Busy? I laugh at busy.

Busy?  Why yes, I have been a little busy lately.  Would you like to know what I've been up to?  Let me tell you.

1.  Hockey season is winding down.  I get this same, sad feeling every year when it happens.  Even though it has been a challenging year (our record certainly doesn't hide that fact), it has also been another very fun year.  We've traveled to the lovely towns of Princeton, Silver Bay, Two Harbors, Hibbing, Superior, Warroad (on a coach bus!), Coleraine, and others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.  This was our first year where Andy had to share the team with another goalie.  I have mixed feelings about that.  On one hand, it's nice to have backup (and be the backup), but on the other hand, it's kind of a bummer to travel to a game where your son won't set foot on the ice.  Such is life, I suppose.  I still get to go to the parent pre-game warmups, and have found some fun local bars I wouldn't have otherwise!

District playoffs begin tomorrow night.  If we make it through, our next stop will be regions.  Unfortunately there is a chance that we'll have a district playoff game on Saturday night at 7PM, which also happens to be the exact date and time of Andy's first formal dance at school. Thankfully the person who asked him to the dance is also a hockey player, and is very understanding that we most likely won't know if we play in that game until Saturday afternoon.  I'm really hoping it works out and I'll be back to post pictures of normally sweaty and stinky hockey boys all cleaned up and looking their best, and girls in pretty dresses.  If not, he'll still be able to meet up with the group at the dance, but will miss out on the pictures and dinner beforehand. I did warn him that if he has to miss out on pictures, that I'll be REQUIRING at least one picture of him with is date, taken by me.  If they have to step out of the dance for a minute, then so be it.  There will be a picture taken.  He agreed, so I've got that going for me.

2.  Dance season is ramping up!  We have FOUR competition weekends coming up.  Costumes are starting to arrive, and it's time to run through the makeup kit and make sure there are plenty of brushes, bobby pins, hairspray, safety pins, duct tape (don't ask), sharpies, Q-tips, hair ponies, tights, etc, etc, etc.  I love it!  My main struggle right now is trying to dye a pair of white suspenders to match a certain shade of turquoise.  This has proven to be one of my most difficult dance costume challenges to date.  Who woulda thought?  Rit dye is not exactly my friend right now.  I'll figure it out though, even if we have to paint them.  Hehe.

3.  Mom's house has still not sold.  Dangit.  We have refinished the hardwood floors, repaired the three broken pipes that froze when the pilot light went out on the furnace, repaired the walls that had to be torn down to repair said pipes, and repaired the pilot light issue on the furnace.  Not to mention keeping up on the snowblowing and shoveling.  It is a weight on my back that I'd really like to shake.  As much as I will miss that old house that I grew up in, it's very much time for someone to buy it and love it for their family.  Every month that it doesn't sell costs me more time and money.  So if you know of anyone looking for a great five bedroom house in Congdon, hit me up!  PLEASE!  (but I'm not begging!)

4.  I have been cranking out fine knitted goods to be sent down to Mon Marche' in Princeton to be sold.  It's kind of hard thinking of things to knit that people will buy in the summer, but I've made a few very cute little pairs of baby sandals, and some summery lacy shawls that will be perfect for the Minnesota summer evenings.  My next batch will be on it's way to them hopefully within the next week or so, so don't forget to go check them out if you are in the area.  One more shawl to finish up, and then I'm hoping to get a few things on the needles for myself (yeah right) or gifts for friends/family (more likely).

5.  The weight loss has slowed a little, but it's still pointed in the right direction.  I've officially hit 35 pounds lost, and I'm super pumped about it.  My eating has been pretty good, I'm still logging everything I eat into my Weight Watchers app, but my exercise has taken a jump off a cliff.  I find it too hard to exercise at home, I'm too cheap to join a gym since I found out that my insurance won't give me any discount, and I can't even use my HSA money for a membership, and it's been too cold and messy outside for me to continue my walk/runs outside.  Soon the weather will be changing to warm (well, I'll take anything above 32 degrees, which is warm to me) and the messy snow will be gone.  I plan to hit the roads again once that happens.  So we'll see.  At least the number on the scale is still going down and not up, if even at a slower rate than I'd like.

6.  My babies are doing so well at school right now.  This can be such a struggle, and to know they are doing better than they were before makes me a happy mama.  There is a half built bridge made out of toothpicks taking up half of my kitchen table.  Unfortunately it's so rare that we are all there at one time to sit down and eat dinner together that it hasn't proven to be too much of an inconvenience.  This week is "snow week" at school, so we've been putting together costumes every morning consisting of Career wear (?), decade wear, jersey day (easy peasy for this family!), blue day, and western wear.  Those were only the ones I was told about.  The other ones were "dumb" and they didn't want to participate.  Ok by me.  Ha!

7.  I thought for 3.8 seconds that the people in the drop off lane at the bus stop were getting better about their parking methods, but I was wrong.  At 3.9 seconds, someone did something just as idiotic as before, and we went right back to my previous beliefs about them.

8.  I haven't been able to play with the new camera lens lately at all, hence this blog post with no pictures.  I could have taken more pictures at hockey for you on my phone, but I think you've seen enough of those pictures.  I'll try to take more pictures for the blog soon.

9.  Miscellaneous noteworthy items:  I have to remember to pick up the corsage tomorrow for the dance on Saturday.  I have numerous hockey games to attend this weekend and so far I only know the time of one of them.  I have to get the dog in for a haircut.  She hasn't walked into any walls (that I've noticed) but I'm not sure how she can see.  At all.  It's bad.  I have to figure out how to dye those suspenders.  I have to clear a path in the basement for the plumber to come tomorrow and plumb in a new water line to the new refrigerator that is being delivered next week.  (I'm a little surprised at myself for how excited I am over getting this new appliance in my kitchen.  You just don't understand!)  I have to finish, price, and ship the new knitted items for the shop.  The kids are off school on Monday and Tuesday next week, and according to them, we have "NOTHING" to eat in the house, so I guess I better go to the grocery store.  I still need to buy a new shirt and tie for the dance on Saturday.  I am very grateful that Andy's date asked him to wear a white shirt and black tie to match her black dress.  None of this weird color matchy tie stuff going on here.  I have to go mop the kitchen floor at mom's because one of the last showings tracked in some dirty snow that has now dried into some lovely brown grossness.  I have to drive to and from dance practice tonight and can't forget to turn in the waiver form for one of the upcoming competitions.  In addition to a hockey game and a formal dance on Saturday, I also have play tickets for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that need to be exchanged for a different night.  I wonder when I'll make it down to the playhouse to do that?  All four of us made it to our dentist appointments last week though, and on time even.  So I'm winning life right there.

So yes, it's a lot right now.  It's always a lot.  On top of a full time job.  I have days where I don't want to do any of it.  Sometimes I don't.  The dishes stay on the counter overnight when I probably should have put them in the dishwasher and hit the start button.  The laundry stays in the drier for a few days and gets wrinkly.  I try hard to not let it sit in the washer for a few days (PU!), but it happens.  My gas light stays on for three days (I haven't yet tested it to four days because even I think that would be pushing it just a little too far) because it's really cold out and I don't feel like standing outside while it pumps into the tank. Pretty sure I'm not the only mom who does these things.

I haven't forgotten to pick anyone up from dance, hockey, or play practice yet, so again, I feel like I'm winning.  Somehow it all manages to come together.  Most of the time I have no idea how, but it does.  And if it doesn't, we figure something else out and move on.

Lately I've been FREAKING my freak out about how few years I have left of all of this.  I'm trying hard to enjoy every single second.  This is Andy's last year in our youth hockey program.  Next year he'll be trying out for the JV team.  If he doesn't make it, he's done.  Like done, done.  I don't know what a winter would be like without hockey in it.  I know it's going to happen sooner or later (as much as I love him and think he's the best goalie in the world, I'm pretty sure the NHL isn't in his future) but of course I want it to go on for as long as possible.  I want Morgan to compete in 100 more competitions and have that feeling of accomplishment she gets when she's done.  I love every single second of it.  It's going to change though, and there isn't anything I can do about it.  Be happy about more knitting time, I guess??

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.  Not that you asked. :)  For now, I have to stay focused on today and remember to pick up that corsage tomorrow afternoon!

How 'bout you??

XOXOX

NH