summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Monday, June 29, 2015

happy monday, better family picture...and our summer bucket list



So here we are, all home from vacation...reality is hitting me. Responsibilities...blah. I have end-of-the-year reports and testing grades due, and in just a few short weeks, my intent-to-homeschool notices will be due for next year. Duke's ear isn't looking good, and we just aren't comfy with having his ear removed...he's ten years old. He's limpy and lumpy and it breaks my heart, but having such a surgery on an old dog just doesn't make sense. But trying saying that out loud at the vet's office without feeling like a total cheapskate dog hater. I told Paul I want him to come with me to Duke's next appointment, so we can make a decision together. I mean, I don't want to make a decision based on what the vet thinks of me...or what I perceive the vet thinks.

Then there are the cupcakes. Always the cupcakes. My daughter Emily bought a catering company, to do fundraising for our church. It has always been one of her dreams, but she is a full-time registered nurse on a busy floor in a hospital in the city, plus she is a college student, taking classes on her way to be a nurse practitioner, and has also been teaching a class of nursing students...so. This new business is taking off at the same time, and wow.

Anyhoo. This weekend, on July 4th, we are catering a family barbecue. I am making the cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies. Sounds easy. Well. The lemon ones alone take hours. I am sort of excited about it, but there is always the worry that they will flop or tip over in the car or burn or or or. Wake me up when it's over.

Paul is leaving for a work trip to I think Massachusetts on Sunday.

So...we do sort of have a bucket list for the summer....

1. Get the pool clear again. We came home from vacation to a green pool. wah.

2. Beach! Lots of times!

3. Go to the amusement park in the Adirondacks! I have five free tickets for homeschooling, and do not want them to go to waste. I just have to figure out who is going, and if we'll camp up there, or get a hotel room for the night, if Paul can go (I want to go during the week when the lines are shorter).

4. Take the kids to the park to ride bikes and scooters.

5. Sell stuff on ebay and make extra money for...
a. Evelyn and Kathryn's trip to Norway with Mirielle in August.
b. Jon, Char, Cam, and my trip to Washington state in September.
c. Our trip to the amusement park.

6. Make lesson plans for next school year.

7. Take walks!

8. Pick blueberries, freeze some.

9. Library. Library. Library.

And that's all I can think of right now...we are going to the library this fine rainy Monday morning...there are stacks of books to return. And, we are almost out of dogfood and coconut oil, so a stop at BJ's is in the picture.

I have a mammogram next week, blah, but family history and all that...I am also bummed about my lack of weight loss during vacation...it isn't fair. I did not have a single piece of candy, nor a chip, nor a can of beer. No marshmallows...have you ever sat around a fire and not had a roasted marshmallow? I did. No marshmallows. All toasted and ooohy-gooy...not a taste. I behaved myself, but I guess I had a few too many nuts, or cherries, or maybe just didn't exercise as much as I thought I did. I gained four pounds, while Joseph, who had everything he wanted, lost four pounds. I seriously thought I would come home, step on the scale, and voila! Pay off for all the denying myself! But no! Oh well. I think I'm broken.

Ah well, off to the library.

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