I have been so busy….

I have been so busy; I had to come to the conclusion that I had spread myself too thin. I had to make a decision about which activities I was going to continue with, and which is I was going to give up. I gave up my position as nursery coordinator at church. I'm not sure everybody understands why, and I am sure it has caused some controversy, but I had to do what was best for my family and me.

Things got crazy busy with the start of the new school year and new program year. Scouts has kept us especially busy this year, or at least kept me especially busy. There was one stretch where I had something scout related to do every day for 2 weeks straight. Between popcorn sales, regular scout meetings, Boy Scout Committee meetings, Cub Scout Committee meetings, a parents meeting, a merit badge activity, and Boards of Review we managed to fit in youth group on Wednesday and have one Friday off.

We sold popcorn at Fred Meyers for 3 weekends in a row (Sept. 25-Oct. 11), a total of 7 days. The boys did very well, Tyler more than made the goal set for the boys in his pack, and Travis made enough to qualify for the camp scholarship from his troop. They should get their prizes at their respective Christmas parties in December.

We had one weekend off from popcorn (Oct. 16-18), and then went on a camp-out (Oct. 23-25). The Boy Scout troop invited the Webelos from the Cub Scout Pack on a weekend camp-out at Camp Parsons. The Webelos needed to have a parent/guardian attend with them, and as Jeff had to work that left me. So Travis, Tyler, and I packed our gear and went camping. It was actually a whole lot of fun, except for the part where we froze at night. I have decided to purchase fleece sleeping bag liners before the next camp-out.

The day after the camp-out we had a Pack meeting, which means awards. As the advancement chair it is my responsible to see to it that all of the awards are purchased and well organized. It has also fallen on me for the last 2 months to present the awards…yikes! Not really my thing, but I'm doing my best. I spent a bit of time on Tuesday and Wednesday this week creating new report forms for the den leaders to use each month and turn into me, trying to simplify things for everybody.

Last Wednesday Tyler's WOW! Church group went on a field trip to a local Bremerton fire station. Friday we carved pumpkins. Saturday was Halloween, so we were busy. Actually, I had Scout leader training that morning from 10:30-3:30. Travis worked the carnival at the church from 4:30-9:30. We took Tyler and Tommy to the carnival for a couple hours, then took them trick-or-treating in a friend's neighborhood. We only hit 5 houses in an hour because we kept running into people we knew and visiting with them. Oh well, it was a fun time.

Sunday we went to church, and then out to dinner at Scott and Amanda's house. Yes, I got them to invite us to dinner for a change. I hinted around about it for a month or two, and then finally was very bold. Amanda asked if she could borrow my tostado bowl maker and I told her we'd be glad to bring it if she'd just tell us what time to be there for dinner. That prompted her to set a date and time. She was obviously very nervous about having the in-laws over for dinner for the first time, and it didn't go off without a hitch, but it did go well. I just figured they have lived out here for 3 or 4 years now, eat dinners at my house 2-4 times each month, and it should be their turn. Anyway, it went well.

On Monday the Cub Scouts had a tour of a fire station in Port Orchard…the theme for the month, I guess. On Monday evening the Cub Scout Committee had a meeting while the Boy Scouts had their regular troop meeting. Tyler got to stay home, because the field trip took the place of a den meeting. The new secretary didn't show up, so I took the minutes and typed them up on Tuesday. On Tuesday the Boy Scouts had Boards of Review, I sat in on a couple of those. On Wednesday we all had our individual church activities. Tonight I went to the Boy Scout Committee meeting; I am the secretary so I took the minutes and will probably type them up tomorrow.

Somewhere in all my spare time we managed to take turns being sick for almost 2 weeks, do schoolwork, try to maintain the house, spend time with Jeff and Tommy, and find time to talk to Rainbow and chat online with Melissa. I realize that I have not blogged at all during this time, but I do hope you understand why.

This coming Monday is Tyler's birthday. We have scouts, so will probably take cookies for him to share with his den. He thinks we're going to have cake and ice cream Sunday evening after church, with just the immediate family. What he doesn't know is that I've arranged for his best buddy to come over on Saturday for a sleep-over. We'll go swimming at the pool in the early afternoon, and come home to a surprise party…cake, ice cream, pizza, balloons, presents…and then we'll do something in the evening (mini-golf, a movie….don't know yet, but we'll do something). I think he'll like that.

I'll post pictures soon. Take care everybody, and good night!