This Gill’s Been on the Go-Go

This has been an unbelievably busy past three weeks.  It seriously felt like December the way the calendar looks.  I can’t even remember what all has been going on, but anyway here’s a partial list.  And thankfully, as of today, things now will slow down since school’s out.  Yeehaw.  I don’t think I could’ve kept up the pace much longer and this house needs some serious attention.

It’s been:

• Field trips and special activity days at school out the wazoo-- I’ve chaperoned a historical walk in town, helped with all-day water games, helped set up and chaperone a 5th grade party at the Y, prepared food for a teacher appreciation meal, took in treats so my girl with the summer birthday could celebrate for once at school, and attended three band concerts, a DARE graduation, and one talent show, hauling the big-A tuba back and forth to the park uptown for that

 

• An adventure trip to St. Louis with my finally-on-break-from-college nephew, Ross, where we sampled 1) the new Goodwill Outlet, yes, you read that correctly—Goodwill has an Outlet if you can imagine that, and 2) a delish Cuban sandwich and Mex meal at a restaurant called Hacienda.  And we wrestled a substantial sand table and twenty nine-foot toboggan into the back of the van in the middle of a hard-blowing downpour, just one of the recent storms we’ve had this horrible weather month.  Fun times.  Really, it was, though.  Ross makes most anything fun. Kind of exciting, too, when the power went out while we both were in the Goodwill’s windowless bathrooms which meant pitch blackness until we blindly guided ourselves out by feel.  Ew, I know.  

 

• (I don’t really want a bullet here, just a new paragraph but I can’t seem to do that?….) So anywho, at the Goodwill, we also scored Ross a spaghetti…spoon? dipper? what do you call that utensil?, a package of dowels and Ross is still wondering why the heck I would pick those up, two games, two books, a tin of marbles highly coveted by another shopper who so wanted them and kept waiting for Ross to put them down and even asked if he would give them up, a Pyrex measuring cup for the shop building so I can mix up bug spray and grass killer a little more accurately than I have been when eyeballing and guessing how much is two ounces, and, ugh, I think there was even more stuff, but I can’t recall now.  Anywho, all this useful stuff, including the sand table that Sam has already played the heck out of and the sled, and it all cost a grand total of $10.50.  Goodwill Outlet, people!  Market Street, St. Louis, free parking.  You pay for your stuff by the pound which works out to nearly free.  Well, unless you buy bricks or something.

 

• I will say I passed on a Red Hot Chili Peppers vinyl album that day that was very tempting (Uplift MoFo Party Plan from 1987) but I’m ok with that and have no regrets.  It was still a great day of aunt/nephew bonding.

Ok, back to the exhausting list….

• Fundraising night for Boy Scouts where we (I) put together three baskets for the auction and took four extra kids on top of our family and we all bowled like crazy ‘til pretty late

 

• Volunteered in the school library doing an inventory of books spanning from the 1960’s to present, taking many, many, many hours but that was ok since I really like doing that kind of stuff

 

• Dentist, orthodontist, doctor visits and one hair one, totaling six different appointments, plus, add in one diagnosis of strep (Sam) and a upcoming thumb surgery (me—more on that later)

 

• Dealing with the insurance and roofing companies’ tiffs, starting to wonder will we ever get a new roof?

 

• Putting together end-of-the-year thank you’s for the kids’ teachers and bus drivers

 

• Helping the Boy Scouts at the Relay for Life flag raising ceremony, and last Saturday, setting out flags at the cemetery at all veterans’ graves

 

• Attending a Six Flags chaperone/band parent meeting, and Bunco, and 6th grade orientation

 

• Having Mexican four days in a row this week

 

• Going to three Zumba classes to find, once there, they were all cancelled, grrr.  Dumb weather.

 

• Helping Gary get the Gator out of the swampy mud in our flooded bottom ground

 

• Shopping for a fridge (today at the Mills), not knowing what we really want which is making it take forever

 

• Tidying up landscaping and putting out flowers at the Walton place which sits still for sale with little action at all, and the renters move out at end of June

 

• Doing some work a couple of days for a friend, and meeting the girls for lunch yesterday(counting as one of my Mexican meals)

 

• Trying to sort through a years’ worth of school papers and leftover supplies brought home today, TIMES FOUR

This doesn’t even include the everyday normal stuff that keeps us busy enough like mowing and laundry and Boy and Girl Scout meetings and getting to the bus stop multiple times a day and getting groceries and cooking and mowing and refereeing and feeding kids and did I mention mowing?

I seriously am so relieved we don’t have kids’ sports practices and games added into the mix.

Not a complaint, a busy life is great with me, but just a hopefully valid excuse for not being so up-to-date on the ol’ blog.  Missed you guys!!