Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

Things finally seem to be slowing back down to normal for me!  It has been a rough couple of weeks!  I worked 49 hours last week!  That is NOT the normal 20 that I usually work!  Not even close!

Last Friday topped it all...proposal inputs were all due by close of business, my sweet tech guys came up with several new tasks for me to complete during the Friday morning stand up call (small things like reformat 42 teaming agreements, chase down written permission to use graphics from 12 of our suppliers, send out a new RFP...AAAHHHHHH!  Hair on fire, stomach in knots, stressed to the max!)  That was just my work life.  On the mommy front, Chip had Field Day up at school from 12 - 2:30 and I signed up to bring snacks and Harry had a cross-country meet that started at 5:00 on Friday afternoon.  Add in one monumental complication that my damn internet went out.  Phone line dead.  I was a basket case on the verge of tears. 

However, my boss and co-workers are the cream of the crop and they swooped in and saved the day for me.  And then the internet came back on at 3:00 p.m. and then we got an extension for the due date of the proposal. 

Then I collapsed into an exhausted heap.  Whew!  

NOTE:  I have a lot to go over, so you might want to take a quick bathroom break, grab a fresh cup of coffee and a snack before you start reading this novel!

So, I made it to Field Day.  Would not have missed it.  One of the best days of school. 

Chip in the zone.  Total concentration!

He has mad skills at horseshoes!

Then there was the pillow fight station.  Please note that you are supposed to have your feet crisscrossed under the pole.

Chip's girl opponent had her feet firmly planted on the ground and that pillow planted firmly upside his head.  He walked by me after he fell and said "She cheated."  Made me laugh.  I think the boys like falling anyway.

More falling at the tug-a-war station.  This time the girls let the boys start pulling and then they all let go!  TIMBER!!!  It was a spectacularly beautiful afternoon and even though I showed up stressed to the max, talking on my cell phone to my boss and then AT&T, by the time it was over I was in a much better place.

Me and Chip cut out of school about 30 minutes early and hit the Sonic drink Happy Hour. 

That's better.

With just a couple of hours to work until I had to go to Harry's XC meet, I was a mad woman.  I bet I sent 50 emails in those couple of hours, but things were in pretty good shape on the proposal front thanks to my fine co-workers jumping in.

I also need to mention that my friends were also awesome on my worst day ever!  Phone calls, texts, Starbucks and a big fat piece of homemade carrot cake will always help take away the stress!  I am a blessed girl indeed!

Next up, I got to see my big boy run in a Friday Night Flights event.  It was very interesting.  Hard to keep up with, but interesting.

Harry said he felt strong and he sure looks determined here at the finish doesn't he?

Don't got to sleep Harry, you are almost to the finish line!!! 

Saturday, up early for another proposal teleconference call...but all they really said was "We got the extension, let's take the rest of the weekend off!"   YAY!!!!   Best teleconference EVER!

We had a great day on Saturday.   Chip had a flag football game at 12:00 and then a baseball game at 4:00.  I got a new zoom lens for my camera last week because my old one wasn't working very well.  I am even closer to the action now!

Touchdown Patriots!!!  Chip quarterbacked the entire game and the Patriots pulled out a close one 20 - 19!  Woo Hoo! 

Brothers.  Love them.

Next up....baseball!

Fabulous weather.  Great fun taking pictures.  Zoom in on one of these and see Chip's tongue sticking out.  That, my friends is total concentration!  The Bandits won big!   Next weekend is the end of season tournament and Fall Ball is over.  Seems like it just started.

Now for some real randomness....I told you it was going to be a long one.

This was my breakfast on Saturday morning.  Made me think of that giant bowl of fruit and stuff Granny ate at the Lake!  It was delicious!

Then me and Chip tried out Yoga. 

OMG!

Yoga is hard.

Made even more difficult by the nine year old, laughing, farting, hyena sitting on the floor next to me.  We were both in hysterics at first with all the deep breathing going on.  Then my muscles started burning, arms were shaking, legs aching and it wasn't so funny any more.  Then every time they would go back to the same pose, Chip would say "We already did that one, I am not doing it again."  

I need to give it another go, when I am alone.  The only pose I for sure know that I nailed was the mountain pose...

Basic, I know.  But you have to start somewhere, people!

We spent Sunday relaxing around the house.  Did a little homework.  Did a little housework.  And we drug out all the Halloween decorations.

Outside we blew up Mr. Pumpkin.

Strategically placed some skeleton bones.  I spray painted some branches to hang bats from.  No picture yet, because I need to get some fishing line to hang the bats first. 

Scary tree in the house!

Candy bucket already filled by the door!  Please ask me if it was a mistake to already have bite size pieces of chocolate readily available with still two weeks remaining until Halloween.  

The answer is yes.  Yes it is a mistake.

So, as I was unpacking my decorations I started thinking about my mom.  So much of my stuff has her touch on it.

See these three witches...me and mom both made a set at a craft class many, many, many moons ago.  Aren't they cute?  I love them.

We also went to a craft class to make a scarecrow.  He is just precious in person.  Made with two empty 20 oz. coke bottles.  Ingenious.



My mom made this witch out of a clorox bottle.  Probably my most favorite of all my Halloween decorations.

And she also made this scarecrow head.  She has mad crafting skills. 

I made a slew of these spiders out of styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners several years ago.  I always scare myself the first couple of days after I put them out.  They are all over the house and take you by surprise when you glance out of the corner of your eye and see them hanging on something.  YIKES!

My mom made this wall hanging too!   I had the most compelling desire Sunday afternoon to find a craft class immediately! 

Instead, I went on Pinterest and found a really cute idea that wouldn't take me long or require many supplies.  Check it out...

Styrofoam cones and yarn....

Make super cute candy corn decorations for my table.  I burnt the *&^% out of my finger with the hot glue gun, but sometimes you just have to risk an injury when it is time to be creative!  I live so dangerously.

The cute candy corn inspired me to look for something similar for my Lakeside craft for next month.  Here is what we are going to make:

Aren't they cute!  Can't wait to see what versions my friends at Lakeside come up with!  

So, I think that gets you caught up around here.  The temperature has taken a massive dip down into the 70s for today!  It is gorgeous outside!    Boys were at the dentist early this morning...no cavities.  Breakfast at Chic-Fil-A.  It is going to be a good day! 

Congrats to those of you who made it through this long winded post!  Hope it wasn't too painful!   I should be back to something a little more regular for the next couple of weeks anyway!

Have an awesome day!

Yoga

I have to get this off my chest, because I have been careful not to say it....Hubby has been out of town the last couple of nights...but he is coming home tonight.  Whew, so glad it is safe for me to say that now, so no Blogger Stalker can hunt me down and kill me while he is gone.  I know he would hate to come home to a dead wife. 

Or would he? 

Kidding...totally kidding.  He would be sad.  So very sad.   I'm sure of it.  Well, kinda sure.  Seriously, he definitely would be devastated.  I'm sticking with that.

Wow, that was a morbid and weird lead in, wasn't it?  Just be glad you are not inside my head where all this stuff originates.  It can get pretty crazy in there!

So, the real reason I had to tell you that Hubby is gone is that I have not been able to keep up with my regular walking in the early morning hours.  AND I miss it.  Terribly. 

I most definitely needed to get some exercise done, so my plan on Tuesday was to get up at my regular time and try a Yoga DVD.  My sweet friend Sandy let me borrow it about 3 months ago and I have yet to put it in the DVD player.  I thought since I was housebound a couple of days this week that it would be the perfect time to see if the old body could do Yoga.  I might also be able to mark #34 off my 50 Things To Do Before I am 50 List.  All depending on whether I make it through the whole DVD or not!

But, here's the thing...I'm sore and stiff and kinda crippled in the morning. Who can do Yoga when they are sore and stiff and crippled?  Is anyone else out there sore and crippled in the morning?  Yoga seems like an activity you need to be a little loose or warmed up for. 

Is that making excuses or is that a valid concern? 

Please chime in if you have any expertise at all in Yoga.  This will be my maiden voyage into the world of Yoga so I am totally speculating on the need for flexibility and warm, loose muscles.  If what I see on TV is any indication you need to be a bit warmed up.

So you ask, why didn't you do it later in the day? Like, after you warmed up and got less crippled? 

That is a great question.  And I can only hang my head and say "I couldn't find a free hour in my day." 

Isn't that dumb?  I must have an hour somewhere?  I am going to find one today.  I need to find one, if for no other reason that I can't wait to write about styling and profiling while doing a downward dog or something.  I think Yoga is going to be hysterical!  

Yesterday, my limited "free time" outside of work was spent at the grocery store, tidying my house for Bible Study and being a math tutor to my darling little nine year old son.  I probably don't envision a new career path as a math tutor for myself, as my sweet student ended up in a sobbing heap on the floor.  You see, he was missing a step in the process of multiplying multiples.  I don't think it was so much the identification of his missing step as much as it was the fact that he would have to redo his math homework.  ALL fifteen problems.  I know, I know...the injustice of the whole situation.

I had to use every calming technique I possessed not to react to his "I'm so stupid. I can't do anything right.  You think I am stupid.  Math is stupid.  My teacher didn't show me that.  I hate Math.  That is not the way we do it." rant that took up a solid 30 minutes of my afternoon.  It was ugly. 

Perhaps if I had some Yoga training I could have dropped to the floor and struck a pose like this. 

That would have lightened the mood, would it not?  Since I do not have Yoga training I had to patiently wait while he got all that off of his chest and then show him how to do it.  He got it right away.  It was a small, but necessary step he was missing.  Maybe next time we can straight to the problem solving and learning and skip the wild and crazy ranting.  If not, I am going to be prepared with a signature Yoga pose.  Maybe something like this....

I wish you could see how hard I am laughing, because I can barely sit "indian style" as they called it back in my day.  These days I think it is "criss-cross applesauce" .   Anyway, I better get that DVD in and start stretching!! 

Hope your day is outstanding! 

Ten Random Tidbits

1.  It rained.  It was glorious.  I sat on the porch and took pictures.  Then a lizard jumped on my foot and I screamed and came back in the house.

2.  Harry's running shoes were lost/stolen/misplaced on Thursday.  I am going with misplaced.  New running shoes purchased. Harry got a new personal best for a 5K.  Go Harry!

3.  All laundry in my house is officially done.  I am bound and determined to put it all away today.

4.  Must get to the grocery store.  Should be heading there right now instead of typing this. 

5.  Rangers/Tigers game last night was so exciting!  A walk off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th - ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

6.  Two hours of dodgeball at JumpStreet makes your kids sweaty and smelly. 

7.  I have been taking my laptop with me where ever I go, so I can keep tabs on work.  That is not right.  Proposal is due end of next week.  Can't wait.

8.  I have no plastic shopping bags in my house.  That's weird, right?  I have always had a ton.  Even after the canvas shopping bags got popular.  Suddenly, there are none.  It is surprising to me how many times I go to reach for one.  Must forget my canvas bags when I go to the store today so I can restock my plastic bag stash.

9.  Post rain, there are ant mounds piling up all over our yard.  The rain must have flushed them to the surface.

10.  The sunrise this morning stopped me in my tracks.  It was beautiful.  I love when that happens.

Have an amazing day!

Lost Laughs

I just wrote a very witty piece about how hard I have been working this week.  How I put in an ultra, mega, stress filled thirteen hours of work yesterday getting RFPs out on the street, only to have my technical guys change gears this morning.

I waxed on and on about how it made me want to punch someone, punch something, turn over a car, draft a resignation letter, rant, rave, throw my computer out the window...but instead of taking the violent approach I was just going to fold warm, fluffy towels hot from the dryer.  It was my therapy.  My calm down. My...after twenty years in this business you should be used to this now...talking myself down from going postal. 

It worked.

However, reading back over that summary...it doesn't seem so witty. But you must trust me....it was WAAAYYY wittier than the above. 

I would be able to prove it to you, too.  Except, I somehow deleted it.  Even though I had saved it numerous times.  It is gone.  Forever.  Floating around on some Internet, cyberspace clipboard in my computer.

Sorry you missed it. 

Sometimes, I can't stand computers.

Too bad, my life is so fiercely dependent on them.

Anyway, one witty post lost and a lame summary above is all I am probably will be able to squeeze in today.

Except for this...

A Halloween Pictorial History.  It just makes me laugh.

Have a GREAT weekend!  It might rain here!  WOO HOO!!!!

Catching up....

Hello all!  It has been almost a week since my last post.  I know it has taken every ounce of my mother's restrain not to call me.  Thank you, Mom! 

Here are some pictures from our busy weekend!

 

Harry's early morning position on the couch.  It is 5:30 a.m., where is your teenager?  Does he seem tired to you?  I can't tell.

Harry had another cross-country meet this weekend and it was the biggest one yet.  Something I read said that there would be about 2,000 kids running in the meet.  I think that number might have been a little low.  Look at the next series of pictures of the herd of JV runners coming towards the camera.

Do you see the dust they are kicking up?  It was a cloud!

There's my Harry!  He said this was by far the hardest course yet for him.  Lots of rolling, long hills.  In spite of the hills, he was able to beat his previous 3.1 mile time, so it was a good day for him. 

I have to share another story with you here, just so I don't forget it AND so I can bring it up to Cindy every chance I get.

During the meet, there are several vantage points where you can see the runner's, get close enough to yell encouragement, take pictures, etc.  But,  here's the thing....you have to hustle to get from one point on the course to the other. 

So me and my girls, Martha and Cindy, are dashing all over the place, yelling for each others kids and just kids in general, because that is the best part of being at a cross country meet.  Anyway, at one point I am running up a hill and Cindy is taking my picture. I am running in slow motion...so she can get my picture, and also because that is just the motion with which I normally run.  We get to the top of the hill and I say "I love this...I'm so excited."  I was talking about how much I love the excitement of the race, seeing the kids, cheering them on, the weather was gorgeous, pictures were coming out great. 

Cindy, looks at me and says "Do you know who you are reminding me of right now?"  I say "Who?"  And do you know what she said?  She said "Will Ferrell."

I just fell out laughing.  I said "Who says that to a girl??  Will Ferrell, the giant guy with the God awful hair??  I know he is funny, but still!  I thought you were going to say "Bo Derek cause I was running in slow motion like she did, although my hair is not braided and I don't have a red bikini on, but Will Ferrell??"

She said "I just meant the "I'm so excited part!  It sounded like Will in "Elf" and we are huge Elf fans."

Seriously, giving me a complex.

So after Will Ferrell and the girls watched the cross country meet we had a little down time in the afternoon.  Chip had a flag football game early on Saturday and sadly I missed it, but his baseball game wasn't until 6:00 p.m.

When I asked Chip how he did during his football game, he said "Mom, I'm doing pretty good at quarterback.  I have 24 points.  Of course, 12 were for my team and the other 12 were for the other team."  He apparently has thrown two touchdown passes and also two interceptions for touchdowns for the other team. I thought that was so funny.

They lost their baseball game, but it was against a much older and better team.  The evening weather was spectacular and I think the kids had fun in spite of the outcome. We went out to dinner with our baseball friends and then piled up on the couch to watch the Bama game.

A special shout out to Martha who saved the DVR day for us!  We were all the way to Chip's baseball game when we all look at each other and say "WE FORGOT TO SET THE DVR".  Oh no, we were going to miss the big Bama vs. Florida game.  Thankfully, I have the nicest friends in the entire world and Martha jetted over to our house and set the DVR for us.  Much appreciated Martha!  You are the best. Eventually, you will learn to quit answering the phone when I call.

Sunday, we headed over to our local park for a day of "Camp Peggy" fun with the V family.
 

The kids started out playing on the playground.  Just looking at this picture hurts me.  Harry spent his entire 3rd grade year mastering the monkey bars.  He spent so much time swinging on these bars.  Frontwards, backwards, skipping one, trying to skip two.  Back then I worried about him falling so far down to the ground, now he is standing on the ground and touching.  Ugh.  He is growing up so fast.

Dad joined us at the park after his bike ride. 

  

Peggy's plan was for us to try our hand at a little sand volleyball and a kickball game. It has been a long time since I played either.  We laughed so hard playing sand volleyball, because basically we stunk.  Badly.  Really badly.  It was more like a game of hit and fetch. 

NOTE TO SELF:  Sand is hot.  Wear tennis shoes.

Kickball was a little better.  It was four adults against six kids. 

The kids thought they were going to beat our pants off, but they were wrong.  We dominated in that game.  It was all in good fun and the boys even posed afterward for a few pictures for me.

After grabbing a little lunch, we moved Camp Peggy to our cul-de-sac where we played outside for three more hours.

We played ladder golf.  I was 5 - 0 if anyone cares.

The boys played some crazy football game where they tried to intercept each other.  We bowled with basketballs, jumped through hula hoops, bounced balls, and wrapped up the evening with a kids versus adults touch football game.

Adults won in the final tie breaker...but it was a super close game, down to the last play. 

Champions of the Day!

The kids had a great day!  Chip has never been dirtier, I am certain of that.  Both of my boys said "We should do that every weekend, it was so much fun."

I hope our terrific weekend is just what we needed to kick off a great week!  I hope the same for you!