More than you need to know...

I just made a terrible realization this morning (EARLY this morning....like 6am when I should have been sleeping soundly and sweetly--like a baby). It is something I hesitate to write on my blog, considering it is of a fairly sensitive nature. BUT- then I remember that most likely it will only be my family that reads this entry, and possibly a couple of close friends...

(I would like to interrupt this rambling to give a shout out to my THREE "followers"....THANK YOU....you make me feel that I am writing to someone here.)

Anyway, back to the story...

So, I wake up with a jolt this morning--you know what I mean, one minute of pure sleeping bliss, and the next minute you find yourself in a nauseous state because your subconscious did some thinking while you were unaware....and BAM! the thoughts hit you like a ton of bricks?? Ever had one of those moments? Well, I had one this morning.

I have been trying to plan a summer vacation for our family since like forever. I started way back in the winter--during those cold and gray days, when the thoughts of a sunshiny tomorrow are so needed. We started talking about going on a Disney Cruise. They were having a FABULOUS special going on....book a summer cruise, and kids sail for free. The price would literally be cut by thousands of dollars. We dreamed of tropical places, warm sun, and family bonding. Then sadly, we had to let that dream go, as we realized that it was very possible that a specific child of ours could possibly have a summer commitment (read: unwanted summer school class) that would make it impossible to go this year. (How many times can the word "possible" be used in a sentence?--WOW.)

So, moving on...

I then got it in my head, that if we couldn't enjoy a relaxing cruise and tropical paradise....we could at least go frolic in the ocean. Our last beach themed vacation was wonderful and peaceful and enjoyed by the whole family. (Even the more difficult to please teenager...). I played with multiple ideas of destinations, all based on the beach we could relax on the days not spent at an amusement park, or sight-seeing.
Unfortunately, our summer became less than predictable, with Jake's soccer schedule stretching much further than we expected. (An honor and accomplishment for him, that we did not want to squash.) Which took us straight into July without a week to spare, except one....in August. (Actually, something has been scheduled then, too...Jake's regular soccer commitments....but we have chosen to ignore them mostly this time, because THIS FAMILY NEEDS A VACATION, DARN IT!)

Finally, just a few days ago, we settled on a more do-able vacation in the time that has been alloted to us. We are planning to go to Michigan and Wisconsin. All activities focused around things near Lake Michigan. We will do an amusement park, water park, dune buggy the sand dunes, spend a couple days on the lake beach, take a 4-hour ferry "cruise" across the lake to Wisconsin, spend some time at a State Fair, and finally end up with Jake's tourney in Milwaukee. (Didn't think we'd escape soccer completely did you?)

Let me share a few of the photos of sights and experiences we hope to have on our trip.....










It feels soooo good to have a plan. To have a week set aside for family togetherness, on a lovely location, enjoying the sights, the water.......

SCREEEEEEAAAAACH!!

----this is when my ugly thoughts from deep sleep popped up, seemingly out of nowhere-----

Guess what? In my frantic search for ANY week that we did not have important commitments that would interfere with a vacation.....I just chose the one week that had nothing written down on the days in my calendar. (Of course, since then things HAVE popped up, but like I said we chose to ignore this...). My subconscious knew something was not right with that week though....and it screamed the "wrongness" to me when I least expected it.

I have bad news to report to myself.
This designated week... that is supposed to be heavenly....will be a little tainted. Because, in the early morning hours this morning, I made the ugly realization that I. will. have. my. period. NOOOOOOOOO!!
What is the big deal, you ask??

Well, for one thing, my period is a monster. It is unpredictable. It comes with a vengence.....and sometimes prevents me from leaving my house--for a couple of days-- for pure fear I will have a terrible and humiliating accident. On most months, I battle this awful fear with "doubling up" the protection. In MOST cases, I make it through okay. But, how, oh how, do you "double up" in a swim suit? We will be spending most days in swimsuits....waterpark, beaches, tubing. I am totally NOT comfortable with going "without" on those beginning days. No way....can't do it.

What is a mom to do?? I sooooo wanted to participate in all of these activities. I wanted to bond with the family with experiencing the same things as they were. I was even willing to go down the giant water funnel at the waterpark. I want to be a FUN mom--not one that sits and watches while everyone else experiences things first hand. ARGH, ARGH, and DOUBLE ARGH!!

Okay, deep breath.

Will you please pray with me that maybe I will get things rolling a few days early this month? (If this could happen, I would be past the scary stuff before we need to leave.) Or how about it showing up late?? That would work too. Anything, I will take anything.

Sigh....the joys of being woman.

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone has a terrific 4th of July!

I love seeing the neighborhood decorated in flags and patriotic flair!

The house below is NOT in our neighborhood......but if it were, I'd take a picture of it too....



http://www.front-porch-ideas-and-more.com/images/patriotic-porch.jpg

Love it! So festive...

While the husband's away.....

Matt Has been in San Francisco this week for work. He is at a Networkers conference. He also got the chance to tour San Francisco a bit with old college friends.

Here is a picture of him enjoying the beauty of San Fran.




While my hubby is away, I decided to decorate a bit. Nothing major....I didn't buy new couches, or that dining room buffet/hutch I have been dying to get. I kept it small.

I finally decided it was time to hang those darn pictures I bought about 6 months ago for the Living Room. I have stared at blank walls long enough!

Now.....it isn't that we are COMPLETELY lazy about these things. (just MOSTLY....) It is just that I wasn't completely sure I was in love with the pictures.

Wall art is a funny thing....I find it hard to commit. I mean, you are going to stare at it every day.....and we all know, framed art is not cheap. Right?

Thankfully, I found the pictures I hung at a really great price! (Like for $15 a piece at Walmart.) I figure, at that price, I can hang them and if something better comes along in the future, I can just take these down and not feel guilty about it. (Not to mention, I am sure I could find a place for them in our front office.....)

Here is the new look:




You can't tell what those pictures are very well from that photo....but the focal point in each is a leaf. The leaves are raised--so it adds some texture, too, I think. I am not sure the size of the two pieces are completely right for the wall......but I tell you, it is a HUGE improvement than blank walls staring back at me!

Here is a closer look: (excuse the sun streaks and spots)....it IS morning, and there is just no stopping the sun! :0)



Now, while looking at these pictures, I am struck with how "uncolorful" this room is. Hmmmmm..... The pictures seem to really emphasize that. The crazy thing is, that I feel in real life, it is not quite as stark as it appears here. I also think it has more warmth going on in real life. I actually like the peacefulness of the browns, and mustards, and creams, and cranberry.
It IS still a work i progress though. I also still need to update those curtains---just haven't decided what I want, yet.

Guess what else I did yesterday?

I bought a cute little accent table to go in the LR, too. I got it at Kirkland Home. It was one of those "put it together yourself" deals. So I did, thank you very much. :0)
I am sure it would have taken Matt about 20 minutes to do it. It took me an hour. Some of the screws didn't line up well, and I had to get creative. BUT-I did it. MYSELF. Yes, I am kind of proud of that fact. :0)
Here it is:



I had to rummage around my house to find stuff to put on the three shelves. It was kind of like "shopping". I went down into my basement storage, and dug through boxes that were still packed from our move. It was good. I found a bunch of stuff that I put aside for my upcoming garage sale.....but I was able to grab a couple of things that I could use, too. Here is a close up of the top shelf:



Okay....so none of that stuff came from the basement. I pulled the glass display jar (can't think of the word for it at this moment in time) with the apples from my kitchen hutch. I pulled the glass vase with shells (which also completely smells like the beach....yum!) from my LR side table, the candles were originally hidden in a drawer.....and the glass bird is new.

Did you happen to notice that TALL glass vase next to the table? I LOVE that vase. I bought that a while ago, too....and struggled with where to put it. It is totally fun, because there are trees on it and little birds perched on the branches.



Found that at Homegoods. Love that store.

Here is a closer look at the birds....



Cute, right?
My kids think I am a little crazy that I get excited by these things.

Jake said to me yesterday..."Mom, what exactly is that tall glass thing for, anyway?" I told him it was to decorate with. Then he asked. "BUT, what is it FOR??" I simply said, "To enjoy". Then he said, "Weird."

Whatever....
I guess sometimes you can't expect everyone to "get it".

Poor Puppy...

This is Emmy. (she's posing)



Our poor Emmy was acting strange last night. She was barely moving. She was stiff and lethargic. She was not herself and it was scary for me.

So I called the vet.

I gave her aspirin in a hot dog. She laid in the same spot for the rest of the night.

I slept (barely) with her on my mind, the. whole. night. (After MAKING myself go to bed at 2 am...after just sitting with her, praying she'd be okay.)



This morning.....
she has been mostly better. Moving around more and seemingly without pain.
Then she threw up.
So something is off.

I still need to call the vet to get her in.


I hope she is okay.





How can you not love that silly face? Sweet dog.

Fantastic Find

Okay...I don't usually do this...but I was so impressed with this project--I had to share.

You know when you see a great pair of shoes, but you look at the price tag and choke....so you calmly try and conceal your shock, and just keep walking?

Yeah--I think we have all done that before, at least once.

Well, this morning I saw this blog that showed a pair of shoes that were quite exciting. They looked just like a pair Carrie Bradshaw wore. The owner of these shoes actually MADE the "frill" that made them so fantastic. AND she gives the tutorial on how she did it.



Wow, right?

Go check out her blog....I posted the link for you to read the whole thing.

http://hopestudios.blogspot.com/2009/06/tutorial-tuesday-shoe-make-over.html

ENJOY! (and try not to feel inadequate.) :0)

Hurumph!

So, in my previous post about checking Jacob into soccer camp....I forgot to mention another significant moment of that morning.

While standing in line in the scorching heat....a friend of mine said to the gentleman staff person (who I might add looked about 70 or so)...."Wow, this heat is killer. Makes me feel so tired and old!"

The gentleman eyed us both over carefully, and said..
"What?? You two don't look a day over 42. What are you complaining about?"

UMMMM......EXCUSE ME???!!!
A day over 42? FORTY-TWO??


(Normally, wouldn't you say, when you say something like this....to perfect strangers....you try and guess an age much YOUNGER than what they actually are?? You know, to be nice?)


Well....I would. AND...if that was the case.....and he guessed younger than what he thought I was.....
YIKES!! (Double Yikes!!)


I am 40!! FORTY!! So....I am NOT terribly happy, he thinks I look "not a day over 42!"


Hurumph!!


And so.........I guess...........


this is what I have to say to that:

Good Luck, Jacob!

Well.....I just dropped off jacob at ODP State Soccer Camp. His tryouts/training has begun. We should know by the end of next week whether or not he will have been chosen for the Illinois ODP State team.

The line to check him in at NIU (Northern Illinois University) was HUGE!! We waited for a about an hour in line, and thankfully it was moving at a decent rate. Of course, the whole time we were in line, I was trying to figure out how Jake was going to manage all his stuff by himself. They gave all the players a checklist of stuff to bring....and that is all he brought. BUT, he still had a large duffle, his very heavy soccer bag, his jug of water, his bag of healthy snacks, his pillow and his blanket. We originally thought he could make two trips to his room. Leave half of his stuff in the lobby with me, go up and drop off the first load in his room....then come back for the second load. (They don't let parents up into the living quarters of the dorms.) That is what we did the first time he went to NIU for soccer camp two years ago. This time, they wouldn't let the parents into the building at all, and they were funneling the kids in with all their stuff so that there was no place to put anything down, let alone leave it unguarded for a while.

We tried to combine his stuff best we could so that he could maybe carry it. I tell you though, it would be a struggle for a grown man--let alone a 90 lb. kid!

Jacob looked miserable when I left him--outside in the heat, (about 85* so far....), sun beating down on him....the heavy soccer bag with filled jug of water crammed in the top on his back, his large duffle with snack bag balanced on the handle in his one hand, and his pillow tucked under his other arm. (We took his blanket from him....decided he'd rather just sleep with his sheet than carry the blanket, too!) Poor kid.

Then, he was going to have to drop off his stuff in his room, grab his soccer socks, shin guards, cleats, jug and soccer bag....and book it right back down to the lobby to meet for their walk to the training field for a 2 hour training session/evaluation.

This is it....
He has gone to tryouts once a month since January for the opportunity to go to this State Camp. We were thrilled he was invited. Two of his buddies from his club team are there too. I hope they all do well.

THEN....we have to pick them up early from ODP Camp, so that we can go straight to Indiana for the Region II Tournament that his club team has been invited to compete in. The U16 team in our club just won their Regionals this week, and are headed to the Nationals at the end of July. It is so exciting! They will be playing in Massachusetts. If Jake's team wins their Regional tournament, they'd be off to Nationals, too.

Time will tell the outcome to both of these big Soccer events in Jacob's life....
Please pray that Jake stays healthy and there are no injuries for him or his team.
I am tired just thinking about it!