Hobbies!

Hobby:  An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.

If you ask most people they would tell you that my hobbies are Facebook and my kids.  And, to some degree, I think there is some truth to that (really, with the Facebook thing, more than some truth, it is my guilty pleasure!)  And I do love my kids, and would often choose to spend time with them over doing most other things. 

One of the things that I've realized this summer is that I do have hobbies outside of my kids and Facebook, but I just so rarely have leisure time that they often get neglected.  With the move to the new house (which results in some additional time in the day), and some time off from work (that I am really taking as time off and not thinking/ planning for the upcoming year...this is a move I will likely regret in about two weeks, but for now it is awesome!)  I have had some extra time in the last week.  And my 'old' hobbies have resurfaced... and they are sooo much fun.

I have spent the last two weeks doing needlepoint and reading books (AND hanging with my kids and trolling around Facebook, I mean I need to stay on top of all of my favorite things!).  I know, not hobbies that are overly exciting, but fun all the same and I am REALLY enjoying myself.

I picked out a needlepoint kit last year for Girly Girl's room.  It is a smaller kit that is a picture of koi fish that I promised her I would make for her room.  I started it last summer, but I didn't get very far.  In fact, I thought that I was going to have to give up needlepoint because my eyesight keeps deteriorating and it just seemed hard last summer (in hindsight, lots of things were hard last summer in the eyesight department- should have been a predictor of the fall eye appointment that was so disappointing).  This summer I realized that the key to needlepoint for me in my current eye situation is light (and when I say light, I mean like a 100 light bulb pointed directly at the canvas).  So... I have been working away and I think (hope) that I will be able to finish it before school starts!  What has been fun about this project is that I have gotten to teach a whole bunch of kids about needlepoint!  Kids just haven't seen people doing crafts like that- and so when I needlepoint at Little Man's swim lessons or on my couch when the kids have friends over playing- everyone is super interested and checks it out.  It's been fun to do a little teaching about something that seems like it is a lost art.

Books.  Well, what can I say?  I love to read.  Always have.  This summer I've found myself branching out a bit more.  Reading a little more non-fiction than in the past, a little more fiction out of my normal historical stuff.  And it has been fun.  I checked 5 books out of the library last week.  I didn't read all of them, but I skimmed them, read what I wanted, and I traded them in for seven new books today.  Something about getting older, something about not having a lot of time, has driven me to only read what I REALLY want to read, and not wasting time on books that aren't that interesting to me (and before anyone asks, no I have not read Shades of Grey... not avoiding it, just hasn't been available at the library and I'm too cheap to buy it). 

And although I left it off the list at the beginning of this post, I guess blogging counts as a hobby that I often don't have time for but really enjoy.  I miss writing.  I miss the outlet.  So, this is a fun summer distraction (although this post is coming out a bit choppy and disjointed.. must be out of practice). 

Anyway, I am enjoying my hobbies this summer.  And I'm hoping that I can hang on to them a little bit more during the school year this year as well (hey, a girl can dream, right?!?)

Good night.  I'm off to finish one of my new books.  :)
C

PS  This is post one for the July blogging challenge.  I am going to give it a shot.  I tried this in January, and although I didn't end up posting every day, I did end up posting way more often, so I figure it is a good idea.  HOWEVER, the theme is kids.  And today I did not (directly) blog about my kids.  Tomorrow is another day.  :)

Embracing Our New Life

As many of you know (or maybe don't know, but hey, go with it for a minute okay?) I dreamt (and fantasized) of moving closer to my work and the kids' school for a long time.  The Mr. and I talked about it many many times (this was pretty much our only date night/ alone time conversation for over six months).  We talked to friends, we talked to family, AND we talked to realtors (well, just one realtor, one amazing realtor, many many times).  In the end we decided...  despite the fact that it didn't make much financial sense, despite the fact that it was actually just a little bit nuts.... that we were going to GO FOR IT.  And we did.   And we waited and waited and waited and waited and changed our minds for a bit and then changed them back and then waited and waited and waited some more.  And then it happened.  It all happened.  FAST.  And then we were in the new house and it smelled (BAD) and the carpet was filthy and we couldn't unpack all of the boxes and there wasn't enough time in any day to do all the things we needed to do and it was the last few weeks of school and YEAH, did I mention that I decided to change jobs in the middle of it all??

And so, truthfully, I didn't REALLY get a chance to appreciate the change until the last few weeks.  I mean, of course I appreciated the change every time I needed to drive to work, or the kids had a school event, but it was all still caught up in the chaos of life.   Until, that is, this week.

This week has been amazing.  I am close enough to a friend from work to have company on my walks.  The kids are close to friends, which has translated to several playdates at our house, playdates at friends' houses, dinner out with friends and their parents, and this weekend, a sleepover at our house.  This is what I dreamt of... that idea of being PART of a community- connecting more with the kids' friends, their families, their lives.  In addition, I have had to work a few hours here and there this week and (although that was a bummer) it didn't totally disrupt our lives.  I didn't have to drive all the way across town for a one hour meeting, I just bopped up the street and then came home.  I love running into our kids' friends in restaurants, in movie theaters, pretty much everywhere we go.

So yeah, in the theme of this here little blog, I am EMBRACING our new life and our new home.  We may have a little less expendible cash these days, but it is totally worth it.  Wouldn't you agree??

:)  C

Time Flies....

When you move!

Yes, it's been a couple of months since I've been here (hang head, look at the ground sheepishly, and kick the ground with one foot) but I think I have a pretty good reason.... WE MOVED!

As you may remember, the Mr. and I have been trying to sell our home for MONTHS.  (if you are interested, you can go here and read the details in this post).  Surprisingly, shortly after writing the aforementioned post, we received an offer on our house.  Please note, the offer was not wonderful, but it was an OFFER and it allowed us to pretty much walk away from our beautiful house (seriously, our house was beautiful- especially now that I've seen what other houses look like!), so we decided that the moment had come and we took it!  Then... it dawned on us that we now had to find someplace to live- and fast.  We had 6 weeks to locate, inspect, purchase and move into a new home (as the Mr. was very clear that the moving thing was going to happen EXACTLY one time, no more, no less). 

We lucked out (or so we thought at the time) in locating a house in EXACTLY the neighborhood that we wanted, in EXACTLY the price range that we wanted, with EXACTLY the square footage that we wanted.  It EXACTLY did not have the pool that we desired, but we figured that we could put a pool in later if we so desired.  We made an offer.  And they accepted.  On Valentine's Day.  (How romantic!) 

What we didn't factor in this equation was the fact that we were buying a house from.... how can I say this... folks who maybe weren't the most stable folks to walk the face of the planet.  Which then resulted in me not being one of the most stable folks to walk the planet.

Anyway.... after many tears, stressed phone calls to the realtor (who was just awesome by the way), a  threatened phone call to the Maricopa County sheriff's office... the house was ours!  Yep.  The house was ours.  With it's lovely aroma (still not sure what the smell was all about, but I am making progress in eliminating it), it's broken garbage disposal, broken dishwasher, termites, disgusting carpet... and yeah, probably some more stuff that I still don't know about.  It was ours.

Despite all of it's issues, the house is 3 minutes from the kids' school.  4 minutes from my work.  In a lovely neighborhood, on a great street with nice neighbors.  It has a beautiful backyard with grass that the Girly Girl just loves (as does her guinea pig).  And the bones of the house are good.  So we are taking it one day at a time, one issue at a time.  Before you know it, it will be ours.  It will look (and smell) as beautiful as our last house.  I just need to hang on and be patient. 

And as my many friends have reminded me... it isn't the walls and the carpet and the 'stuff' that makes a home, it is the family that makes the home.  And we are definitely going to make a home here. 
We started that this weekend by celebrating our first holiday here.  Easter was amazing.  Different.  No photos of Girly Girl and Little Man in front of the lemon tree or by the fountain, not as many hiding spots for the Easter eggs, but still lots of love and fun and joy.  And that is what it is all about.

(And, one final note... ALWAYS buy the home warranty.  Ours has already paid for itself!) 

I promise to be around a bit more now that we are moved in (not settled by any means, but at least we are moved in!)

Happy Monday.
C

Frustrated...

So... feeling a little frustrated on this Sunday afternoon....

I just feel overwhelmed and I feel like there is never a break for the mom.  I did sleep in a little bit yesterday, but why is it that my 'me' time always ends up just being resting or sleeping so that I can function for the rest of the week?

I can't remember the last time I had time to just do something for myself.  Wander the mall.  Get a pedicure.  Even my last hair cut appointment (which is normally 'me' time) ended up with me having the kids there and helping them do their homework while the Drew (my wonderful and amazing hairdresser) was trying to work around them.  I'm even cancelling time with my friends either because I need to work or because I feel guilty because I've been at work and I should be at home.

I feel like I work.  And then I cook and clean.  And I keep the house ready to be shown.  And I sleep.  And maybe I watch some TV (mostly because I am too tired to do much of anything else). 

And then I repeat the above.

And I am grumpy.  (And then I grump at my kids and at my husband and at the whole world, which just adds to the joy of the whole situation)

So right now, I am going to cook some meals for the week.  And I am going to finish the work that I need to get done before tomorrow.  And then I might try to finish putting the laundry away and do a few other chores around the house (the guinea pig cage is waiting rather impatiently for me).  And then, just like usual, another weekend will have gone by where I have had not one minute to do anything that I really wanted to do.

I am trying to Embrace this part of my life, but I just feel like there isn't anything left of me to embrace anyone or anything.

I thought maybe writing this down would make it better, but.... not really.

Good night all.
C

Observation

Here's my observation of the day...

I don't think I'm meant to blog every day. 

Despite a challenge, despite my desires, despite my vows. 

It basically comes down to this horrible truth.  I'm just not this interesting.  My life is not this interesting.  I do have interesting MOMENTS... but not on a daily basis.

I go to work, I work hard, I parent, I cook meals, I help with homework, I read a little, I go to bed.  And then it starts all over again.  Sometimes this results in highly interesting and funny anecdotes.  Sometimes. 

Usually it results in one tired momma.  :)  And I'm tired of writing about being tired.

So, until I'm something OTHER than tired, I think I'm surrendering on the whole 'write every day' thing.  And EMBRACING the 'write when you have something interesting to say' thing.

Goodnight everybody.  Talk to you soon.  NOT tomorrow.  (unless something interesting happens).
C

Saying Goodnight

Ah... back to the world of the living.  The world of the normal.  Where I only worked like 12 hours today  (instead of 14 or 15).  Where there is wi-fi everywhere I go.  Ahhhh....

For the last eight weeks or so, life has been crazy.  And when I say crazy, I mean C-H-R-A-Z-E-E (Can you hear it?  Stretch the vowels out folks... we have been in the land of the insane).  Between the normal chaos of the Christmas season (presents to buy, crafts to make, foods to cook, choir concerts, end of the semester projects, etc, etc, etc), followed by our quick trip to California, followed by a return to work (and when I say return to work, I mean get slammed into the ground work until you drop), and THEN a trip to ShowLow to celebrate Second Christmas.... our lives have been overfilled, overscheduled and overworked.  Most of this (really and truly) most of it, has been positive and fun and good.  But....

As a result we let go of a few things.  We let go of having family dinners every night.  We ate in front of the TV rather than sitting at the table and talking to each other about our days.  We got in the habit of doing homework on the run, rather than sitting down and making sure the kids were giving it their full attention.  When we were at home, we were each in our own space, accomplishing the things that we each needed to get accomplished, rather than enjoying each other's company and being in the same space.  We were all getting through, enjoying the chaos, enjoying the fun times, but at the same time getting a little disconnected.

Today I decided I have had enough.  It's time to get settled again.  It's time to get back to who we are, to what we value, to the family that we should be.

I had to work late tonight (it's happening more and more and I've got to get a better handle on that as well, but one thing at at time..) but when I got home, I gave all of my attention to my family.  I talked with the Mr. about his day.  I made time to tuck each of the kids into bed.  To listen to them in an uninterrupted way for five minutes.  To love on them.  To kiss them and to tell them that they are the most important thing in my life.  I took the time to say goodnight.  The right way.  And it felt good.

We're back on track.  Yeah.

Good night all... hope you all took the time to say goodnight to the ones you love.
C

Dropping the Ball...

So much for my desire to blog EVERYDAY in the month of January.  So much for my goal and my determination to get back into this blogging thing with both feet, to write even when I don't feel like writing, to just EMBRACE the blog.

Here's what I'll say... it is extremely difficult to EMBRACE anything (let alone a blog where you want to write and post in a thoughtful way) when you are working 60 hours per week.  It then becomes even more difficult to EMBRACE blogging when you are on a family vacation (with 15 members of your husband's extended family) and there is no wi-fi in the rental house (I mean WTF?!?  What century are we in?  NO WI-FI?).

So... since I am currently sitting in a McDonalds and trying to finish quickly to return to said family vacation... I am letting you know that I did not die or drop off the face of the planet.  I am simply stuck between a week of work that could only been classified as hell and a family vacation that could be made much more pleasant if the darn house had wi-fi.

I'll catch you all on the flip side.
Hope all is well.
C