This morning I am thinking that I have too many cookies on my plate (there IS such a thing), so blogging is going to have to take a back seat for a while. I know, I've said that before, then still managed to post fairly regularly. I'm working on prioritizing, but that doesn't mean I'm good at it. Honestly, I mainly blog for my family. My parents, my in-laws, my children, and yes, even my husband. He thinks my blogging ability is "impressive," which only makes me want to impress him more. And then, I'll admit, I blog a tiny bit for me. Selfish, I know. A mix between scrapbooking and journaling, it gives me the sense of making sure we won't forget the meat of life. The day-to-day.
But before I resign myself to limited blogging time, I will share the weekend. Because it happened. The pictures are few and far between, so I've made a couple substitutions.
Shilo spent Friday evening and most of Saturday here. The whole week prior she had worried and fretted over her first long-course meet of the season. A 50 meter pool.
I spent Friday evening and most of Saturday sitting on hard metal bleachers, observing. Towards the end of the meet Saturday, Shilo and I noticed that a large group of chairs that had been neatly placed in a most convenient location in order to "save" a spot, had not been used ONCE. Most likely someone had arrived early to the meet to save the best seating, but apparently had come a day early, and were really saving the seats for the Sunday meet. That's all we could conclude, since the entire 4 1/2 hours we were in attendance on Saturday, nary a soul even attempted to sit in them. Frustrated that the meet was almost over, and those prime seating spots had gone to waste, Shilo and I pulled out our camp chairs, nicely pushed those 6 unused chairs back, and assumed a more comfortable front-row seating arrangement for the final 30 minutes.
Shilo swam the 200IM, 200 back, and 100 free. She placed first in her heat in each event, and improved her times by many seconds in every race. See? It wasn't so bad.
Lexee had a track meet on Saturday, so Bill and I divided and conquered. He did NOT take a camera, since he was rushing out of the house so as not to miss Lex's first event. That relay. The 800 Medley. The first event of nearly EVERY meet, and the one Lex had the fall on the last time she ran it.
He called to tell me the relay had been a success. Smoother hand-off. No fall. They placed 4th out of 12 teams. AWESOME.
Taylor came into town on Saturday. He drove the long, 10-hour drive from Rexburg to Parker with two fellow-Coloradan girls in tow. I just want to know why that trip goes by so fast when I'm not in the car? He was here around 7 pm (we NEVER get home that early). It's great to have him home for a week or so before he heads back to Idaho. He keeps telling us how nice home is, after living in tight quarters with 5 other guys who have an aversion to washing dishes.
After church on Sunday, at Mauri's insistence, she and Bill flew a kite. I was busily printing locker tags for the track team (more on that in a minute), and Bill neglected to pack a camera, so I will share other kite-flying pictures, circa 2005.
As for my cookies, they are many.
Work. Bill and I have decided that I will NOT continue in the SPED field after this school year. Six more weeks, then one fewer cookie. I could use a less-crowded plate.
Church. I currently serve as the Ward Music Chairperson (a challenge) and a Relief Society teacher (enjoy). I have two additional assignments: Ward cook for Girls Camp (love that), and yesterday Bill and I were asked to be a Ma and Pa for our Stake Pioneer Trek (which I have ALWAYS wanted to do). I have a desire to magnify every calling and assignment, thus have a desperate need to prioritize. Bye-bye blogging. (Okay, maybe just a purposeful reduction will work.)
Volunteer. At the parent Track & Field meeting a sign-up sheet was passed around. Bill and I wanted to be involved, but to a minimal degree, so we jotted down that we would be willing to help, but kept it vague. Next thing you know, Bill is one of only a few parents trained to work concessions (luckily his expertise has not been required frequently), and one of the coaches contacted me to be her fundraising liaison AND the locker tag coordinator. I know. I'm crazy for accepting. You would think I would learn. I've only had 3 parents volunteer to help with locker tags, and there are 75 athletes on the team. It's quite a job.
Friend. I would really love to be a caring and supportive daughter, sister, friend, and neighbor. With better time management, I could make some of those phone calls. I've told my children that communicating through written forms (like texting and blogging) is awesome, but should never take the place of actual verbal conversations. The art of talking to actual people might get lost. I'm taking my own advice.
Mom. Still trying to manage the home. You know, nurture children, organize a menu, pay the bills, do the laundry in a timely manner. It's the biggest cookie of all. And the most important.
So I plan to post less. At least until some of those cookies are consumed in an efficient and worthy manner.
