wordless wednesday - pumpkin hat edition

allison meets her new little brother, felix

check it off the list

we can now say we've been to Sonic!

all this just to say...

wha? what is this whirlwind going on? i know i need to stop! break it down now! (or at least organize my thoughts into something blogworthy), but...

so a sneak peak of the chaos i've created:

soccer has started. i am not the coach. (i am the "assistant coach," but the coach is really good, so i've been doing a lot of standing on the sidelines encouraging the boys to, say, not beat each other about the heads with their soccer balls.) i'm such a great "assistant coach" that i actually missed the first game (it was raining. a lot. can i say i'm not sorry i missed it? does that make me a bad "assistant coach?")

i missed the first game because i was busy bagging 10,000 dehydrated meals with my fellow Rotarians. do you know about Stop Hunger Now? if you don't, you should. what a great, uplifting, fast-paced humanitarian activity. 10,000 meals in one hour. it pretty much rocked.

i traveled last week and stayed in a hotel that was NOT a hampton (*gasp*). i fell a little bit in love. there were seriously 15 electrical outlets in the room. i could plug in every blessed thing i brought with me, and i still had 12 outlets left over! there was also fantastic lighting (functional AND ambiant), and a huge king size bed all. to. myself. the lobby was filled with smart and fun techno gadgets and media pods and flat screen everythings. yeah. i'm surprised i cam home.

i think i've secretly discovered that i am a geek. i also think i need an iPhone.

i have a new nephew! Felix! don't you love that? Felix Daniel was born in Decatur, GA yesterday. my sister had a very successful VBAC after, get this, firing her OB one week before delivery!! she's crazy like that. just goes to show you that if your medical practitioners are NOT working with you, it's time to move on!!

so, Felix. and he's beautiful. and i stayed up too late last night knitting the most adorable pumpkin hat for Felix, and of course, a slightly larger one for big sis Allis. i might need to make one for myself ;)

forty is weighing heavy on me now. (two more months) i might, in fact, be having a mid-something crisis. i'm not sure what the cure will be (but Apple, Inc. (TM), if you're reading this, that iPhone sure would be fun!)

any questions?

lost and found

people leave the strangest things in their hotel rooms...

 

 

wordless wednesday

 

resistance is... futile?

just today, i have been the recipient of three "desperate" sounding emails:

1) we need more soccer coaches for the boys
2) we need Sunday School teachers
3) we need to create a "working moms" group at church

these are not the type of emails i need to receive.

these are the types of emails that cause me to overextend my overextended self.

(these are the types of emails that make me question if i'm doing enough.)

these are the types of emails i can't ignore...

spt - how i spent my summer vacation

i spent my summer vacation the way i've spent every summer vacation since i began working in the hotel industry. i spent a lot of hours in a hotel (of course, i wasn't "vacationing" in the hotel, but still...)

jack goes to day camp in the summer, so our routine is basically the same as it is during the school year (i just drop him off in a different place!) i was up, every day, six days a week. getting ready for my day. having a conversation with her:

as you might imagine, she and i spent a lot of time discussing the upcoming birthday (40!) how we feel about it. what we are going to do differently in the second half of our lives.

she looks older to me now. and not in a i-have-laughed-through-the-years sort of a way. it's more of a "tired" old. and i let her know that that look will just not do.

she is nervous now about forty. for a while, it was fun to put on a brave face, but now some realities are taking hold. (she even shared with me that it's even harder to work off pesky belly fat now. the horror!)

but she also reminded me that fifteen years ago, we were having a similar internal meltdown about turning 25. and that on that brilliant day in november of 1994, while on a much needed fall vacation, we stood on the back veranda of the biltmore estate, took a deep breath, and realized that it. was. okay.

i will be waking up in a different destination this year. i am looking forward to that moment when i will know that it truly is okay.

after all, i have spent my entire summer vacation planning for it.

photoless phriday - the "if you build it, they will come" edition

if you organize a 5K race for Labor day weekend, people will run it.



(please note, this is an illustration, not a photo!!)

this will be the second running of the "Go, Jump in the Lake 5K and 1.5 mile Fun Run/Walk." we created this race last year, and were almost overwhelmed by it's success. if you are a runner (i am not), or have ever aspired to be a runner (i have), you know that a Saturday morning 5K is like Starbucks to the caffeine-dependent. people are inexplicably drawn to the opprotunity to sweat early in the morning. and... they will actually pay to do it!! (especially if you have great T shirts!!)

i have grown up in a family of opportunity creators. need a director for a community theatre production? someone from my family is there. need a youth group? scout troop? someone from my family is available. need a playground? yup, we'll pitch in and get it done. we have been raised with an uncanny ability to see a need for something. even better, we have been blessed with the enthusiasm to carry through with our visions.

it's exhausting. but it's also exhilirating! and it strikes me that too many people miss out on chances to create opportunities in their communities because of the overwhelming sensations that usually accompany such big projects. worse yet, maybe they just assume that "someone else will get it done."

if you've ever thought that, i hope you'll take a few minutes and give yourself a big pep talk! it can be overwhelming, for certain. it can be frustrating. heck, the project might even be a big flop!! it IS exhausting.

but, the exhiliration is so, so sweet. to hear an audience applaud for a show. to watch children play on a playground. and, yes, to cheer on those crazy, sweaty runners.

i wish you were in town. i wish you could join us tomorrow morning as the sun rises over Spring Lake and the 5K runners take their mark. i wish you could walk the 1.5 mile loop with me. and jack. and babies in strollers. and grandparents. i wish you could literally Jump in the Lake with us as we cross the finish line! (really, can you think of a better way to end a race?? forget the Gatorade. a quick swim is the way to go!)

you would look so great in the T shirt!!

SePTember is here...

aahhhhhhh...

allow me to revel in the day. september first. 72 degrees/73% humidity. sun. calm. a positive outlook (on my part). the *symbolic* end to what has been an insanely chaotic summer in the hotel business.

aahhhhhh...

it also happens to be pumpkin spice candle day in MY world!! unfortunately, i checked my stash this morning, and i don't have pumpkin spice on hand. but i have mulled cider!! and that will do. that will do very nicely.

it also happens to be a tuesday, and that has me thinking about self-portraits. and i've got a challenge for you.



how i spent my summer vacation

for the most part... kiddos are back at school and our lives are settling into their fall cycles. for many, that means soccer practice or piano lessons, scout troops or Seminary (see, i'm learning!), marathons or crop weekends. a little more structure, a little less daylight.

before you get caught up in the fall frenzy (school carnivals, anyone?) take some time to tell us how you spent your summer vacation. the challenge is this: you have one photo. one snapshot to tell your story. it might be a photo you've already taken, i photo you've already posted even. or maybe you will spend some time thinking about how to create "the perfect shot" that will showcase several months worth of you-ness.

you may be out of practice, you may be a first time spt-er. there's no pressure here. you've got time to plan. this challenge is due tuesday, september 8th, one week from today.