Tuesday, July 21, 2015

#HowDoYouSwirl

The boys are trying to win a commercial grade soft serve ice cream machine from Jason's Deli.

When I pointed out that we literally don't have the space for such a thing, they presented their plan of getting rid of Big Kid's desk to make room. He will balance his books on top of the ice cream machine to study. They have this all planned out.

If you want to help them realize their dream of unlimited ice cream instead of homework, please click this link and hit vote.

Apples of my Eye

The boys are doing Apple camp this week.

It sounded like fun and it was free, but I was mostly excited about 1.5 hours of alone time for 3 days this week. I was a little disappointed when I got the confirmation letter that stated parents have to remain in the store with their kids -- our store is popular and loud and there's nowhere to sit. So when the counselor said I could go grab a coffee, I did. And shopped.

It worked out.

When I returned, the counselor was telling me how funny and creative the boys are and how much she enjoyed working with them. She told me about another camp that was coming up and I explained that the online system had made me choose one or the other. She looked disappointed and asked if I would bring the boys if she could get them signed up. I chose some dates from the list she handed me.

"I was hoping you wouldn't pick that one."

"Oh, did I pick one that was full?" I asked.

"No. I'm taking my daughter to college that week, so I won't be here."

"Oh. Huh. Well, we will just be returning from vacation the day before the other one opens so..."

"But you'll be back by then? It's just that I was really hoping to see what they would make. I've had so much fun working with them." She looked sheepish and hopeful.

It's a little odd and not as convenient, but it's also so nice that I went ahead and chose those dates. Everyone needs more admirers and creativity encouragers in life.

"Camp is awesome," I told them as we were leaving.

"Our counselor is awesome," little kid answered.

They also got free t-shirts, earbuds, and a rousing round of applause from the entire store as the campers entered this morning. It made me a little misty-eyed, and not just because I knew I was about to have uninterrupted coffee.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Dysfunctional

"What are you doing? Quit that." Big Kid said, as I gathered the top half of his hair in my hands.

"Your hair is long enough that you could rock a man bun. Look."

"Ugh. No. Stop that."

"Man buns are all the rage right now," I joked.

"For hobos, circus clowns, and the Jackson Five."

Mr. Ashley and I laughed. "...Do you even know what the Jackson Five is?"

"Dysfunctional."

"It's an old time boy band with Michael Jackson and his brothers when they were little kids."

"So I was right. Dysfunctional."

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Goal Setting

I'm going to a goal setting workshop tonight, mostly because it's a great excuse to buy two new notebooks and a nice pen. I don't really need two, but I saw two that I liked, and you can never have too many goals, right?

Here's my goal list so far:

1. Buy label maker. Mine broke and I'm certain there has been a sharp decline in productivity since that time. Or at least a sharp decline in neatly labeled items.

2. Buy 2 journals. Accomplishing that this afternoon, booyah!

3. Find out if people still say booyah.

4. Dedicate an entire paycheck to having ALL laundry sent to the Drop n' Fold and having housekeepers come and clean my house just one time.

I've been giving a lot of thought to #4 and I'm pretty sure it would solve 98% of my problems in life. I'm capable of maintaining a clean house, just not the actual cleaning, right? Right. Pretty sure. Assuming one of the housekeepers would put the laundry away because I hate that part.

The thought started off as a joke but is slowly evolving into a real possibility. No one thinks it's a waste of money to pay landscapers to cut our grass (no one in this household, anyway), how is house cleaning any different? It would bring me far more joy than a vacation, more clothes to wash, or a spa treatment.

I had earmarked that money to take the kids to a waterpark at some point this summer, but today I'm going to wrestle some of the laundry onto the scale and estimate how much financial damage this goal would do. I'm pretty sure we can all agree that a sparkling clean house (and an accomplished goal) is more fun than waterslides.

This kids can use the Slip n' Slide while I make labels for my new journals and the housekeepers help me achieve my goals.

Booyah.