My lists

I made this list last night. It is a list of things to get done today.

1. Laundry
2. Get the head shots of 74 primary kids glued onto bulletin board at church.
3. Run to grocery store for small list of needs.
4. Exercise
5. Start eating better, since I seem to be in a sugar & carb eating slump.
6. Clean my horribly messy closet.
7. Get more plants transferred in my garden.

Here is a list of what I have accomplished so far today.

1. Got kids out door to school.
2. Watched an hour of Spongebob with MD. (I know there are a lot of parents out there who do not approve of Spongebob, but I am a loyal fan, especially of the beginning episodes). This pic is from my favorite episode...Crabby patties are an absolute good! ... "good for your soul".)
3. Showered and dressed, but then didn't feel like exercising.
4. Had a huge piece of chocolate cake for breakfast.
5. Spent an hour and a half making these tissue flower balls for the girls' room. They were easy and turned out really cute!
6. Spent an hour reading blogs and email.

So much for my list.
1. Too late to start laundry, since it will just sit while I shuffle kids here and there after school.
2. Don't feel like running to church, so I'll put that on tonight's list for tomorrow.
3. Can hit grocery store in between lessons.
4. Exercise and eat better will have to go on tomorrow's list as well. Unless there is still cake left, then I might just have to put that off one more day.
5. I can clean up my closet tonight.
6. Too windy to garden today.

It's just one of those days, you know? I guess I'll just have to try harder tomorrow.

The "man of my dreams"

The man of my dreams? Well, let's just say, he was LITERALLY the man of my dreams last night. We were at the same party, and all the sudden I realized his little girl (does he even have one? I think he's 50?) was on fire! Her feet were ablaze, so being the quick thinker I am, I dashed right to the fire extinguisher, hosed her down and took care of her. The Florence Nightingale effect took place, and he asked me to marry him and bought us a mansion on the coast of Seattle. I was so happy, but mostly because I had a REALLY good reason that I didn't get the primary activity planned that I was in charge of. Thank you for saving me from myself Tom! (For those who don't know, primary is the organization for the children's program in our church - which I am currently in charge of). Yes, I had gone to bed going over all the calls I had to make the next day to get this activity off and running. Funny thing, the mind. Absolutely no idea how Tom Selleck happened to be a part of it all.

Anyway, update on tennis for you, here is the sweetest picture and poem Monkey C made for me after the tournament was over. I love it!! Read the poem, it is adorable.
I ended up getting to play doubles - yay! Either I pouted enough and it worked, or my coach decided he had better singles players. I had such a great time. I played in 3 matches, and won all of them. Our team took 2nd, and we are going on to play again in May. Absolutely loved playing, and Trev came and watched and cheered me on for a couple of them. He tried to take a few pictures of the last game, but as you can see I am a blur! That's me in the pink skirt, and my awesome partner, Cheryl in the cute tennis dress. She has 6 kids, and her oldest is getting married, isn't she just cute?
Okay, and lastly, I got called to jury duty AGAIN! Unbelievable. Despite the title of my blog, I am not a happy girl about this. I think this is year 4. I am getting so tired of it. Here we go with the weekly call-ins for the whole month of May. I am truly wondering how they pick people now. Random? I think not. Maybe I will have a new dream about Tom saving me from jury duty.

the crazed tennis player

What a full week. I guess what a full life, but I really can't complain about that, a full life is a good thing.
The week started out with a decision to change my hair...

Trev (as he views pictures on digital camera): This is a great shot of you!
Me: Thanks!
Trev: Who took this?
Me: I did.
Trev: You are so hot in this picture. :) Why did you take a picture of yourself?
Me: It's my "before" shot.
Trev: Before? Before what?
The words sink in, and he gives me that look.
Me: I'm getting my hair cut this week. Remember all the times I've asked you this week if you like my hair, if you think it would be good shorter, etc?
Trev: Yes, but...

So, needless to say, this conversation gave me doubts, but I made it to the appointment anyway. I have had the same hairstyle pretty much for the last 3-4 years.

I like it. It's nice to have a change, and much quicker to fix. I don't think Trev is sold on it, but I know he loves me anyway! :)


This coming weekend is my first tennis match in the USTA team tournament. I surprised myself with my emotional outburst during practice this week when my coach announced to me and everyone else that I would be playing singles. Ha ha. I am sort of laughing about it now, but at the time...let's just say I actually almost lost it and cried in front of everyone! Let me explain myself just a little. We have been practicing for months with team practices and late night practices with doubles strategies and playing. I have done pretty well with this, and have advanced nicely in my league play as well, winning most of my matches. I have finally gotten to a point where I can play doubles and not have to think of positioning and strategy so much, but just play it. And I LOVE it! I enjoy hitting a deep shot and then approaching the net and either volleying it with short play or putting it away with a powerful slam! Ha ha. ANYWAY, I have not played singles in a long time, and it's a whole different game. In my mind, not nearly as fun, and with tournament a week away, I realized my anticipation had changed to fear and disappointment. I guess this was pretty evident in my surprising pout that my coach actually sat down with me and gave me his pep talk and reasons why "Singles is my game!!" Hmmmm. Why can't it be my game after the tournament?
Okay, so I am psyching myself up for this thing now, and trying to rethink things positively. I'll let you know how it goes. I didn't know I could be such a dork about tennis competition.


Saturday, we threw a big surprise birthday bash for my Grandma Graesser. Or as Monkey D calls her Grandma Great Graesser. It was so fun to have a lot of my mom's family there. Isn't she a cutie? She has the best sense of humor and is always smiling and humming. Love you Grandma!


Saturday night was a wonderful way to wrap up the week. Trev and I played some doubles tennis with some good friends of ours right after the party. Then we came home, and since the weather was unbelievably summer-like, we roasted hotdogs, hamburgers and sausages in our backyard, and sat around our firepit. The kids jumped on the trampoline, laughing and playing while Trev and I sat by the fire and talked. MD joined us, and her sweet conversation was adorable. We were enjoying it thoroughly. After such an exhausting week, it was a nice change of pace. It was one of those times, when you feel so peaceful and thankful for all your blessings, and it seems too good to be true, you wish the moment could last. I guess sometimes we need those crazy weeks to make us appreciate the not so crazy moments, right?

Birthday card

Finally sharing some pictures from Easter time! MB with his tech project, MC turned 8, and cute with Cotton. My favorite pics in here are of MD working hard on her birthday card she made for MC, and then MC receiving it and giving her a great big hug. That look on MD's face is one of pure love!!