Mars vs. Venus (vacation planning)

It's 5:41 am and I'm up blogging! I'm a lunatic...

I have always been one who can't sleep when "something is looming". Now this can be negative when the thing looming is a test, a doctor appointment, a difficiult conversation, jail time (that one would be really bad, thankfully I don't have personal experience, but that's where my mind goes at this hour).

But when it's vacation looming, well then...other than being slightly annoyed that I can't sleep, it's an exciting thing to be looking forward to. I was talking to a friend yesterday and we were laughing about how women prepare for vacation and how men prepare for vacation (maybe your experience is different, but at least two of us find the following to be true).

I...
1. make lists for everything (packing list, food list, toy list, car ride list, things to do list, how to leave the house list, things I have to do immediately when I get home list, and...the list of all the lists) (didn't you read the first line, I'm a lunatic)
2. clean the house (my mother would beg to differ here, my clean and her clean are totally different, but I did get this quirky habit from her)
3. cancel the mail (oops, forgot to do that this time)
4. pack about three days in advance (then we have to wear crappy clothes for those three days because I pack all the cool clothes, and for me, the packing is light, I'm not very cool these days)
5. lay out the car outfit the night before (just in case we have to rush???? in the morning)
6. google every town we'll drive through on the way, all parks within a 15 mile radius of where we'll be staying, restaurants that are kid friendly, and sites with coupons for family attractions
7. get the countdown going about three weeks in advance (I didn't do this for this vacation, three weeks in advance I was busy with this little thing called VBS and we didn't do our proper countdown. Miss M mentioned it yesterday "mommy we don't have rings to tear off for vacation" oops...mommy fail)
8. buy snacks for the ride and the week that I don't usually buy any other time of year (cheesy popcorn, poptarts, Lucky Charms, candy, chocolate milk...c'mon it's vacation...yes,yes I buy grapes, pretzels, and bottles of water too, calm down)
9. lay out things I think Prince Charming should pack, but I don't dare pack for him
10. clean out the car (this is a monumental task, we're slobs with our car and everytime I clean it out I say we won't let it get so messy next time, and then we always do, I mean vacation itself totally messes it right back up!!)
11. go to the library and get books on CD, fun books for the car, and something for myself to read (yeah, who am I kidding, vacationing with a three and five year old does not lend itself to much reading...maybe in bed before I zonk out each night)
12. wake up at the crack of dawn anxious to get my organizational plan moving...

He...
1. packs 10 minutes before we leave (which is always about 45 minutes after I think we should have left)
2. says he'll plan the route and then just relies on his GPS on the day of (and mysteriously those infallible GPS contraptions usually get us lost)
3. uses the phrase "you know there are stores in " as often as he can (this is generally in response to one of the many things on one of many lists)
4. gets in the car sweaty and grumpy because he has now been nagged about how late we're leaving, packed the car frantically, fought with the portable DVD player hooker upper thing, and packed all his "cool clothes" and has nothing to change into.

All in all it's a real hoot. The thing is I plan and plan and plan and then Prince Charming comes along and makes sure we actually have a great time! We're really a good team, we've got everything we need and we ALWAYS have a fabulous time together!

Peace out blogger, we're off...

I am deeply sorry

2 boxes of 24 crayons
20 sharpened pencils
2 pink erasers
6 glue sticks
1 bottle glue
scissors
2 cans of playdoh
4 2-pocket folders (yellow, green, blue, red)
1 marble composition book
2 red pens
clean white sock
art smock
2 pieces of poster board
1 sketch book
pencil box for inside desk
1 container of clorox wipes
1 backpack
1 lunchbox
2 boxes of tissues
boys-gallon ziploc bags
girls-sandwich ziploc bags

I taught first grade for 9 1/2 years and this was my back-to-school list.

I now have a child entering school and her list is...something else! Mine might have been worse though, so I apologize to anyone who might be reading this that was ever in my class. I'm pretty sure that noone reading my blog was ever in my class, but I still feel the need to apologize.

I can give you rationale for all of it, but that doesn't make it easier to swallow when you're the one buying it all!!!

Geez...

A Change of Season

It's been so long since I've posted that blogger looks completely different. Oops!

I'm sure you know why I haven't been blogging...I mean life has just gotten so quiet and boring that the children and I just sit on the couch staring at one another. I have nothing to blog about!

Actually, life has been busy and I have felt really convicted about the amount of time I spend on the computer/technology that I could have been spending with my kids, cleaning the bathroom, reading my Bible, or just resting. So I took a break and have worked on mending my ways.

I started my job as Co-Director of Children's Ministry back in February. It has been a wild ride ever since. I really like the job and the people I work with, but I'm not going to lie, there have been some surprises along the way that I wasn't expecting. Work related surprises are par for the course with a new job. How can you really expect everything that is going to come your way?

The bigger surprise has been my struggle with loneliness since taking this job. You may be wondering how I feel alone. I'm either at home with my two busy kids or I'm at work in an office full of people. Yeah, obviously I'm not physically alone...EVER! But the isolation from friends, that as a stay-at-home mom I had gotten pretty used to seeing and talking with whenever I felt like it, is a challenge for this extrovert.

I have a good friend that works part-time and has a little one. She has often told me that she has felt this same way, and I always thought she was making too much out of it. Now that I'm walking in her shoes I get it. I owe her a big hug and a few extra phone calls, maybe we can keep each other company :)

I'm trying to develop new friendships, or mold the old ones in such a way that they fit into my new life, but it's been hard. In the process I'm reminded that everything has a season. A change of season usually means a fresh start, so as I settle into this season of my life, I am looking for new opportunities. Instead of seeing this as a sad change, I am trying to focus on all the blessings that have come my way over this last few months. People and things that wouldn't have crossed my path if I hadn't taken this job. Opportunities to minister to people that I would have overlooked because I was too busy going to the playground or chatting on the phone. Some days are more peaceful than others in this journey but such is life! Nothing a few extra sprinkles can't improve!!