Day Camp Insanity...LOL

Back home just in time for day camp! My husband, as cubmaster, will be at camp every day - I'm in reserve, in case we need another chaperone, but if not, I get to spend the week at home trying to set my house to rights. Not that it's messy. It's not. But my mom gave me new curtains for our DR, my MIL gave me new curtains for our main bathroom, I never did get the chance to tie-dye the curtains for the boys' room last week, and I'll have fair entries to put where they belong, too. But this is fun stuff. Cleaning the house is a chore. Decorating is a whole nother story. ;-)

Today, I have to run my daughter to & from band sectionals, begin my curtaining adventures (LOL) and run to the fairgrounds in the afternoon to pick up our club booth, banner, and everyone's entries.

Last week, I did finish commenting and cross-referencing previously covered material for Chapter 1 of the Bible Teach book while I was working at church, but I was so busy, that's all I managed. Today is chock full, but maybe the rest of this week won't be so bad. Famous last words. ROTFL

Fair Week Insanity

It is way too early in the week for me to be this tired.

Church this morning, where I'm taking materials to work on stuff for the site and my yarn for my Slytherin scarf. (There's no way I'm going to get that thing done by Friday!) Summer Reading Program at 2pm, I'm a buidling watcher at fair immediately after, home for a quick supper, then my daughter's birthday party.

Tomorrow, we're going to an amusement park near us in PA.

Thursday, I'm working at church, then volunteering at the hospital, then to fair for our cub scout field trip (and my kids will be riding the rides that day/night), I'm building watcher again after the field trip...

Friday, I work. Depending on when they've scheduled it, we may stick around for my kids to do the 4-H craft day at the fair, too, but we're taking off for the weekend to visit my family so if it's late, nothing doing. Harry Potter book release party that night, too. The good news is, there's nothing on my schedule for Saturday & Sunday. Wow. How'd that happen? ROTFL

I swear, if my mother has anything special planned for the weekend, I'll cry buckets. All I want to do is breathe.

I Said What????

Did I say we'd have family-only down time this week?

I must've been mental.

My husband has the next 2 weeks off for vacation and we quite literally have no day scheduled as completely off. None. Granted, some days are busier than others and praise the Lord, at least we don't have meetings scheduled every day. Mostly family stuff. But still. Every day??? For two weeks solid???

ACK!!!

This morning, I'm filling in for our church secretary. Taking mats to frame my kids artwork for fair while I'm there and my predestination stuff, too, just in case it's really slow. (Ha ha.) Unless my pastor has been saving work for me, all I'll probably be doing is updating the computer. Should have time for homework. LOL.

Then, a quick stop at Goodwill to check on graduation gowns for costume potential at the Harry Potter book release party Friday and home to load remaining fair entries to haul to the fairgrounds. 4-H'ers can enter exhibits at 11am to avoid the crowd, but guess what? I have to work. ROTFL! Rush home for dinner, then back out for my daughter's haircut and Blockbuster to pick up movies for her party tomorrow...

My husband's picking up my mother-in-law tomorrow morning. She'll be visiting until Friday.

At least my house is sparkling clean. ;-)

And hey, the good news is I'm hoping to finally finish the piece I've been working on for the site while I'm filling in for our church secretary this week!

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

My fair entries are finished, but my mother-in-law is coming to visit all of next week so I'm scrambling to clean my house, LOL. The house looked good before, but I wanted to steamclean the carpets, clean the drapes, etc, so the place is so clean when she gets here that it sparkles. ;-) It'd definitely be nice if we had my stepdaughter's bedroom downstairs finished so my MIL could use it, too. Which means putting in the last row of tile re flooring today and dragging in the furniture. *sigh*

This morning, we're running payday errands and taking the boys to the Lowes Build & Grow workshop. I'll spend the rest of the day steamcleaning the dining room & hallway, tackling the drapes & working on that downstairs bedroom. Sunday, after church, I'll start weeding through the toys in the family room. Unlike the rest of the house, that room is a disaster. Bleh.

I really do have to figure out some sort of schedule for next week as well. I've got a rough sketch of what our week will be like, but have not yet figured out when we're going to go to fair as a family before Thursday's cub scout field trip. We'll want to see how our entries did before Thurs, guaranteed, not to mention check out the exhibits without a half dz or more boys in tow...The only openings I can see is Monday night or Tuesday afternoon.

Once my MIL sees our schedule, she's going to recommend therapy, I just know it. LOL

Uh oh

My husband tripped in the dark while walking the dog a couple nights ago, ended up with a sprained knee, sprained ankle and 5 stitches. Missed a day of work, went back yesterday and when he got home, his stitches were an angry red and look like they're becoming infected. Poor Honey! Going back to the doc to have it rechecked this morning...

I'm calling into the hospital in a bit, too. Usually, my birthday is no big deal, just another day to me, but this yr, I'd like to spend the day at home with my family. Things have been so nutty here, so busy. I miss having family-only down time. We'll get that next week, sure, but my mother-in-law is also visiting for the week + fair + family trip to a nearby amusement park + trip to visit my family over the weekend...Not much of what I'd call down time. LOL.

I'm spending this morning tying a fleece blanket. This afternoon with my family. This evening, maybe I'll work on my site as a special treat!

Summer Reading Program

For the first time, my boys will be able to attend summer reading program meetings. They do the reading program every summer, sure, but they were only able to go to one meeting/yr because the mtgs are held during my husband's work hours so all the activites were done at home. Well, I've got my license so I can take them now. Wahoo!

Otherwise, today is all about fair. The girls and I will be working on our club banner and they'll be working on their individual entries, too. I think all I have left is the pillow I'm making for our living room. I'm using the knifty knitter loom my mother gave me a few Christmases ago to make the panels for each side of the pillow. More than a little frustrating, actually. If I didn't have so much of the first panel already done, I'd chuck the kk and knit with regular knitting needles. I like the loom for hats. It's very quick and knitting with some specialty yarns like Fun Fur with traditional needles can be difficult. At least it is for me. But I think otherwise, I'll stick to the needles from now on. Unless more patterns start showing up for the kk, that is.

If I finish the pillow with time to spare, I may knit a Griffindor scarf, too. Because I'm not nearly insane enough. LOL

I, btw, am considering creating a section on my site to address the WTS recruiting book, WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? Much of basic material is similar to that found in the KNOWLEDGE book so I ought to be able to cross-reference a lot of the content, but the BIBLE TEACH book annoys me endlessly. It's a dumbed-down version of the KNOWLEDGE book, IMO, and doesn't address issues in nearly enough detail for new JW recruits. Unlike the more comprehensive KNOWLEDGE book, the BIBLE TEACH book leaves too much for recruits to learn/find out later - perhaps after their baptism into the WTS, when it's too late to change their minds without suffering very harsh consequences.

I also recently came across a 2007 Watchtower article on predestination - my current article-in-progress. Fair and cub scout day camp will take up the bulk of this month, though. Maybe August.

Oh my

I passed my driver's test yesterday - I'm still stunned. LOL

Today...Some errands to run, a house to clean, then my first drive on my own - the library. I know. Please. Contain your joy, but hey, the library isn't far. I originally intended to take them to the mall, but my husband pointed out that this is Saturday. 4 kids at the mall on a Saturday has nightmare written all over it. Perhaps not a wise choice for my first solo drive with the kids. ;-)

Otherwise, we're madly working on fair projects!

Driving

I am a poor driver. To be perfectly frank, I am a hideously poor driver and like everything else, if there's something I'm bad at, I fervently avoid it. Which means I don't have my driver's license. Never have. I've had my permit 8 or 9 times so I could spell my husband during highway driving in the summer (even I can point the car down a straight stretch of one-way traffic and not kill us, LOL), but otherwise, no.

Problem is - we live in the country. It's not like I can call a cab or hop on a city bus when I need to be somewhere. For the past several years, my family simply did without any activity that required us to be anywhere on a day my husband didn't have off.

Well, that's no longer an acceptable scenario.

So I'm going to take my drivers test today. I have zero chance at passing the thing, but I'm hoping if I take the test when I know I'm going to fail, I won't be so petrified when I actually do have a chance at passing. All the times I've had my permit, I've never taken the driving test. It's become some impossible gila monster in my head. I'll take the test today, fail it, and hopefully see that it's not as bad as I built it up to be.

Of course, if I miraculously pass - and I am not being facetious about it requiring a miracle at all - if I pass, I'm going to do some serious celebrating. But I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, we'll be working on fair entries pretty much solid through the 16th. Rocket derby on the 12th and my daughter's birthday party on Friday the 13th. My time is not my own. ;-)

Hammer & nails...

Got the rabbit run mostly built yesterday. Today, the kids and I are going to finish it. I'm already chuckling wickedly over their expected reaction when I tell them they're going to help build the thing, but hey, if we're keeping 4 babies...Do ya think I'm going to build all 4 hutches? Not. Besides, once they get over the idea that (gasp) they might actually have to DO something, I think they'll all get a kick out of learning how to use some basic tools. Plus, it'll teach them a personal responsibility when it comes to our pets. To keep a baby, each of them has to learn about the care and raising of rabbits and each of them will have to help build his or her rabbit hutch. Instead of just handing them the rabbit, they'll be invested in it, KWIM?

Since I'll have the staple gun out for the wire, may as well staple the fabric for the bulletin board I want in the entry, too.

Also going to introduce my stepdaughter to the mitre box. She wants a puzzle framed and for non-standard size items, easier and cheaper just to make the frame yourself.

This is like Bob Villa day at my house or something. LOL

Is there anyone I'm NOT mad at?

Rabbit has gnawed a fair-sized hole in the hutch door. We've temporarily blocked that off so she can't escape, but the run needs built now. Not later. Now. So I'm fighting with my husband who initially insisted that we needed a circular saw to hammer together a simple box frame and since we can't afford the circular saw, according to him, we had to take the rabbit back until we can buy it. Which might be next March. Maybe.

Unacceptable.

When I told my husband I'd cut the pcs of 2x4 and hammer the frame together this afternoon, he went Vesuvius.

Kids are going into Day 2 of restrictions because apparently none of them are physically capable of throwing a wrapper in the garbage, putting a cup in the sink, returning their shoes to the coat closet, or walking the dog without sneering at me for (gasp) asking them to take 10 minutes out of their "busy" day for something that doesn't involve gamecube, a modem or some special activity I planned. My boys can't pick up a lego, either. Or markers. Or anything else. I tell them to pick up whatever mess they've made. They pick up for 2 minutes, then I spend half an hour pointing to toys that must be invisible to anyone under the age of 10 and remind them exactly where each item belongs, ad finitum.

Also unacceptable. Yelling at the kids hasn't worked. Taking away each's allowance and minor privileges hasn't worked. So I've taken away the major ones and if the situation doesn't improve dramatically and rapidly, we won't be visiting the amusement park in 2 wks, either. No Wii playoff. No seeing the new Harry Potter movie when it's released later this mth. I'm their mother, not their servant. Actually, lately, I've seen servants treated better.

I'm spending today building the rabbit hutch and/or crotcheting a rug for the entry.

I also need to talk to my stepdaughter at some point, which is a whole nother infuriating issue.