July Wrap-Up

Our heads look all big and like they're floating in the middle of nowhere because we were leaning across a little table in the dark.

Lonestar was fun, and they played a good concert as always. Next up, Bret Michaels on Friday. I'm excited for that one. Should be awesome. Courtney and her friends are going to Nickelback in October. I wonder if they'll let me come with them. Probably they will if I show them some of my dance moves. And get a really spangly sequin-ish shirt and some big conert hair.

The last little while has been rough motivation-wise. I haven't really accomplished a whole heck of lot, unless you count lounging around as an accomplishment. Which I sort of do, I guess. I really don't give a crap this summer. I've got about half of my job list done, and it wouldn't take a whole lot to finish. Hmmm.

Fourth (?) Annual Chamberlain Pineview Extravaganza:




We had lots of fun. I think.












Lexi had her moments. Like when she didn't like the clothes I picked out for her and was crying out the trailer door at top volume, "Dad!! Come find me a new outfit! I hate this!" Or when she pitched a royal fit because cutie Brooklyn was touching her stickers. Or when she wanted to have 3 water bottles and I told her to put some back. Or when I had to cut her off after 3 marshmallows and a whole candy bar.




Everyone was worn out by the time we were done.


We go out to the Pioneer Day parade in Bountiful with Sean's family every year. They got really good seats in the shade.








July goal progress:
Oh, wow. I sucked. I did not get caught up on birthdays. Rather, I got further behind. I did not cease to yell at Josh and Lexi. I would say I had lots of fun, but not "lots and lots of fun" like I specified. But I think I did at least OK on that one.

August goals:
*Get caught up on birthdays. The only birthday cards I have left in my collection are these crazy ugly things that I was going to throw away. So I need to go buy like at least 20 cards... or... just had a thought... maybe I'll send the crazy ones and start a new tradition of sending people the weirdest cards I can find. I've got a good start in my collection. I wonder if I could find some cards made in China or Indonesia with bad English translations and creepy anime or something.... Hmmmm... a new project perhaps.
*Get my hair cut and colored. You would think that wouldn't have to be an official goal, but you'd think wrong. Also, use my pedicure gift certificate.
*Sign Josh up for swim lessons.
*Swim in the backyard with the kids 3 times a week.
*Spend $200 less than last month. This will be hard, what with the swim lessons, school clothes, hair, school fees, and creepy birthday card buying. But I am going to try to spend less on groceries. Good luck to me.
*Develop a curriculum for my senior writing class before I officially go back to school. Or at least get a start on it.
*Finish my job list.

That's way to many goals for someone with so little motivation, but hey... reach for the stars and you just might... do something. Can't remember how that one goes.

Party All the Time

I love the beginning of July because of the 4th and Courtney's birthday. We kicked off with a little run up to the lake.




Saturday morning, Courtney and I walked in the Kaysville parade with Sam Granato, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bob Bennett. We had a great time. She's my buddy. She got all excited when she realized that now that she's 18 she can actually vote for the candidate she was out there supporting.

Then we spent the day up at the cabin with some of Sean's family. I spent most of the time sitting in a chair. It was quite lovely.







We finished off the celebration with fireworks in Kaysville with Sean's family. They always go ahead of time and get really good seats for everything, and luckily they let us come along. I feel like we have sweet connections.




Sunday we went out to lunch for Courtney's birthday. We went to Taggart for killer bacon cheesebugers, veggie pita on fresh-made bread that was fabulous, halibut, beer battered fries, brownie cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake, pink cookie, and who knows what else. Sunday night we went to Scott's house for homemade ice cream and all kinds of cookies and brownies. I covet his backyard. It is awesome. They have a beautiful home. We stayed way late just talking and relaxing.

Tuesday was Courtney's birthday. The big #18. Wow. Love this girl. She and Brittney are my besties. My partners in crime. My two amigas. They bring out the spaz in me. Courtney has been smiley, laughing, happy, sunshine, full of energy and life, ever since she was a baby. I can always count on Courtney to have a good attitude. If I ask her to help me, she'll do it. If I want to go boating or camping or to the ball game or to the drive-in or on a road trip or to the store, Courtney will say, "Cool. Let's do it." I feel lucky to be her mom.




My kids really do turn me into a spaz, though. I try to control it in public, but when it's just us, who knows. When we were getting ready for the garage sale Brittney and I were having a great old time. We got pretty loopy. At one point Brittney was laughing so hard at something I did (not saying what) that she couldn't even talk to tell Courtney what was so funny. She and I learned the Thriller dance the other day, just for the heck of it. She does it much better than I do, but I think I can make it up as I go well enough to fake it. I told her I was going to try to find a way to incorporate some of the moves at the Lonestar concert tomorrow night. I'll have Sean video me.

Courtney got her wisdom teeth out yesterday. She's been in pain and feeling crappy, but I think she's going to pull through. Her boyfriend came over today to bring her a Frosty, and he was here rubbing her feet, getting her a movie and putting it in for her, filling her ice pack.... She's been well cared for, I think. Mom has Josh and Lexi so that they don't disturb her. They can be pretty disturbing. I just hope they aren't disturbing my mom too bad. They are going through that phase where farting and underwear and words like "butt" are the funniest thing ever. I tried being all serious and stern and "don't say that" with them, but that didn't help. So I've moved to ignoring it, and that doesn't really help either. It's just a phase that they have to get over. Or not. Heck, I still think that stuff is funny. (Probably part of the problem is that sometimes I make fart jokes, huh?) So I tried to explain to Lexi that grandma doesn't think underwear is very funny and probably we shouldn't talk about it at her house, but I don't know if that sunk in. Pretty sure it didn't. So I have a big list of things to do while they're gone. The most important thing on the list, I haven't even tackled yet. I need to work on their scrapbooks while they're gone. If I do it when they're here, they want to look at everything and "help" me. I have been working on dusting baseboards, walls, plant shelves. I need to clean the oven, clean the ceiling fan, clean my shower, wash the windows, dust the blinds.... And anyone who knows me well would say, "Yeah right!! You're not going to do any of that. You're going to finish your novel, watch Judge Judy, sit around talking to Courtney and playing GameCube with Brittney, and write a blog post." And, yeah, true to a couple of those, but I've actually got a good start on some projects. So glad for grandma! It's been really, really good.

Finally Summer

Summer is finally here, and pool party is officially open for business. Come on over.




The weather has finally heated up, and it is so very lovely. We took the boat out on the lake for the first time last week, and it was awesome. Everyone had a blast.




Saturday morning we had a yard sale. It was so-so. I'm not sure that I want to do another one any time soon. But I got that goal taken care of, so check that one off the list.

Saturday night we watched fireworks in the backyard. Marilyn and Mindi came by to watch with us, and we had a good little visit. Hopefully we can hang out a little longer with both of our families over the holiday weekend at some point.

Sunday we went to the Bee's game, another favorite summer thing. Marilyn came with us. She's always such a good sport. Josh was so excited because he got his mitt signed by the Bee and Marilyn bought him a little wooden Bee's bat. Lexi was high on the all-you-can-eat junkfood fest. The rest of us were just happy to get out and enjoy the weather.

So now that summer is officially here, we need to get out camping and get to the drive-in. We have two concerts in July, so I'm excited for that. We were supposed to have three, but John Michael Montgomery was cancelled. That's the second time we've had JMM tickets and had the show cancelled. He sings my favorite love song ever, and I saw him once when he opened for Reba McEntire in the 90s, so I was hoping to see him again. Loser.

Let's see... June goals. What were they? I do believe I accomplished 2 out of 4. I did not lose the weight (big surpise) and we did not do weekly boating etc, but that's a function of the weather and all the car repairs that Sean did. We'll do better. I did clean out the junk closet (I should post a picture; it is beautiful) and have a yard sale.

July goals:
~Get caught up on birthdays. I haven't sent a single card this year. Our families are really good at this, and I most decidedly am not.
~Not yell at Josh and Lexi, things such as, "I didn't spend the last 3 hours cleaning this house just so you could follow me around making messes!!!!" or "If you don't get back in that bed, so help me I'll take away every birthday and Christmas until you're in college!!!!" or "A water fight in the kitchen??? What's wrong with you, boy???"
~Have lots and lots of fun. Camping, boating, drive-in, spending time at the cabin (in the water, not mowing the lawn), pool party, Wendover, hiking, hanging out with family.


Time to fix dinner. I'm thinking Frito's and cookies sound good. May break down and make actual food, but nothing is guaranteed.

June

So. A few quiet moments. Courtney and Curtis took Josh and Brittney to see Toy Story 3 and Lexi is playing Lite Brite. I'm cleaning out the junk closet, but it's such an overwhelming job that I'm hiding out. I stand at the doorway and look in, and then I walk away. Then I say, "That's it!! I'm just dragging everything out of there and getting rid of all of it. All of it, I say!!" Then I look at it some more and say, "Hmmmm.... really, what's the harm of just leaving this all in here. For a while longer. Until some other time. Some other time when I can really take the time to clean it up right." I've done this little procedure a few times. So actually, I got a good start on it yesterday, and now I'm just down to the hardest part. Stuff that's hard to organize and I don't know what to do with. So here I hide out listening to some tunes and messing around.

So June. Josh played t-ball and really loved it. So glad. He refused to play soccer, refuses to take swimming lessons, isn't interested in playing football or doing karate (except his own Josh-kwan-do that he practices on us and the furniture). But he liked t-ball and wants to play basketball in the fall. It's not so much that he has to want to play a sport... it's just that he has so much energy and needs some outlets for it. I told him I'm going to find him a boxing gym so that he can punch a bag instead of everything in my house and he seemed pretty excited about that, so I gotta look into that. I think karate or eventually MMA would be good for him. Give him some discipline and wear him out a little.




Sean's work Lagoon day was last weekend. It was a perfect day for it. Not too hot, but warm enough that the pool felt great.






Of course Miss Lexi feel asleep about 8:30. She was worn out.


Father's Day ended better than it started. We'll just skip over the part where the two little kids were rotten and the part where Sean and I took a drive up to the cabin and the lake and I got all snippy because he was bugging me with all his ambitious ways and talk about everything that needs to be done... we'll skip over all that and just focus on the part where we had chicken cordon bleu for dinner and coconut cream pie and presents. Sean is a great guy, and I'm not quite sure why he still puts up with me, but he seems to like me OK, so go figure. He's a good dad and a great sport. I tease him a lot about pulling everything apart all the time and about deer hunting and his fishing and car magazines (OK... so the other day Courtney and I were listening to "Hillbilly Bone" on my playlist, and there's a line about having a bubba in the family tree, and she asked if we have a bubba in our family tree, and I said, "Um, I think it's your dad.") But I wouldn't have it any other way. He's a great guy and a great dad, and we love him.


Sean and I finally got some of the yard work done last night and it looks much better. Now I just have to go out and tame the weeds in the garden. The potatoes are out of control. Awesome.

Summer vacation is going pretty well so far. It's just chill around here, pretty much. I'm adjusting pretty well. It's usually hard for the first few weeks, but I'm into the swing of it. I start out getting all crazy because of the lack of a schedule and the chaos, then I move to acceptance of it all, and then I pretty much just embrace the crazy.

Well, the door to the closet is open and I can hear it calling to me. Guess I better go get to work. Or close the door.

Graduation

Graduation weekend is a big blur. I had to go into work for a few hours Friday morning, so I used the time to finish cleaning up my classroom. And I'm glad I did, because it looks like I'm moving rooms again in the fall. They gave me the choice to move to a room with windows, and even though it's such a pain to move everything, I think it will be worth it. I'm in an inside room right now, and I'd love windows. So at 10:00 I headed on up to Ogden for Northridge's graduation. Came home and got some things done and got ready for Courtney's graduation, and then it was back up to Ogden. I held it together and didn't cry, but I was super proud of her. Graduation didn't get over until 9:30, and then we headed over to Olive Garden for a quick dinner. As soon as we got home I threw on different clothes, stopped at the Maverick for a giant Diet Pepsi, and went over to the high school to chaperone Courtney's all-night party. Was there until 6:30 am. Went home and crashed. Got up at noon. Cleaned and shopped for a family party. Sean's family and my family came over and hung out with us. It was really nice to have them all there. For living so close together, it feels like we don't see everyone enough. It was really a nice weekend.