I've been so busy...

...I haven't had time to blog! That's not true. I have had some time, I've just chosen to spend that time doing other things. You'll understand once you read this post. I'm going to attempt to recap the past couple of weeks of my life. I've got photos. It'll be fun.

In addition to attending book club at Jaime's house and meeting friends for lunch or dinner (you know who you are), I also went to visit my friend, Sarah. She and her family were in the process of packing up and moving west to Garden City (they're gone now--sob, sob). I worked with Sarah at the Eagle and I know she will be missed there. I watched her husband, Aaron, pack some boxes while I ate yummy homemade enchiladas and then I helped Sarah make potato salad for a family party later in the day. I also oohed and aahed over five-month-old Sammy and got to know her other two boys a little better. Here's a picture of Sammy having a nap amongst the packing and potato salad making.

I've recovered nicely from my root canal. I got my permanent crown a little over a week ago and I was so ready to get rid of that stupid temporary. Don't even get me started! The same day I got my pretty, sparkly, new porcelain-covered gold (yes, I said gold) crown, I went to Exploration Place with Jenn and Bella. Bella showed me some of her favorite places at EP including the kitchen in the castle, where she busied herself arranging food on the plates. Then she and Jenn went to see the "Chirpie" movie while I went through the "Our Body: The Universe Within" exhibit. Real bodies and body parts. Skin removed. Sliced and diced so we could have a better view of the muscles, tendons, organs and bones. What could be more fun? Actually, I did enjoy it. I like stuff like that. If it's not gushing blood, it's fascinating to me. For some reason they didn't look like real bodies to me. But then I'd get closer to them and see the remnants of eyebrows or arm hair and then I'd remember. I'm not sure it was worth the price of admission, but it sure was packed that Monday afternoon.

I've also been cramming in doctor's appointments like mad. Last week I had three appointments and this week I have four days where I'm doing something at a doctor's office. One shot yesterday, one shot today, appointment on Thursday and blood draw on Friday. Doesn't that sound like a bunch of fun? Up next: scheduling the well woman exam. Priceless.

Mixed in with all the doctor's appointments I've been cleaning my house. I cleaned my bedroom and my guest bedroom from top to bottom last week. Dust bunnies, anyone? That included cleaning out every drawer in the rooms and going through the closets to organize/toss things. I also cleaned out the cabinets in my kitchen and laundry area. Some stuff I purged is now boxed and bound for Goodwill. The rest is boxed and on its way (via Ellinwood and Oakley) to Goodland. My niece, Anissa, just moved into an apartment there this past weekend so she'll have some hand-me-down things from me for her kitchen. She's starting school at the vo-tech this week. Poor thing got her wisdom teeth pulled last week and still can't eat solid foods. Luckily her mom and dad bought her lots of soup before they left her on Saturday. To the right is a picture of Anissa from our trip to the northwest in June. She eats lemons. Weird.

Last Wednesday the circus came to stay at my house. By the circus, I mean my mom, Terri, Zach, Jessica, Victoria and Kyle. That's six extra people in case you didn't count them. And three of them are teenagers. Oy! The first afternoon we did some back-to-school shopping for the teenagers. The Target trip alone crossed lots of things off the lists. My nieces found some clothes there as well as the notebooks and binders they were yearning for. Jessica will be a senior and Victoria will be a freshman. Kyle is going to be in the eighth grade. After we had shopped 'til we dropped we went out to see Steve, Jenn and Bella. We timed it perfectly and when we got there the boat was free, so we all hopped in (except mom, Terri and Zach) so the teenagers could go tubing. First we had to go to the other lake to get the tube. Here's a picture of Kyle, Bella, Victoria and Jessica in the back of the boat.

Jessica and Kyle tubed together first. Kyle hadn't ever gone tubing before, so Jenn told them how to let Steve know if they needed to go slower or wanted to go faster and how to tell him to stop (other than falling off). They did pretty well.

Then Jessica and Victoria went together. Combined they weigh about as much soaking wet as half of my body, so their size 1 and 3 selves bounced around a lot on the tube. I didn't feel too sorry for them.

Kyle went solo for a bit. He did much better when he was by himself, but I was lucky enough to get this shot on his last wipeout.

We came prepared to make supper at their house, so they fired up the grill and we dined on hot dogs, hamburgers and for dessert had some apple pie that Jennifer had baked. We all left stuffed and tired (Zach was up until almost 11 o'clock, which is a record for him).

The next day was a work day. Part of the reason they came to visit was to help me with some jobs around my house. Almost a month ago I got a bad allergic reaction after chopping out some overgrowth in my backyard. It looked really grisly for about two weeks, but got remarkably better after I went to the doctor for a cortisone shot. I know, I know: I should have gone sooner. Anyway, I've been hesitant to attack the overgrowth in the front for obvious reasons. While Victoria cleaned out my gutters (she loves doing it in case anyone has the need), Kyle mowed, Terri cleaned off my front porch and swept away all the cobwebs from the eaves of my house, and mom, Jessica and I weeded the front flower bed. After we got those things accomplished we worked on cleaning out my garage. It all looks so much better. I don't know what I would have done without them. We ate lunch about 1 o'clock and then people started dropping like flies. Terri and Zach slept in the recliner (above left). Kyle fell asleep in the guest bedroom (right). And Jessica chose to lay on the deflated air mattress in the dining room (below left). Victoria chose to lay on the couch (below right) and I headed straight for my bed. We just needed a little nap and then we did more shopping. Hooray!

Friday before they left, Jenn and Bella met us at the mall for one last shopping foray. Zach and Bella had fun riding the carousel. Bella chose a reindeer.

And for his first ride, Zach chose the scary pig with fangs. He loved it!

They both had fun playing on the police car, too.

I hope I haven't lost you in all the activity, blog readers. There's actually more, but I've got to go watch the Olympics now and I'll post the rest in another post. Yes, two posts in one week!