July is the Busiest Month...

So, we're camping this weekend - first trip of the year for us and camping with friends! YaY!

And today is the end of June, so I am looking ahead to July and I am a teensy bit overwhelmed!

So, we will spend the first 4 days of July camping. Which meant I spent the last day of June preparing for it and I'll spend several days cleaning up from it! And then cap it off with a Beach Day.

What else do we have in store? Oh, you just wait.  Keep in mind, of course, that I work 4-5 hours every day. We have our regular twice-a-week commitment to karate. I am trying to work out 6 days a week. This is usually enough to fill my days.

But no! There's more!

The second weekend of July is more camping - Cousin Camp, which sounds SO FUN!

The second week of July brings soccer camp for the boys - 4 evenings that week. Suzy is doing Field School at the nature center that week Tues-Fri from 9-2. I am selling books in a used book sale that Thursday, which means I have to drive down to drop the books OFF on Wed. David is going to a martials arts tactics camp that weekend and I am going scrapbooking.

That throws us wildly into the third week of July. This week is James' turn at the Nature Center Tues-Fri from 9-3. He'll miss Beach Day that week. James and Suzy want to go to a VBS in the evenings this week. That weekend is blessedly FREE ... for now.

So I get a little breather before jumping into the fourth week of the month, which holds four more nights soccer camp for David and James, a soccer VBS at night for Suzy, CO-OP registration (which somewhere in there I have to help prepare for and spend a day working at). I get a $10 massage this week too, which I have a feeling I am going to really NEED!

The month ends pleasantly with a Book Club trip to see Shakespeare in the Park and go out for GELATO. And I already read the book!

By the end of July I will be running 5 miles easily, according to my training plan. 

Whew! Thankfully, August isn't so busy!

And did you notice? Emily has NOTHING TO DO! Anyone want to occupy Emily?

Stop the Merry-Go-Round!

Stop the merry-go-round!

I'm kidding.

Sort of.

But life is very very busy lately. I still make time for the fun things - garage saling (today), visiting friends (yesterday), watching DVD's (late at night usually), but other things have gone by the wayside. No more Word Twist. No reading (really!). Exercise has become so much less a priority that it worries me and I am trying harder to add it back in -takes a lot of thought to get it all fit into the day. No calorie counting (it's more work than one might imagine). Not as many DVD's despite my previous comment. And less structured school (but hopefully not less actual learning!).

Life is work and kids, kids and work, and soccer and then the occasional fun event. Like Wednesday we spent the day at Maryann's for the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. Which was GREAT. We actually went over Tuesday night and stayed through Wed afternoon. But that meant 4 hours of work when I came home Wednesday (as well as squishing in 4 hours of work before we left on Tuesday).

Usually work gets done somewhere around 11pm. And who wants to go right to bed after work? I wanna relax! And have a snack! Like right now - off to make popcorn and watch an episode of Eli Stone. THEN bed.

Work Update

Taking a break from work, so I thought I'd spew a few words onto my blog. No guarantees of readability, however!

The hot water heater took FAR longer to install than I had imagined. Bob and David hauled it down there on Tuesday and unhooked the old one, which meant No Hot Water on Tuesday. He had to work Wed so no hot water Wed either, but I figured he'd come home and finish 'er up. Not quite. But tonight, seems like the installation has been completed. I'll find out shortly when I go try to take a shower, at the end of day 3 of no hot water.

Yes, 3 days with no shower. Bleh. I was avoiding people in the grocery store tonight. Saw one woman I haven't seen in YEARS and I turned the other way. I looked that bad. Then David told me I look the same as I always do. Well, how reassuring is THAT. lol

It was SO NICE out today. But we couldn't think of anything to DO outside. We are just inside people. Sad, right?

So, what do my days look like now that I am working about 25 hours a week?

I aim to get up at 7 or so and work for an hour before the day really gets underway. Then I get the kids moving and do some lessons with them for the morning. Anything they need me for has to be done before lunch.

Usually I have them make lunch and I've moved lunchtime up an hour to noon. Afterwards, I do another hour of work while they have quiet time from 1-2. They can read, write, or draw during this time. Mostly they choose drawing. LOL

After that, I shoo them through their chores and any leftover schoolwork (homework to all you traditional schoolers) and think about dinner and evening plans. If I know I'll be going out, I try to get another hour of work done in there somewhere.

I usually end up with half the work done before dinner and half the work still to be done afterwards. I can't work more than an hour or so in a row or my eyes start to cross.

So, that leaves me working the last hour or so in the evening. That's the part I'd like to change most. I am working when Bob is home and the kids are ready to spend some family time together. Oh well.

Every week I've worked thus far I have been able to pick up extra hours. They only allow us to work 5 hours in a day, so that's my limit. I've found it easiest to just add 15 minutes to each of the hours I work to make up the extra one. So in every case above, I'd work 75 minutes instead of an hour. Not so hard to do that way as it would be to add an extra HOUR at the end of my day. I also get 2 hours of administrative time per week - for answering and reading emails, reviewing reports, and computer maintenance. So, I can work anywhere from 22-27 hours a week.

Oh, maybe you don't know what I am doing for work - I am evaluating the effectiveness of a search engine by rating the results that turn up for queries. More challenging than it sounds, in some ways at least.

So, I'm off to shower in HOT water hopefully, send the kids to bed (they're watching a movie) and then do my last hour. Tomorrow I think the kids and I are going to a passion play.

Weekly Preview

Well, after two weekends of fun, I'm afraid to step on the scales this Wednesday. Last week, I had gained a bit of weight. So, we'll see what this week brings. I'll focus on exercise and proper eating and the rest will follow.

Scrapbooking at Maryann's was wonderful! Just a small group - four of us - but tons of fun! We watched 7 movies (and a significant quantity of youtube videos), ate 4 tasty meals, and shared countless laughs. I scrapped 23 pages - all pictures from 2008. (No, I am not caught up, or even close.) David went along with me to enjoy some time with his friend Alex - lots of video games, youtube, and movies. Oh yeah, I only slept about 4 hours (and on the top bunk!) resulting in consuming copious amounts of caffeine for energy and alertness. I returned home about 11:30pm Saturday night.

Friday was homeschool co-op - just one more session and we are done for the year.

What's on the schedule this week? Spring break! The kids have no lessons this week, but Wednesday starts my online scoring job. I'll be scoring essays for a major standardized test company. I am aiming for 30 hours a week during the 3 weeks of this job. I have to complete the training beforehand though, and so I will be working on THAT today and hopefully finishing Monday.

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for tonight and tomorrow, so maybe we'll be getting 6+ inches of snow. Or maybe it'll fizzle out into a downpour of rain. Wait and see - that's my attitude.

Bob is volunteering at the homeless shelter this week - every night in the wee hours. So, he'll be overloading on sleep during the daytime hours. That's another good reason we are having Spring Break this week instead of after Easter.

I'm also hoping to get together with friends this week to watch Twilight. (Our purpose is more to MOCK the movie than to appreciate it. lol) We'll probably do other stuff too, and it will hopefully be a multi-family get-together with kids along. If it's nice, they can play out. Maybe there'll be snow! lol We're aiming for Tuesday, but details are still up in the air.

Sunday - SS, Church, training, baking, relaxing
Monday - Training, homeschool meeting (if the weather cooperates)
Tuesday - Training?, Getting together with friends hopefully, Keepers at Home (E/S)
Wednesday - Work (online scoring), No church
Thursday - Work
Good Friday - Work, Bob has an appt at Michworks, Maybe a church service?
Saturday - Work
Easter Sunday - Breakfast at church, Service, festivities?, Work

Crazy Schedule

FRIDAY
9:15 Leave for co-op
3:00 Home from co-op
4:30 Leave to pick up Leah and drop off David (James and Suzy riding along)
5:10 Drop off Emily and Leah
5:30 Shopping with James and Suzy (groceries and birthday gift)
7:30 Home with James and Suzy - make some mac and cheese, do costumes and gift
9:00 David returns and I chat with Donna for a while while the boys run around in the drizzle

SATURDAY (if weather permits)
Finish getting costumes ready
Eat breakfast
10:00 Leave for soccer
10:30 James and Suzy soccer games
After soccer - trick-or-treating at local merchants (between 11-1)
Emily come home at some point
Take David to a different friend's house
1:00 James to a birthday party
during the afternoon, make food for Book Club
4:00? Go get James
5:00 Book Club
After Book Club, get David and bring him home

Happenings

Bob's going out to the farm to tend our garden. I think he's taking Suzy, James, and David along. Maybe later we'll all go for a walk. I have some things to re-organize around here this afternoon, and it would be nice to just go sit outside and read for a bit too.

This week, I'll be working only 4 days, since I have a root canal scheduled for Wednesday. Bob also has a dental appointment on Wednesday.

James and Suzy will be going to a Vacation Bible School Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We have Beach Day with our homeschool group on Thursday. David has been invited to a friend's party overnight on Friday.

Monday and Friday are going to be more relaxed, it looks like. Garage sales on Friday, hopefully!