Green thumb

Remember my sad, sorry plants? Well they are neither sad nor sorry now! Though I'd like to take credit myself, it is likely the hot, humid weather we've been experiencing in the arctic that has resulted in a dramatic turnaround.

Is there a recovery group for that?

Procrastination refers to the counterproductive deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder.

4th & Mad

Chunky's team got 4th place (out of 10 for the bracket). He did well this week - hit a single, a double and a triple yesterday; today he hit a single and two other balls but was out at first base.

My kid is the one without his hat on, goofing around of course.

I took the day off from reading/writing for class. I probably should not have as everything's due August 6th, but that's why God made PTO.

Mad Men season 4 starts tonight - awesome!

Reflections

I spent 10 hours (+ 3 hrs each the last two nights + last week, same gig) learning about Cross-Cultural Leadership from this man. Wow, what a rush! I'm still digesting everything but I'll be sure to share once I synthesize. Don't I sound smart?! I'm not really, but it's nice to know I can sound like it. Sometimes.

Chunky's baseball tournament is this week - they won the first and second games but lost today. They'll play for 3rd place tomorrow. Admittedly they were in the low bracket to begin with, but hey we all have to start somewhere, right?

Sassy and her beau of one year broke up. She is physically sick of a broken heart. Poor baby. Evidently he felt that they'd grown apart while she was Up North for a week with her family. Um, okay. Chunky said he wasn't good enough for her and checked on her every few minutes loud sobbing from her room, isn't that sweet?

Barely

Yes I am alive, but just barely. I am exhausted from work, school, laundry, running Chunky to baseball practice/games, running Sassy to MOA for work (Nordstrom) and anything/everything else. No words of wisdom or witty banter. I may be back in a few days. Maybe.

All shook up

It had to happen sooner or later - Sassy would ask to drive the car. Alone. As in without me in it. I don't recall agreeing to that. Ever. When I returned home from grad school last night, she met me at the door with this aren't-I-the-cutest-kid-ever-and-you'd-do-anything-in-the-world-for-me-right? look on her face. I instantly had a pit in my stomach - something was not right in the universe. Her friends (Miguel, Sprinkle and Muffin) were over and she wanted to go get frappes at McDonald's. I was shell shocked - I didn't realize she was serious until the keys were out of my purse and she was pulling out of the garage. After I requested a frappe for myself, I immediately turned my attention to my life's passion - the laundry - to keep my mind busy for the next 20 minutes. I hugged her so hard when she returned that she said I was squishing her "bosom".

Sassy and Sprinkle's excellent adventure


This photo is blurry from my nervous shaking

Never be a dirty bird

Meet Hootie!


I had a lot of good names for the new baby if I do say so myself - Pepper, Verdi, Zazu, Popeye. I had one I didn't share - Woodsy. That was my Dad's nickname for my mom and a story for a whole other post (they were divorced when I was two). For some obscure reason I got to thinking about a connection between the names Woodsy and Hootie and would you believe there is one?! Give a hoot, don't pollute!

Shocking news

RIP Kiwi Jr

With heavy hearts; and a tear in our eyes
after all these few months; we must say goodbye
Please understand; we've done all we could
if there was anything we could do; you know we would
So with heavy hearts; and tears in our eyes
for now friend; we say goodbye

All good things must end

Three vacations in three months (NYC in May, East Coast in June and Up North in July). But the party is over now. Our up north trip was uneventful - in a relaxing, losing all track of time way. We fished (some of us did, not I ), we swam (some of us did, not I), we ate (I'll own up to plenty of this), we visited Star Island, we watched a lot of movies and the girls did some shopping.

The boat crew


The big story of the week was a black and white neighborhood"pet" seen on more than one occasion by MIL and Hubby (aka a skunk!).

Here's a few things I know -

I love nature


Sassy is a master angler


Chunky knows how to pick racing turtles


My MIL is quite a trooper

Soaking it in

Over midway through our vacation and not a care in the world. Well, one care - I need to submit a three-paragraph intro email to my grad class instructors. You didn't expect me to get that done BEFORE I left, did you?! I'm sitting on the deck at the lodge where I can get an internet connection, listening to the birds chirping, the hum of an air conditioner and the whirl of an occasional fly. I'm soaking it in because this will all be over in a couple of days. Back to the real world. Reality sucks.

Summer Lovin'

We're headed up north for our annual summer vacation. I pretend it's my very own cabin for one week - it's the closest I ever want to get to owning a real cabin. This year it's a bit different - just us, Chunky's new friend from baseball and the ILs. I will be able to sleep in, not worry what I look like and scream at my kids at will. Who am I kidding? I would've done that anyway.

This is also my last hurrah before grad school starts again on the 15th. It's an intense two-week course on cross-cultural relationships for the same number of credits as a twelve-week course. Good times.

Progress?

Remember the bare spot left by our formerly known as beautiful chokecherry tree we had to take down last year?

Well, fast forward a year and this is what we have -


I wonder if I'll still be alive when it reaches 6 feet.