Summer

I love summer. The only downside is that we're usually so busy that it's hard to find time for things that we do during the rest of the year. I've only been to the gym twice in the last 2 weeks, for example. Kinda sucky.

This past weekend, Jason and I drove four hours to his hometown to attend a wedding, sans kids. We couldn't leave early enough to make the ceremony but it worked out anyway because we needed a break after the drive and it gave us a chance to visit a few friends and relatives of his. My little brother watched the kids for the day Saturday until they went with The Ex late Saturday afternoon. Josiah came with us and Jason's mom watched him for most of the time that we were there so it was a really nice break for us. The reception was really fun, even though most of the people there were at least 20 years older than us. The only few that were younger were actually involved in the bridal party so we spent a lot of time just the two of us.

We slept for four hours Saturday night and left before noon to make it back to the city in time for the kids to be dropped off. I was exhausted and had to have Jason drive for the last hour after we stopped for lunch. But we made it back right on time and hung out with the kids for a few minutes before Rayden and I left for a birthday party. Then came a few errands and before you know it we were putting the kids to bed and enjoying a relaxing visit with one of my brothers.

After all of that, I wasn't ready to hear the alarm this morning. But that was until I remembered that it's SUMMER and I didn't actually have to get up. Most of the kids were still sleeping and it was only Jason that had to get up to go to work. So that was a nice little treat this morning. I still have a disaster of a house to clean up, grocery shopping to do, piles of laundry to wash and so many errands to run today and tomorrow before Jason's sister comes to stay with us for a few days. Busy, busy, busy...

Next week I start a three week session designed to help its participants find a job in their field. It's an intensive skills-training/networking course and Im really exciting to start. The job search has been going on for long enough and this feels like Im taking a more active approach. Child care is paid for and they even pay for the gas in my car to get back and forth. What more could I ask for? Their success rate is 75% and with my education and skills Im certainly ahead of the game. So fingers crossed that this works and I come out of it with a job for August!

So this week could potentially be my only bit of vacation this summer and I've certainly come up with a lot of ideas for things to do. The only problem is that there is just no time to do any of them. Seriously its almost 11am and by about 2 this afternoon I have to have as much of my housework done as I can so that I can get all of my errands done in time to bring the kids to the beach for an hour before supper. Then tonight we're cutting the grass and moving the last of Jason's things out of his apartment. Tomorrow is the rest of the cleaning of the house, a bunch of baking/cooking for Jason's sister's visit, cleaning Jason's apartment and grocery shopping. Wednesday is a holiday and Im leaving it open because Nicole gets here that day and Im not sure what her plans will be. Then Thursday I've got a work meeting, a bunch of phone calls/office-type things to do and a few meetings with prospective babysitters for Josiah. I don't even remember what Im doing Friday, but the weekend includes a yard sale and a trip to the nature park. Combine all of that with visiting family and all of the kids home from school and its a little nuts around here.

I hope all of you are having fantastic summers so far! Regardless of how busy we all get, I still think this is the most fun, most relaxing and most enjoyable time of year.