We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Did you think I'd abandoned you?

Nah. Not me. That's not my style. But I have been experiencing the most severe burnout of my life.

I pushed and pushed and pushed to get through my uber-busy summer. I was going all the time. Writing papers during nap-time, painting walls at 2 AM, reading Shakespeare while I made breakfast for the kids, running in the dark. It was crazy.

When it was all over, I let out a big sigh and sat down.

And then I couldn't get up. For weeks. I'd had steel discipline for months, and suddenly I couldn't motivate myself to do anything. I ate ice cream. I only exercised if I wanted to. I read books I like and hung out with the kids.

It was pretty nice.

Fall semester started (LAST ONE, PEOPLE!) and I have stayed caught up, but I'm certainly not asking my professors for extra credit assignments.

I'm getting to know my kids again and slowly feeling like I can look forward instead of only staring down at my exhausted feet.

So here's what's going on with us now.

DH: Same old. Work. Being an awesome husband. We have made a goal to go to lunch together once a month. It's delightful. I love him dearly.

R: Is in first grade and doing well. I'm very proud of the way he comes home and willingly does his homework, which is much more than he ever had in Kindergarten. He has had a general maturing of his attitude in the last few months, which makes his parents very happy. R quotes that I would like to have on the record:

"Mom, I'm glad you're the cooker in our family because you make the best food in the whole entire world."

"I'm really glad you're my mom. I'd rather have you than a mom who took me to Disneyland everyday."

He did have a run-in with some scissors recently, however. When I found the chopped off spot front and center on his scalp he tried to convince me that he was just "holding the scissors and they flew out of my hand and landed on my head." Mm-hmm. So we shaved his head. He did not like that.

I love this picture. It looks like he's thinking, "Gee, why did I do that?"

It has grown out a bit now, but not a lot, and he was disappointed that it didn't look like his regular haircut by picture day. Oh, well. I don't think he'll be cutting his hair again anytime soon.

T is in third grade and loving life. Her big change is that she started Orchestra, playing violin, which means she has to be to school an hour early two days a week. She is proving very responsible with her instrument and practice schedule. Once she started making real notes with the bow instead of those horrid, spasm-inducing scratches, I was much happier with her decision to learn violin.

We also decided, she and I, that the morning struggles with the hair brush warranted a haircut. She is very happy with her new look. (And here she is wearing the very same dress as pictured above, to give a true comparison.)

We've been enjoying the splendid Indian Summer. I had to snap this shot of T and her little friend the other day. A day in the life.

Since T and R are both in full time school, E is my little buddy, with me constantly. She is such a funny, quirky thing. Potty-training is snail-paced, but we're okay with that. Swimsuits are her preferred attire. Or nothing.


She insists on doing everything herself, and there are consequences if I do not let her. If I close a door for her, she will open it again so that she can close it herself. She insists on spooning her own chocolate milk powder (though she hasn't quite mastered the skill) and, to my ever-lasting frustration, taking off her own diaper. Mostly, though, she's so darn funny that even when she's being impudent I'm usually laughing. I love that little thing.

Me? Well, I've taken up a new hobby. I use it to feel productive when I'm putting off more important things.

It all started with a pair of crocheted slippers that I found online. I really wanted someone to make them for me. Finally, I decided I would make them for me. I followed a few tutorials on YouTube to learn how to do the stitches, and after some trial and error, ended up with these:

T, not to be left out, begged me to make her a pair, so I modified the pattern a little and watched some more tutorials. She is pleased with them:

Then, to keep my hands busy during General Conference I made myself a scarf. Sorry, I forgot to turn the picture, but you get the idea.

Now that I'm standing up on a regular basis again, I'll be back to blogging and everything else I like to do. My burn-out is burning out. And my thighs are shouting loud and clear, "Stop eating ice cream."

Roger that.