Boycott

Today it has been one year and one week since Tim passed away. It is also Father's Day. The boys and I aren't ready to celebrate Father's Day yet. So we are boycotting the holiday. I don't know if we'll be ready next year. I'll let you know.

Murphy's Law

Nothing went right this week. Nothing I planned happened when or as I had hoped and some things just didn't happen at all. Some of the things that went wrong ended up costing me a lot of money, too. I worked so hard all last week getting ready for the fishing trip on Saturday and party on Sunday. Everything went so well that this week's disasters seemed all that worse by comparison. By Friday, I just wanted to crawl into bed and stay there. It's times like this that I really miss having Tim around to complain to about my bad days or to give me a hug and cheer me up. It took me all day Saturday to just let go of the week's misadventures and find a fresh outlook.

Training My New Cleaning Service

Now that school is out for the summer, I decided that it was time for the boys to help out with the house cleaning. I told them that they had to spend one hour every day this week helping me clean the house. Monday and Tuesday they worked on their rooms. They both came home with bags of school projects and used school supplies. We had to sort out what should be thrown away, what could be used again and what should be saved for posterity. Wednesday we worked in the yard - weeding and mulching and washing down the back patio. Thursday was dust and vacuum day. We moved all the furniture in the living and dining rooms so we could vacuum underneath. I hadn't seen the underside of the sofa since Christmas, so it was more than time. Friday the boys cleaned the bathrooms and I cleaned the kitchen. I'm sure that they felt I nagged too much, making them go back and do a couple spots over again. Over all though, they were a big help and did a good job. I told them they were hired and should expect to do this again regularly.

What a Week

We are taking a breather today at the end of a very hectic several days. I am finally getting caught up on both my laundry and my sleep. The boys are catching up on their TV watching. We also got to eat a leisurely dinner together as a family for the first time in almost a week. What's kept us on the go? Well . .

Wednesday night was eighth grade graduation. My favorite part of the evening was something they call "Popcorn." The assistant principal reads a list of all the activities the students might have been a part of over their three years at middle school. The kids stand any time they were in that activity. They have to sit between every activity, even if they were in back to back events. Thus, the up and down that gives the section of the evening it's name. It's very cute. Theo was in his fair share of things, which made his mother proud.

Thursday was Brendan's turn to say goodbye. He and Theo will both be moving to new schools next year. The fifth grade farewell reception was much simpler, as it was just a short reception before the PTA picnic.

Friday we had another picnic dinner, this time with the Boy Scouts. Troop 72 held their June Court of Honor at a local park. Both of my boys received rank advancements. Brendan, who joined the troop in March, made Tenderfoot. Theo, who's been a scout for three years, received his Life rank. He beat the deadline for his last merit badge by the skin of his teeth. I am grateful to both his merit badge counselor and his scout master, who worked in meetings with Theo on the last troop meeting so Theo could get his Life rank before the Jamboree this summer.

Saturday we were spoiled for party choices. We could have gone to our church picnic, but decided that three nights of hot dog dinners was just too much. We went to birthday parties instead. Brendan went to an afternoon party at a friend's house. I was also invited to a birthday party Saturday night - a toga party! Yes, I did go in a toga. No, I'm not posting a picture of it.
After four days of non-stop activity, we are enjoying our day of rest.