Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Just hanging out mostly
Sunday - Family Picnic
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Farewell Picnic, Soccer practice (D)
Tuesday - WORK 5, Soccer practice (E,J,S), Soccer Game (D)
Wednesday - WORK 5,
Thursday - WORK 5, Soccer practice (E,J,S), Soccer Game (D)
Friday - WORK 5
Saturday -

Work was completely messed up last week. Remember the plan? I was going to come home every day and work 3 hours?

Well, Monday, I came home at 6am and worked 2 hours 40 minutes and then there was no more work. OK, well, that was almost 3 hours, so I called it good and headed back to camp. Tuesday I arose at 6 and headed home to find that no work had been loaded! I did some other things for a while waiting for work, but none arrived, so I went back to the campground. I checked later in the day and work had been loaded but the Mi-Fi connection was too slow for me to work there. But I was confident that I could make things up on Wednesday. Especially when I woke up EARLY at 5:15 and headed home to find.... NO INTERNET service here. Argh - several hours of troubleshooting later, I called the cable company only to find that they'd have to send a tech the next day.

Back to the campground where the internet connection was still too slow. No internet at home until Thursday afternoon nixed my plans to work that day, but I figured I'd work at home once we came back. Well, we came back later than I planned and then the lesson plan for my interview consumed me. So no work Wed or Thursday either! Friday, however, went as planned and I completed 5 hours of work.

My boss said not to worry, however, but to make up the hours over the rest of the pay period. So - WHEW!

David's first soccer game was Friday night. He played defense. They lost 4-3, but held their own until the very end. He has two games this coming week on Tuesday and Thursday. The rest of the kids all have practice on those two nights. Good thing Bob doesn't work on Tuesday.

My library interview went really well, I thought. There's a point in an interview where I think the interviewers either dismiss you or begin to imagine you in the position and I think we managed that connection. They said they would decide in about a week.

I love my new phone! I changed service plans from Verizon to Virgin Mobile. My 2 years of Verizon are up and I decided a new provider would be a good choice since we never ever got good service inside our home from Verizon. Virgin Mobile's $25 Beyond Talk no-contract plan is perfect for me! I have a QWERTY phone now with a slide out keyboard so texting is simple and I have unlimited internet too. So, text me! The only thing I'm annoyed with is I can't figure out how to get free ringtones.

Camp week was wonderful. The weather was cooler than average, but not cold nor rainy. I think we had about 12 families camping together and the kids often "slept over" at someone else's site. One night, I was the ONLY ONE in my camper. (Bob slept at home so he could leave early for work.) We had great activities like rock painting, scavenger hunt, beach volleyball, ice cream social, playing cards, toddler time, and so much more! Can't wait for next year!

I'm working on plans for my Jane Austen class for co-op - it's called Austentatious! I have 9 girls taking the class and we'll read all 6 of Austen's novels and watch film adaptations.

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Soccer practice (D), Packing for Camping, Book Club
Sunday - Packing and Leaving for Camping
Monday - Camp, WORK 3 hrs, Soccer practice (D)
Tuesday - Camp, WORK 3
Wednesday - Camp, WORK 3,
Thursday - Camp and Come home at bedtime, WORK 3
Friday - Interview, WORK 3, Soccer GAME (D @ Lapeer East)
Saturday - something niggles at the back of my mind.... but what???

I took 5 hours off this week, so I can work my hours several ways - five 3's, three 5's, four 4's minus 1. There may be extra hours so I can make them up if needed.

My interview was supposed to be Tuesday, but they rescheduled it to Friday. I have an hour time slot. Five-ten minutes of that is to be a sample storytime lesson. Christy has shared some of her files with me since this is what SHE does at her job. I LOOOVE the thought of working in a library. Absolutely adore the idea. How I can do that full time and continue to homeschool, I am not sure. I guess I'll take it one step at a time - I have not even INTERVIEWED yet. LOL But it's funny how just about every homeschool mom I talk to has the same response.

Me: I have an interview for a full time library job.
Her: What are you going to do with the kids?

LOL - Not "wow, cool." Or "Do you think this is God's provision for your family?" or even "I know you've always wanted to work in a library." Nope, just - "Will the kids go back to school?"

I don't WANT to send the kids to school. But I DO want to pay our bills and have money for things we need. Like a new roof. Or a replacement vehicle. Or soccer shoes.

What I do think is that I can't homeschool, work full time, and be the soccer registrar. That job eats up too much time, even though I really enjoy doing it despite the headaches. Maybe I can find someone to be an assistant registrar.

Hmmm..... thoughts, thoughts.....

David will go to his soccer practice on Monday. One of the coaches is camping with us and 4 or 5 of the boys camping are on the team, so they will all go together. His first game is Friday afternoon - it's a home game at Lapeer East. Come out and watch!

The other kids won't be going to their practices this week. I already will be driving back and forth so I can get my work done in the mornings. I'm not coming back every night to bring them to practice and besides, they don't want to miss out on the evening activities at camp.

Ok, the kids are bugging me to get moving on the packing. Maybe I can come back and blog some more later. To be honest though, probably not. LOL

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Just hanging out mostly
Sunday - Church
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Soccer practice (D)
Tuesday - WORK 5, Soccer practice (E,J), Port Huron
Wednesday - WORK 5,
Thursday - WORK 4, Beach Day Soccer practice (E,J?)
Friday - WORK 4, Soccer practice (D)
Saturday - Soccer practice? (D), Book Club!

Soccer is starting in earnest. James and Emily both have their first practices this week. Have not yet heard from Suzy's coach. David continues with his practices.

One more week left before we camp with the homeschool group. Thankfully, we can use a lot of the planning we did for Family Camp. Also, since this camp is close to home, I will be coming home each day to work instead of doing it at the campground. That will make things easier since if I forget anything, I can just bring it and also bring the stuff we are done with back home (dirty laundry especially).

I had more stuff typed here, but it didn't save! Argh....

We visited my friend Gina's church this morning. Her husband is the new senior pastor there. What a nice service. We may visit again.

I managed two runs this week of 2 miles each. If the weather is ok tonight, I may run again just before it gets dark.

Had a spontaneous Girls Night Out Friday night - movie night at a friend's house. One woman had never seen the Bridget Jones movies and was saying she had borrowed them from the library, so we watched those and also The Proposal (NOT my idea, I promise! But I surely did NOt complain! lol). Yummy snacks and lots of laughs. I didn't bring any kids, but there were 5 kids there and by the time we wound down at 2 am (!) all the kids were sacked out on the big bed like a pile of puppies! LOL

Going to try really hard to find Bob and I some kind of a manager couple position. Campground, resort, park, anything.....

I am waging an Anti-Apathy Campaign with the main target being my teenage son.

OK, I better just post or this will never get done.

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Spent the day at home (car-less), then went out to do a bit of shopping when Bob got home
Sunday - Church, then Lake Huron with some friends
Monday - WORK (5 hrs daily), Soccer (D), Homeschool Mtg (L)
Tuesday - WORK 5, Library program, Soccer conditioning (E,J,S), Coach Mtg (L)
Wednesday - WORK 5, AYSO Board Mtg (L)
Thursday - WORK 5, Youth Event (D,E), Soccer? (D)
Friday - WORK 5, Soccer (D)
Saturday - Soccer? (D)

Last week was a BREEZE compared to this coming week. We have commitments EVERY night of the week. Some nights there are two.

We have only one operable vehicle. Bob's van is having transmission issues. Once he evaluates it, we will know if it is fixable or if we are moving on. Seeing as how we bought that van for $900 a couple (three?) years ago, I think we've got our money's worth.

I have the soccer teams all organized and rosters printed for all the coaches, collated with their player registration forms. I have a coach list all nicely organized. I've processed a few late registrations and I am sure there will be more. AND I've ordered all 395 uniforms. I got to pick all the colors - that was the fun part. Now I get a little break, of sorts, at least until the uniforms arrive. Imagine my living room filled with boxes containing 400 jerseys, 331 shorts, and 662 socks.

I am caught up on both book club books - all the way through September - YAY! I've actually been reading for fun! LOVED the new Elizabeth Berg. (Mom - you might really like it!)

What haven't I been doing? Have NOT been exercising. Have NOT been counting calories. Have NOT been lesson planning. Have NOT been going to bed on time.

Next week, I will need to get up rather early each day in order to get more work done in the AM. I committed to an extra hour each day, so I need to fit in 5 hours of work. I also MUST go running three times.

David had his first soccer practice Friday night. He will practice Monday and Friday nights all through August, with optional practices on Saturday morning. His first game is August 27th. His team is a travel team.

Emily will also be on a travel team through AYSO and her practices begin August 17th. She will also practice twice a week until games begin, which is after Labor Day. Her practices are not in Dryden any more, since she is on a team that combines girls from three towns.

Have not heard from James and Suzy's coaches yet but their schedules will likely be similar to Emily's, except they are both on Dryden teams.

Trying to think of something to say that ISN'T soccer-related. Having no luck. LOL

Oh here's something - if we go to the Fair, it will be Tuesday. That's the only day Bob has off, thus the only day I will have a car. Wednesday is Kids Day, so that's the day most of my friends tend to go, so I don't know if we will go on our own or not.

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Spent the morning working on at the soccer fields, the afternoon with the kids, and the late evening working on soccer registration
Sunday - Home
Monday - WORK (4 hrs daily)
Tuesday - WORK, Soccer conditioning (E,J,S)
Wednesday - WORK
Thursday - WORK, Beach Day
Friday - WORK, Soccer (D)
Saturday - Spend with friends?

Well, this last week seemed to get sucked into the vortex. July has come and gone now. I spent a LOT of time working on soccer teams and they are created now. I am processing a few late registrations and have the uniform order just about ready to go - just need to figure the quantities. (That sounds easier than it is. lol)

David went to a friend's house this afternoon and will spend the night. The others are supremely jealous. Well, kids - call a friend and make some plans!

I have the soccer teams all created & doublechecked for things like "fall only" players and siblings who need to be on the same teams. I am waiting for several important emails/callbacks. Don't people know I am on a schedule?? lol I have the uniform colors all chosen (one of the fun things) and just need to input the quantities of each size - for about 400 people. The teams obviously have to be set before that can happen, so I have waited until the last possible moment. I registered 3 late players today and am waiting on 2 more.

We skipped church today - slept in way too long. We didn't go last week either due to our spontaneous trip to Port Huron.

Thursday night, a friend hosted a Moms Night Out. She has a lovely backyard pool and hot tub, and a tiki bar. She made drinks for us and we chatted around the pool, in the pool, in the hot tub, and around the fire. It was lovely. Came home at about 1am! Wonderful night.

This week is a low-key week for us. I do plan to have the kids do some math and reading and probably some of their other subjects as well. Next week too, most likely. Then we'll take off the rest of the month - a week to get ready for camping, a week of camping, a week to recover from camping and get ready for lessons to begin. They'll begin the week after Labor Day probably.

Camping week is the last full week of August and that is our homeschool camping week. Our favorite week of the year, I think!

Soccer practices will start in there as well. David starts his this Friday and I imagine the other three will begin soon. Emily is playing again this year - with AYSO, on a travel team. James and Suzy are also playing AYSO - U12 and U10 respectively. David is playing for the same team he played for last year - FAITH Falcons, also a travel team, comprised solely of homeschooled boys. This year he will have several friends on his team - which also means *I* will have someone to watch games & practices with! LOL Or carpool with, which is even more important.

The little Easy Set pool in the yard has been great this summer. I think it's the one Mike and Michelle gave us a couple years ago. If we continue to enjoy it, I think we might consider upgrading to a larger pool next year. This one is not very deep. But it's so nice for them to be able to just go get wet for a while without it being a huge deal to drive somewhere and/or pay money. We have yet to go to the waterpark this summer. We should go, as it almost closed this year due to lack of patrons last year. The other county waterpark DID close.

Next week is the County Fair. We tend to go to that every other year, and this is our "on" year. So, need to budget for that - both time and money.

No summer reading program for us this year, though there has been plenty of reading. I just couldn't face the thought of keeping up with a program. The kids went to one of the very first library programs but we haven't made any of the others. And the one we really wanted to attend is this week and I forgot to call and make reservations, so all the spots have been taken and there is a long waiting list. Ah well. There's always next year.

I am blowing my way through Eat Pray Love. The writing is delicious! The woman has a beautiful way with a phrase and I can almost find myself in her life through her descriptions. However it's also deeply disturbing in some ways. Can't wait to discuss it with my book club, but also afraid of discussing it as I think the book may offend some people. It will be interesting, no doubt!

Inception is top of my "to see" movie list. I want to go see it this week! There are others I want to see as well, plus a slew of films that slipped away before I could. Added them to my Netflix Q.

Going to cut everyone's hair tonight. Except David, of course, since he is gone. I think he planned that rather sneakily! LOL

The hot dogs are ready, so I'm going to go eat!