...I got up and used Briana's new flat iron on my hair, and it looks pretty cute today.
...I jogged 4 miles on Saturday. Without stopping.
...I made dinner, picked up Landon and Raymond from lacrosse, did nearly half of my manuscript, called all the neighbors about Friends of Scouting, picked up toner for the printer, and read two chapters of my book last night.
Okay, the list is short, but at least there is a list. :)
...super confident, I would be headed to Chelsea's so she could chop my hair off.
...awake, I would be having a much more productive and fast-moving day.
...a better, healthier person, I would not be craving a 12-oz. sirloin and cheese toast.
...more organized I would not be stressing over Friends of Scouting, a manuscript to work on, a Relief Society lesson to teach, and activities to plan.
...simply a Primary teacher, I would not be even THINKING about Friends of Scouting, a manuscript to work on, a Relief Society lesson to teach, and activities to plan.
...not a whiner, you would have nothing to read.
When I was the PTA president, one of my favorite quotes was "The answer is automatically 'no' if you don't ask." So there is a vendor that has brought donuts to the office every week for about three months. And my desk is centrally located, so that is where they sit.
I may be the only mom and in the free world who is sad that this week our children go back to school. This summer has been fun and productive and entirely too short. In the past I have celebrated our children going to school for the following reasons:
1. It gets quiet at home.
2. The kids have something productive to do.
3. Our children get to be educated.
4. The kids are bored and can now go hang with their friends all day.
This year, however, I am sad for the following reasons:
1. It gets quiet at home.
2. Those productive things for the kids to do also become things I have to do. (Seriously? Have you SEEN the packets of paperwork the parents get to fill out? I did about 1,000,000 papers and signed my name more than when we bought our house. And that was just to get them registered. Now comes the permission slips, the disclosures, the calendars, etc., etc. And then the REAL fun starts--a.k.a. "Homework.")
3. I want the kids to hang out with me and Spencer, not a bunch of dumb teenagers. (OK, this is partly a lie because we love our kids' friends.)
4. Each new school year means they are another year older. Briana is going to COLLEGE. (So is Spencer. Again.) Taylor and Ashtyn are both in high school. Landon is starting at the middle school. There is no elementary school for us. This is a sign of getting older--for them and for me. *sigh*
6. Going back to school is expensive. If everything is on sale, how come it all costs so much? :)
I'm just a tiny bit blue.
Today was the annual birthday barbecue for Bert's birthday at Bert and Ruth's home. This year all of our children opted to go (yeah! progress!). Jenny and Tracy are in Boise. Heather was at work. But everyone else came.
In the group was Jeff and Jax, with their daughter, Myla, who is 9 months old. What a sweet, darling girl she is! When I first walked into the house, Jax was changing Myla's diaper. As soon as she had her dressed again, she handed Myla to me. What a treat! I got to hold and love on this sweet girl (who had no problem at all with all of us) for a long, long time. I got lots of love from Jax, too, which was a treat (as it always is).
The first time Spencer and I came to Utah together was in May of 1988. We were engaged, and it was a trip to meet his family. Jacqueline was 8 months old at that time. She was a loving little one, too, and she let me carry her all over the place. I later became a short-term mom for this beautiful young lady. And now I got to love on her daughter, who is about the same age she was when we first "met." That was a sweet circle-of-life moment for me.
A funny: Myla is pretty darned bald. Jax asked me when she finally got hair. I told her that she was pretty bald on that first visit, and then I didn't see her again till she was 2. She had hair then. She looked a bit dismayed. I had to remind her that Myla really was going to get hair. :)
It's been a happy day.
Spencer and I tried to go to bed at 10:00 p.m. last night. We were both very tired. I was nervous for the race this morning.
Ashtyn was at the computer in the dining room. Briana and Taylor were out with their friends. Spencer looked at me and said, "This is going to be a long night." Who knew I'd married a prophet? :)
Just 15 or 20 minutes after we'd gotten into bed, Spencer gave up and shut our door. Although she had it turned down low, Ashtyn's music was distracting.
Briana got home and checked in. Then she came in and said that Taylor had gotten a flat tire and needed help on Bangerter Highway. Spencer got up and went to help him. He found that Tay had hit a median (better than another car or people!) and had ripped the one tire's tread nearly off. They got the spare on and came home and went to bed.
Again.
Later the phone started ringing. It was 1:00 a.m., and we were receiving text messages. It turned out to be from Spencer's sister in Boise. I'm not sure why she was up at 1:00 a.m.
That didn't count the weird stress dreams I had, the night sweat I had, or the shivers I had (all at different times).
The alarm went off at 6:00. Ugh. It was indeed a long, rough night.
During the race.
After the race.
