my crazy life

I honestly can't think of a more appropriate title for the first post in almost five months.  I've missed writing, feel so overwhelmed with the mere thought of attempting to "catch-up," but know it's time to give a quick run down, so here goes (minus pictures - that's just too exhausting):

Let's see, where to begin . . .

so Caroline turned 16, Ryan put in his mission papers, another school year comes to a close, Ryan receives his mission call (Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk / Russian speaking) the day before graduation, Ryan graduates from Skyline with high honors, we sell the house, we pack up the house, Caroline gets her driver's license, we make it to Bear Lake and Idaho for a few quick get aways, great week at Girls' Camp with the girls, an unforgettable experience with R and C on the Colorado River for youth conference, Sophie turns 12, we keep packing, PTA registration (ya, I'm PTA president), Caroline's high school tennis team tryouts, close on the house, move into the new house, school starts again - Liza 4th grade, Sophie 7th grade, Caroline 11th . . . Ryan's farewell, Chris turns 48, our 22nd anniversary, last family trip before Ryan leaves - take off for Hawaii, high school tennis matches, Sophie's volleyball season begins, Liza's swim team, furnishing the new house, Oakridge fall festival, region tennis tourney, take Ryan to MTC, state tennis tourney, preparing to speak in our new ward . . .

Blessed beyond measure and holding it all together - I'm sure the breakdown is just around the corner ;).

time to blog??

Forget about it . . . after Chris' frustration the other day while I was scrambling to get ready to run up to the Snowbird branch to play piano (which had completely forgotten about until I stepped out of the shower and realized my neighbor who was giving me a ride was at the front door patiently waiting), he reminded me that if I would just MAKE A LIST and stop saying "yes" to everything, my life just might be a little less harried.  So, I quickly told my neighbor to go without me and set up, and I would hopefully be there for prelude.

And yes, I did make it in the nick of time and enjoyed a lovely meeting in the Cliff Lodge.  Our ward has the responsibility of holding sacrament up there each Sunday and I always enjoy playing for the small congregation of visitors that attend . . . especially when I actually remember that I am supposed to be there :-).

So, taking Chris' advice, I wrote down everything I need to do this week (not including Liza's informance, volleyball practice/game, Caroline's ballroom dance performances, kids' weekly lessons/activities, Art Night, Liza's baptism, and "teacher appreciation week" - which I am responsible for . . . oh heavens, do I dare tell him I've committed to PTA president!?!).

Here's the list I made yesterday morning and after Chris glanced at it last night, he added his own commentary (that would be the "holy crap" part):

One day I just may get back to blogging.

fine

This looks familiar . . .

When I ran across this yesterday it made me smile because if you know me well, you know that there is fine and then there is Julie fine, which my family will tell you means: absolutely "NOT FINE." 

Make sense?  Absolutely not, of course it doesn't.   It's what we optimistic people (mostly women) say when life isn't great or something is wrong and we don't want to pull anyone down into our dismal black hole of emotional distress.  That is precisely why this image hit home because apparently I've some fellow comrades out there. 

Confused?

So, how do you know which people on the planet that say "fine" truly mean they are fine and dandy, or which people are who say it are just Julie fine??

From my standpoint, a sincere "are you sure you're really fine?" will allow a friend to possibly open up and relate how they are feeling.  Or, on the other hand, really confuse someone who literally IS fine as they try explaining to you that yes, indeed, they are great and will you stop probing already!

Never a dull moment

What summer isn't complete without at least one trip to the emergency room???  Yep, Liza fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm while at the park with the neighborhood kids.  Aren't neighbors who take your children to the park and feed them dinner while their mother enjoys a relaxing evening at the movies with girlfriends the greatest?!  Sigh.  Thank goodness Chris was home because I certainly wasn't paying attention to my phone with it's ten missed calls and unread texts buried deep inside my purse.

Of course our August has stayed true to the pattern we began at the beginning of the summer and I've suddenly found myself counting the HOURS until school begins.

Just a sampling of the past couple weeks:

Bear Lake with Howick cousins . . .  high school tennis team tryouts . . . Cantera cousins in town . . .  Hike the "Y" . . . Jordanelle with cousins . . . . Ryan's endless summer nights . . . Echo Dam with cousins . . . Back to school shopping . . . one more tennis tournament . . .  SHS tennis team politics . . . High school registration . . . Jr. High registration . . . . Elementary registration . . .  SEP conferences for girls . . . new car shopping . . . dentist appointments . . . . ortho appointments . . . emergency room visit . . . hair appointments . . . doctor appointments . . . high school tennis team practices . . . high school summer hockey wrap-up . . .  high school hockey season kick-off . . . high school LAX season kick-off . . . back to school parties . . . Bees baseball games . . . 

Like I said, never a dull moment.

Pics to come!

Tell me exactly HOW I'm going to pull this off . . .

Next Wednesday.

Caroline's tennis from 5 - 6:30pm (downtown)
Pick up Sophie's tennis carpool at 7pm (Sugarhouse)
The girls' federation piano recital begins at 7:30pm (Murray)

Oh wait, I'm the YW sports director and we have basketball games at 6:30 AND 7:30pm (Sandy)

Oh, oh, oh, this just in:  Ryan's high school hockey team will play in the next round of the state play-offs at 7:45pm (U of U).

I'll patiently await the arrival of my clone Wednesday afternoon :-).

Moving soon (I hope)

I admit, it was hard putting this little sign out in front of the house, but now I think we'll be replacing our FSBO sign soon with an official broker sign because the sooner we sell and get into a home closer to the kids' schools and activities, the better.  This is why . . . a glimpse into a typical day of insanity (i.e. my day today):

7:20am - drive Jr. High kids over to the school and back home again, total time in car = 30 min.

10:30am - drive myself over to the tennis club for my match,  run a PTA errand while in Sugarhouse, then back home again.  Total time in car = 55 min.

3 pm - pick up Caroline at school, take her to the tennis club for academy, run another errand, fill car with gas, drive back home again.  Total time in car = 60 min.

5:30 pm - drive to Skyline to pick up Ryan after lax practice, drive over to club to pick up Caroline, come back home, then drive kids to YW/YM.  Total time in car = 55 min.

That's 200 minutes of my life spent in the car!!!  Almost 3 1/2 HOURS - are you kidding me??  And the sad part is that this happens almost every day, every week of my life . . . . all told, I probably average about 12-14 hours in the car every week.  I am driving to Southern California every seven days - freak.

Therefore, we are moving to this house . . .

A comparison:  to accomplish all I did today from the new home would only take me a total of 45 minutes.  Yep, that's it, 45 minutes, which translates into 2 hours and 35 minutes of time that could be spent much more productively.  No wonder I can't get anything done around the house!

However, if I didn't do all that driving today I would have missed the spectacular sunrise in Little Cottonwood from the vantage point of Wasatch Blvd., some great discussions on NPR, singing along to my favorite music in the car, a conversation with Caroline about her day, and of course watching the sky turn my favorite color blue as the stars started to appear above the canyon on my drive home this evening . . . ahhhh.

But we're still moving and hopefully will get our home sold soon, and then conversations will take place around the dinner table like they should, the stars and sunrise will make their appearance over Mt. Olympus rather than Little Cottonwood, and my music and NPR will still keep me entertained and informed as always :-).

May MADNESS . . .

Mother's Day pre-school program ~ 2nd Grade informance ~ soccer practices ~ soccer games ~ ballet dress-rehearsals ~ ballet performances ~ Elementary fun run ~ Student Body Officer elections ~ 6th grade country fair ~ field trips ~ 2nd grade Opera ~ Piano recital ~ Jr. tennis tournament ~ LAX practices ~ LAX games ~ Pre-school graduation program ~ 6th grade graduation party ~ school projects ~ awards ceremonies ~ Jr. High fun run ~ Caroline's 12th birthday ~ Temple celebration rehearsals & performance ~ Tennis league begins ~ club meetings ~ school fundraisers ~ teacher appreciation ~ yard work ~ last day of school . . . .

. . . wish us luck!

MARCH - a summary . . .

Just glancing at our family calendar can set a migraine in motion (just click on the picture to feel the full scope of the insanity). And to think that one of my New Year's resolutions was to "simplify" - good luck with that one Julie!

The holidays have officially begun . . .

OK, 48 hours. It was two days of non-stop action this past weekend and I'm finally composed to write about it. CRAZY is the word that comes to mind . . . think two different overnight guests, a dance performance, two parties you are helping host, a mother/daughter tea party, Festival of Trees, oh, and maybe a gift for one of your kids that unexpectedly is READY to go and it's not even CHRISTMAS! Did I mention trying to keep the house in order and clean? By Saturday night after the final event, I seriously had to pinch myself to believe that we actually pulled it off, and everything went even better than planned. Really folks, after last weekend I consider the Christmas season about wrapped up, wouldn't you think?

The details in a nutshell: My mom comes to spend time with the kids and visit with some friends while she's here - thank goodness, because if she didn't come on Wednesday I wouldn't have had my house cleaned EARLY. She leaves Friday morning and Chris' dad comes Friday afternoon to spend a couple nights and be here for the Cantera Family party.

Guests aside, we are notified Thursday evening that Caroline's Christmas present came a little early and has weaned itself from it's mother and is in need of it's new home immediately. You mean I've got to be ready for a baby bunny and have some explanation for the kids of WHY it showed up three weeks early?? Think quick: get the cage ready, have Chris drive to Provo Friday after work and pick it up, and hurry and write a letter to put in the mail from Santa that looks legitimate so the little girls will really think an elf brought the bunny. OK, we can do that. First I just need to get my table I'm hosting ready for the big neighborhood party Friday evening, find something to wear, and pick up a ski rack.

Friday comes - oh, it's the tea party right after school, which is right after I make a Costco run for the party Saturday night, give Chris final instructions for the bunny pick-up, and help in Sophie's class room. OK - I'm running at lightning speed now . . . type the letter, sneak it into the mailbox, take Sophie to the tea-party, run home, change sheets and pick up disorderly house for the next guest, tell Sophie and friend to go get the mail, iron something to wear for the party tonight (oh this is good, a piece of CHOCOLATE is on the ironing board and melts right into my silk blouse - NO time for that - thank goodness it's on the back b/c I'm still wearing this shirt!), share in the excitement of the Santa letter, run out the door to get to the party early to help, pass Chris as he's coming in, make sure he's got the bunny, tell him to get over to the party on time! Phew, now I can enjoy myself . . . dinner, dancing, good friends and neighbors . . . . then up until after midnight helping clean up :-).

Saturday - girls giddy with excitement at the surprise Santa left overnight, putting the bunny in a box with a big ribbon for Caroline, tears of happiness from a girl who's had her heart set on this bunny for a year, pancake breakfast, costumes, hair and make-up for Sophie and Caroline, guys out the door for Ryan's hockey game, girls head down to fest. of trees for a performance and some tree viewing time, race back home to get ready for big Cantera family party at our house beginning at 4:30pm - oh, don't forget to stop at the grocery store for last minute items. BREATHE JULIE . . . put kids and husband to work, get tables set up, vacuum/dust, food in oven, candles lit, house ready . . . time for company!

After it's all said and done I absolutely love getting the family and cousins all together - lots of food, laughter, and fun with everyone. It's worth every minute of the work and stress. Which reminds me, I failed to mention the two Nutcracker rehearsals we had to get Caroline to during this same weekend. Really, what would life be like without non-stop action every once in a while?? It's no wonder we all crashed and fell asleep Sunday evening while watching the 1st Presidency Christmas message at 6pm :-).

Sophie and little friends at Anabelle's Tea Party

What fun . . . Sophie with Emily, Rebecca, Isabel, Anabelle, and Kate.

BEST FRIENDS

My table at the neighborhood Christmas Party (thanks to my friends who helped with the center piece - like I would know how to do that?!)

With my friend Beckie at the party . . . yes, it's a ballroom, and yes, it's inside someone's home.

Spectacular!

Caroline's early Christmas surprise . . .

Pure excitement!

Caroline finally got her baby bunny . . .

It's the cutest animal alive . . . you'll want one once you get a look at this little guy :-)

Sophie and Carlie before they perform as dolls at the Festival of Trees.

We love looking at all the trees together

Kids table at the Cantera Christmas party

Family Talent Show - Laura and Jon performing "The Polar Express" for the kids - delightful!

Kevin and family's improv/skit - absolutely hilarious . . .

We ARE the Red Sox Nation

White Elephant exchange - always lots of laughs . . .

Looks like Chris gets the sweater this year

After the party . . . we did it!