Hit the Ground

Running [and not with my face]... at least that is what I hope to do. As fast as I can in my new Dr. Scholls flats.

Today was a day of packing. Tomorrow travel, show set, dress rehearsal, Advisory Board dinner, and further slide prep. Monday is the real deal--probably a good 18 hour day. And then I get to do it all over again on Tuesday.

I'd like to say that I am as ready as I'll ever be--but in reality I'll be up tonight working on slides, worrying about waking up at 6:00am and getting to the airport on time. Not sure if the ice tea I had at dinner is a blessing or a curse.

Snacking

Avery was saving it for later.


I was amazed that it stayed there long enough for me to find the camera!

To Do Lists

It's bad enough to have a to-do list a mile and a half long.

I am stumbling along trying to make it to the finish [if there is actually a finish... which I doubt, because there is just another to-do list waiting for there.]

But it is even more discouraging for me when I am thinking that I am making real progress... checking things off and feeling good... only to discover that a few other people have forgotten some pretty big things, just now remembered them, and have decided that since I seem to have cleared some things off of my plate, that I can just add these things to my list.

So, now my mile and a half run in more like an ultra and I better not be the one in last place, or heaven forbid, a DNF.

Less than one week until my event.

*And while I am running this work race, would someone be willing to come and do some laundry? It seems to be tripping me up.

Warp Speed

The last week flew by in a blur of the space-time continuum. The main reason is that two weeks from today I will be in Orlando hosting a two-day event for 600 engineers. All the last minute details are enough to such up about 25 hours a day. Which puts me at a time deficit.

Add to that a whirlwind trip [leaving Friday returning Saturday] to State College, PA, a sick child, and everyday living... you get the idea.

Highlights from the past week would not include the 32 hours I worked on PowerPoint slides. Yes, you read that correctly. 32 hours of just PowerPoint. This week I hope to keep that number under 20 so I can focus on something else. But given that I am going to be handed 18 hours worth of customer sessions, 12 hours of education sessions and another 4-6 hours of main-room sessions that all need to be proofed... again, you get the idea.

But there were some amusing things in my week. We were crewing for Mark while he ran in the USA Track and Field 50 Mile Road Championship [BTW, he won Master's Silver] The race was on Jeep Trails through the Tussy Mountain Ski Resort and the crew drove along the one track trail to each aid station. We then parked at the side of the road and waited in designated areas for the runners to get their aid. At 40 miles, the girls decided that the were not getting out of the car and the baby was sleeping so I walked the aid area, only a few feet from the car. I gave Mark his water and walked back to the car. I opened the door to Chase and Ellis giggling and a naked baby. "She woke up Mom and we were bored." Not sure if I should be more worried by the fact that it only takes them about two minutes to get bored, or the fact that in two minutes they were able to get bored, and decided that the most interesting thing to do was to strip the baby.

Warp Speed Ahead! [AKA stop procrastinating and get back to those ppt slides.]

Nice to Bee Surprised

Sometimes you have to orchestrate your own pleasant surprises. Last week Burt's Bees was offering a grab bag valued at $60 for $20+ free shipping. I decided that it would be a fun treat.

The doorbell just rang a few minutes ago and here are all the goodies! And someone must have told them about me and my tendency toward poison ivy. I got a full size bottle of Outdoor wash, which claims to "relieve the sometimes-unfortunate results of your outdoor adventures."

Location, Location, Location

Avery has always hated nakedness. Changing clothes. Taking baths. It's one of the few things that she has ever had a strong opinion about.

But it may just have been about location... apparently, bathrooms [sinks, tubs, or toweled floors...] are just "so last week.*"

Kitchens are the place to be.

* Chase tries to keep us appraised of what all the hip kids are doing.

Pow Wow

One of our Girl Scout Adventures [back in September] took us to the 11th Annual Aurora Pow Wow.

The troop got to go into this tepee and see how it is constructed and what it might be like to live in one. It was really smokey and stinky inside!

After that, we went into the school gym for the actual pow wow dancing. It was even stinkier inside. They had done a smudging ceremony, which smelled a little like we were second hand smoking at a Grateful Dead concert.

And all I can say is WOW. Middle aged pale faces should not dress up and try to re-enact tribal dances. It was ugly.

It's All About the Patches

Chase was busy this summer. She completed enough activities for these 21 patches. These are called try-its. [There are 58 that she can earn in the next two years of Brownie-hood]

Close-ups:
More than any other girl in her troop! [The next highest amount was 5]

In addition to these, they can earn patches for going to different activities, camp, service projects... Those all go on the back of the vest. Right now she only has two of that kind of patch. One for the 4th of July Parade and one for early registration [Although we should be getting the one from going to Camp and one from the Indian Pow-Wow soon.] She is anxious to get more of these.

That brings us to the patches she wants to earn right now.
This is actually made up of many different patches. Those of you that received an email soliciting magazine sales helped her to earn the swing. Those of you that will get something in the mail helped her earn the slide. [You don't have to buy a thing for those!] Some of you may be receiving a gift of a magazine subscription. Those will help her get the Monkey in the tree top. And the Tree House... that one is going to take some help. That is the one that she needs to sell 7 orders of nuts. Her troop is hoping that those 7 will be designated for Operation: Troop Aid. If you would like to contribute to this goal let me know! [Your $6 donation is tax deductible and if each girl meets their 7 person goal they will send nuts and trail mix packages to 140 deployed service men and women!]

Flip Side

You know how I was hoping to wake up to sunnier skies?

Not to be.

Another day of cold drizzle, gray skies, and Chase and MOMMY doing shots of Motrin.

Looks like this bug is going to be a family affair.

Under

On a day like today--overcast, gloomy, and 50 degrees--I always feel like I would rather be under the covers reading a book.

To add to the gloom today, Chase is feeling under the weather. She woke up at 6 crying and complaining about a headache. She was running a low grade temp. She has now spent the majority of the day on the couch crying and complaining that she is hungry but everything "tastes like medicine."

I have been spending the afternoon trying to find things that she might like to eat... while doing a "clean the cupboards/cook ahead" event. So far I have made a strange assortment of things. Tapioca Pudding. Mac and Cheese. Baked Pita Chips (great use of stale leftover pitas and a way to use up some hummus). Eggplant Parmesan (maybe dinner tonight, or tomorrow) And since things were a mess, I decided to cook ahead some ground beef with garlic. I will bag and freeze that to use for taco meat or spaghetti sauce.

Time to dive back in and wash all the dishes and fold some laundry so we don't get buried under the mess.

Hoping that tomorrow we will be on the flip side.