"Hello, its me."

I wonder if anyone is out there still.  I am just feeling a little bloggy so I thought I might as well just go for it.

Tomorrow officially starts summer break.  I have such mixed feelings about it. I have started to realize that I don't do well with change. Summer is all about change. There is no structure.  I have to juggle a lot alone. I tend to go into a funk in the summer which is is annoying to me because I really do like summer.  I was outside today and it was beautiful and lovely. I felt such joy and anxiety at the same time.

This will also be my 2nd summer trying to work full-time with kids.  Not just full-time, full-time plus  my part-time blog work jobby job. Here are the pros.  I get to make my own schedule, more or less.  I only have to be in the office about half of the time this summer.  That is all well and good if I can actually make myself do the other hours from home and be super productive when I do them. I also want to have some fun on those days so that means waking up early. I don't have a set work space at all at home so that is something I am going to have to quickly correct.  I feel like I need to block out the week so everyone will know when I am trying to work to hold me accountable.

Additionally, I am going to start re-introduction of some foods this week.  We are going to a family weekend in 2 weeks and I want to be able to eat some things.  I am hating how much mental capacity the whole food situation is taking. It finally has become so clear why some people have set weekly menus and shopping lists.  Just figure out what works and go for it.  Do not vary!

I am officially done being the PTM president so there is that! Something has been taken off my plate.  Clearly with the full year of not posting this year has been a bit intense. I am really trying to focus on what is good for all the right reasons and say no to a lot of things.

I think I want a kitten.

That is all.

Mundane, Milestones, and Murder

I thought I would take a quick little break from commenting on blogs to write a post of my own.  An expanded status update, if you will. Might as well say something before my blog gets hijacked or taken down for inactivity.

I have been working from home most of the time now. It is actually the expectation that I don't come into the office. It is sort of frustrating because sometimes I need to be in the office more but I share my space so it doesn't always work.  It is going to be great come summer though since I only want to go in once a week!

Speaking of summer, we are just a couple weeks away from summer break. I can't wait to spend lazy afternoons at the pool.  I just need to survive the next two weeks. I had to go shopping for lunch stuff tonight and it was really painful. I am just over all of the tediousness of it.  I can't quite believe that Ava is about to be done with 6th grade though.  Time has really flown by this year.

Tonight I officially became the president of the PTM (our school's version of the PTA) for the next school year.  That is exciting but also going to be a lot of work. In July I start my 3 year term on the state board of directors for the domestic violence certification blah blah blah. (I was trying to be vague and it became a struggle so I went with blah blah blah).

I am also currently slightly obsessed with true crime podcasts. It has now spread to documentaries, and books.  I feel like I keep finding out about new ones and it is getting out of hand!

Ok, back to my virtual assistant work. Say hi.

Time is flying

So my big ideas of posting more often on the computer didn't work out. Life just seems so busy lately. It is race to get out of the house, race to work, run around work like crazy, run around picking people up, make dinner and make sure homework is done, try to spend some sort of time with Isla because I spend way too much time thinking about how much time I DON'T spend with her, take the bigger kids wherever they need to be and then it is bed time. All that is to say, I rarely take time to blog or knit or do anything that isn't just sitting staring off and marveling that I am able to just sit. 

Don't despair though. I will be more focused soon. Starting in May, I will be a guest writer once or twice a month at www.theeverydaymomlife.com so you will have to be sure to check me out! Check the blog out anyway, it is good stuff.

She leads a lonely life

A little ace of base to start things off...

Summer break has started though summer has not really started. Things are going well at home. I feel like work is much easier right now with the summer schedule so that is good. We are all set up for private school and that looks like it is really happening. I am excited about it and relieved. I am still worried about the future but it is really not anything I need to worry about now.

The hardest part of our summer so far is trying to get together with friends. They are more interested in getting together with their school friends and so that means I have to make plans. I am trying to do this around work. I understand that they want things to do, I am just trying to make life work. Anybody want to play with my kids???  Invite them over. :)

Isla is getting so close to walking. I doubt she will wait until she is a year old. I am getting interrupted.

Editor's note: 1/2/16 I found this and it was never posted.  This was from June of 2015. 

Computer post

I was going to go update my template but then I thought, let's not get carried away.  Set realistic goals and just actually write a post. I don't have any theme or topic to really write about.  Just same old, same old life.

New Year's happened.  It was pretty uneventful.  We played some games at my mom's.  The older two kids spent the night there with their cousins.  Justin, Isla, and I were home and in bed by eleven.  Yesterday we went and spent time with some old friends.  By old friends, I mean some of my high school friends.  As I was looking around the room, I realize I became friends with most of these people 20 years ago.  How did I get old enough to say that?  And old enough to remember when I met them and the fun we had together.  It isn't like we were babies at the time.

We have our January reading assignment.  White Teeth by Zadie Smith.  I don't have it yet so I haven't started.  I will keep you posted.

The other thing I am starting is the 21 day fix.  It is a beachbody fitness series and meal plan.  I am in an accountability group and everything.  It isn't so drastic that in 21 days you will have met your goals or anything like that, but it is in 3 weeks you will have made it part of your routine so it is easier to keep going.  Plus it isn't that hard to say you will commit to 3 weeks instead of 3 months or something like that. It requires meal planning which is something I need to do anyway. I typically have always at least had a meal list planned when I went shopping.  It makes evenings easier when I know what I am making ahead of time and it also prevents me from only buying half of what is required for the recipes.  Overall, it should help me feel more organized.  Dinners on work nights don't work if I haven't planned ahead.  That is how we end up eating out or just eating random stuff I find in the freezer and cabinets.

Luckily I have dragged my feet on posting regularly for the last few years that I have lost almost all readers and feel no pressure to have time worthy content! Enjoy my drivel.  P.S. I wrote this on the computer. I don't think it improves things.

You know what that means...

Santa brought us a new laptop for Christmas. You know what that could mean???? Easy blogging! I will be able to type faster and actually edit. It might really happen. I have felt like I have a lot on my mind lately. 

We are a few days out from the new year. I don't often have resolutions. I don't start some drastic diet, or cut stuff out of my life. I just usually have ideas of where I would like to see changes in my life. I don't really know what that will look like in action. 

My goals: 

1. Blog more. Get thoughts out. Write for myself, not an audience. I have slowed down with Facebook because of work, so maybe I won't feel like I have already said what I need to say. Maybe I will password protect old posts and use code names or something to protect the innocent. Not really sure about that though. 

2. Read 20 books this year. 

3. Along the lines with the 20 books, finish the 12 books written by non-American authors that have been assigned by my friend. 

4. Finish at least one knitting project. I have been working on the same thing since April and it is just about halfway done and it is a scarf. I think one project this year is a reasonable goal. 

5. Make some sort of effort on my house each day. That is all I have to say about that.

Overall, I want to stop feeling overwhelmed and frozen in place because I went back to work full time. It has been 5 months. Life hasn't really slowed down and it probably won't anytime in the foreseeable future, so it is time to suck it up. So I need to be more proactive with dealing with it and just move forward. 

Oddly enough, this was all written on my phone. Maybe I will get up and post sometime soon while I eat my breakfast. 

Eat!

So I have been asked to blog by a few people. Little do they know I have been blogging for a decade. Just off and on... And more off than on in the last 5 years. But that isn't the point! I am blogging. The end.

Isla is on a roll with the talking thing. Her new word is "eat." I brought some amazing tacos home after work today and when I opened the container she said, "Eat! Eat! Eat!" She also calls Enrique "Kiki" which is pretty cute. She seems to really love him. 

I am exhausted from Isla trying to sleep on my face last night so I can't say too much. One more day of work this week and it couldn't come at a better time. Jeans tomorrow! Who would think that getting to wear jeans would make me so happy? It just does. It is a trickle down effect. Everything is more comfy when I can wear jeans.