I have been busy. There is no other way to say it. People usually say that I am so busy, I wear them out. Well, now I'm so busy I'm even exhausting myself! In my new effort to learn from my life, this is what I've found.

This past Saturday was busy. Emily had practice at 8 am. Matt had practice at 11 am.  Mikey had a game at 2 pm. Mikey had a birthday party at 4 pm. In the middle of that, Dad called and asked us to help Vickie move. We were planning on helping her Sunday, but Dad thought she sounded desperate, so we dropped off the kids and headed over there. Halfway there, Vickie called and asked us to come Sunday instead. So we turned around and went back to finish shopping for Emily's camp.

Lesson learned: There's always room to add one more thing to your day.

On Sunday, we spent the morning helping Emily set up at Girl Scout camp. This is her first year as a unit youth leader. As such, she spends the entire week at day camp, including overnights. We set up the tent so that she and her friends Sierra and Linnea would have a place to sleep. We also set up a second tent, in case it was needed for other girls, and helped others set up their areas. The leaders had said that we should make this a comfortable place, because this would be their home away from home for a week. We did this by adding two shepherd's hooks with twirly plastic things that wave in the wind, a table between the chairs, and snacks and a cooler of juices. The girls love it!

After we finished there, we helped Vickie move to her new apartment. It was pretty emotional, but I am really glad she has the chance to move forward with her life. We worked HARD, for several hours, packing and moving heavy things. By the time we were finished, she was already turning her new place into a home. She was thinking of just abandoning her computer desk, but Darren was able to assemble it in a great area of her place. This is a great chance for her, and I'm really excited about what the future holds for her.  After we finished, we grabbed my best friend, and the 4 of us went to Denny's for a junk food feast.  We were absolutely exhausted, but our hearts felt good.

Lesson learned:  When you spend a busy day helping others, you feel better about yourself in the end.

Monday was crazy. insane. How did I get through it relatively unscathed?  First, Darren had a business trip to Orlando  When he initially scheduled this trip, we had very few things on the schedule.  Thanks to rainouts, miscommunication about camp ties, and a pile of work on my desk, Monday turned out to be one of the busiest days of the year.  First, Emily had her last game of the season at 6:00.  That meant we had to be at the ballpark at 5:30.  Which is right at the end of the workday. And Mondays are always insane.  But we made ito to the game, and Emily did very well behind the plate, again.  It was bittersweet, being the last game

I had to leave Emily's game early to get Matt to his rainout makeup game in time. Luckily, his coach, whose wife is a friend of mine from PTA and dance, agreed to take Matt to the game, and home again if I couldn't get there in time to pick him up.  So we flew to Coach's house, and then flew back to Emily's game. Which was over. And I missed the last outs, and the coach's meeting. So I'm not sure about the after season party. Which makes me feel like a terrible Mom.

After Em's game, we had to run to McDonald's for a quick bite, then to Emily's camp.  We were late there. You know...4 1/2 hours late. But we dropped her off, and I kissed her goodbye :::::sniff::::::: for two days. Then I drove as fast as I could, back to Matt's game. But there was nobody at the ballpark! Which is a little unnerving! But I knew he was with good people, and I know where those people live, so I drove over there. About 45 seconds before I got there, she called to tell me the game was forfeited by the other team, so she had Matt at her house.  By the time I got there, the boys were having a wonderful time playing, and I had the opportunity to talk to ADULTS for the first time all day. We sat around talking for about 45 minutes. It was a really good time.

Of course, by then, all of the restaurants were closed, and Matt and I hadn't had dinner, so we cheated. We ran to Cody's, grabbed sandwiches, and came home to giggle together and enjoy our quicky dinner. We had a wonderful night!

Lesson learned:  The best times in life are spent with family, and when you grab short and sweet moments of happiness with the ones you love, you create memories to last a lifetime. You are NEVER too busy to make memories.