Week in Review

As I start this post, I really have no idea where it's going. I've been away from it for a week and so maybe it's best to see just where that week went, why I didn't manage to post ANYTHING, and other random "snapshots of my life."

Oct. 6 (Thurs) There were many combine/field fires in Sioux County. A guy in our office is on the fire department and I will never forget the call of "May Day!" I heard squealing from his radio. As he ran out of the building, we stopped and bowed our heads to say a prayer for all the farmers and firefighters who had a long day and night ahead of them. Thankfully, the particular cry for help we heard was answered and the farmer (and fire chief) were rescued.  After enjoying our 45-minute music class where we got to sing, dance, and play with a parachute, Ryan and I walked to the library. As we walked, we stopped to wave to the firefighters who were returning home from yet another blaze.

Oct. 7 (Fri) God showed me the power of prayer in a big way. A co-worker had an appointment with an oncologist regarding a spot her doctor had found. As a company, we prayed through her appointment and when the report came back, God had moved mountains! The oncologist couldn't even find the spot! Praise God!

At night, Adam headed to the FB game 1.5 hours away, so Ryan and I had a fun night with my parents, sister, and my niece, Saylor.  Ryan sat by her with his hands on her and said "Baby Saylor, my favorite."

Oct. 8 (Sat) I had my first Show Choir rehearsal of the year. An hour into teaching/talking/dancing to Bon Jovi's "We Weren't Born to Follow," I got lightheaded and was pretty close to passing out, so although it was super-embarrassing, I had to tell the kids that I needed to sit down for a while. They practiced for a while without me, then with me sitting in the front, unable to stand, but trying to direct.  After I got some Powerade and rested for a bit, I was able to carry on and we got through the entire song.  I'm pretty sure I was just dehydrated because after drinking 52 oz. of Powerade and water, I was still thirsty. Next time we have a 5-hour rehearsal, I'll know to drink up. Maybe they should come out with that G1, G2, G3 hydrating system, but have the G stand for Glee instead of Gatorade. Maybe. Or I should just remember to drink something other than a can of pop, coffee, and a half a glass of milk in the 48 hours before a rehearsal.

After a short rest to try to get rid of my headache, I spent the night playing with Ryan while Adam ran to Sioux City. I was amazed when he was back only about 2.5 hours after he left (it takes 45 minutes to get there and 45 back). I asked how he possibly got everything done in an hour and he said, "All I needed was a new winter coat, hat & gloves, 2 pairs of jeans, to get fitted for a tux and some new garage shelving." Y'all, that would have taken me about 9 hours! Difference between men and women, right?

Oct. 9 (Sun) We continued exploring churches in our new town (well visiting them, we're not spelunking or anything.) Side note: Who knows what spelunking is only because you played "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" on your Apple 2e computer? Answer: me.  We've now been to at least 4 churches 2 times and are hoping to decide on the right fit sometime--there are just a lot of good ones!  After a quick lunch, Ryan went down for a nap and Adam did a few things at school while I packed. As soon as Adam was back I was off to Sioux Falls. I listened to "The Life of Handel" in Music and Words" on the drive up there and really enjoyed it. Ryan has been listening to different composers when going to sleep, but he decided "Pop Goes the Weasel" on repeat is preferable to Handel, so I got stuck with the composer in my card.  I spent over an hour in Plato's Closet, bought some shoes that are probably 15 years too young for me, walked through Big Lots (and decided it's akin to a Walmart except it doesn't have everything), and admired a few things in World Market. Then, I checked into the Clubhouse hotel (which is pretty fab).

That night I met up with about 45 people at Foley's  to kick off our annual marketing meeting. My steak was like leather (but totally my fault for ordering it well-done) and the dense chocolate cake definitely needs coffee, but it was a very nice dinner and a good time with co-workers. I had to make a dreaded Walmart run for diapers afterwards and decided the lights in there are definitely what gives me "Walmart sickness" and need to be avoided at all costs (all costs except the costs of buying diapers somewhere else).  I got 3 cases and hope Ryan is potty-trained before I ever have to set foot in there again. I was really looking forward to getting 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep, but got sucked into a Makeover: Home Edition and then "Long Island Medium" and wasted my opportunity to fully enjoy the delightful room.

Oct. 10 (Mon) We held our Marketing Annual Meeting which involved about 7 hours of listening to someone else talk and about 7 minutes of me presenting, but there was some other cool stuff we got to check out, but can't really share yet.  After wrapping up, I hit the mall for a little more shopping, Panera for some Cinnamon Crunch bagels to bring home, then headed to my sister's to drop off her birthday present.  She liked the bagels.  And the card I got her that was written entirely in Spanish but I told her it was the best I could find at 10pm in Walmart. I finally rolled home around 7:30 to put Ryan to bed, then designed some Christmas/Moving cards and placed a big photo order a mere hour before the sale expired.

Oct. 11 (Tues) Catch-up day at work, which was exhausting. After supper we squeezed in a meeting with our Financial Advisor (I never should have opened this quarter's report).  Think LONG TERM, here, people. It's always a challenge to keep Ryan occupied when both of us are busy, but we got a little bit of mileage out of The Cat in the Hat on the portable DVD player, once we got past the Casper preview. After the meeting and putting Ryan to bed, all I managed was to do a little show choir and then started reading The Starbucks Experience, a book we were given at work. Love it so far and can't wait to continue. All that's missing is a Dark Chocolate Raspberry Frappuccino(registered trademark) Blended Beverage to go with it.

Oct. 12 (Wed) We couldn't decide what to do for supper (except for agreeing that 2 out of the 3 of us did not want leftover Mac & Cheese) so finally settled on going to eat buffet at Pizza Ranch. It was Kid's Night and we had some Rewards dollars to use, so it ended up hardly costing anything. Ryan was such a great kid at the restaurant tonight (which is not something we can count on). We were so happy with how nicely he sat and ate his pizza, pudding, cheesy Ranch Stick, chicken fries, mashed potatoes and ice cream (On second thought, maybe we should have gone with the Mac & Cheese.) One funny thing is that after we sat down, he pointed at the toddler boy at the table next to us and said, "Look, there's Isaiah!" I had no idea who Isaiah was or where Ryan had met him. I'd never seen this family before. We finally asked his parents where our kids could possibly have met (nursery, babysitter's, etc.) and finally figured out that Ryan had met him a few weeks ago at the park when my Mom was here. So funny that he remembered the boy's name!  After that, we took Nika for a walk, stopped to watch the soccer game, and then got Ryan to bed.

So, I realize that was super-boring and basically pointless, but someday it'll be a good idea of "What did your life look like when you were 29, married with 1 kid and trying to juggle work and family and other commitments?" A crazy mess, that's what...but I wouldn't choose any other adventure or any other people to share it with. It's MY crazy mess!