Sleep Your Cares Away

I'm in a mood to chat.  I understand that it isn't really "chatting" if it is just me typing my thoughts to myself and no one to answer back-- but I suppose you could post a comment and it would be delayed chatting, and that will work.

Sometimes I like to organize my thoughts before I write, but that feels like it would require too much thought, so I am going to go for a "stream-of-conciousness post".  I don't think it's going to be very pretty.

I spent most of the day at a dance competition with Bethany yesterday.  It was an hour a way from home.  I don't understand why I have to travel for such an event when I am the one who lives in the most populated county in the state.  I love dance and find it a beautiful, expressive art.  So why am I so put off by these competitions?  Is it the fake eyelashes?  Is it the thought of how much money is poured into such an event?--registration fees per routine, costumes, warm-ups suits, admission fees, tuition for the dance instruction.  Is it just the time it takes to wait through 40 other dances to see my little darling dance?  I am pleased with the studio Bethany goes to and the instruction she receives, but if the studio announced they were no longer going to compete I would say, "Yippee!"

My solace throughout the day was reading Persuasion for my upcoming book club that I am hosting.  Anne Elliot helped keep me grounded in the midst of glitter and eyelashes.

So that was most of the day, but then it got better when we rushed back down our direction to go to Abe's nephew's baptism.

We went back to Daniel and Lori's home afterwards and had a nice dinner and lots of visiting.  Abe's parents came down from Spokane for the big day and stayed in a hotel with a pool.  The kids were wild to go swimming at the hotel, and although I am a little ashamed of myself for my choice, I happily stayed and visited with Lori while Abe took our kids swimming.  It was lovely.  So lovely in fact that I was not nearly as ashamed as perhaps I should have been.

We didn't have anything going on this afternoon or evening after church and I was feeling very tired, so I let the kids pick a movie to watch.  They couldn't agree on a movie so I made them watch a turtle documentary that nobody wanted to watch.  That will teach them.

The girls wanted to bake a treat this afternoon.  Sorry ladies, we're out of flour, brown sugar, and rice.  The rice wasn't such a problem for the treat, but it has made dinner the last week a little trickier.  I've really got to go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Speaking of things that I really need to do-- the clean, but unfolded laundry is taking over my boudoir.  I was going to fold tonight, but I was also going to go to bed at 8:30 pm.  It was not realistic to expect to be able to do both.  As I write I am debating which I should do.  If I pick the laundry, I will wake up to a cleaner room and my children will have an easier time of getting dressed in the morning.  I will feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that I did the job that needed to be done and I am taking good care of my people.  On the other hand, if I just go to bed I will get a good full night's rest and I'll be so happy that I won't care that my room is a mess and children can't find their clothes.  Looked at in that light it is really a no-brainer.

On Tuesday we are hosting our younger kids book club and we are discussing Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.  It's not a very long book and I know it's a classic, but none of us are enjoying it.  We've just got to get through it.  Over the last three years of doing book clubs once or twice a month, I can't think of a book we've enjoyed less than this one.  What does that say about us?  I don't care.  And I don't like Alice in Wonderland either.  So there.

Elinor's and Faith's first two softball games have been cancelled due to rain.  There have been tears and grave disappointment.  We've even done hair with black ribbons to match their shirts in the hopes that the game would go on.  No luck.  Maybe this week. 

Oh my goodness, look at the time.  It is 8:38!  What am I still doing up?  I am going to sign off, throw all the clean clothes back into the pack-n-play and climb into my cozy bed and go to sleep.  May I encourage all of you to do the same-- Throw off all of your responsibilities and sleep your worries and cares away:)