day three of summer vacation. so far we have golfed nine holes, fished, played tennis, rode bikes, had baseball practice three times, lost one soccer game, built half a giant retaining wall in the blazing sun, enjoyed some margaritas, signed up for tennis lessons (me) and lost DS privileges (joyful smile).

through all this chaos i have not had nearly enough time to get my work done. i got up at 5:45 this morning in an attempt to catch up. i feel a little better now, but i realize summer just might get me fired :)

i also realized that the boys need to be OUTSIDE doing something that will entertain them for long periods of time. something that doesn't involve bb guns, drowning in the lake or beating each other up.

i think i may have made a mistake. i'm not sure.

but there is a trampoline in the back of my car just waiting to be put together. the j boys are ecstatic.

doh. i should have thought before i bought.

for nine months of school it was torture getting the boys out of bed. i would tell them to get up at least 5 times and then would usually end up pulling off the covers, exposing grumpy, balled-up little people. by the time they finally got up, it would usually be 7:40 and we would have 20 minutes to get out the door.

today is the first day of summer. no school.

big j was up and at 'em at 6:45. little j was right behind him at about 7:05.

go figure.

Dear jamie,

Thank you for securing your spot with WB Surf Camp, the world's safest,
most educational and exciting learn to surf program.
Upon WB Surf Camp successfully processing your MC/Visa, you will be
e-mailed an invoice, and your spot will be reserved in the following
session:

9/18/2010 - 9/19/2010: Weekend Clinic- Wrightsville Beach; ages 18+ AM


since we last spoke of surf camp, i was going with 7 of my college buddies. six of them bailed (something about not wanting to die), so karen and i are bringing the husbands for a double date.

like i told her, we haven't had double dates that involved sharks since high school :)

i am convinced God speaks to me through my truck tires.

A few years ago, you may remember a post about me pulling into the tire store for a set of new tires. as i sat in the parking lot waiting for my ride, my tire went flat. at the tire store. really, only God could have planned that one.

last night i met the husband at baseball practice with the boys. he drove the car, i drove the Explorer. when i got there, i saw how dirty the car was and decided to swap him vehicles and go wash it. note that i make it a point to NEVER drive the car. i hate that thing.

i take the car, wash it, stop at the grocery store and head home with a full trunk and a full back seat (grocery shopping sucks, by the way). when i get home, the husband tells me the back tire on the Explorer went flat while they were at practice and he had to change it. i promise it was not flat when i dropped it off.

really, any other day it would have been me dealing with a flat tire in the grocery store parking lot. God knew i would be clueless and mad and the ice cream would melt.
so he let the husband handle it--which he did in about 10 minutes.

see? it pays to listen to Christian rock every now and again while you drive.

even though my art buddies make fun of my photos, i wish wish wish i had pictures from saturday morning. two friends and i took 4 little girls to a Girls on the Run 5K race. Girls on the Run is a national program designed to give girls 8-13 self-esteem, positive role models, healthy habits, etc. along the way the girls train to run and finish a 5K race.

the girls we took weren't part of the program and hadn't trained a day, but all of them were fabulous. they finished the race with smiles on their faces and feelings of accomplishment. there were tons of little girls there, wearing pony tails and smiles. lots and lots of pink. i loved every minute of it. the day was gorgeous and i jogged along talking to various girls along the way. i hooked up to my little 8-year-old buddy gracie and we ran the last 1.5 together. the best part was the end when she told me, "i don't think i can run any more..." and suddenly we saw the finish line and a big crowd of people lined up cheering. she took off like a shot and finished the last 100 yards at a dead sprint, wearing the hugest grin i've ever seen.


melt.

i love little girls. i am thankful for friends who let me borrow theirs. i am also thankful for opportunities to get involved with organizations like this. i talked to the coordinator after the race, and it appears she just spoke with the united way in my town and they want to bring the program here. she took my name, number and email address. i hope they call. if they do, i will get to borrow all kinds of little girls.

life is good.

i was at play it again sports today when bobbi called my cell phone. as i stood there talking to her (we were talking about how weird it is that i only go to scheels and play it again when i go shopping) i glanced across the aisle and saw myself in a full length mirror. i laughed and said "so that's what these pants look like."

you see, i have not really seen myself in a full length mirror in over 13 years. the occasional dressing room or visit to a hotel aside, of course. we didn't have one at the old house. we didn't have one at the new house. if i really wanted to see if my shoes matched my shirt, i would have to stand on the bathroom counter and kind of bend around a bit. no wonder i only like to buy shirts and never pants. seriously. i looked at my whole self today and was kind of surprised. i told bobbi "i never realized my legs were that long!" we both laughed super hard. i am a class A moron.

i just never bothered to think that for the low price of $29, i could have saved the world from fashion disasters, bad shoe choices and stupid looking pants.

anyway. i bought a mirror today. i am going to establish a rule that the whole family uses it. the j boys have no idea what they look like from the chin down, since all our bathroom mirrors are kinda high. big j walks out of here with his baseball pants on backwards and his shirt inside out on a regular basis.

well, no wonder.

i feel like i have been abusing my poor kids. and don't even get me started on the husband. at least now i have realized the excuse for his nasty too-short gray swishy pants.

yes. i know you know the ones i am talking about.

the weather around here has been so dreary that the clouds actually forced me into the kitchen in search of something warm and happy. i ended up making this homemade pizza. karen told me it was good. yep, she was right. it was. it's also pretty. or, it was anyway.

the dudes enjoyed their canadian bacon version as well.

if this weather does not clear up pronto i'm going to be forced to do something serious, like make a homemade pie or braise a pig or something.

for now, i'm off to take the kids to baseball practice. indoor baseball practice for the 4th night. it just ain't right.

it's been awhile since i've put a picture up of my cute big j. there ya go. he's a cool kid, i need to remember that. he teaches me more lessons than any classroom ever could.

example.

last night i'm riding him (again) about forgetting things, losing things, not listening and basically blowing off everything i say. finally he says "why did you even have me if you don't like anything about me?"

i need to remember that words can hurt. in my need to try to organize my oldest very unorganized child, i say things that make him feel unappreciated and, as he would say, "like a loser."

so. i told him he was right, and that despite what it might feel like, the qualities i love about him far outweigh those that drive me nuts. and i began to list them off:

his caring heart
his loyalty to friends
his tenderness toward animals
his love of nature
his respect for God
his gunshow :)
his smile
his ability to be a total gentleman
his amazing brain
his passion for books
his ability to remember facts and details about everything he ever saw or heard
his wicked sense of humor
his slapshot
his imagination
his handsome face


with every statement, he would smile and straighten up a little more. by the end, he was asking "what else do you love about me?" and he would laugh and smile and say "yeah, i am pretty good at that."

for the rest of the night, he was in such a good mood. he woke up this morning and took a piece of paper to school "to write down things i need to remember." he was feeling good about himself. i was feeling good about myself.

man, the lessons. build people up, don't tear them down. i will remember this one forever, i promise. i hope you do, too.

after much craziness, it suddenly appears like i will have a little lull in the workload coming up next week. maybe just a day or two, but definitely a day or two where there is NOTHING on my schedule yet.

the husband is going to be pretty busy and i am chomping at the bit to get something done on this yard. i have visions of a little water feature up by the front steps, with some tall grasses and big rocks and such.

i wonder if i could pull this off myself?

yes, i hear my mom laughing from here. but seriously. why do i need to wait around for the MAN to get the job done?

right?

ok. this is the type of thing i would keep secret and hold dear and never, ever blog about. especially since there are boy blogstalkers out there and maybe even my grandpa Jack.

for the last week or so, i have been thinking about how to rearrange my life. i have been googling things like "pregnancy at 39" and "how to be a cool old mom." i have cried. i have bargained with the Big Guy. i imagined my j boys with a little person to chase around instead of the cat. i started wondering about who has my old bouncy chair and my jog stroller. i thought (and the thought made me tired) about getting no sleep. i told the husband and HE thought about having two of them (of course). i was bummed about no surfing, no beer, no skiing and no skinny jeans.

so yeah. if you saw me last week, you may have noticed my eyes glaze over. i have been a wreck.

but...the little scare is over. there will be no j boy or j girl added to the mix over here. i realize many of my reasons are utterly selfish but i feel like life is pretty good here with my two j boys and the husband, two cats and a dog. if it all would have come true, i would have been happy as well. it would have been a God thing and God things are always GOOD. but.

schwew.

today, i find myself looking up things like "vasectomy."

is that too much to share, grandpa?