Summer's here! Right?

Jennie Lee and Larry, this one's for you. Truth is, blogging gives me an excellent excuse not to pull out the work I brought home.

Special thanks to Larry who just laid down on the bed next to me to read over my shoulder, farted really loud, and then got up and walked off. Why do they do that? If you feel it coming, can you just get up and take care of business in the bathroom?

So it's summer, right? Time to relax, enjoy family time, and kick back? Well you could've fooled me because our life is INSANE right now. Last weekend, perfect example.

An ad rep at work offered us four free tickets to the Diamondbacks game on Friday night. Those of you who know me well know that it is physically impossible for me to pass up free tickets to a sporting event - plus, the kids have been dying to go. Yes, I realize that now I'm going to have to field calls from said ad rep for the next two years, but that's okay. So after a very exhausting week at work, I pick up the kiddos, and we head to Chase Field for a night of baseball. Which, by the way, was a lovely evening...you never know what you're gonna get when you make a sassy six year old, a moody 10 year old and a mid-puberty 13 year old in seats right next to each other for three straight hours. We only had to shuffle seats once.

Then on Saturday morning I rose bright and early to support a team member and help represent our department at our ATSU-ASDOH (A.T. Still University's Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health) commencement ceremony. ATSU only has three commencement ceremonies a year, (soon to be four, if the planning doesn't send M.F. and I to our graves) so I am trying to always attend - it really helps keep you connected with the mission of our University. Good stuff, great team, amazing students. I love where I work.

So while I was there, Larry had to go pick up black and white eyeliner for Griffin's costume as a Duke in "The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast". He had his first dress rehearsal from 8:30 - 3:00 on Saturday. At 1:00 we had a neighborhood birthday party, so I was able to send the other two kids to that, during which time we somehow made it to the gym for a workout. Then Saturday night Griffin had an improv performance at the Phoenix Zoo as part of "Prowl and Play", where the poor kid had to sit in a furry ram costume for three hours and, every time the safari train went by, do what a ram might do after a long day at work when all the zoo patrons have gone home. Okay, more tiring for Grif than for me, but it adds to the story.

And of course I had to watch the ASU Super Regionals Saturday night, which required calling the cable company and getting ESPNU.

Deep breath! Then Sunday, since we had so much going on the day before, it was constant - and I mean, around the clock - laundry for the entire day. Yard work, another trip to the gym for me, and what little house cleaning I could fit in. I worked in my garden, staking some super-tall tomato plants, and actually harvested the first couple of tomatoes (they were delish in tonight's tacos!). I have a squash that looks just about ready, too, which I'm totally excited about.

Oh, and then one more Super Regional game (Go Devils!!!!!) that of course went into extra innings and forced me to stay up until 11:30 because I'm so amped after a big game that I can't calm down and go to sleep.

Monday morning! Rise and shine for the work week! I try not to complain, because there's really nothing I don't want to do. There's just so much of it. It just means I have a good job that I love; a healthy happy family involved in lots of exciting activities; and a home that we all love to take care of. *sigh*...

Nice reflective moment over. As I write this, the youngest is having a nuclear meltdown because we made her go to bed at 8:30, since she has to go to summer camp in the morning. Screaming at the top of her lungs "LET ME OOOOUUUUTTTTT OF HERE!!!", as if we had her chained to her bed.

Incidentally, all it took was threatening to make her sit in her room all night tomorrow after camp to make her zip it. Now she's peacefully listening to the Jonas Brothers and reading. Why can't she just do that to start, and skip the drama? Aye, aye aye...