Friday, August 29, 2008

Marbles, where are you?

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me!

Last year at this time, a volunteer position was foisted onto me without any warning. "You're coordinating the program, and you need to make instruction manuals and hold a training session in the next 2-3 weeks." Um, wha?

So anyway, I did coordinate the program last year, and I did a tremendous job and seriously impressed the people who foisted the job on me. "You're awesome!" was said to me many times during the school year.

At the end of the school year, I told them that I would be willing to do the job again "if they needed me to."

But I'd prefer to be just one of the volunteers, not the coordinator of the volunteers.
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Today I found out that one of my volunteers from last year will be coordinating this year. Great news! I am off the hook!

Wheeeeee!!!

So how come a tiny part of me feels a little put out? My brain, she is a weirdo.

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We all like to feel needed, indispensible... Don't we? No, just li'l ol' insecure me?

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So, I'm back from my MONTH LIVING AT MY PARENTS' HOUSE in Portland. The computer situation up there went from bad to worse and no blogging was done.

Except for one dead houseplant and a pile of mail on the coffee table, The Hubby held down the fort here quite capably.

The girls did not want to leave Oregon, just like always. The Boy, though, began to miss his Daddy, his bed, his cat, and his friend S. about halfway through our time up there.

I've been home since Tuesday afternoon, and here's what I have done since then:

  • Unpack everything by Tuesday night (oh except for that one shopping bag on the counter).

  • Swim in the pool in our backyard! We missed swimming!

  • Watch all of the "Project Runway" episodes that I missed. (The quick reaction: Keith, you done got yourself kicked off. Man, never design for someone else, stay true to your aesthetic!)

  • Take The Boy to the dentist. (Oh, Huzzah and Glory Be, he actually opened his mouth and let them clean his teeth! This could not have been more of a 180 from 6 months ago, when we could NOT get him to sit in the chair OR open his mouth and there was A LOT of crying. The dentist ended up giving up that time! This time, The Boy was more cooperative and quieter than either of his sisters ever were! I was one proud mama, and a little shocked! Out of my mouth flew a lot of "I'm so proud!"s and "You did a great job!"s)

  • Big Girl arranged a playdate for herself. I had to drive across town at 6:00 to pick her up.

  • Went to Old Navy to get socks for all three kids (we need a complete sock overhaul around here), only to find that they no longer have the right kind of socks nor sell them in economy-size packs like they used to. Unless this particular O N's employees are clueless.

  • Had a slew of kids over for a big playdate extravaganza. Including lunch.

  • Four words: Neighborhood. Water. Balloon. Fight. With the attendant Water Balloon Filling session. (All the kids were so cute! Especially the part where they had a contest to see who could pick up the most balloon shards. They got the neighboorhood cleaned up lickety-split.)

  • Hair appointments made!

  • More playdates (in fact, there's one happening here RIGHT NOW).

  • Read approximately 350 blog posts to try to catch up with y'all!


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Coming Up:

So, How Was Oregon?

Monday, August 4, 2008

update from Oregon

It's been really difficult getting online in Oregon. Being at my parents' house for a month is kind of like camping; camping in a great big house. There's no cable TV (we'll be watching the Olympics soon, so that's okay, but I miss my Project Runway! The home TV is Tivo-ing it), only dial-up internet access (can you say S-L-O-W? can you say F-R-O-Z-E-N?), and my dad does not believe in turning on the air conditioning. Ah, but the kids love being with their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles -- they can't get enough -- so it's all worth it to be sure.

I've been writing down my thoughts each day on these puzzles that I like to do when I'm at my folks' house.



We ended up doing the whole drive in one day. We left at 7:30 am and got there at 11:30 pm. A 16-hour travel, including stops for potty and meals. It was the first time we used the headphone system for our DVD player! The kids couldn't really wear the headphones until now! Movies, books, and ...


Thus far in our Oregon visit, the main event has been visiting with the cousins! We went to see the brand-new nephew, 5 days old. My sister-in-law was holding her new baby (her third boy) and I was overcome with a wave of postpartum memories. I went over to where The Hubby was standing for a hug, and to my surprise, when he hugged me I started crying. Hmmm. I didn't know that would happen. I don't cry easily, but I guess it really hit me that I'm done having babies!




I have also been enjoying my niece, who is now 10.5 months old. I haven't seen her since Christmastime, when she was 3.5 months old and a lot less social!


Ack! Gotta go, that's it for now!