Just checking in

Because I have not had much time to be online for the past while, I actually feel like I should be posting more often to this blog, although if I were honest with myself, I would know that I do not have such a huge following for this blog.  Added to the foregoing thought is the reality that much of what I am occupied with is not blog-worthy, or does not seem like appropriate blog material or the thoughts my activities prompt are not blog material.  I have even resurrected a couple of pages of blog prompts I have been keeping around for just such a time, but those prompts just seem so out of tune with what is going on in my life (although they were the best list I found online at the time) that I am not topically "prompted" by any of them.

A library image--not really a shot from where I work

My new part time job has occupied some amount of my busy time in 2011.  It does not seem appropriate to blog about jobs on the internet.  So although I love my new job at the library, this does not seem like a likely blog topic now nor in the coming years.

Photo from 1971

If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that I have been involved for about a year and a half in trying to (a) remodel a rental of my mother's and (b) dejunk and fix my mother's house.  This has been at times a full time job (just as an example, I worked 150 hours in October) but at least a consistent part time job (combined with being on hand for Mom leading up to her passing and the other things I do and have done regarding her and "business").  I had also been trying to close out my mother's estate before the end of 2010.  These items have just about occupied every waking minute that church, family and work have not occupied.  Well, that declaration needs to be rephrased.  These things have occupied every minute of my time and I have tried to fit church, family and work (and, admittedly, mental flat-lining at times of "overwhelm") around those items.  It has come down to crunch time and this is where all my time is going, all my time I can find to devote to these responsibilities.

Team @ the Greg Fernley Invitational--one of the first meets for 2010-11 season

State swim finals are soon here.  Because of the heavy parental commitment/involvement required by having a child on the swim team (read: part time job), I feel almost like I am "participating" in state finals because of my good association with the local high school swim team members.  I certainly wish them all luck.  We have had a good group of young people on the swim team this year.

That yesterday was the last practice of this swim season was bittersweet.  Of course as a person with plenty of other things to do, I was relieved to have the past three weeks of afternoon practices come to a close.  Although having practices every weekday at 4:30 a.m. is a bit . . . well . . . sleep-depriving, it is so far superior to the afternoon practices we have had since regionals (see how I say "we"?) that I am HAPPY to see the afternoon commitment come to an end for the season.

Overall, I have enjoyed the early practices.  Although they feel like "found time," I have found that what time you "find" at 3:55 a.m. to 8 a.m., you pay for the rest of the day in lassitude.  I woke up every morning with L to either take her to the carpool pick up site or to drive the carpool.  Well, we woke up every morning other than one morning when she and I--mysteriously--slept through our alarms.  Luckily I didn't drive that day.

We have been in an early morning carpool and some other parents and I cobbled together a carpool for the afternoon practices.  I have enjoyed being the carpool driver for any regular practices and nearly all extra practices and meetings.  I have especially enjoyed my time with my girl L, even if we were half asleep most of the time (well, I was awake--I was driving, right?!).

I was glad I was the carpool driver yesterday as a way to end the season, even if it did involve being on hand from 3 p.m. (pick up) until about 9:30 p.m. last night (after dropping off the girls who are in the carpool).  Ah, now you goodreads.com friends know how I can claim to be so busy and still read so many books--you can only take certain types of work with you to do away from home, days on end.

Original "Paint" Art by Yours Truly, copyright 2011

Speaking of home and the state of the house, well, just let me say that no one is home "minding the shop," nor has been for a very long time--like eighteen months, speaking generally and not speaking specifically of heroic but sporadic and brief attempts at cleaning on my part and other attempts by others, and not speaking of help rendered by my good husband.  Let's put this another way.  All the things I normally do, I am not getting to nor is anyone else.  They are still doing the things they do but no one is doing what I normally do.  Like Aunt Geraldine said to me one time, "You know all those things that just happen around the house by themselves?  [She yelled for emphasis:] YOUR MOTHER DOES THEM!"  So those things that "get done around the house by themselves" are not getting done.

There are only so many hours in the day and my other "part time jobs" are taking priority.  It also does not help that there is a steady stream of items coming into my house, despite my resolve to be particular in what I choose to keep as we empty my mother's house (and I think I have stuck by that resolve for the most part).  Once the dust settles in the remodel/dejunk/rental of the other two houses, then I hope to turn my attention to my own abode. Home, sweet home.

YW Logo

And then, to make the tableau complete, I need to mention my other part time job: Young Women president at church. Those who know what that particularly responsibility is like do not need another word of explanation and those who do not know what that particular responsibility is like could not comprehend through a mere written explanation.  In January, I put on a scripture reading party, "Minute to Win It," for the kids who read finished the Book of Mormon in 2010.  It was a lot of work but it was fun.  This month is New Beginnings.  Those are just the bigger events.  There is always something to do in this particular organization.

See, I warned you that nothing I have been doing is blog worthy but because I am so occupied with everything, these topics are all that I have on my mind. In summary, I need to share a quote I found:  "Ever notice that even the busiest people are never too busy to tell you how busy they are?"  Now, I guess I will get back to work!