Has it been that long already??!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last blogged! Time has really been flying lately. You would think that getting up at 4:40 every morning would mean that I'm all caught up on everything but it feels like the opposite has happened and that I'm slowing down! (Does sleep deprivation somehow change the time/space continuum??!!)

I'm totally relieved to have the Visiting Teaching Celebration done and behind me. That was completely absorbing my time and attention for the past couple of weeks. Now that it's done I can get back to all the "normal" Relief Society duties and life in general. Thank you to all the sisters who showed up and helped out- your support keeps me going! On a positive note... I have to admit that I was a lot more comfortable doing the lesson for this than I have been doing a regular RS lesson.

One thing I'm really excited about this week is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. David and I went to the first class last night and it was great. Dave Ramsey is a very engaging and humorous speaker and I'm looking forward to learning how to better manage our finances. It was a bonus to have a few friends from the ward there too!

I never realized just how busy parents of teenagers are ALL THE TIME! I feel I owe an apology to every mother out there who I unknowingly and stupidly judged for being too busy to do other stuff... now I'm living it and can see how a teenager's life can take over the parents' too. I still feel that our teens try to take on too much (my daughter included!) and I dream of a slower pace of life but I guess that's not going to change any day soon. Besides, Aimee's really having a great time and it's keeping her excited about high school- I'd be crazy to want to alter that! Marching band is winding down now (last game on Friday) so now Aimee's doing drumline. We still don't know when the actual try-outs are but she's quite happy to go to practice once or twice a week! She's also part of the art club and would probably like to join more groups but literally has no time!! I'm amazed that she can keep going from 5am till 9:30 at night almost every day and not be dead tired. I wish I could bring back some of that teenage energy for myself!

Tonight Aimee has a band concert. I'm really looking forward to it. Not just because I love hearing her play but also because it means one less trip to the church this week. (I don't like having her miss YW but I'm getting tired of 7-10 trips to the church every week!!) Thank goodness my little "beater" gets good gas mileage.

Speaking of my car... I had to have a new clutch installed last Friday. Not the type of news anyone wants to hear, but it all worked out well. David had taken a day off so we were able to drop my car off and not worry about not having transportation till Saturday morning. And now my car gains speed when I press down on the accelerator! (novel idea, I know!) Today I got to test it out on I-75 as I made a trip to Liberty that I found out I didn't need to (once I got there- grrr!!) It's running great!

Okay, is it becoming obvious yet that the less sleep I get the more I tend to whine and compain? It's an annoying habit but one that I'm too tired to do anything about!!

There have been too many times lately when I've wished that I lived closer to family. (My family is all out west... Mom, brother and sister in Spokane, grandparents and another brother in California.) Last week my Mom passed out, fell, and hit her head at work. She ended up taking an ambulance ride, getting 4-5 stitches, having every test possible done to rule out heart trouble, a couple days in the hospital and in the end a diagnosis of a sinus infection. I was relieved that she was okay and that they found the problem (the small stones in her middle ear were out of whack which caused dizziness and fainting) but I was sorry that I wasn't able to be there for her. I'm so thankful my sister lives in the same town now and was able to take care of her, but it doesn't make me feel any better knowing that I'm not there. It was a little humorous to hear my sister describing my mother's reaction to finding herself laying on the bathroom floor at work. My Mom apparently came to and the first thought that came into her mind was "What am I doing on this dirty floor?"!! That was so totally my Mom that it made me laugh!

Now I've gotten word that my grandfather is close to death and is being moved into a nursing home. I wasn't close to this set of grandparents growing up but I have been able to develop a closer relationship with my grandmother as an adult, mainly through letters. Again I find myself wishing that I lived closer so that I could be one of the ones to help out and ease the burdens. One of the blessings has been that my uncle has been kind enough to send updates and also let us know that the Relief Society sisters have been there with meals and support. Isn't it incredible to have a church family no matter where you are?

I'll be surprised if most of you have read this far- I know I've just been rambling on, and not even about very interesting stuff. If I was smart I'd re-read this after I've had more sleep to make sure it's coherent. Unfortunately for all of you, though, I'm just going to post this here and now. Besides, if I wait until I get more sleep a) it might never get posted or b) I'll forget I even wrote it and it still wouldn't get posted!!