Back to the grind

There's so much to say and it's all a jumble in my head still. I'll give a few highlights now and try to get an organized post together with the pictures.

First and most importantly, we had a great trip!

The Good: The flights were all on time and the kids did the 2000+ miles in the van across Wyoming like champs. We saw many animals in Yellowstone, including 2 black bears on the way out the last day. My aunts 2 dogs made a bigger impression though. The kids got to ride a horse at my aunt and uncle's house. Fishing Guy and I didn't argue once! (Or any more than that either)

The Bad: I managed to erase my iPod of all music, except for podcasts, at my mom's house, while trying to add more music to it. It's fixed now that we are home, but I advise against messing with unfamiliar equipment right before spending 20+ hours in a van with the whole family. I'm just saying.

Also, I left the new portable DVD player on the first plane coming home. That was after my left ear didn't pop on the landing. I spent the layover in a daze, realizing my error as we were boarding the second flight and they wouldn't let me go at that point. I then spent the beginning of the second flight yelling (and not meaning to) about how the DVD's were gone too... Bad Mom Award there.

Anyway, the airline also lost Fishing Guy's fishing pole on the flight home and we are waiting for them to track everything down. I'm still hopeful that an airline employee found the DVD player - otherwise the $400-ish to replace it is going to suck.

My ear finally cleared yesterday.

I'm still wading through the 400+ pictures I took and as soon as I get them together I'll share.

Happy Hump Day!

Going To America

We are now on vacation!! We have 13 more days and it's been tons of fun so far.

We flew out of Juneau on Friday morning and got to Denver about 4 pm. My mom met us there with a minivan and we headed to a hotel. My aunt and uncle live there, so we got together with them Friday night and Saturday. We went to the zoo on Saturday morning, went to Arby's and Wal-Mart, swam in the hotel pool in the afternoon and went to a crazy harp concert that night. Sunday morning we all slept in and headed to Wyoming in the afternoon.

We got to my folks' house about dinner and had a relaxing evening hanging out around the yard. This morning we all got up and ran a couple of errands. Fishing Guy got a fishing licence after lunch and we went swiming at the Rec Center. We just got back from getting family portraits done at Wal-Mart too. Tonight we plan to go down to the river and watch Fishing Guy get a fly wet. We will be here for the rest of the week and then we will be heading across the state to Yellowstone and a quick stop in Bozeman, Montana to see my other aunt and uncle. Bozeman is also where Fishing Guy and I met.

In related news, we are still walking around stores, jaws dropping at the selection and prices. We are going to be shopping for clothes and anything else we can't live without on payday. Fishing Guy found flip-flops in his size (13/14) for a dollar today. We also have a list of places to eat. Since Juneau only has McDonald's and Subway there are lots of options. Arby's and Outback are crossed off already.

Anyway, I am hoping to update every-so-often so that I'm not too far behind when we get home.

Why?

Why does doing what is best for your family (and yourself) piss other people off? As if they wouldn't do the same thing and not bat an eye.

The story:

I'm resigning from the playground committee. Short story: It's competing for my time and energy and I don't feel like I can give it 100% for another year. I don't want to be a detriment to the project.

This last Friday, I spent the entire day yelling at the kids and stressing like a mad-woman, so that I could get letters sent out for the playground by mid afternoon. These letters involved me writing the letter, looking up addresses, addressing the envelopes and putting my own stamps on them. I drove them to the post office and then I had to come home to prepare for my VBS meeting, something that I am passionate about.

I had no less than 3 conversations over the weekend that convinced me that I wasn't imagining how I was feeling and that if Crafty Neighbor is a true friend* she would understand that I can't continue on the committee.

The thing is, I feel confident that God is leading me down a different path. For me, the choice between God and a playground is a no-brainer. However, I've been testing it for a while now to see if that's really what I'm supposed to do. I should know better by now.

Anyway, I told her tonight and she wasn't pleased. In fact, she is probably sitting in her house right across the lawn ranting about me to her family. Part of me doesn't care at all and part of me hates letting people down.

The kicker of all of this... She started the whole project and is moving to another city in the middle of it. How dare she judge me for dropping it.

*Note to self - don't get involved in long-term projects or a business with a friend.