Life Lately.

So much to say, so little time. The curse of my life.

(Billy-my-hero would agree... my curse = his curse. Haha)

I'm just trying to do a little catch up today.

Last week Mar headed off to girls camp with this fabulous crew:

 Bishop Bill gave a moving good-bye in the parking lot of the middle school.

Then the ward historian snapped a group pic.

The girls loaded into cars and were gone, baby, gone.

At home alone, I got the organizing bug and went hog-wild under Lolo's and Mar's bathroom sinks.

Yeah, there was a lot o' stuff under there that needed to be purged.

Like these ribbons, hair bows, and flowers:

 I'll admit, I was saddened to think my years of hair bows are pretty much over.

It means I really, really AM getting old.

Yes, there is a q-tip in the middle of the hair bows. We pretty much have q-tips all over every bathroom in the house. We buy q-tips in bulk and restock regularly. We fight over them when we travel because we never bring enough. Love them, unless I have to pick a ton of used ones up off of the bathroom floor of someone who shall remain nameless {wink}.

I loaded up garbage cans full of this, that, and the other. Gotta love a half-used bottle of Agent Cool Blue...

...that expired 5 years ago.

 Needless to say, a good purge makes miso happy!

I also found some new athletic shoes (for my highly athletic self). Shopping therapy helps when you are feeling lonely and need a break from organizing therapy.

 They are a tad bright, but they were on clearance. And they are very comfortable.

I totally have granny cankles, though. I really, really AM getting old.

(This pic courtesy of Annie, our YW president, since I wasn't there when they were all in their fabulous shirts.)

And here was their pre (or post) flag ceremony "talent" that Mar was in charge of coordinating. She rewrote lyrics (to make them more girls camp worthy) and arranged practices. 

I think she did a bang-up fabulous job. And I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom.

Bill and I drove up to girls camp Friday to spend the evening with girls.

The decorations were adorable, and so on pointe with their fabulous theme.

The girls had made this cute craft... I'm loving how I there's a fly on it (I didn't notice until I had downloaded the pics). How fitting.

They made bracelets...

...did some archery...

...relaxed in their roomy 3rd-year tent (last year they had 6 girls in a 6-man tent... you and I both know that when it says it's a "6-man" tent, it means it will fit 6 smallish people crammed in like sardines with NO luggage, pillows, and extra blankets)...

...and enjoyed relaxing and visiting with each other.

We gathered after dinner for a brief message from the Stake President.

After mixing up some fabulous copycat Swig/Sodalicious drinks and Italian sodas for the girls, we had a ward testimony meeting.

Just as Bill was getting the meeting underway, I snuck away to the mens-room-turned-ladies-room for a bathroom break. There in the one-and-only stall (poor guys), was the "smelly bin" for our ward. It's a big tote for the girls to put their smelly items in (toothpaste, deodorant, candy, etc) that is kept in the closed-door bathrooms to keep the bears away. Written on top of the bin were the signatures of girls in the ward. Lolo's name was there. Cheyenne's name was there. The names of girls from camps past intermixed with the names of girls new to YW or new to our ward from this year.

It made me emotional. ME. I wanted to shed a tear or two, but my surroundings (mens-room-turned-ladies-room) brought me back to the here and now. Oh, how time flies.

We helped pack up camp and returned home the following day.
Lauren and Mar hung out and relaxed until it was time to take Lauren to DIA to head home to TX after her long summer adventure (we were the final stop along the way). Her flight was delayed a couple times, so it made for a late, late night for her and her fam (with 9am church the next morning).

On Monday, Bill took Mar to check-in at the high school (high school!), then the two of them headed off to work (Mar's working on a project for her daddy-o). I had an early appointment (which is why Bill took Mar - his first time ever at a school check-in), and worked most of the day as well.

On Tuesday, Mar and I went like a tornado through her drawers and closets to clear out the unused, unwearable, unloved, and undersized. Okay, so maybe I went like a tornado. Mar was more like an observer, watching the tornado on TV.  Hah. We cleared out 2 garbage bags full of donate-able goods. And we had a good idea of what she still needed for the new school year. We cleaned ourselves up and spent the afternoon shopping. Luckily, Mar has simple needs: some new athletic shoes, a few layering tanks, a jacket, a couple pairs of jeans, and a few unmentionables. She kind of got wrapped up in wanting to spend her hard-earned money on a long board, which she initially thought was $89. Nope, Mar, that's $189. That girl cracks me up.

After a tornadic shopping afternoon, we stopped for a breather at a frozen yogurt shop.

(Am I the only one that has a problem with "Tutti Frutti"? I know it's supposed to be said "Tooty Fruity" but I can't help but think grammatically it's more like "Tut-ee Frut-ee".)

Work and piano lessons today (those lessons stress Mar out, especially when she hasn't practiced for two solid weeks). I am still in the middle of my organizing/purging frenzy, so things are all out of place around here and it's exhausting just thinking about getting everything where it needs to be. But life is good.