This and That

I'm in kind of a "BLAH" mood right now. I'm not happy, but I'm not sad either. I'm somewhere right in between. But it's just easier to say, "BLAH!"

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Girl's Camp is finished. Done. Over with. WHEW!! I'm so glad to have it over for another year! I am pretty undecided on whether or not I'll do it again next year. If I absolutely HAD to make a choice today.... it would be NO!! But I sincerely love those girls and I've been to camp with many of them for their entire camp career and they are begging me to stay. (This is my 4th year of going with this ward... my third as camp director.) We've created many wonderful, fun traditions that the girls look forward to each year.

One of them being the after-camp-slide show. Which I'm happy to announce I finished today!! Yippee! I stayed up until 2am last night getting it ready to burn today -- which might be some of the reason I'm feeling, "BLAH!"

I'm soooo tired!

We show it tomorrow night at Mutual and then I'll pack up my bag of camp tricks for another year.... possibly forever.

(The argument that I'm having with myself over this is: Am I denying someone else the pleasure and blessings by doing it year after year?)

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Last week the kids and I went with Max to Washington State. He has a client up there and spends one week a month working in this little town. He's been going up there for a year and a half and has wanted us to go every month.

I now see why he wants us there! He needs a distraction! The hospital he works for is in a very small (Pop. 1736) town where you have to drive 45 minutes to an hour out of town for any activities; movies, grocery shopping, shopping, etc. There is a bowling alley in town, and a public swimming park, which is nice, but that's all there is, which can be quite monotonous.

I will admit, it's BEAUTIFUL country! I have never seen so many rolling fields of wheat. And we were there as the wheat is turning golden. It was so beautiful!! I kept singing America the Beautiful as we drove from one field to another.

One thing I found interesting was the absence of subdivisions. There were neighborhoods "in town," but as we got out of town, we would only see a random farm dotted here and there among the rolling hills. I'm extremely social, and while it's my (and Max's) dream to eventually move to "the country" and live on one or two acres, I would still want a neighbor or two to keep me company (or hear me scream in the middle of the night -- but that's another story about one of my many paranoid neuroses). :)

That's why I named this picture "Lonely": Because, while this farm is beautiful and is in a beautiful setting, that's how it made me feel to look at it.

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Tonight, my almost 8 year old son and my 40 something year old husband are sleeping in a tent in the backyard. Since the pad on our trampoline ripped, we've had very few sleeping-out-in-the-backyard-moments.

Isn't that what warm summer nights were made for!?!?

And I learned something new about my son tonight... to our recollection, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS SLEPT IN A TENT!!

I know!!! What the....? We are the family that loves to camp and my son has never slept in a tent before? I'm failing as a mother....

Anyhoo... self recriminations aside... every time we have gone camping since he was born, the poor guy has always slept in our pop-up tent trailer, which is fine and comfortable for ME, but has denied him the simple pleasures of the scent of a tent, the rustle of the fabric, the scrunching in a sleeping bag and gazing out the window (or the top of the tent if there's not a rain fly on it) at the stars.

We are happy to provide this experience for our son tonight. And he was so happy (giddy actually), he even smiled for the camera!

Good night, my adventuresome men! Sleep tight! And don't let the bed bugs bite... or the mosquitoes, or the spiders, or the moths, or.....

(Poor Lola Dog is in a quandry... does she sleep outside and protect them? Or does she sleep inside and protect me?)

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Today, I learned some sad news. My good friend, my crafting buddy, and the mother of the cutest boy in Buttercup's graduating class -- who also happens to be an amazing artist, as well as witty and clever -- is moving from Florin.

Thorkgal (who comments frequently on this blog) and who has been my friend since I moved here 10 years ago and joined the S.O.S Crafting Group, is moving to greener pastures south of our great state.

Thorkgal, I don't want to make this move any harder than it already is for you, but I just want you to know how much I will miss you and your beautiful smile. I will miss copying your craft each month. How can I be "creative" without you?!? S.O.S. will not be complete without you and I know that each and every month we'll say, "Something's not right! We're not a whole group anymore!" I know we'll see you again, since you're leaving half of your heart here, enrolled in college. Please come visit soon and often! We'll always have an empty chair at our craft table for you! We'll always have a shoulder and a listening ear. I hope you find your dreams and that all your wishes will be fulfilled!

Now, I must go find a Kleenex and blow my nose! (And I have to start practicing NOT swearing at S.O.S. anymore...)

Love ya, Thork! :)