The week in review

Obviously I haven't had a lot of time on my hands this past week. It went fairly smoothly, even with all the running back and forth and here and there. Best part of the week was Brian coming home on Saturday. Everyone was very happy to have him back. He got home just in time to see the last half of a scrimmage baseball game between Noah's team and another team. Noah even got to pitch and didn't do half bad.

Today was a full day. Despite turning the clock forward, we went to early service rather than our usual late service (9am vs. 10:45). I had put a half-ham in the oven before we left, so that all I needed to do once we got home was make the mashed potatoes. We finished lunch just in time for me to run to a birthday party with Halle.

While I was gone, Brian and the boys did a LOT of yard work. The boys did the dirty work of cleaning up after the dogs... something that hadn't been done in a while since it is a nearly impossible thing to do during the rainy season. Our yard is slick and muddy when it is wet out, so there is no way to take care of the "stuff" they leave behind. Once they finished their job, Brian was able to mow the yard. They also cleaned out the front flowerbed. And when I say "cleaned out," I mean it. They removed everything. Not sure yet what we'll fill it back up with. It's a very sunny location, so we'll have to find something that does well in full sun.

I ended up going out again for various things... dog food for Rory, a CostCo run for stock-up items from the coupon sale that ended today, and to return movies to Blockbuster. Got home with enough sunlight left to play ball with Rory in the back yard.

Speaking of Rory, Brian said he took both dogs for walks while I was gone (separately), and said his walk with Rory took twice as long as the one with Campbell because of all the people who wanted to meet them. She does draw a lot of attention and gets many compliments because of her gentle temperament. People also notice how calmly she walks with us, rather than trying to take us for a walk.

Oh, one other cool thing from the week: Emily's select choir from school received a "command performance" at the music festival they attended this week. Only the groups that receive a superior rating from the adjudicator get to sing at the concert at the close of the festival. Emily text-messaged me to let me know and thought it was quite funny that I wasn't there to hear them sing (she had a descant duet with a tenor on their performance piece). Hopefully someone videotaped it and I will get to see/hear it.

Challenges ahead

I had thoroughly intended to post before this, but it has been an unusual week here. On Tuesday, Brian stayed home from work sick, and then on Wednesday, I was the bedridden one. (Thankfully, he was up to snuff and handled the house and kids for me.) I have no idea what I had, but I was just sapped of all energy and felt like I was drifting in and out of consciousness for the first half of the day. Ran a fever of 2-3 degrees, but by Thursday, I was pretty much OK. Good thing, because Brian had to go back to work!

Now with those challenges met, I have new ones to face. Brian leaves for San Antonio tomorrow and won't be back till the 8th. This leaves me to juggle baseball practices, choir practice, AWANA, etc. alone all week. Not usually that big of a deal, but we have something new thrown into the mix next week. Emily's choir instructor has called additional rehearsals in the evening to prepare the choir for Musicale, a big chorale event held up in Sac on Thursday and Friday. She has rehearsals on Mon/Tue from 5:30-7:30 and Wed. 4:30-6:30. Noah has moved to a new baseball team and his practices have shifted to 1/2 hour later, starting at 5:30 and ending at 6:30 now. Here's a picture of what my days look like next week, courtesy of my Entourage calendar (click to biggify):


What the schedule doesn't show is that Thursday and Friday, Emily is in Sac all day and I will need to pick her up from school in the evenings at some point. Most likely it will be after 7 on Thursday and then probably near the end of my Friday night commitment (which is very near the school, anyway).

I think I have all the conflicts worked out... just need to check with the neighbors whose son is on the same team as Noah, and with a coupla folks from church who could help get Halle to/from AWANA just to help life slow down a bit for me and save a little gas. (Now *there's* another post... gas prices here have jumped over 30 cents in the last week!) Still planning next week's menu, but have figured out what night will need to be a fast food night and which nights eating at home will be most doable.

I have a feeling by the time the week is over, I'll be wishing I had a hot tub (spa) to climb into.

What a weekend

This past weekend was no different than most of our weekends, plenty of things to keep us occupied. It began Friday afternoon with Noah's ball practice at 5 (for which he only stayed 40 minutes or so because of our regular Fri-night CR engagement that starts around 6), and ended with falling asleep to HGTV around 10:30 last night.

We had AWANA pinewood derby on Saturday (saw some very cool and original designs... Halle is already thinking of hers for next year), followed by a quick lunch at Wendy's. We got home around 3 and around 30 minutes later were reminded by neighbors of their daughter's birthday party at 4 at one of the local "jump houses" (for those not familiar with the term, they are large rooms filled with inflatable bounce houses/slides/mazes). Thankfully, we did already have a present and wrapping paper, so we were able to get ready to go and were on time for the festivities. All the families on our street with children under 13 were there, plus a few extra. I was able to get in a little visiting with the other moms, something I really don't do very often. We got home in time to put dinner in the oven.... Paula Deen's Baked French Toast. Joel said he gave it an "A." Guess that means I'll need to make it again. Watched Mr. Bean's Holiday with the kids and Brian before bedtime (it was as much torture for me the second time as the first) and ended the evening falling asleep while watching Two Weeks with Brian. The fact that I fell asleep had *nothing* to do with the movie; I was just too tired by that time to stay awake. I was up early enough yesterday morning to finish watching it before getting out of bed.

I cannot say enough about Two Weeks. I can not imagine a person who could watch it and not be affected by it. It is amazing the range of emotions one movie can provoke. The basic storyline surrounds four adult siblings whose mother is dying of ovarian cancer and what happens when they come together in her home for what they believe will be her last few days (turning into two weeks... thus the title). There are moments that will make you laugh, cry, feel like slapping someone... and make you think. Watch it. Let me know how it affected you.

Yesterday we went to church and then out for lunch at Tahoe Joe's. Brian and I split a ribeye (really, should anyone eat a 14 oz. steak?). Halle and Noah both ordered the kids' steak, which has always been very good in the past. Unfortunately, the same could not be said yesterday. Apparently they changed the cut of meat they use for it and instead of a small sirloin, it was a big thick unidentifiable chunk of meat. Halle's was so tough I couldn't cut it, and Noah's was so tasteless, he barely ate 1/4 of it. Our server disappeared on us after serving the food so that we couldn't even tell her to take it back.... we had to ask the hostess to tell our server about it. Saw her do that, but the server never came back to the table (she even walked right past us to start chatting up a new table full of guys). Everyone else finished eating, and we finally asked to talk to the manager. We politely and calmly explained our dissatisfaction with the food and service (Brian's glass sat empty for 20 minutes). The manager wound up comping us the entire meal, plus gave us a card good for 3 free kids' meals on our next visit. We *will* go back, mostly because yesterday was quite atypical for that restaurant, and also because of the way the manager responded. There have been times we have had issues or questions in a restaurant and the managerial staff has responded defensively or made excuses; he did neither of those, but just apologized and asked for a chance to make it right. I appreciated that.

Came home and finished making this week's menu/shopping list, then headed to the commissary. Came home, put away groceries, then folded a couple of loads of laundry while watching the Oscars. There will be MUCH more laundry to do today. Brian helped the boys clean their room while I was shopping (and after I got back... and they still aren't done) and discovered a huge amount of clothing that hadn't been making its way to the laundry.

On the agenda this week in the evenings:

• a ball practice every evening from 5-6ish Mon-Fri, plus at least one on Saturday morning.
• Easter choir rehearsal for me tonight
  
• play rehearsals for Emily after school a couple days (not sure which)
• Tuesday night AWANA for Halle, growth group meeting for me and Brian
• Brian's regular Wed. evening group meeting
• Fri. night CR
  

Thursdays are happy nights; only Joel's ball practice to worry about (unless I have praise choir rehearsal...)

Good stuff

Maybe I am one of the last people to hear about this guy, but I have to mention Dr. Randy Pausch and his "Last Lecture". Randy is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in his last weeks of life; he has been fighting pancreatic cancer since Sept. 2006 and was told late last summer that he had about 3-6 months of good health left. Amazingly enough, the latest update at his website 2 days ago shows him still enjoying good health. At any rate, you owe it to yourself to watch the video of his lecture (also available with closed captioning), or at least read the transcript. Personally, I preferred watching him. He has a remarkable outlook on life, and I guarantee you that what you will hear is not what you'd expect from a man who is dying and is the father of three young children. It is a little over an hour long, but worth it. He did do a very condensed version (around 10 minutes) on Oprah, which can be found at YouTube if you search for his name and Oprah.

Newest favorite song: In Your Presence, by Charity Von. Actually, until I looked for it at iTunes, I had no idea who sang it. It is one we've done a couple of times at church. Simple song, simple melody, easy to harmonize with. Check out the lyrics (and then get yourself a copy):

In your presence
I find comfort
In your presence I find peace.
In your presence
I surrender
Lord, I give you all of me.

And in your presence
I fall on my knees.
For you are worthy
In your presence
I hear angels sing,
"Holy! Holy! Is the Lamb of God!"

Forgot to mention that last weekend was our ladies' retreat/conference at church. We were blessed to hear from Renee Swope, from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Can't say enough nice things about her. She was so transparent with us about her life and what God has brought her through. The weekend left us all renewed and refreshed.

The mother of all bulleted lists

My infrequency of posting has left many to wonder if I am still alive. The answer is unequivocally yes.... although with the schedule we'll be keeping this spring, that may not hold true for long! There is much I haven't mentioned here, but not for lack of wanting to; I just haven't found the time. But here I sit, hubby out of town, oldest daughter spending the night away, and the other three happily entertaining themselves a few steps away. This may just be the perfect time to get everything all out in the open. What better way to do it than with bullets???

• We joined the ranks of Wii owners this Christmas. It was the surprise hit of the day. As a testimony to its appeal, I saw more of Emily in the 3 days following Christmas Day than I did in the 3 weeks prior! Favorite games are Wii Sports (Joel has actually bowled a perfect 300!), Wii Play, and Carnival Games. Emily is lobbying to get Guitar Hero III after playing it on a friend's PlayStation; she says she RULES it. That probably means I would *not* rule it. I would like to wait and see if Rock Band is going to be made for Wii; my sister says it is a lot of fun. According to Wikipedia, EA announced plans for a Wii version on Jan. 31, so we'll have to wait and see if that plays out.
  
• I think I mentioned that the boys will be playing baseball this spring. Noah started practice this week. He had practice Monday and Wednesday from 5-6, Friday for about 1/2 of that, but only because we had to leave early for Celebrate Recovery, and today from 9-11. So far, it looks like the same schedule for next week, but it may change. Got the call from Joel's coach today, and his first practice is this Thursday from 5-6, with a 15-min parent meeting before that. This will be very interesting, having 2 in sports at the same time; it's a first for us. No word yet on what days the actual games will be. To complicate matters, Noah's team will have to travel to some surrounding towns 30 minutes or so away to play, and possibly even to one about 2 hours away. And then there is coordinating all this with Emily's play rehearsals, which for now are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school until around 4. Thankfully, many of Noah's team members live here in our neighborhood, less than a block away, even.
  
• During the sports physicals the boys had to prepare for Little League, we found out Noah needed a more thorough vision exam. So now he is sporting glasses. Overall, his vision isn't too bad, but it seems that his right eye had been doing most of the work.
• 
• Halle finished up her first AWANA book this past week. She is starting on the second one now. She probably won't be able to finish it this year, but should get far enough along in it so that she will be able to get through both it and book 3 next year, which will put her right on track with where she should be.
• Still making it to the movies on occasion. Emily and I went to see 27 Dresses a few weeks ago. Just goes to show I cannot listen to any professional movie reviewers. I loved it. Don't want to give anything away for those who haven't seen it, but for those who have, I totally was in tears in the bridal shop scene with the sister. I was feeling Jane's pain.
  
• Halle and I went to see the Hannah Montana 3D movie. I actually missed the Super Bowl to take her. We got home just moments after the last play. Ah well, I think it was worth it.
  
• Tonight, the kids and I went to the base theater to catch The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Halle hadn't been all that keen on seeing it, but even she said it was better than she thought it would be. I appreciated the message of the story: Heroes don't have to be the biggest, bravest, or strongest. They just have to do what's right, even when it isn't easy. Good lesson for our kids to learn, and I can think of a lot of us adults who would do well to learn it as well.
• The dog training is going well. What I find almost inconceivable is how much the dogs actually like wearing their training collars/leashes. This training is not the typical food reward kind of training, so they aren't acting all happy because they know they're getting treats, that's for sure. But when they see me go get the leashes from the leash rack, they both get very excited. One thing we are working on right now is the down stay. They're both pretty good with it; one funny thing is that when I am working with Rory, Campbell will often put himself in a down stay at the same time. Then when he hears me give her the "clear" signal, he'll get up as well. What I really like doing is seeing how softly I can give the command and get a response. I can really almost whisper it. What we really need to work on now is practicing in places away from home (the park, stores... there are a few around here that are dog-friendly, like Home Depot/Lowes). I took Rory to the duck pond park here on base a few days ago and she was quite distracted by the sea gulls! the ducks! the geese! She actually pulled on the leash for the first time in literally months. She was acting more like a Pointer (not June, Anita, or Ruth) than a Great Dane.
• We have a family outing planned for Monday to go to Sacramento to see the Bodies Revealed exhibit. Unfortunately, no picture-taking is allowed. Bummer. I think it is going to be very cool. Halle really doesn't want to see it ("Mom, I'm a girl... I don't want to see dead bodies!"), but she is still coming along; Emily just plain doesn't want to go anywhere with her family unless it is to buy stuff for her, so we'll see if she goes or not.
  
• I never wrote a wrap-up post for the fall reading challenge. Suffice it to say that I did manage to read all that was on my list with the exception of one book that I traded in early on, plus several more. Since the end of the challenge, I haven't had as much opportunity to read; I'm missing it.
• To that end, I am looking forward to the unified study we are starting at church this week. As a church, we will be reading a book by Bill Hybels, Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith. This will continue through to Easter; the sermons will relate to the book, as will our small group meetings. I've read the first chapter so far and liked what I read.
• Speaking of Easter, rehearsals for Easter choir started this past Monday night. Oops, one more thing to juggle on baseball practice night.
  

There... that's about it, I think. Hopefully you are still awake after all that. If I've left anything of importance out, it will probably come to me around 2am.

Finding the I in iPod

Saw this very fun meme at Shalee's and just had to give it a try!

Here are the instructions:

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.
4. NO CHEATING.

Q: What does next year have in store for you?
A: Go Tell, artist unknown

Q: What does your love life look like next year?
A: Love the Lord, Lincoln Brewster

Q: What do you say when life gets hard?
A: Mystery, Phil Wickham

Q: Song that reminds you of good times?
A: Awesome God, Keith Lancaster

Q: What do you think when you get up in the morning?
A: Anyway, Martina McBride

Q: What song will you dance to at your wedding?
A: Sea of Faces, Kutless

Q: Song that reminds you of your first kiss?
A: Open My Heart, Keith Lancaster

Q: Your favorite saying?
A: Sing to the King, Zoe Group

Q: Favorite place?
A: Wish, Won by One

Q: Most Missed Memory?
A: You Cannot Lose My Love, Sara Groves

Q: What song describes your best friend?
A: I Will Lift My Eyes, Bebo Norman

Q: What song describes your ex?
A: He's Always Been Faithful, Sara Groves (trying to figure this one out)

Q: Where would you go on a first date?
A: I Wish It Would Rain, Nanci Griffith

Q: Drug of choice?
A: A New Anointing, Zoe Group

Q: What song describes yourself?
A: Time Has Come, Mercy Me

Q: What is the thing you like doing most?
A: We Trust in the Name of the Lord, Keith Lancaster

Q: The song that best describes the president?
A: Once in a Very Blue Moon, Nanci Griffith

Q: Where will you be in 10 years?
A: How Could I Ever Know? Secret Garden Original Cast (What an appropriate answer.)

Q: Your love life right now?
A: The Line Between the Two, Mark Harris

Q: What is your state of mind like at the moment?
A: When the Spirit of the Lord, Fred Hammond

Q: How will you die?
A: Worthy is the Lamb, Zoe Group

My answers weren't as neat as hers, but still a fun thing to try.

The sounds of silence

Thanks to all who left comments or emailed regarding my absence here. Lots of busy-ness and chaos (as usual) and just plain ol' not-in-the-mood-to-write-another-boring-blog-post stuff going on in the last month or so. But I will try to rectify that.

In the meantime, the rarest of rare happenings is going on right this very instant: I am the only human being in this house. Brian has the day off in preparation for a TDY to Tucson which begins tomorrow, and he has taken the 3 children for their twice-yearly teeth cleaning appointments this morning. I have folded and put away a couple of loads of laundry and have more in the wash. I am fighting the urge to be lazy and put on a movie... I will probably straighten bookshelves or something like that when I finish up here.

As far as news, here are the bullets:

• I am now the parent of a 16yo and 12yo. Emily and Noah both had birthdays at the end of last year.
  
• Emily has a small part in her school's production of Annie which will take place in early May.
  
• 1st semester grades were released recently and she had a 3.75... We are both pretty pleased with that.
• We've hired a dog trainer to help us work with the dogs. WOW. Really good stuff. We are seeing some great things, one of which is being able to eat dinner without asking Rory to stop trying to stick her nose in our plates. We are also discovering just how smart she really is, and how stubborn Campbell is.
  
• Halle got her palate expander off last week.
  
• Noah and Joel are both signing up for baseball here on base this spring. Joel's will be coach-pitch and will be his first time playing. Noah hasn't played since spring 2006.
• After almost an entire week of rain, the sun is shining today. We might make it to almost 60 degrees today.... which could be really nice if the wind isn't blowing (then it will still feel like 30 out).
  

Seems like there should be more to tell, but as usual, my sieve-like memory isn't retrieving anything else.

Don't faint

Yeah, here I am, just a mere 2 days after my last post. Can't believe we are just 3 days from Christmas. No pictures taken here, no cards sent out. I won't make excuses like "too busy" or "no time"... fact is, time got away from me and I just didn't think about it enough. Maybe there will be some New Year letters/cards sent out after the 1st.

I think I finished up the last bit of shopping needed to get us ready for Tuesday. I imagine there will be quite a bit of wrapping left to do Monday. Brian has several items in his truck... we took my van in for an oil change earlier this week and had to transfer all the stuff I was hiding in it into his truck beforehand; we never got the chance to move anything back.

The kids and I went to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at the base theater tonight. It was a cute film. I probably wouldn't pay full price to see it, but base prices are OK ($4 adult, $2 child).

Oh gee, I forgot some of the best news. We *finally* bought a new mattress set this week. Actually bought it Thursday afternoon and had it delivered late yesterday afternoon. Oh my holy heck, it sleeps great! It is a Sealy True Form and I am amazed at how comfortable it is. It is similar to the Tempurpedic in that it is a memory foam mattress, but doesn't carry the same hefty price tag. Brian also felt like the Tempurpedic was not as comfortable. In addition, we got a few memory foam pillows and are hooked on them.

One last item... go look at Franklin's blog and read his last few posts about the experiences he is having with his youth group in Omaha. Talk about keeping it real and taking it to the streets!

Looking forward to a fairly quiet day here tomorrow, just church and hanging out at home.

I'm losing my mind

Or at least parts of it. These days I can't seem to remember things for very long.... things that make me say "Oooh, I need to say something about that on my blog!" I think I've had that thought at least a half a dozen times this week, but when I try to remember what it was about, I come up almost empty-handed. I'll just have to see what does get dredged up from the gray matter and try to make it worth your time to read.

The adult choir's Christmas program this past Sunday went well. From the conversations I heard afterwards, one of the most talked-about songs was a gospel number called "Go Tell." It was mostly a solo with choir backup... and it really was an awesome number, if not for the sole reason that until the day before, the soloist and choir had never practiced the number together. She is a college student in Fresno and drove home for the weekend just to sing this with us. She'd been working on her part down there while we practiced with a CD here. She totally nailed it, ad libs and all.

The choir took our show on the road the following night and sang a few songs at an assisted living facility where one of our members is the activity director. We are also slated to sing at the local Six Flags this Saturday afternoon. (I am not sure whether I will be making that trip or not.)

The rainy season is upon us, and large portions of our back yard turn into small lakes. This makes for no small chore when the dogs need to come inside from their many trips out. Rory absolutely hates having her paws cleaned and dried off, but she is learning to submit (in a fashion... if you call trying to drag me out of the room while I have one back paw up and in my hands). The Swiffer Wet Jet, she is becoming a dear friend. That, and my Hoover Steam Cleaner. Of course, it wasn't mud stains that I had to drag it out for this past Sunday afternoon. No, it was chocolate pudding mix stains. Rory snitched a box out of the pantry and opened it in the living room. Rory is certainly all girl. She loves chocolate (yes, I know it isn't good for dogs) and leather. Unfortunately, she isn't content to carry leather, she prefers to chew it; I find myself removing Joel's baseball glove from her mouth several times a day.

Seen at Kerflop earlier this week: Holiday gift tags to print and use. I totally love these! I could picture using them when the kids are older. I especially like the one that says "Shopping for you is so hard, you should give me an extra gift for even trying. I mean that in a loving way."

Speaking of shopping, that is pretty much done for, except for a few stocking stuffers. I should be able to get those taken care of in the next couple of days.

It's off to the races now.... or more accurately, time to chauffeur Emily to school.

Alive and well, just busy as....

You fill in the blank. If you're the rhyming sort, feel free.

It's been a long month since my last post. I've been swimming across an endless lake of creamed corn, but finally reached the other shore. Let's hope there are no more of those in the future!

We have two Christmas performances down (Halle's children's musical last Sunday, and Emily's choir concert this past Tuesday evening) and one left to go tomorrow. Tomorrow morning is the adult Christmas choir's turn to sing. We had our last rehearsal today. I think it will be awesome. I'll have to be there at 7:45, and with Brian in Sacramento today/tonight, he probably won't make it home until then at the earliest. This means the younger kids will be getting up early to get ready and go with me. Won't that be fun!

I'm almost done with my fall reading challenge list. I am finally starting the last book. Of course, I've been able to pick up a few extra along the way as well, so that is always good. Books not on the list that I finished since the last update are:

• Alaska Twilight, Colleen Coble
• The Book of Jane, Anne Dayton
• Joshua's Family, Joseph Girzone
• In Search of Eden, Linda Nichols
• Bachelor's Puzzle, Judith Pella
• Crimson Eve, Brandilyn Collins
• After the Leaves Fall, Nicole Baart
• Searching for Eternity, Elizabeth Musser
• Pushed: the Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care, Jennifer Block
• Mosaic, Pieces of My Life So Far, Amy Grant
  

Wow, makes it look like I've done nothing but read for the last month, but that is certainly not the case! In addition to that reading, I designed and printed graduation invitations for my husband's senior nurse anesthesia residents, as well as programs for their graduation ceremony held a little over a week ago. I also did the newsletter for the base homeschool group and uploaded it to our group site. Aaaannnddd... I designed the program for the school's Christmas concert, to the point of even making last-minute changes the day before the event. That last little job at least earns me "service hours" towards the 20 hours we are required to do a year. It's 20 hours or $200 (or $10 an hour for every hour under 20 you don't get in).

The tree is up and several presents are wrapped and under it. I was worried how Rory would handle it, but once we moved the one ornament she seemed most interested in (and it was a puppy ornament, go figure), she has seemed to pretty much leave it alone. I was afraid I wasn't going to get into the Christmas spirit this year but it seems to have arrived at last.

Tomorrow afternoon is a cookie exchange for the ladies at church, but I am doing a rare thing for me and opting out. I tend to be one of those people who tries to do everything.... not that I can't say no when it's something I don't want to do, just that I like doing as much as I can. But after being gone last Sunday night for 3 hours at the annual ladies' Christmas dinner, I think I will just stay home. With the running I've done today (rehearsal, groceries), I think I'll need to be home to get some laundry taken care of tomorrow anyhow.

So there you have it. Just a couple of hours left in the evening before I need to start getting kids bathed and ready for bed. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I should be doing other than this.... but they can wait a little while longer.