the pictures of the really cool things that are captured on an hourly basis?

They haven't quite yet gotten to the age where they are blaming their parents (*cough*....father....*cough, cough*) for our family not having smart phones which would basically do everything they think they should have access to...........but, I digress.

Last Sunday we headed out for our week away at the local reservoir.  For several days before, I had been trying to convince my husband that it really would be easier if we had 2 vehicles on hand for the week.  We already knew we had to go back to town one day for prior commitments, and inevitably there seems to be a lot of running around for one thing or another.  And what if we had an emergency? And what if...? You get the picture.

Eventually he agreed that I could take the car.

So after packing nearly everything we owned for our week away (seriously, this was more prep work than a 12 day trip to Oregon!), we headed out.  My husband and oldest son were in the truck, pulling the camper and the jet ski.  My youngest son and I were following along nicely behind them in the car.

Fifteen minutes down the road, my low tire indicator light came on.

My heart sank.  I am sure my husband's blood pressure rose.

Two towns and three gas stations later and we still hadn't found a working air option.  Feeling fairly sure that the tire was not losing air quickly, we continued on to the lake.

Ten miles from our destination, my cell phone rang.  It was my husband.

He said, "Guess what we forgot?"

I love that question.

The grills.  Two little grills that belong to my dad. We forgot to pick them up. 

No problem…the menu for the next 5 nights only consisted of grilled brats, grilled chicken, grilled steak, grilled hamburgers, and grilled pork chops.

Ugh.

It was becoming apparent that this ‘vacation’ might be one big lesson in flexibility.

And we hadn't even actually made it to the lake yet.

There Is This Little Place

Sixteen years ago I began my career at this little school in the middle of nowhere.

I will never forget the day I drove up for my interview.  I am pretty sure my exact words were, "You have got to be kidding me."  I was in awe that I had never been there and had never even heard of the school even though I only lived ten minutes away.

Yet, the very next day I was turning down a job offer from a school nearby, and canceling two interviews I had scheduled for that week.

One school gave me a mini-lecture on all that I was giving up by not taking a job which included KPERS. 

The other school said, and I quote, "Do you realize you just canceled an interview with the highest paying school district in the state of Kansas?"


I wasn't sure I had any idea what I was doing.

But I was sure hoping that God did.

During the summer, I started meeting some colleagues. I was forewarned by one of them, "Watch out. This place will suck you in and become like family."  Then two of them invited me to a Mary Kay party to be held that evening.  I should have turned around and ran for the hills at that moment.

Instead, I went and endured the facial.

A few years later, one of these ladies asked me to stand up for her in her wedding.  The other asked me to be the Godmother of her children.


Family? Yes, I think so.

The family has morphed over the years.  Some are the same.  Many are different.  Regardless, this family of colleagues has walked through the last sixteen years of my life with me.

They supported me when I was the youngest, greenest teacher at the school.
They cried with me during our many miscarriages and years of infertility.
They cheered me on during the school's first accreditation.
They celebrated with me when our first child was born.
They lifted me up through health issues.
They prayed for me through our adoption journey.
They welcomed me back after a couple of years at home.
They held me up during grad school.

They love on my kids and greet them with hugs, high fives, and, of course, candy.
They are prayer warriors.
They offer praise when praise is due.
They give constructive criticism when the time is right.
They allow weakness and a shoulder to cry on.
They are advisers, coaches, and teammates.
They are friends.

I am feeling nostalgic about a new school year on the near horizon.

I am not sure why.

It may be that I am just needing to reflect and count my blessings.

It may mean that God has something really big in store for this year that I am not aware of.

It may be that my son's continuing health issues will necessitate that I work less, or not at all.

It may mean that I simply need more sleep.

It may mean nothing at all.   

Whatever is on the horizon, I know that God is already there.

Now I just need to trust.

His Name Is Speedy

It is official.

The kids have completely taken over.

We just arrived back from a week long camping trip, where the activities can quickly revolve around what the kids want to do....swimming, games, hiking, jet skiing, bug-hunting, roasting marshmallows, baseball, dirt-biking....

In spite of dodging the storms, we were able to do quite a bit of all of it.

The little guy kept asking to go swimming....which we quickly realized was his ticket to get to the beach to look for frogs, lizards, and snakes.

Then he asked to go jet-skiing....which we quickly realized was his ticket to get to the other beach to look for frogs, lizards, and snakes.

He never once actually rode the jet ski.

He caught frogs....they escaped.

His dad found a turtle on the road for him....the turtle escaped (apparently turtles can climb out of ice cream buckets when you are not looking).

Yesterday, he found a snake.

He begged to catch it.

His dad sidetracked him with trying to help him catch lizards.  It took a very long time.  Lizards are really, really fast.

His dad gets super-dad gold star points for this venture.  Dad would much rather be driving motorcycles and jet skis.  Creatures are not so much his thing. 

But he endured.

And they caught this.

And brought him back in a cute little yellow bucket, where I thought he would stay for, maybe, at least 15-20 minutes before he made a great escape.

But no....

We took him back to the campsite.

My son declared that his lizard needed a new home.

So this...

....which usually holds this....

....now holds this.

Much to my delight.

This is how Speedy the lizard traveled home, in the back of my car.  And where he has stayed since we arrived at our house last night.

I will say, though,  that Speedy is the best babysitter ever.  My son spends every free waking moment by this cooler.

However, this morning my little guy walked outside and noticed the incredibly cool weather.  He came flying back in and said he was afraid it was too cold for Speedy.  His exact words were, "Can you knit him a sweater?!"

Uhhhhh.....NO.  I am totally drawing the line at knitting sweaters.

A Camping We Will Go...

When I was growing up, there were moments when it felt like we lived at the lake.

I remember loving it.

And hating it.

It depended on the year...or the weekend...and more importantly, what fun I thought I might be missing back home, and, if I was allowed to take a friend along with me for the weekend.

I learned a lot at the lake....like what it was like to grow up in an all-male world.  My family usually camped with one or two other families, and everyone had boys.  Lots of boys.  Usually this was infuriating, but in the end, they ended up becoming good friends or protective older "brothers".

Growing up with all of these boys must have been God's way of preparing me for only having sons.

It also may have been His way to teach me to cut loose a bit....like riding dirt bikes down the boat ramps and flipping over the handlebars into the lake, all while being on the look-out to make sure the park rangers never caught us.  That has to be one of my favorite camping memories.

My childhood is full of these kinds of stories.

However, junior high consisted mostly of me whining about being dragged to the lake AGAIN.

High school found me finally old enough to stay home and avoid that camping nonsense altogether.

Now here I am, married with children....and back at the lake in a camper of my own.

I am sure my father is shaking his head in amazement.

My boys have grown up visiting grandpa and grandma at the lake, and begging for weekend trips as much as we can fit them in.  There is no way to describe their love for it other than that....THEY.LOVE.IT.  Three summers ago we borrowed my parent's camper and went out for a 4-day weekend around the 4th of July.  It rained nonstop.  (Proof here.)  We mentioned a few times (close to 50) that we should probably just head home.  They begged and pleaded to stay in the pouring down rain.  No way were they willing to cut their camping trip short.  I have no idea why riding a bike or playing a game is so much more fun at the lake, but apparently it is.

Even the food tastes better at the lake.  Just ask anyone who camps.

So last August we decided we had already taken too much advantage of mom and dad, and we set out to find a camper of our own.

And I have to admit....I love it.  We have been out a couple of times this summer, and are planning an extended 'vacation' in the near future.

I really enjoy the quiet....
....and the scenery.
....and the jet-skiing.
....and the campfires.

But most of all, I enjoy the family time. Together-time. Talk-time.

No technology. No meetings to go to. No house to clean. No laundry to do (not at that moment, anyway!). Nowhere to rush off to.

It's peaceful.

...And I fully understand that I may feel differently about all of this after spending 6 straight days together in what could quickly feel like a little metal box.   

But, until then, I am going to stick with 'peaceful'.

Here Is What I Know...

I have nothing amazingly important to blog about, but I have found several tidbits flying around my brain the past couple of days.

So....

Here is what I know.

1.  I am a selfish shopper.  My husband is amazing.  He will shop with me all day without complaint.  I, on the other hand, have discovered that I don't have the same tolerance.  There is something about being in Lowe's and hearing the phrase, "I just need to look around for awhile," that makes my skin crawl.  The same phrase, however, is perfectly acceptable from me in Maurices. Go figure.

2.  It takes much, much longer to design Elementary Writing Curriculum Guides than I thought it would.  After significant research, I have learned that I have a lot to learn.

3.  I am feeling a major need to get something organized in my world.  My house feels disorganized, my office is completely disorganized, and I feel very unorganized for the new school year that is rapidly approaching.  Maybe I should go clean and organize my car.  That would be a start.

4. My 7 year old just said, "I have big anger problems." After yesterday, I can't argue with that.  At least he is not in denial about it.

5.  I have been trying for weeks to convince my 10 year old how much fun it would be to go to church camp.  He is not buying it. I absolutely lived for summer camp when I was his age, so I don't get his lack of interest at all.  However, I finally realized that I better shut up about it.  His last comment was something like, "Mom, aren't you supposed to be happy that I like to stay home with my family? I am starting to think you are trying to get rid of me."

6.  In reference to #1...(which I actually wrote 4 days ago)...I just heard on the radio that the average man can only handle shopping for 26 minutes.  That news makes my husband a rock star.  But still, 26 minutes is a too long in Lowe's.

7. This morning was just..."one of those mornings".  My husband walked in at lunch and said to my 10 year old, "How was your morning?".  He got the standard response, "Good".  When he asked me, the answer sounded more like this - "If it weren't for the fact that your sister's family is counting on us, and that we already have our spots reserved at the lake, I would have canceled our camping trip.  Apparently nobody in this house knows how to obey or how to be kind anymore." To which he looked right back at the 10 year old and said, "Good, huh?"

And on that note...we are heading out to the lake.

With children who will be relearning how to obey and be kind.

After they stay up late and eat too much sugar.

In eleventy-billion degree weather.

This should be fun!

Ten Hours On Prednisone...

...and I am ready to pull my hair out.

I don't know if it is physically possible for the side effects to begin already.  If not, this child is in desperate need of sleep.

My house sounds like this:

"No!"

"I just want to do what I WANT TO DO!"

{Insert tantrum here.}

"Uggghhhhh!! Why won't anyone do what I want to do!"


"There is nothing here to do!"

{Insert sobbing here.}

"No, I don't want to!"

"Why is he singing again? I am NOT in the mood for listening to songs!"

{Insert hitting the wall here.}

"I hate that game!"

Two second pause.

"Hey, mom, can we set up a lemonade stand?"

...HUH?!?!

Revisiting the List

I turned 38 a couple of weeks ago.

Some days that makes me want to be sick.  Other days it doesn't bother me so much. 

Honestly, I don't FEEL 38.  I'm not sure what 38 is supposed to feel like, but it is crawling dangerously close to 40.   I still feel 28.  Or 32.  I am really not sure what those should "feel" like either, but those numbers sure do seem....young.  It is a very good thing that all my 40+ friends say they are great with it.  And truthfully, those same friends don't seem old to me at all. 

So, it's all good.

What is not good is my "40 before 40" list.  I just went back and counted, and I have 28 items on that list which are not accomplished.  I'm a numbers kind of girl, and frankly, that just doesn't add up well. Two years to accomplish 28 items is not exactly how I planned this would go.

From June 2012 to June 2013, I completed a grand total of TWO of the 40 goals.  Granted, one of them was pretty major, but the other one barely even counts.  Here they are.
 
16. Get my Master's Degree. 

38. Spend an entire weekend at home without kids. 

That's it.  Two.

But, the past is the past, so I am looking ahead to the future.  It's time to knock off  several more if I am going to get even close to finishing.  Here are my top priorities.  

2. Exercise faithfully. No more four weeks on, three weeks off. There is a reason no one markets that routine.
4. Read 5 classics recommended by my classic literature fanatic friend. 
5. Go snow skiing for the 2nd time. The first time was okay, but everyone says you have to go a second time to really enjoy it.
8. Develop and keep up a habit of drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day.
11. Go through the entire house, basement included, room by room, throw out junk, and organize everything.
21. Eat less sugar.
28. Write an adoption book for my son.
29. Have my entire wardrobe be in a single digit size for the first time since I was twelve years old. 
35. Lead a workshop at a Teacher Convention.  
36. Be able to run a 5K. 

See a health theme? Yeah, me too.  I started the Couch to 5K workouts, and I am now beginning Week 3.  My husband is happily accompanying me as much as he can, and the poor guy is barely getting a workout.  While I am one step away from dying, he is jogging circles around me.

Literally.  He jogs ahead, circles around, and jogs up behind me again.  It's super fun.

Really, I am thankful he is there to keep me company.  It's not his fault  that he can walk faster than I can jog.

I'm hoping to run (jog...very slowly...) my first 5K in October.  There, I said it.  Now that it is published, I will feel like I have to do it.

I am also hoping that #36 on the list will cause #2 to happen naturally, which will assist with #8, which will help me continue with #21, which will happily result in #29.  I may or may not live in a fantasy world. 

The rest of the list is either tentatively on the calendar (snow-skiing and leading a workshop), or in process (reading classics), or something I really, really want to get done soon (the adoption book and going through the house).

It's all doable -- even before Christmas (well, maybe not snow-skiing).

It's time to knock my goals down to 16!

OK, that's just depressing.