The Beginning of Summer

I have all sorts of ambitions for summer.  I plan to get up at 7:00 every day.  I plan to hit the gym by 8:00 and be done with my workouts and shower by 10:00.  I plan to spend mid-day in some sort of house improvement type of work.  And I plan to spend my afternoons lounging poolside.  Today was the first day I could have put those plans into action.

How'd I do?

I woke up at 7:00.  I got up long enough to make sure that Helena was up and moving.  She has a summer school class that starts at 7:50, you see, so she has to be out the door at 7:30.  Once I knew she was up... I went back to bed until 8:00.  I ended up waiting until she got home from her class before I hit the gym.  I didn't want to be still at the gym when she got home because I wanted to hear how the first day was.  Also, I thought that maybe she'd want to come with me.  Turns out that her first day was just great, and, no, she did not want to go with me.  Harumph.

So, I didn't make it to the gym until after 11:00.  My workout was cut short by a text from Helena saying that she couldn't find her Social Security card.  She intended to go job hunting and couldn't find it.  I came home a searched for it, too, without success.  Grrr!  It has to be around here somewhere!!  I really hope we find it soon, because getting a new one issued is just not a nightmare I want to contemplate.  As a side note, we can't find her passport, either. 

Anyways, after spending several hours hunting to no avail, I had lunch and finally got busy with Steel Days stuff.  The art show is in less than a month and I still hadn't updated the e-mail contact info so I can e-mail out the 'call for entries'.  It took several hours of typing (and all the battery on my laptop) to get my contacts updated.  It went from 175 to over 250 contacts.  Tomorrow I'll work on sending out the 'call for entries'.  I meant to go to the store today to pick up some essentials (paper towels, toilet paper, and treats for Will's high adventure camp), then to the hospital to drop off some paperwork, but that never happened.  The paperwork is for a surgery Helena is going to have done next month to try to fix some sinus problems she has had her whole life.

And what did the kids do? 

Will spent the morning packing.  He is leaving tomorrow morning for a week of scouting high adventure in Moab.  He spent the afternoon out with the scouts and leaders shopping for the food for the trip.  He is very excited for this week and I hope he has a fabulous time!!!

When Helena got home from school, she spent the rest of the morning doing chores and the afternoon watching TV.  She wanted to go shopping with me, but I never found the time.  She wanted me to go to the pool with her, but, again, the time thing.  Besides, a storm rolled in this afternoon, shutting down the pool for a while.  So her afternoon was a let down.  Sorry sweetie.  Hopefully tomorrow with be better!  Her seminary teacher called today.  He said some really complimentary things about her and told me about summer seminary every Tuesday morning.  Helena plans to go tomorrow right after her summer school class.

Well, it wasn't how I pictured my first day of summer, but it wasn't that bad of a day after all.  I feel like I got lots done and I hope to get even more done tomorrow!

A couple of 'camping' weeks

During the week of the 13th through the 17th, Will went off to High Adventure Scout Camp.  He was given a medical release form and a packing list.  I took the med form, he took the list. 

I scheduled his doctor's check up for just a couple of days before camp.  All was standard procedure until the doc said that Will needed a booster of his Chicken Pox vaccine.  Will hates needles with an irrational fear that most of us share, but for him the fear can be overwhelming.  (By the way, Will, it is not at all uncommon for a big tough football player to be calmly carried off the field with a bone jutting out, only to have him freak out about a needle in the hands of a medic)

Anyways, needle incident behind us, we were getting ready to go when the doc said that there was a trace amount of protein in Will's urine sample and he wanted us to get another sample at home and bring it in for analysis.  Are you kidding me?!  Ugh.

Of course, when I got home I googled 'protein leak' and read all about how it can be a warning sign for diabetes.  GOOD GRIEF!  There is no way this kid can be diabetic!  I cannot begin to imagine the nightmare of dealing with that amount of needle stress.

Well, it turned out to be nothing, of course.  The second sample was clean.  There are absolutely no indications that point to diabetes, so there is just another example of me worrying over nothing.

So, off to camp he went.

They had a great time hiking and biking and spelunking all over the mountains and he even managed to gain 5 pounds in the bargain (which he has since lost).  Apparently, at one point during a hike the leaders got turned around and took the wrong trail.  They ended up on a more technical and challenging trail than they had planned, but I figure all's well that ends without making it on the evening news!

***

This past week was Helena's turn at camp.  Her medical release form wasn't nearly as comprehensive as his, nor did it need a doctor to sign off on her ability to participate.

Girl's Camp is a bit different from Scout Camp.  For one thing, Helena took her cell phone and her iPod with her.  Will was forbidden to bring electronics.  Helena had spa-like shower facilities and used them daily.  Will didn't (let's just leave it at that, shall we?).  Will was on the go constantly doing some strenuous activity.  Other than one hike, Helena's camping included canoe-ing, craft making, and pedicures.  She took some treats with her, but she came back with more than she left with, thanks to her 'secret sister'.  They had made 'camp chairs' out of 5 gallon buckets with home made seat cushions.  They used these to store their treats in so that wildlife would leave it alone.  Honestly, I would prefer Helena's version of camping!

Now that camp is over, there is nothing on the schedule between us and the start of school, which is only three short weeks away!!!

HOLY COW!!!  That is SOON!  AHHHH!  There is so much still to be done!

I'M NOT READY

I'M NOT READY

I'M NOT READY

and neither are the kids!

Phooey.

I wish summer lasted forever like it used to when we were kids.