I'm Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy

That's a Veggie Tales reference in the title, for those of you empty-nesters out there. There's been so much going on since Thursday that I've hardly had a chance to think, let alone blog.

I have a friend who jokingly told me Thursday morning that I needed a clone since I had what I considered an unacceptable conflict that evening. Not only was Tyler playing in his first PCA basketball game, but Peyton was also performing in the big 3rd grade musical called "King of the Jungle." How in the world do you decide between two choices like those? Very easily, as it turns out. Barring a catastrophic injury, I knew Tyler would live to play another basketball game, but there is only ONE 3rd grade musical, and I wasn't about to miss it! (I did forget my camera, however, so by this time next week I won't remember that Peyton was even in a musical, let alone the name of it.)


Tyler did win his first game, and Peyton didn't forget a single word of a single song, so Thursday night rocked. I'm telling you now, if any one of the leads in the musical had come down with a case of stage fright or lockjaw or the dry heaves, Peyton would have totally been ready to jump in and save the day. I watched her mouth every lyric to every solo in the entire musical--man, was she ever disappointed that she didn't get to sing one. But she had the world's biggest smile stretching from ear to ear throughout the entire production, so it was all good.

Friday was Haircut Day for me (though sadly not for the Shaggy Dog, a.k.a. Sawyer) so I was in good spirits as I headed toward South Arlington. The day was windy and cool but beautifully sunny, and Randy, Sawyer and I spent the greater part of the afternoon bagging the leaves from our 25 trees in the backyard, all the while watching the wind rain down so many more leaves that you couldn't even tell the yard had been raked. (Our neighborhood isn't called "The Oaks" for nothin'.)


Tyler went on a retreat with the youth group from Friday night to this afternoon, and you'd think with one less kid we might have seen a slight dip in activity in the Todd household; you would be wrong. Friday night was a blast, though, as we had some friends over for dinner, dessert and a mean game of Crokinole. Considering that they brought dinner and dessert, it's no wonder I can't wait to do it again!!


I had already determined on Saturday that we weren't doing anything else until I took the girls shopping for church clothes . . . so of course we didn't get away from the house until about 1:00 p.m. Strike while the iron's hot, I always say! Seriously, I was a little sick about our poor timing because I had been hoping to take the kids over to Dallas to see/hear/watch my oldest brother, Clark, "act" in a radio performance of Alice in Wonderland. He had three parts, including the Mad Hatter, and it was his last performance and, well, we blew it.

The urgency I felt to get the girls new church clothes arose from the fact that several weeks ago when our first real cold front blew in, I looked in their closet and realized it simply would not do for them to go to church in sundresses and sparkly flip-flops. But outfit after outfit after outfit had to be discarded as the girls, one after the other, shimmied into and out of now-outgrown dresses. Neither one had bothered to tell me they'd grown about five inches since last fall!


Between Wal-mart and Target I was able to outfit the girls adequately for the winter and coming spring months (unless one of them decides to become an Amazon), and I was so glad to be heading home where I was going to prop my feet up, maybe make a cup of hot chocolate, and just relax for the first time all day. Oh, except that Randy called my cell and said that if I hurried, we could make the 4:55 showing of City of Ember over at the dollar theater in North Richland Hills. Perfect.


After spending two hours of my life (that I'll never get back, I might add) watching the aforementioned movie, I now understand why it spent roughly one month in theaters. Yeah, it's that bad. I'm told the book is much better, but whoever adapted the film or wrote the screenplay or whatever it is you do when you bring a book to the big screen ought not to try that again. Then again, I NEVER think a movie is better than its counterpart in book form. Ever. I am to the point that when I read a book that I absolutely love I just want to say, "Leave it alone, people!" (Except maybe for Harry Potter. I do have quite the soft spot for young Daniel Radcliffe!)


That brings us up to today, when I . . . wait for it . . . threw Peyton an 8-1/2th birthday party! I'd tell you all about it but I'm too tired. But, barring catastrophic injury, I'm sure I'll live to write another blog entry. Until then, blessings to you!