the busyness of life

the last four days have had us hoppin' more than normal. 

my dad is talking with great seriousness about retiring this year. it makes me a bit sad to think i won't be able to go on ride-alongs anymore. i've gone on the truck with my dad since diapers and my fondest memories of him are trips we have taken to the woods and back. we always had a distant relationship, however when we were together on a haul we seemed to connect in a special way. 

friday i went along with him for a ride. i felt that since logging season for this year is coming to an end i had better go while i had the chance. after making the necessary arrangements, i headed out to meet him. we had such a good time. the chatter was fluent all day with everything from where the best place to buy a sandwich on hwy 88 was, to bears, gas prices and his first trucking job in 1962, when he made $2.00 per hour (good money for those days?)

i returned to town in time to watch a bit of cody's soccer practice. the team has been renting the sports arena here and there, and when they do they invite parents and siblings to play a scrimmage. well, if you look close at the picture above, you can decide for yourself which "kid" was having more fun!

saturday we were blessed with home games. the weather was warm and sunny and the commute was wonderful (smile). cody made a beautiful corner kick that was bending into the top of the net just perfectly until the keeper jumped up just barely high enough to knock it out of the goal. the crowd let out a long moan of defeat, and shouts of encouragement to cody echoed out as the goalie kicked the ball down field. we lost both games, but they sure were exciting to watch.  

sunday we spent the morning serving at a community breakfast, and then headed off to yosemite. the kids had never been there before and i hadn't been there since 8th grade. raleigh has been working inside the park off and on all summer, giving me a longing to take off and go. we can never seem to find the time, so after the breakfast we packed some snacks and headed out. it was breath taking! the falls were tricking down the mountains, the trees were turning color and the river was quietly flowing along. we listened to christmas music, had the heater on and sang along to the tunes all the way home. 

i had hoped to be able to pull the house work together when we got home from yosemite, but no such luck. we were all pretty tired and ready to head to bed. when i woke up yesterday morning the busyness of life showed. piles of stuff were everywhere, dirty dishes filled the kitchen, laundry, both clean and dirty was piled around and furniture from a rearrangement project in the girls room was scattered in the living room. the place was a mess. we did a little cleaning up, but needed to get to school, so we passed on most of the mess until evening. i was so embarrassed when patricia came for school, that i met her at the door and pleaded for mercy. she graciously shrugged it off with, oh, you should see our house. 

as she came in, i headed out to work. i have a little job that usually only requires one afternoon per week of my time, however this week i had to do inventory and returns as well. i service movies in two stores and generally am home in a little over three hours. i spent that in one store alone with help and when i got home i had about and hour and a half of paperwork to do. yikes! i am thankful to have had cindy right by my side throughout the process yesterday. she passed this job on to me and could do it in her sleep i assume. she was a blessing to me as this was my first change out, as the company calls it. 

so this morning i am taking a deep breath and moving forward into today! we got most of the chores done before bed last night (raleigh even baked cookies, and cleaned up his mess!) and i don't have to leave for work as early today. no one is coming over and we were all up earlier than normal. we are off to a good start. i look forward though to a quiet winter. i hope for much rain and snow and staying home by the fire, snuggled up with a good book. 

we'll see!