Already humming "Tiny Bubbles"

So, where to begin?

I'm amazed at how busy life became after Spring Break. Like, BUSY busy. Not typical for me. Paul, yes--he's always logging 80 hour work weeks and loads of travel. But even when I'm "busy" it typically doesn't carry over into the evenings. Not that the past six weeks have been bad--just unusual. Here's a short recap of the past six weeks (and I'm not on the computer with the pictures so those will have to wait for a different post).

Because I'm a dork, I looked back at my calendar to see what exactly it was that I've been doing. I think my evenings were mostly filled with a couple of meetings a week between school, Junior League, and a school group (which actually meets during the day but I'm the one who creates the agenda, etc. so I end up working on it during the evenings). There were also a couple of evenings filled with concerts by the singing group my father-in-law leads at church. It's billed as "Bluegrass" but really they're more "Old Time Gospel" or as I like to tease, "The Baptist Hymnal Group" (OK, that's funnier if you know that we attend a Methodist church but I was raised Baptist and Baptists and Methodists have many of the same old hymns. Eh, maybe it's not even funny then.)

Back in April, we also had a progressive dinner party with some of our neighbors and we hosted the entree portion of the evening. I made fajitas. Paul made margaritas. Both were very good. We're very fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors. One of my sisters said our neighborhood was very Stepford-esque because we do things like dinner parties and cocktail hours and there are always people out walking dogs and pushing strollers. Perhaps it is a little Stepford-esque but so far, we have yet to discover the pods of any of the neighbors.

Also in April, we went to Texas for a family reunion/anniversary celebration for my maternal grandparents. It's always a little worrisome when we get together with the family--not because we don't enjoy seeing our families but. But. Thankfully, what could have gone horribly wrong (lots of people, lots of small children, all that family dynamics at play) turned into a really pleasant weekend. All the children (there were 10 or so under age 7) did a great job of maintaining and Paul and I both had a great time playing with them (I think they were being plyed with lots and lots of sugar--I know Paul was starting with the shaved ices we had before the event started). I also enjoyed visiting with with my cousins and their spouses. The weather got a little iffy later in the evening--tornadoes, rain, hail, wind--but happily the really bad stuff missed Amarillo (and the weather gave the men something to do. There was the circle of men outside watching the clouds and the circle of men inside watching the weather in the back room).

That Sunday, my mom, sisters and I went to the cemetary to put flowers at my father's grave. It marked the 30th anniversary of his death. I'm glad I could go with my mom to do that but, as I told Paul, it definitely put me very introspective. I was so young when my father died, almost 2 1/2, that I have no memories of him. It's hard to miss something that you never really had. Not that I don't miss having known my father but I've been very lucky that the people who did know him are willing to talk about him. It's a little skewed when I talk with my paternal grandmother but everyone else has painted a definite picture of this man I was named for but know so little about. And I guess that is what I miss--knowing all about him for myself. But I didn't miss out on having a dad because of my stepfather (who I sometimes forget is just that) so that's when the emotions get a little muddled. Dunno. It's just one of those things I have to mull over from time to time. . .

The chair we ordered in March was finally delivered and it's very comfortable and looks lovely in our bedroom. Last week was the spring book fair so I was super busy with that. And of course, the one day with bad weather was the evening of the Spring Fest family night which made the evening a bit of a dud for me. No one really wanted to walk outside in a downpour from the gym and cafeteria areas where the other events were being held to the library to see the book fair. It got a little busier when it finally stopped raining but the evening's total was only about half of what it had been in years past with nice weather.

Today, we finally got our airline tickets for our trip to Hawaii. Ten days in Honolulu on Waikiki Beach in July. Before Don Ho's untimely death a few weeks ago, I'd told Paul that we'd be making a side trip to see him just for the kitsch factor. I'm not so sure Paul was looking forward to that. Paul's in the conference for five of those days but I'm more than willing to entertain myself with fruity drinks on the beach (where I'll be found slathered in sunscreen, wearing a hat and my lovely cover-up to keep any sun from touching my yes-I'm-a-real-redhead very fair skin).

There are three weeks left in the school year--a mere 14 days now. At some times, it doesn't seem possible. Other times--it can't get here soon enough. The library will officially close for the year on Friday so I can spend the last two weeks of the year completing a library inventory and tracking down all those overdue books. I've also got another book order due as well as all the end-of-year stuff I have to do before May 25. So I'm still busy but without all the stuff in the evenings thrown in to the mix. Hopefully I'll make it back here before then.

And still, really busy

Eh.

So, yeah, things are still hectic around here, both at work and in the evenings. It's almost (a very small *almost*) enough to make me long for the carefree idle days I spent in the portable. All by myself. All alone. Nothing to do. No one to talk to. No responsibilities. All alone.

Or not.

We had a really nice visit in Texas last weekend and I've written several posts about it. But they are all in my head because this is the first chance I've had to sit at the computer to write and I've got one of those headaches that feels like something is poking through the back of my eye. I had the same headache earlier today but it was the other eye. Needless to say, I don't feel like writing much tonight. I think the next four days are pretty good so hopefully I'll get a chance to sit down and write.

In the meantime, the bed is calling my name.

Here, just really busy

Thanks for asking, Natalie. I am definitely still around. Life has just been really, really busy since before Spring Break. I haven't had much free time to idle away on the computer, much less write something witty and entertaining on my blog. There's not time tonight to write a lengthy update as I should be working on a project now but in a nutshell, things are busy but good. We'll be in Texas for a family reunion/60th anniversary party for my grandparents this weekend and then hopefully things will calm down and I'll post about all the fun stuff that's been happening complete with pictures.

As a (very) short recap of Spring Break, I met my mom, sisters, and niece in Ft. Worth for a Girls' Weekend. I had a fabulous time visiting with them. And after tearing up the phone lines for the week beforehand, we were finally able to decide on our coordinating outfits for our picture, an early Mother's Day gift for my mom (that's her in the middle).

And "The Girls" but we're not in chronological order which is how we normally tend to arrange ourselves for photographs (I'm the middle child which everyone says explains so much. I'm never sure how to take that comment.).

Probably not something to be indignant about but I am

Given reports about the onslaught of applications at passport offices and long processing times, Paul and I are working on getting our passports well in advance of our trip in September when we will actually need them. As is always the case with us, it was a comical process just trying to fill in the form. Filling in the parental information, I realized that I didn't know my deceased father's birth year which isn't too bad since he died when I was two. Paul didn't know the year either of his both-still-living parents were born. And he was a little cloudy on his father's birthday. And where both of them were born.

So, we got that paperwork filled out and started getting the other needed paperwork in order. Because I only have one certified copy of my birth certificate, I looked at getting a second certified certificate just in case the one I send in with the passport goes missing. The county clerk's office directed me to the official Texas Dept. of Health website where I learned it costs $22 to get a copy of your birth certificate. $22! Why? I'm a proud Texan. I'm glad to have been born and raised in that fine state. But $22 for my birth certificate? There is no reason that it should cost that much for me to get a copy of something that, in my opinion, should be free for me. Or at least cheaper--it's only $10 in New Mexico. I can get a copy of my transcript from Tech for free but not my birth certificate from the state. Nope. For that, I have to spend $22. And you can guarantee that I will complain about it the entire time. That thing better be on really nice paper.

Like gold-plated paper.

It's better than being a Close Talker

So I called my sister Amy to ask her a question. Paul made me go in the other room because "you tend to yell when you get on the phone with your family." I could totally be offended by that except 1) it's true and 2) they're yelling back at me on the other end.

We are a family of Loud Talkers.