My family beat me home Monday...they had just gotten home when I arrived from work. It was so good to see them! I swear, the girls each grew four inches while they were gone! A got a beautiful new haircut/highlights by one of her aunts, and B got an adorable haircut by another aunt (talented people!). A has an amazing tan, and B has a few new freckles but, thankfully, no sunburn! It's interesting having one daughter who tans and another daughter who burns badly. We fight to get sunscreen on A, and can't seem to find strong enough sunscreen for B! We have three different sets of sunscreen in our house -- some for A, some for B, and some for DH and myself.
I can't believe how wonderful it feels to have my family home again. The house is filled with life (and bickering...lovely sibling rivalry) and activity and things feel normal and whole again. It's a good feeling. I think I understand a bit more how important the gospel principle of eternal families is. After spending a month without my family, I realize now, more than ever, that to me the true definition of "hell" (pardon my language) would be to spend eternity separated from my husband and daughters, not having the family bond and relationships that we have now. The thought is truly miserable. I was talking with a friend at work about this. Her fiance's church teaches that after this life, marital and family relationships cease to exist and even though you will know your wife/husband/children in Heaven, you will not have those same relationships with them. She doesn't like that idea. I don't either. We talked about it and I had the opportunity to share a bit about our beliefs on that subject with her. It truly reaffirmed my testimony of the eternal nature of temple covenants and eternal families and the importance of living up to my covenants so that I can have an eternal family.
In other news...A had conditioning workouts with the high school softball team this week. She didn't play as well as she wanted to but she's feeling more comfortable and getting better. B had her first Academy level soccer practice today and came home exhausted (and a bit pink...fortunately that was from heat and exertion and not sunburn). DH was impressed with her coach and the trainer and the skill work they did. I think this will be a great season with lots of learning and improvement for her.
We finished up the back-to-school shopping yesterday...I love shopping for school supplies. I don't know why -- I have some kind of weird love affair with school/offices supplies. LOL I love the cute notebooks, colored paper clips, packages of pens and pencils, etc. Love it. We're now ready for school with new clothes, new shoes, and new school supplies. The beginning of the school year is always a fresh start and we are very, very hopeful that this will be a good year for both girls.
Today we also bought a new computer. Our laptop is several years old and is getting to be incredibly slow...not to mention the fact that sometimes it just shuts down in the middle of whatever I happen to be working on. That's so annoying. So we put part of our economic stimulus check to good use and bought a new computer (computer, monitor, and printer bundle). We haven't set it up yet but we're excited to get it up and running.
One more week of summer vacation for the girls, and then school starts. The summer has flown by...much too quickly. It's time to get back to our crazy routines.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Has it really been that long?
Yes, I guess it has. Wow -- I'm sorry! Not that there are many of you out there reading...but one of my friends commented a couple of weeks ago that she wished I would update my blog and I hadn't even realized how long it had been.
My excuse? Well, I don't have a good one. Things have been busy, but when are they not?
Here where we live, school starts again in just a couple of weeks. Really -- it starts at the beginning of August (much too early). So after next week, DH goes back to work to prepare for a new school year, A has softball tryouts, and B starts soccer camp and practice. We'll gear up for our annual "I-hate-August-and-September" schedule...because August and September are always, always, always the busiest months of the year for us. *Sigh*
In other news, B was asked to try out for Academy Soccer (a level above rec league) and she made it. She was really excited! Of course this means a bit more travel since she'll have tournaments and games that aren't always in our city, but we'll see how it goes. A is excited about softball tryouts...she'll make the team, no doubt...but she's still nervous about it. Keep your fingers crossed for her!
DH and the girls have been in Utah visiting his family for the last month. Yes, you read that right. The last month. I have been on my own for the last month. Well, not entirely on my own since my parents and my sister and her family live just around the block and have helped keep me occupied and from getting too lonely. But it's been a difficult month.
For one thing, I have never, ever in my entire life been alone for this long. OK, I haven't been entirely alone because I've had the two dogs to keep my company (yeah, two...I got a puppy for Mother's Day. Note to self: don't get a puppy right before your family leaves you for a month...). Up until now, I had only ever stayed in our own home by myself once overnight. LOL I've never lived alone in my entire adult life. So this has been an experience. Up until now, I always felt very nervous and anxious if I was alone at home for any amount of time, even a few hours. While my family has been gone, I've had to be home alone a lot, mostly because I had to be here to take care of the puppy in the evenings. I found that I actually felt better, felt more at peace and more calm, at home than anywhere else. It's been interesting.
That isn't to say that I enjoy being alone. No. No way. Not at all. Not one little bit. But I've learned that I can do it. I can actually fall asleep on my own -- that's pretty big because usually when DH is gone overnight I have a terrible time sleeping. I can even kill bugs -- of course, that's only out of sheer desperation when my dad, brother in law, or neighbor aren't home to come help me, and only if said bugs aren't big spiders. I even had to have my home teacher and his sons come over and clean off my back patio because of a spider problem (I owe them some cookies for that...). But I have killed a few bugs while they've been gone.
So I've learned that I can do hard things. Things I thought I would never be able to do. But I've also learned that I was not meant to be alone. That I'm not good at being alone. I have been moody, sad, mopey, miserable, etc. My friends at work are very glad, I'm sure, that my family will be home tomorrow. LOL For much of the time my family has been gone, I have felt like part of me was missing, like I was incomplete. I felt like I had lost my compass. I don't like that feeling. I need them here.
Oh, I also got a new calling -- Young Women President in our ward. That has kept me busy. Last night I went to the youth dance and had a lot of fun talking to and spending time with some of the youth. That has kept me busy.
But they're not a substitute for my family. I'm so glad my family is coming home tomorrow!
My excuse? Well, I don't have a good one. Things have been busy, but when are they not?
Here where we live, school starts again in just a couple of weeks. Really -- it starts at the beginning of August (much too early). So after next week, DH goes back to work to prepare for a new school year, A has softball tryouts, and B starts soccer camp and practice. We'll gear up for our annual "I-hate-August-and-September" schedule...because August and September are always, always, always the busiest months of the year for us. *Sigh*
In other news, B was asked to try out for Academy Soccer (a level above rec league) and she made it. She was really excited! Of course this means a bit more travel since she'll have tournaments and games that aren't always in our city, but we'll see how it goes. A is excited about softball tryouts...she'll make the team, no doubt...but she's still nervous about it. Keep your fingers crossed for her!
DH and the girls have been in Utah visiting his family for the last month. Yes, you read that right. The last month. I have been on my own for the last month. Well, not entirely on my own since my parents and my sister and her family live just around the block and have helped keep me occupied and from getting too lonely. But it's been a difficult month.
For one thing, I have never, ever in my entire life been alone for this long. OK, I haven't been entirely alone because I've had the two dogs to keep my company (yeah, two...I got a puppy for Mother's Day. Note to self: don't get a puppy right before your family leaves you for a month...). Up until now, I had only ever stayed in our own home by myself once overnight. LOL I've never lived alone in my entire adult life. So this has been an experience. Up until now, I always felt very nervous and anxious if I was alone at home for any amount of time, even a few hours. While my family has been gone, I've had to be home alone a lot, mostly because I had to be here to take care of the puppy in the evenings. I found that I actually felt better, felt more at peace and more calm, at home than anywhere else. It's been interesting.
That isn't to say that I enjoy being alone. No. No way. Not at all. Not one little bit. But I've learned that I can do it. I can actually fall asleep on my own -- that's pretty big because usually when DH is gone overnight I have a terrible time sleeping. I can even kill bugs -- of course, that's only out of sheer desperation when my dad, brother in law, or neighbor aren't home to come help me, and only if said bugs aren't big spiders. I even had to have my home teacher and his sons come over and clean off my back patio because of a spider problem (I owe them some cookies for that...). But I have killed a few bugs while they've been gone.
So I've learned that I can do hard things. Things I thought I would never be able to do. But I've also learned that I was not meant to be alone. That I'm not good at being alone. I have been moody, sad, mopey, miserable, etc. My friends at work are very glad, I'm sure, that my family will be home tomorrow. LOL For much of the time my family has been gone, I have felt like part of me was missing, like I was incomplete. I felt like I had lost my compass. I don't like that feeling. I need them here.
Oh, I also got a new calling -- Young Women President in our ward. That has kept me busy. Last night I went to the youth dance and had a lot of fun talking to and spending time with some of the youth. That has kept me busy.
But they're not a substitute for my family. I'm so glad my family is coming home tomorrow!
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