How I'm Spending My Days

I feel like we've been very busy.  In the spring, Adam's assistant, Stephanee, said she'd like to cut back on her hours.  I've always told him that I wanted her job if she ever quit (but I made sure he knew I wasn't trying to compete with Stephanee-- as long as she was happy, I wasn't interfering).  So Adam asked me if I still wanted it.  And I do!  So I'm hoping to finish up with the closed files at Smith Bain and then maybe I can just drop in every now and then and get them caught up on their filing?  I'm still trying to figure out how that will look.  And in the meantime, Adam is training me as his assistant and we are eating lots of tacos as we work, which is a great way to learn a new job!  How did I go from being sad about not getting the library job to juggling two part-time jobs that are both perfect for me in very different ways?

And in between stuff like that, a lot of my time is going towards taking care of kids, trying to get the house clean again after the summer destruction we've wrought on it (I've been meaning to tackle Colton and Camille's room and my own filing for weeks now, but I keep finding other things to do instead...), and a fair amount of car maintenance.  For example, two weeks ago Craig got pulled over and learned that the safety inspection sticker in his car that says "Jan 22" does NOT mean that he got it this last January.  It means it expired last January.  Oops!  The cop was very nice about the whole thing, but we switched cars so I could spend a day tracking down a place that could do the inspection that day.  (I did.  It passed.  You're welcome, Craig!)  And I had last Thursday set aside to stay home and wait for a repairman to come to my house and replace the windshield on my van, which has had a crack spreading across it since May and is now VERY impressive (and by "impressive" I mean 3 feet long and "trashy").  They had helpfully told me to plan on the guy coming between 8am and 5pm.  Then around 10am they texted that he should be here in 15 minutes.  Great!

Then he didn't show up.  I waited an hour before I finally called.  The poor guy had gotten in an accident!  So I had to reschedule.  (He was fine.  I wonder if my windshield survived, though?)  I was stuck at home again this last Thursday.  This time they called in the morning to tell me they weren't sure they even HAD a windshield for my car.  But they assured me they were working on it and would get back to me.  They never did.  I need to call them again Monday, I guess.  Or see if my insurance will work with someone else...

I also had the van in the shop on Tuesday to flush out my transmission and fix a leaky hose.  They did the safety inspection and passed it, which was very generous, considering that cracked windshield.

Between stuff like that, it feels hard to ever get anything else done!

This week, the secretary at Smith Bain is out (she's going to Disney World, lucky woman!) so I can focus on trying to figure out more of what I do for Adam.

And maybe find a nice afternoon to sit by the pool before it closes?  Maybe?

That's what I'm doing while the kids are in school.  Obviously, once they're home, I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get them to and from their various activities.  I've always tried really hard to not over-schedule ourselves, but when each kid does one thing (Bentley: tennis; Kendra: marching band; Ryder: baseball; Colton: gymnastics; Camille: gymnastics), plus piano, plus church activities...  That's actually a whole lot.  Add in my own evening stuff (choir just started back up!  and my beloved book club!) and all of Craig's stuff...  And, yeah, we're really busy it turns out.

We also managed to go to a UVA football game a couple weeks ago:

The last time we went was seven years ago (Camille was a baby!), so it was definitely time!  UVA won and we had fun, even if it was very hot and sweaty.  We went home and everyone showered and then we went to dinner at the Melting Pot to celebrate Craig and my birthdays.  My kids love fondue and had never been, so this was something of a revelation to them!

I look pretty sunburned here, but I LOVE the looks of delight on Ryder's and Bentley's faces!

Happy birthday to us!

So we are having fun, too!  We aren't just running around like crazy people.

Also, one morning there was fog sitting between the hills and I got this great picture as we were walking to the bus stop:

I'm looking forward to cooler weather!  Any day now...