Rundown

Sometimes I have about 5,000 things to post about that I don't really feel like posting about, but I feel like I SHOULD post about for posterity. So, here's a quick rundown of some of the events of the last couple weeks (or a not-so-quick rundown!).

August 16th we baptized Mac. It was an incredible experience. Stressful, but incredible. We didn't do the normal Stake baptism thing. My parents were out of town on the weekend of the Stake baptism, and I used that as an excuse to break the norm. I wanted to do it at my parents' house. They have a creek that runs through their property. It's a lovely thing- edged with willows- and I thought it would be such a neat memory to be baptized in Grandma and Grandpa's creek. I asked Mac what he thought of that and he agreed that it would be "cool".

Turns out, it was "cool". Beyond cool! It was an incredible experience. Sadly, I didn't take a single picture the whole day. I was an anxious mess. (Dustin's mom did take some pics, so hopefully I can get them from her.) Not only were we doing the baptism there, but we did a "program" and had food for the thirty-something people who attended. (Thanks to all of you who brought food! You saved my bacon!) My parents decided to paint there back porch a couple days before which, of course, took WAY longer than it was supposed to, so they had stuff all over their yard just hours before the big event. I was a train wreck with my anxiety. It all turned out perfect and beautiful, but it was much more emotionally taxing than I EVER could have anticipated.

As if that weren't enough, my little sister asked my mom and I to sing the Star Spangled Banner with her at a community luau that her company was hosting. No big deal under normal circumstances, but it happened to be the evening after the baptism. UGH! I was so tired. But, it went off without a hitch, excepting the fact that Lacy pitched it too low. She was the one that suffered there because she had the low harmony... poor girl! It was fine, even still.

The following Monday I got a cold. I think it was a serious crash from the weekend's anxiety. It's been a nasty one. It was just starting to come on on Monday. Tuesday it hit full boar and my voice was all squeaky, which was bad because Lacy asked Mom and I if we could join her again in the National Anthem, this time at our local minor league baseball game on Wednesday (my birthday!). Her work is a sponsor and they had asked her to sing at the game. They liked our performance at the luau and wanted all three of us at the game too. So... I hit the Wellness Formula and EmergenC hard. By Wednesday, the cold had moved from my chest (burning, couldn't breathe feeling) to my head (stuffed up so bad that NOTHING would move, but my chest felt WAY better!). It made for interesting singing, but it too went off without a hitch. It was pitched better too, and I think that one was our best one yet!

Since it was my birthday, my mom said she'd watch our kids so Dust and I could go out. After the Anthem singing, we left the game to go drop off the kids. (No, we didn't stay for the game... we aren't baseball people!) As we were pulling up to my parents' house, I asked Dustin if he had a plan for where we were going or what we were doing. Yes, of course he did. He didn't inform me what it was though. We pulled up and I expected that Dustin would leave the car running and drop Ella and Rohan off. Nope. He turned off the car and got everyone out. I left my purse in the car because I would be right back in the car in a minute. I walked slowly up to the house, walked in and my mom was standing in the living room. There were streamers on the ceiling and a Happy Birthday banner across the wall. 'Weird', I thought to myself. My head was rather blank... then suddenly people jumped out and shouted "SURPRISE!!!" and "Happy Birthday!" It scared/shocked me so bad that I fell back a couple steps and slammed my shoulder blade into the corner of a shelf. That left a big ol' bruise that is just now starting to feel better. It was a strange thing to have a surprise party. I'd wanted one my whole life and about a month ago I told Dustin as much. I asked if he would arrange one some time in my life. I didn't expect this year. It was crazy that I was so oblivious, but I was glad. It was AWESOME! Thanks to all who came and who helped arrange it...

Thursday morning I woke up and packed mine and my kids' stuff. My kids were heading over to my parents' house to stay with my dad for the weekend while Dustin and I and my mom headed to San Diego. My mom had two free tickets to a James A. Ray seminar, Harmonic Wealth Weekend. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It's almost impossible to describe, but I was blown away. I loved every minute of it! It was truly incredible. Thanks to Mom for the tickets and letting us crash her hotel room! You're the best! Love you!

We flew back on Sunday, drove back for three hours and picked up the kids. Rushed them home, got them to bed as quickly as we could so they could have plenty of sleep to START SCHOOL the next morning. Sadly, with all the craziness of the previous week, plus having no car... I forgot that part... I hadn't gone school shopping yet. So, I had to go at about 10:00 on a Sunday night. Not my idea of fun, but we do what we have to do. (and, it's now Tuesday night, 10:00 and I STILL don't have my van back!!! GRRRRR!)

Oh yes- in the middle of all that I was filing paperwork for eviction and small claims for the tenant of our little house. I go to eviction court on September 2 and the small claims date remains to be seen!!! Thrilling times, my friends, thrilling times!

Oh... I almost forgot. This bit deserves a post all to itself, but we have a new addition in our family... a baby squirrel! Ella found him the morning of my birthday. She said he was my birthday present! Isn't she the sweetest? LOL! I'll post pics later. Or maybe a video.

So, basically, I've been BUSY and that's why I've been such a slacker-blogger! :)