Sighs of relief...

I don't know how other people celebrate when they accomplish things like finishing homework, the end of a fundraising event, a Saturday night, etc... But I am calling it "A sigh of relief" and celebrating with a glass of wine.  Today is the end of possibly the longest week ever- which included me catching a cold- and in my old age (33) all I have to entertain myself with is wine and my computer.  In the distance I hear the children (possibly arguing, but not telling me about it) playing the Wii.

Tomorrow I have to talk about the scrip program at church.  I don't mind talking in front of a group of people, but I feel like there will be questions.  Sometimes I get nervous when people ask me questions in front of a group of people.  So I am a little nervous about that.  It's ok to admit that, right?

We went to the library today (children's, of course).  I got a book called "Pocket Babies" about little tiny marsupials.  Because I thought they were cute and the kids would think so too.  I also got our favorite Dr. Seuss book "Six by Seuss".  It's a treasury of books; our favorite of which is "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" where Bartholomew is to take off his hat for the King as he passes but as he does another hat appears (500 times) in it's place.  It was first published in 1938 and makes the girls laugh really hard!  I had never heard of it before we checked out this book and it has some moral value.  Alyssa is starting a series about pets and Sarah is reading an easy "Little House" series.  Haley didn't come but she is reading "The Book Thief" which I recommended and she actually likes!  Sometimes mom is right.  Just sometimes.  We brought some very well behaved friends who are excellent readers also.

The Denison Dog Park Howl-oween walk was a success!  We had human walkers and dogs dressed in costume.  We had one human dressed in a dog costume.  We made some money.  We had fun.  People know more now about the park than they did before.  Goal met.  I got to work with people who are very talented and creative.

The girls have been into making keys into necklaces.  Some of these are actually keys to our house.  I realized this after it was too late. 

Our latest project: Key Necklaces-colored with nail polish

Sarah making her necklace key (it was her idea, she wanted me to tell you this)

Haley's key

Volunteerism and the Wedding

I have recently volunteered for everything.  I seem to have decided that not working means that I should be doing more volunteer activities.  I am now Todd's volunteer accounting specialist (if you know me well, you should be alarmed at this news), I am helping to organize a walk to raise money for a dog park in Denison, helping to start a scrip money program at the girl's school, and helping raise money for a basketball tournament.  All of this added to my regular volunteerism- doing the laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc, has become quite a workload.  It is all stuff that I want to do, of course.  Here is what I have learned:

People will help you if you ask them to, so you should ask them.
People will give you things if you ask them and if you tell them why you need them.
Denison is full of awesome people.
I don't always have the best ideas, but sometimes I have an ok idea.
Volunteerism is way more fun than scholarly writing.

Oliver, who will be dressed up for the walk on Saturday.

Here are the links to my volunteer projects:

http://www.facebook.com/denisondogpark?ref=ts&fref=ts The walk is Saturday the 20th (this Saturday!!).  Registration is at 9:30.  It is a costume contest, so if you are coming, dress up your dog!! Check the website for details.

http://www.shopwithscrip.com/ This is the scrip program link.  If you buy a gift card through this website (there are also local businesses who participate and you can order with a paper order form- pick one up at Zion Lutheran or Our Savior Lutheran Churches), a percent of the money goes to Zion Lutheran School for new technology.  There is no catch- you get the full amount of the gift card- the companies are giving us a rebate!  To set up an account you have to use the code D47LBFL611L7 (Zion's account).  Orders have to be paid for by Monday's at 9 am and the cards will come to the Zion school office within a couple of days of ordering.  

The Zion basketball tournament is November 16th & 17th.  Teams from other Lutheran schools are invited to play in the games that weekend.  We are hiring refs for the first time this year and need to raise funds to help pay them and some of our other expenses.

So that's that!  They are good causes.

My cousin Joel got married last weekend in Columbia, MO!  Alyssa & Sarah were flower girls and danced all night long.  I am always a little worried that they are annoying people because they kind of latch on to people who pay attention to them.  But these same people kept saying how cute they were, so I think they were really ok with the constant chatter & dance requests.

The girls and the bride Katy.  Beautifulness!

Picture I took of Sarah.  I think it's pretty good.  Thanks to my photography instructor/friend Brad.

Homecoming

Last weekend was homecoming, and this was the first year we were really into it.  I think because Haley is at the middle school and there is a lot more purple-and-gold talk there than at Zion.  Todd took all three girls plus one friend each to the football game while I went to the Carroll High game (once a Tiger always a Tiger?)- because it was my high school reunion this weekend.  I didn't see much of the game (talking), but I did pay lots of attention to the band at half time, particularly the flag twirlers (me in high school) who now have 3 different flags to use during their routines!!  We had one flag and a seriously hideous leotardish outfit with lots of sequins.  I remember being cold a lot. 

Me (left) and my BFF Heidi in our flag twirling get-ups in 1997. Thanks for leaving your yearbook in my car Heidi!

I am working on several short papers for school.  Instructors call them "summaries", but really they want you to write like 3 pages.  I can summarize in way fewer words than that.  I also volunteered myself to work on a walk to raise money to create a dog park in Denison.  So- Denison residents with dogs- the Dog Dash will be held at Yellowsmoke on October 20th!  We are having a costume contest for the dogs since it's right before Halloween and what is cuter than a dog in a costume??  There will be prizes! More info to come...

Maybe you have noticed a link on my blog for Emeals?  Maybe not.  But it is one of my favorite time saving things on earth.  It is a meal planning site that gives you 7 meals a week with a shopping list broken down by what department the ingredient is in.  I don't use all 7 meals and sometimes I don't use any, but it is a great way to decide what to eat for the week if you are like me and are always struggling with what to make.  It costs $5 a month.  You can customize your plan to be Gluten free, low fat, low carb, etc AND then you can choose a store that you shop at- for now the only one around here is Wal-Mart.  I just use the Any Store plan.  Anyway, I love it.  www.emeals.com