Never goes as planned

Today I envisioned taking my family to the park for a picnic dinner. I pictured us lounging on the quilt, enjoying our meal, talking, and basking in the warmth of a fading summer. I envisioned Hannah and Emily running off to play on the playset with me and Ray chatting quietly side by side.

But that's not how it went.

It rained so the ground was wet. Ray threw a fit when I suggested that they skip karate tonight. Bees swarmed each and every table we sat at. Emily dumped chili all over Hannah's backpack. She cried forever. We left after only 20 minutes.

I didn't get the picture perfect picnic dinner as I had envisioned. In fact, I didn't even get to take a single picture.

But, once we got home, and we all calmed down, I did manage to get an hour or so with the girls on the front porch finishing homework in the waning light of the last day of summer. It was quiet and peaceful, and I didn't have to fight them to get their work done. It was almost enjoyable.

Life gets so busy and so hectic and I just get plain tired. Sometimes all I want is to pull the brakes for just a little while so I can just sit. Sit on my front porch, feel the breeze waft around me, listen to my little ones chatter, and not do a single.darn.thing.

Bridging

Today, Hannah took a small step in her growing up process (sniff, sniff). She bridged from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts.

(I didn't bring my "real" camera; I only had my cheap one...pictures aren't so hot...)

I know it's dumb, but I got chocked up while watching them cross over the bridge and take off their little, brown vests...watching her grow up is so very hard to do!

Oktoberfest

Saturday night, me and some of my friends went Downtown for Oktoberfest where we ate HUGE pretzels,





drank beer,



(oops...sideways picture...)


hung out with Sam Adams,



ate at Rock Bottom Brewery,

danced on Fountain Square with weird drunk men in Irish kilts,

and just generally had a good time.

Establishing a new habit

I was browsing my favorite blogs the other day when I read about a journal in which you just jot down a line or two about your day each day and the journal keeps track of these lines for 5 years.

I thought that sounded interesting. I 've been looking for a new method of memory keeping since I didn't do as well as I had hoped with taking a picture of the day (I am thinking of resuming that...).

So, I went to Amazon and I ordered it.

It's really cute and it's small enough to just sit on my nightstand.

Each page is a day and there are 5 spaces on each page, so next year, when I go to write about September 17th, I'll be able to see what I thought or how I felt or what we did on that same date this year.

I'm going to try like mad to keep it up. :-)

A little sneak peek

as to how AWESOME my hair turned out!! (Can you believe I actually said that??? About myself??? I NEVER say that!) Keep in mind this is the first day I fixed it...and I just spent the entire day taming heathens...but...

TA-DA!



(not sure why I look like I am grimacing...but this is one of the only nonblurry pictures I got)



It might not look like much in these pictures, but my hair has tons of potential (not to mention much darker color in the back) and I can't wait to make it a bit punkier tomorrow.

I got mixed reviews from the kids from "I really like your hair!" to "Why did you cut your hair?" but it's all good. I did this for myself and I am pleased with the results. In fact, I am excited with the results because I made a deliberate change and that in itself is exciting!

Step One: Hair

I'm going to get my hair cut and colored tonight...I'm going to chance it...I'm going for shorter and a bit spikier...and a little edgier....

Hopefully, I won't be hat shopping in a couple of hours...

Stay tuned!

Just some happenings

Spent some time with this girl on Monday while Hannah was at practice hanging around the house, shopping for an outfit for her school pictures tomorrow, and doing homework.

Yesterday, I spent time with Hannah during Emily's soccer practice getting her an outfit for her pictures and picking up her instrument for band.

Right now, I'm sitting beside Ray watching Survivor and Big Brother enjoying a week of improved energy.

I still have lots of grading to do and lots of cleaning to catch up on, but now that "hump day" is coming to a close, it's been a good week so far.

Trying to evolve

I'm sitting at the kitchen table, the weather is phenomenal--sun is shining, wind is blowing, temperature not too hot and certainly not too cold. House is quiet, Hannah is playing, Emily is crafting, Ray is watching football. It couldn't be more perfect right at this moment.

But, I have lots hanging over my head...papers to be graded, Progress Book to be updated, house to be cleaned, grocery shopping to be done, laundry to be folded, projects everywhere to be finished, soccer games to attend...ugh.

It's so hard to enjoy moments like these when so much is left undone.

But I have made a promise to myself to evolve, to become better than I am now--physically, mentally, emotionally. I know people think I should slow down and appreciate what I have, and I do. But, I don't want to waste a single minute that I have here in this life. And, I don't want to become stagnant. So, I'm not embarking on this new pursuit because I'm unhappy with where I'm at or with what I have; I just feel the need to change, to evolve.

I want to be healthy. Every day brings a new high or a new low with my energy levels and it is very frustrating to live life like that. Most of the time, I feel like I am sleepwalking through life. But right now, the only thing I'm doing to combat that is taking a little pill twice a day. I can do more. I can work out; I can eat right; I can get more rest each night. So, number one on my list is to improve my health.

I want to be organized. Back in January, I chose "organize" as my word of the year, and I have taken great strides in becoming more organized both at home and at work. But, there is more I can do. Being organized takes so much weight off my shoulders it's just silly not to invest time in this area. So, becoming more organized is number two on my list.

I want to be a better mom and a better wife. I didn't make this number one on my list because I feel that by improving my health and becoming more organized will naturally make me a better mom and wife because I won't be so irritable and I can work on developing more patience with the people I live with.

I want to be a better teacher.

I want to change up my look. Be a bit edgier, a bit sexier.

And finally, I want to be grounded. I want to deepen my faith and just give myself time to be me and to explore my hobbies.

I know that reading a post like this gets boring and almost cliche, but it is my blog, and this is how I feel, and I wanted to make my intentions public to keep me accountable. Hopefully, in the next few months, the me that is lurking under the surface will make her way to the top.

On location

These are just some random pictures I took while walking around Mt. Adams last Sunday while at the fireworks. Apparently, I have an obsession for sun flares and vintage looking pictures...

People at the 'works