Hello hello! Didn’t mean to go MIA for a while there. We were gone all weekend for Asher’s State competition in Milwaukee, which isn’t too far from my parents’ house. Asher swam Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and we ended up staying overnight at my parents’ until Monday morning. (I took a half day off, the boys just got to school a little late.)
It was a great weekend!!! But I’m currently feeling EXHAUSTED. wah wah. I think it’s just the usual “getting thrown back into the work week with no prep time” syndrome I have complained of before… plus, did you know that it’s 10 days until Christmas now? And it’s 2 days until the big home swim meet (starts Friday night), which means this Volunteer Coordinator job stuff I’m doing is in major crunch time.
The annoying last minute emails have started to come in: “Hi Kaelyn, so sorry to bother you, but I just now realized I actually signed up to volunteer during the wrong session! Could I move to the morning instead?” NO KAREN, YOU CANNOT. 😁 Kidding, kind of. Not really.
I do need to at least address these emails- and there have been a few other legitimate, necessary changes that also need dealing with. There are always lots of little loose ends to tie up right before the actual meet, things to be printed, lists to generate, etc. I think I’m mostly in good shape, but I’ll just be glad when it’s over.
I spent Monday night trying to write up a Christmas letter (mostly done, but need to print copies and still haven’t addressed my cards). Ivan had to work late last night, so I had to shuttle kids places and then went to the grocery store at 6:30 p.m. (YAWN! This took every ounce of determination…it was pitch black out. Felt like I was being asked to head off to explore the Arctic Circle or something…I had zero desire to get groceries. But the empty fridge disagreed.) And I’m getting a hair trim this afternoon, which is fine, but a disruption to my work day, obviously, that I could really live without this week. (But then again, I do also want a trim before Christmas….).
Anyway, here are some pics from the weekend!! It was a fun family weekend with a nice touch of holiday cheer (see below):
My favorite picture of Asher from the weekend:
(Compare to his 1st ever swim meet- just after he turned 7!):
Some action shots:
“Mom, stop taking my picture”. Can’t stop, won’t stop. 😉
Pool shot:
Some holiday cheer:
Pretty tree and fireplace at an Irish Pub we had dinner at after the meet on Saturday night:
Watching the Packers/ Bears game in my parent’s basement Sunday night:
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for wireless internet. Remember the days before that? Sure is nice to access the internet from anywhere in the house.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Ugh, coming back from a weekend on a Monday morning would be brutal. But I know that is unavoidable at times. I don’t even like coming back on a Sunday! So we always come back from my parents on Saturday and when we go to AZ in Feb, we are coming back on Sunday but have Monday off for Presidents Day so it will feel like we are coming back on a Saturday. It’s hard to jump back into life and get caught up on groceries, laundry, life in general.
I also can’t believe Christmas is 10 days away. Remember when it seemed like it took forever and a day to arrive when we were kids?? I assume that is how you felt since all kids seem to feel like Christmas took forever to arrive! Now it comes stunningly fast! I bought the last of my Christmas gifts yesterday – I went to a local kids bookstore and got books for the boys. It was so fun to shop in person and browse through their incredible selection. I had a hard time winnowing down what I bought. Surely Phil will think I got too much – I got 8 books total. 4 for each boy. But that is all Will is getting! I got a couple of chapter books for Paul as i’ve started to read some to him. I found a blog post with suggestions for chapter books for his age. We did some Kate DiCamillo ones that had a good amount of illustrations and now we are reading “Mr. Poppers Penguins.” I got him Stuart Little and a Beverly Cleary one, I think? Now I’m blanking on what i actually bought since I had a decent pile before I made my selections!
Good luck getting caught up! This big tournament does not help!!! It will be so good to have that behind you, and hopefully Christmas week won’t be too crazy for you? I am happy to be done shopping but I also had a really really short list of people to buy for and I lucked out and drew 2 nephews that just wanted cash for their cousin exchange gift, but I got them their favorite candy/treats so they’d have something to unwrap!
LikeLike
I love the comparison shots of Asher, how much he has grown!!!
I fully understand the overwhelming feeling coming back with a packed weekend of fun but caught up with life errands. Deep breath and one thing at the time. Loving your Christmas decor looks so cozy! 😀
LikeLike
This year does feel extra busy and overwhelming and also crazy that Christmas is SO CLOSE?! Like where did that come from. How can such a bizarre year come to an end so quickly. It has felt like a weird vortex at many points where everything just feels…a bit off kilter.
That Irish pub looks so cozy; I love seeing holiday displays out and about. Honestly, it almost feels more festive than my own decorations because I get so used to what I have up.
Hope you get to take some time to relax and enjoy the holidays once you get this final HUGE commitment off your plate with the swim meet. Fingers and toes crossed that everything goes smoothly and gold star for taking this on.
I second your gratitude prompt of wireless internet. I literally could not do my job without it and 100% take this for granted every single day (until it goes down for some reason and then my entire world feels like it’s falling apart).
And I feel you on not wanting to get groceries after dark. It takes so much extra energy to get out of the house after 4:30 now (when it’s getting dark here now). I have no desire to be anywhere but home at that time of day…We’re almost to the shortest day, though!
LikeLike