Entrepreneur of the Year

If there really was a Business of Busyness, I'm sure I would win some sort of award. Just not sure if it would be Entrepreneur of the Year or Most Activities While Somehow Avoiding the Psyche Ward. Honestly, it's probably closest to the second one.

My daily life seems personified in this Mary Engelbreit drawing.

Glorious Action and Noble Risks.

That's us. We just missed the whole "One Hour" part, and went for infinity instead.

I survived a month full of note-taking and picture taking for my Day In The Life scrapbook, and frankly, it scared me. What I put myself (and my family) through in a month will be my ticket to an Oprah or Dr. Phil show for sure.

We have survived (I think?) all of the following:

• 2 Season finale baseball games


• 1 loooong day trip to Virginia Mason hospital for a friend's surgery


• A week with Grandma and Papa for the boys


• 1 Art show in Everett


• 4 Dentist appointments - FOUR! - yes, we have added the daily fluoride rinse to our kids' brushing routine


• A weekend with Grandmother and Dennis for the boys


• Another Art show in Edmonds


• A week of Basketball camp for Chance


• A miraculous occurrence in which the only basketball shoes in the house actually fit Chance's feet when tried on 1 hour before camp was to start


• A week of Vacation Bible School for Colton


• Father's Day (somewhere amidst the Edmonds Art Show)


• Swim Lessons - 2 boys x 2 weeks


• 4th of July Camp out hosted at our house


• A library visit in which we met an angel disguised as a librarian


• Summer reading program


• Chance reading 2 hours in the first day


• 1 school board meeting


• Countless shopping trips


• 2 Costco trips


• Endless laundry - sometimes folded the day it was washed - sometimes piled in the corner until the next marathon folding session


• And dishwasher loads - lots of dishwasher loads


• Oh yeah, and both adults trying to hold down a 40-hour per week job (no comment, Darla!)

Each bullet point should be a post. But, most of them won't be. If I'm truthful, none of them will be. Because I am both tired and lazy. And, I'm going on vacation soon, so I'll just be even further behind, so why try to catch up now? So this is all you get. I hope my detractors are happy. For those of you who waited patiently, I really do hope you're happy.

Friendly Home Evening

We couldn't let Jane and Deb have all the fun on a Monday night, so Annette, Darla, and I got together for a "friendly home evening".

I had a project to complete for Tina's birthday, but not all the supplies to do it.

Darla came through and helped me by offering supplies, her house, a fun shared dinner, and a play night for the boys. Here's what we made:

Thanks, Darla!

Happy Birthday, Tina!

Flag Day, a la Colton Messer

Happy Flag Day from Colton. Colton must have somehow known it was Flag Day yesterday, because he couldn't stop singing the Star Spangled Banner on the way home from Seattle. Very loud. Here's his rendition:

Oh Jose can you see????

By the Dodgers we light.

Oh, woe is me. Colton thinks the Star Spangled banner is about some guy named Jose at a Dodgers game. Sorry, founding fathers. We'll work on that.

What's your motto?

My motto for today is not a proud one. I just got done telling a co-worker:

I don't know if I'm really busy, or just drowning in a self-made sea of procrastination.

I think it's the latter.

Drowning in a self-made sea of procrastination.

Time to start "swimming, swimming . . ." like my Neighbor Jane!

Form, function, or comfort?

Okay, here's a disclaimer. I live with boys. A husband, two sons, and a male dog. All boys. It doesn't take a big stretch of the imagination to know that we talk about bodily functions approximately 90% of the time.

So, if you are embarrassed by such talk, please quit reading now. Because I have become immune, and may not even know where the line of appropriateness currently resides.

And, I'm going to talk about toilet paper.

When we first got married, I was a frugal shopper. Store brand of everything. Our grocery dollars had to stretch a loooong way!

Then, I had a baby. Then another one.

And good toilet paper found it's way to the top of the grocery list every time. No matter how much cheaper the store brand was. I made my boss put in a "real" toilet paper dispenser in the ladies' room of our office, and stock it with Charmin. It totally broke the toilet paper delivery man's heart.

Consequently, there have been times in the last few years that toilet paper was on the list when Matt went shopping. And he didn't come home with Charmin. Or 3-ply Quilted Northern. He came home with Scott or Safeway Select. I thought he was just cheap.

Until a few weeks ago in the tp aisle.

I'm searching for the best deal on Cottonelle. The boys are looking at Great Value.

"I am not buying that cheap junk" was my comment.

"That other stuff is too soft!" was Matt's reply.

"Too soft?" I say - unaware that there was such a thing.

"It just doesn't get the job done." Chance chimes in.

"We need a hard-working toilet paper" the boys all agreed.

WHAT?????????????

I had to buy two kinds. One for the upstairs, one for the downstairs.

On the upside, I have my own bathroom now ;)

Honey, I'm gonna need a bigger car.

I'm trading in my bumper sticker.

It used to say WWJD.

(What would Jesus do?)

Now, it's gonna say W.W.J.L.M.G.A.W.J.T.O.I.I.S.I.W.R.S.A.

(What would Jesus let me get away with just this once if I said I was really sorry afterward?)

Cause, I'm far from a perfect Christian. And I like to keep it real.

Just so ya know.

But, it is going to require a larger bumper. I don't think this one will fit on the ole Impala.

I'm so far from perfect that I completely stole this idea from John over at Stuff Christians Like. Cause he makes me laugh out loud at my desk almost every day. And then Darla asks what I'm laughing at. And then she thinks I'm weird. Thanks, John.

Life is just so daily! (Thanks ME)

So, I'm totally copying my fun friend Sandy, and making a daily journal/scrapbook for the month of June. I want my ancestors to be able to look back and see what a normal time period was like for our family.

.

The scrapbooks hit all the highlights, but so often it is fun to look back and know what people actually DID with their time - and how much a gallon of milk cost - and how often they went out to eat and where.

.

Because I would love to find something like that about my grandparents, I figure maybe someday a grand kid will find it fun to know about us. I'm taking pictures of everyday stuff, and keeping a short journal of our daily happenings.

Here's where we're at so far:

6/1/09

• Chance dentist - 1 filling.
  

Milkshake after dentist

• 1st day of Summer vacation for the boys.
• Matt is off to training for the week at Fort Lewis.
• Lunch at Southpaws with Matt and Darla
• To the bank to cash a couple checks for my Father's Day stash
• Wal-Mart shopping trip

6/2/09

• Meeting at Basin West branch first thing in the morning
• Garden tour and lunch for the office gals with Mr. Jensen

• Chance's last baseball game - he was chosen by the opposing coaches for the MVP ball.
• Dinner with mom & dad at China Buffet - less than impressive (the buffet, not the company)
• Sent Matt a Fed Ex package with his Cabela's gift card so he could shop at the BIG Cabela's near Fort Lewis.

6/3/09

• Took boys to Tina's (should have this on every day)
• Off to work
• Chance to dentist - 2nd cavity filled
• Colton's last baseball game
• Dinner with mom & dad at Chico's - MUCH better! (Thanks for making it to both last games, you equal opportunity grandparents, you! Love you!)
  

6/4/09

• Boys to Tina
• Regular workday - 10 AM Web training for new A/P system
• Lunch with Darla and Lola at one of our favorites - Michael's

• Power outage at work - got to leave 1/2 hour early
• Pick boys up for a rare evening at home
• Matt is home!!
  

6/5/09

• Boys have a stay-at-home day, since Matt is off
• Leave a couple chores and head to work
• Try to get some billing caught up
• This is what my desk usually looks like

• 
  Bethel Church brings lunch - fundraiser for youth group - yummy enchiladas
• Talk to Krista regarding sign we are building

That's it! So far, anyway. A week in the life. Soon to be a month in the life. We'll see how it goes. . .