Well, I didn't intend to do two weeks at once, but I never got time to do a weekly post last week and here I am at the end of another week. The last two weeks have been insanely busy. I thought this week would be better than last week, but it wasn't. Maybe next week? Please?
Since I have a lot to cover, I am going to avoid going into too much detail, but here's a list of what we did each day.
Saturday the 25th: Jared went on a 10 mile hike for scouts. Tanner decided he didn't want to get up that early so he didn't go. Jared had a good time--some day I will have to get the pictures off his phone to post here. It took all day, though--he was gone from 8:00 to 4:30. I went to a bridal shower for Erin in Virginia. It was fun...as a getting to know you game, we all had to tell the story of our first kiss! That was funny! Frank cleaned the kitchen floor for me while I was gone. I helped Tanner get signed up for the ACT (we missed the deadline for the September test by one day...rats!...so he's taking it in October) and got some sign up sheets ready for our ward's Labor Day Picnic, since the RS was in charge of food.
Sunday the 26th: We took Wanda to church. After church Frank and the boys took the sacrament to one of his home teaching families. While they were gone, a good friend of Frank's from his childhood (Tom Helms) surprised me by showing up at our front door. He was out driving with his daughter, who is trying to get her hours for her drivers license, when they saw the signs for Frederick and remembered that we live here, so they decided to stop in. (They live in Virginia right now.) Frank was very surprised--but in a nice way--to see him when he got home. We enjoyed their visit. After they left, I made a few phone calls and then we drove down to Virginia to have dinner with Erin and Dan. We saw their new apartment, which is nice. (Although the outside is currently being renovated and it looks like it's been condemned or something! It was hard to find the way upstairs to their apartment.) We enjoyed our visit with them and dinner was delicious. Erin made this chicken cordon bleu casserole which was super yummy! Next time we see them, they will be married! :)
Monday through Friday I had heaps of things to do. Just to summarize, three ward members ended up in the hospital (2 surgeries) and 2 families moved. Plus I was trying to get visiting teaching changes figured out for September and prepare the RS lesson which I was teaching on Sunday. I literally tried all week, every spare second I got, to work on those things and every time I got interrupted by some emergency or something. It was ridiculous! I finally got the lesson mostly figured out on Saturday morning but I had to give up on visiting teaching changes--no one goes visiting teaching the first week of the month anyway, right?! I was also trying to get some RS visits set up and my own visiting teaching done. (Remember, I was gone for the first half of August so I couldn't get it done then.) And then there were all the regular things like laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping. All that added up to a stressful week. Here's a few more details by the day.
Monday the 26th: I helped a friend can peaches for a while because I wanted to remember how to do that. I had one RS visit in the afternoon and made sure a meal got set up for one of the moving families. Also exercise, laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming, and FHE.
Tuesday the 27th: I had an RS visit in the morning but the sister wasn't there when we got to her house. Picked up a library book for book chat (The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene), picked up a prescription for Tanner, and a guy from Ashley Furniture came and drilled holes for our middle shelf of the entertainment center so it is FINALLY in the entertainment center instead of leaning against the wall, which it did for 2 months. Also cleaned bathrooms and made a grocery list. In spite of being totally stressed out about all the other things I had to do, I decided to let it all go hang for a while and I went to the temple Tuesday afternoon. (Frank was working from home so he was there when the boys got home from school.) I'm glad I did. It was my first time to see the new film, which was wonderful. There were a lot of things that I loved about it. It was great to get away from the real world for a while and feel some peace! I want to go back. That evening Frank went to help teach a new member discussion to a family in our ward.
Wednesday the 28th: I spent the morning helping with cleaning / packing at one of the moving family's houses. Exercised, dusted, Wal-Mart shopping. After school I took Tanner out to a place that needs some work done to see if he could make their needs into an Eagle Scout project. It's a place called the Circle of Hope--they do therapeutic horse back riding lessons for people with disabilities. They have a memorial garden that needs a lot of restoration work. It looks like it will make a good project, so he's probably going to do it. (Side note: I am THRILLED with the new scout master, who was called about 2 months ago. In that time he has helped Tanner find an Eagle project, is setting up a time for him to pass off his swimming merit badge, has assigned Jared to do some teaching that he needs to do for his Life rank, has started the boys on 3 merit badges, taken them on a 10 mile hike, and is currently planning a 2 night camping trip. He is going to make getting the guys to their Eagle rank about a million times easier for me!) That evening I took the boys to YM, dropped off brownies for one of the sisters I visit teach, and went to Back to School Night at Seth's school.
Thursday the 29th: Jared had an orthodontist appointment at 3:15 and Frank had a dentist appointment at 3:10. They are near each other, so we all went together. Frank doesn't have any cavities but he has to get a crown on one of his teeth because it has a crack in it. Also that day I did laundry, grocery shopping, and vacuuming. I got a little work done on my lesson. I had a phone visit with one of my visiting teaching sisters because she was too busy for a formal visit. Transfers were that week and we got a second set of Elders again. They came by Thursday evening to meet our family and gave us a nice message and I referred them to our neighbors who could use some service. Frank was gone--he was doing work for a client all evening. (He's been just as busy as I have been.)
Friday the 30th: I worked on the budget, which took way too long...a good portion of the day. I got everything caught up though. I hadn't done the finances for the business since before vacation. I worked on my lesson a little but got interrupted a lot. Seth had a doctor appointment after school...just his annual check up. He is fine. Frank rented a power washer that evening and started on the big project of power washing our deck and the back of the house. We've lived in this house 13 years and only power washed one other time...and I think that was about a year after we moved in. Needless to say, the deck was coated in a thick layer of dirt and mold. I knew it would make a big difference, but even I was surprised by how much of a difference. Frank worked on it for 3 or 4 hours that night, until it got too dark.
Saturday the 31st: Frank continued with the power washing, starting about 8:30 and he didn't finish until about 3:30. Needless to say, he was exhausted and sore! But the deck looks amazing!! Here are a few pictures to help you get a feel for the difference it made:
In process Friday evening--the gray / green color on the right of the picture is the color the whole deck has been for the last several years. The light brown wood on the left of the picture is the real color of the wood underneath.
Another in process picture--the floor of the deck this time. The plank on the far right of the picture is clean. The rest are not.
The deck after the cleaning was complete. It was still wet in this picture. When it dried, it was even lighter. Every time I look out the kitchen window now, I think "it's so bright!"
Anyway, while Frank was power washing, I kept busy working on my lesson, taking the boys to a practice for an event they have coming up, and making several trips to the store to buy paper products, condiments, and desserts for the upcoming ward Labor Day Picnic. After all the power washing was done, I cleaned the kitchen floor. Poor Frank was so sore from all the work that he moaned and groaned every time he moved all evening! Jared went to a movie with friends, which kept me up late because I had to go get him when it was over.
Sunday the 1st: Frank was even worse Sunday morning than he was Saturday evening. He was so stiff and sore that he finally realized that he was not going to be able to go to church. That complicated things because we were supposed to pick up Wanda, which requires two cars. I found someone else to pick her up, though. After agonizing over my lesson all week and not feeling really great about the final version, my lesson went great! What do you know! Actually, on Sunday morning as I was talking to Frank about it I suddenly felt peace come over me and I knew it would be ok...and it was. After church we did rest a little. I guess I could have written this weekly post then, but I took a nap instead. Oh, and watched an old movie...which I wouldn't normally do on Sunday but it was the Netflix movie that I'd been trying to find the time to watch for over a month. I'm glad we had that day of rest because this week has been just like last week.
I thought this week would be a little less hectic, but I didn't plan on one more person ending up in the hospital and another breaking her foot. Plus, I got a phone call Sunday evening from one of the counselors in the bishopric asking me to speak this Sunday. So no lesson to prepare this week...but a talk instead! And I've still been trying to get those visiting teaching changes figured out since I didn't get them done last week. I really do need to get them done this time.
Monday the 2nd: Frank was still sore, but improved quite a bit. He was still hobbling around a little but was feeling well enough to attend the ward Labor Day Picnic. I spent the morning getting some last minute shopping done for that. We also had two other boys from the ward come over that morning--brothers, one Seth's age--because their Mom & Dad went with another sister to the temple who was going for the first time. At the picnic, we had a pretty good group of people show up and the food was good. I think everyone had a good time. It turned out to be one of those really hot & humid August days, though. That kind of heat always drains me of all energy. It was too bad I was so tired because after we got home we needed to run to the store to get some paint for the deck (there was a sale we didn't want to miss) and the Elders were coming over for dinner. We succumbed to weariness and instead of cooking, we ordered Chinese food...the Elders didn't complain! In between everything else we got laundry and vacuuming done too.
Tuesday the 3rd I had a presidency meeting, cleaned bathrooms, made a grocery list, and had my monthly meeting with the bishop. That's all I wrote down but I know there was more going on because that's not much and I know I was running around all day long. I was probably making phone calls and sending out emails for RS things as well as trying to work on my talk.
Wednesday the 4th: I visited a sister in the hospital that morning. Then I did Wal-Mart shopping, dusted, and worked on my talk. I also did a lot of other RS stuff that needed to be done. The boys did not have YM that evening because the next day was a temple trip. I had to run back to the store that evening to get some things they needed for a potluck lunch for the temple trip.
Thursday the 5th there was no school again--Rosh Hashanah or something like that. Strange week, to have two days off! There was an all day temple trip for the youth in the stake although Tanner didn't go because he wasn't feeling very well. Jared did go, and he was gone all day. They met at the church at 6:45 am and he got back around 7:30, I think. In addition to doing baptisms, they had several presentations and speakers at the visitor's center. Jared said it was awesome. After Tanner got up he was feeling a bit better and he helped me vacuum. I got laundry going and tried to work on my talk and visiting teaching. But then I got the email about the sister who had broken her foot...and she just happens to be one of the sisters I visit teach, too! I was glad I hadn't made it to the grocery store yet because I decided I needed to take her dinner, and I needed a few extra things for that. I took her dinner and also visited with her to try to figure out what help she is going to need. She has three young children, including a baby who doesn't walk yet and her husband is an accountant who is in a very busy season right now and expected to work long hours including Saturdays. Her foot will not be casted until Tuesday and even then she will not be allowed to put weight on it. Yikes! We got a plan figured out for what she will need, though. I talked to her and to her mother in law also, who is in our ward (but she works full time). I had a couple of phone conversations with the compassionate service leader and she's getting everything taken care of. It took time to get it all figured out, though. Also on Thursday evening another guy in our ward came over to bring me a bunch of baseball pants that he would like hemmed. I hope I can find the time to get those done...at least I have about 10 days to get them figured out. I thought if I didn't have time for this project that I would pass it off to another sister in our ward who is more proficient than me. I had already talked to her about it and she was willing...but guess what? She's the same sister who broke her foot! So now it's up to me. At least she can give me some advice if I need it.
Friday the 6th (today...finally!): One of the things we decided that Katie (the sister with the broken foot) was going to need was someone to be "on call" each day in case she needed help. Today I was her "on call" person, so after I dropped Seth off at school, I went to her house to check on her. She is actually handling everything remarkably well. Her husband had got her oldest daughter ready and off to school and she was eating breakfast with her other two children when I arrived. I did some sweeping and picked up toys, brought clothes down for her kids so she could dress them, and then helped her get moved from the kitchen onto the couch. Then I did the breakfast dishes and cleaned up the kitchen a little bit. We visited the whole time...it is always so much more fun to work with another woman around to talk to! After that I came home and got some work done on my talk and on visiting teaching stuff. After I picked up Seth from school, I went back over to Katie's house to check on her. One of her neighbors and another sister from our ward were there, so she had enough help and I didn't stay too long. She reported that she had a few hairy moments, but overall the day had gone pretty well. She's a trooper! After dinner tonight Frank took Tanner to his friend Seth's house to spend the night and he dropped off Jared at the high school football game. Then he went to do some work for a client. I got the budget done (quickly for once!) and got Seth to bed. Then I started working on this post. Frank and Jared are both home now...Jared with red paint all over his face. (His team won, though.) I still need to write a letter to Scott and then I can go to bed. Tomorrow will be busy again, and I need to finish up my talk and the visiting teaching changes.
After Monday was so hot, the weather has changed and the mornings and evenings are quite chilly. The days are pretty nice, though--warm and sunny with lovely breezes.
Maybe you've gathered that Frank has been quite busy too. He has had a ton of work to do for his business. His regular job has thankfully been not too busy, though. They are still transitioning and since most of his team has not transitioned yet there is not a lot for him to do for normal operations. He had several planning meetings this week and he is using the time to study and learn new things. It will probably be this way for a few months. One nice thing about it is that he has been able to work from home a lot.
Seth is enjoying 1st grade a lot. Another thing that has been keeping me busy, though, is that he has homework now. He gets a little packet each week that he had to complete and send back in every Friday. It is not a lot of work and it is mostly easy for him, but he needs a little guidance and it takes time...mostly because he gets distracted a lot and also asks lots of questions. In spite of the craziness, I've been really good about reading scriptures with him every morning. I just signed him up for soccer and that starts next week. I have a feeling things are not going to settle down around here anytime soon.
Just a note about the planning for the family reunion: I just looked into having Tanner apply to be on the work crew for the Hill Cumorah Pageant next summer. If he applies and is accepted, he will have to be in New York from June 27th to July 25th! We were talking about the weekend before he would need to leave for the reunion, so that would still work if we stick with that plan. I'm not sure if he will even apply for the work crew, but I just wanted to throw that out there as we consider our plans.
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