Tossing and Turning

I finally decided it was stupid to just lay there and waste time so got out of bed. I guess it was a good thing too because Oreo REALLY had to go out. Now he's sitting here whining for some BBQ chips I'm stuffing in my face. (do 3am calories count? I hope not) Oreo amazed me on Sunday....he was a perfect gentleman! I was so sure I was going to have to tie him up or lock him into a bedroom for Liz's graduation/birthday/going away party but no...he just laid under a table and watched everything going on. The other amazing thing...he didn't even attempt to nip anyone on Monday! It was like it finally clicked in his noggin'. Although he started getting frustrated in the evening when I decided to work with him on the stay command and it wasn't going well (will have to go another route with him...he was clueless). And then someone decided to start playing a little rough with him before they went to bed but after the little ones went to bed, which is a BIG no no! Hopefully today he continues to maintain his demeanor. I noticed he got a lot more attention last night then he normally does and it was so nice not to have to listen to everyone telling him no bite all night.

I survived Liz's graduation party. I didn't get everything done I wanted, but that's normal. I hit a few snags (like getting zapped when I plugged in the industrial sized coffee pot!) but managed through them. She had a LOT of youth girls here which was awesome. I was putting out the food as they arrived and it hit me...I forgot to heat up the meatballs for the subs!! OOPS! Luckily they are an easy fix which is why I chose to serve them (and they are the favorites of some here) and were out shortly afterwards. I had decided to put out smaller amounts of food because last time I lost a good bit of food to the heat. Unfortunately that meant I had to replenish things more frequently. With the big influx of girls in the beginning it meant that I was busting my butt and didn't have much time for chitchatting. It also scared me because the first pan of baked beans were gone in about half an hour! (I'd only made two) I thought for sure I was going to run out of food. I actually did ok on the buying/reheating front. The only thing that I may waste is the salad....no one seemed to go for the tossed salad so I have a large amount left. I may write more about the food aspect of the party on my food blog, but not sure yet. We'll see how I manage here first.

One thing is for sure...I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I sat down after everyone left and my hips froze up. I couldn't stand straight and I could barely make it up to the the house and into the livingroom. Luckily the couch was open enough for me to lay down. Then I crashed and was out like a light. I managed to wake up ok and get the kids to school that needed to go. Although I was dragging all day long and my hips were screaming at me. All I wanted to do was to lay down and take a nap but I never made it to the nap stage. After the kids got on the bus I was dozing on the couch and Danielle would yell MOM! When I'd respond she'd say...Don't sleep! I want you to stay awake with me. BRAT! I don't blame her though, I wouldn't want to be "alone" if I was her either. Because of how exhausted I felt all day, I was a bit surprised at the tossing and turning I was doing this morning. Guess my mind didn't get the memo from my body that we were in shut down mode. lol

Today is an exciting day...Last Day of SCHOOL! Woohooo! Unfortunately the vacation may be short lived for some of us because they're heading to summer school. Part of me wishes I could forbid to let them go because it's going to put a huge damper on the rest of our vacations. But I don't want to see them have to redo everything next year. Part of me wants to homeschool them so they don't have to go and can work through their school problems. Yet here I sit still mulling it over and not acting on it...which is one of the reasons I'm not so gungho on that option...I know my faults. Plus I'm not so sure Carrie would be ok with homeschooling once school started back up in Sept and I don't think that's fair...to me. Nor do I think the school district would be ok with her progressing onto 9th grade in Sept, even if I could prove she did the work and would've passed summer school.

To top it all off, I don't really have the mental capacity to think about what I need to think about either. Time is ticking for Liz's send off to Norway for a year and there's not enough time in the day! Her and Luke have a doctor's appt today and I hope to take them shopping. BUT then I have to be home at a certain time so that I can get Michelle to work and the kids to their activities tonight. I think I caught wind of a going away party for Liz and the other two girls who are leaving for the year, but shhhhhh. Wed is graduation rehearsal and then Liz is spending the night at my sister's for a last hurrah there. My niece wants her to stay for two nights but there's no way Liz is going to miss her last youth meeting here which is Thursday night. Friday is packing and last minute shopping and then the graduation ceremony in the evening. Saturday is two of my nephew's graduation parties and then onto my dad's for birthday cake and ice cream (he turns 70 on Friday!!!). Sunday is church and another grad party immediately afterwards. I'm hoping to have a nice family chicken dinner (Liz's favorite meat which she won't get so much in Norway) Sunday night. Then Liz has to finish packing because she'll be heading out to Newark bright and early Monday morning. Wish I could say things will calm down after that, but there's still more doctor appts, school to decide about, vet appts to make and whatnot. So much for a relaxing summer.

I haven't really found myself sad that Liz is going. I know I'll miss her...that's an understatement. But to be sad about it? Not too much. Oh there will be tears on Monday, have no doubt about that...I cry when ice melts. But to sit here and cry over it, nope. I'm so excited for her. It's an awesome opportunity and I'm hoping she realizes just how awesome it is and gets the most out of it (I'm pretty sure she does/will). Besides the technology today makes the distance seem a bit less. I do worry about her being homesick, but she will have a bit of home there with some of her friends being there. So hopefully it won't be so bad. I guess the one thing that does bring tears to my eyes though is the thought of her homecoming. How much she'll have matured and grown. How she'll be her own woman. Hopefully one who's assure of herself and full of God's calling. I know she already has plans of places to go and people to see when she gets back. lol OK... I lied. I started thinking about how much Danielle and Sean will miss her and how much she'll miss of them growing up and now I'm crying.

Oh look! It's starting to get light outside and the birds are singing. Guess I'm not going to get back to bed so I'm going to go make coffee and start my day. I'm hoping to put up some pictures from the graduation party later although it might not be until tomorrow.