Random

Just found this website yesterday. Lots of funny shirt designs. Some too crass for my taste, but others quite good. I especially would like to buy this one:

• In other news, our family has been overloaded the past few weeks. We surely didn't plan it this way, it just happened and we're all feeling the stress.
• First, there was Grandpa's funeral. Spending several days of one week out of town was not in the plans. Because of that we had to reschedule a surgery for Mashuga.
• He ended up having surgery on the 12th, which went well. He's had up days and down days since. Last night was particularly difficult. He woke up crying in pain and it took a while for us to get medicine in him and for that medicine to kick in so he could go back to sleep. He wanted me to hold him, so we lay on the couch together until he fell asleep. He's fine now, so I hope that it all gets better from here.
• We finished up our first week of swimming lessons today. We have four more lessons next week. All four children are taking lessons, with me doing a parent/tot class with Coco. I was planning to reschedule lessons for Mashuga, in light of his surgery, but he insisted that he felt good enough to swim so we gave it a shot. He seems to be doing well, though I am glad that we have been able to stay home today so that he could just rest.
• We bought a new van a couple of weeks ago. It's a 96 Honda Odyssey and is a treat to drive. We were able to pay cash, thank goodness. I really didn't want a car payment. And I must say, the 20-25 MPG she gets is much easier to swallow than Carlos' 13-15MPG.
• On Tuesday I taught the 3rd class in a six week BFW series. This class has been such a joy to mentor. The three couples in my class are wonderful and we've been able to have some really fun, really good learning moments. This is good, good work.
• We also started off our summer cousins' camp. We had a campout at my SIL's house on Friday night, which was so much fun. Then, I had all of the cousins at my house on Tuesday and we played games and painted and made rafts and read stories and talked about Honesty and Integrity. We will be switching off homes and doing this every Tuesday. Playing together, learning values and just enjoying cousin time. I did learn a few things, one of them is that painting at my kitchen table with tempera paints with kids ranging in age from 18 months to 10 years is not such a great idea.
  
• Tomorrow I head up north for a national poetry convention. It only comes to our state once every couple of decades, so I'm excited to get to enjoy this in my own backyard. One very big bonus is that my Aunt and Uncle live just a few blocks from the convention center where it's being hosted. So, I will be staying with them. And it's funny how much I feel like a little kid, excited to see them and spend time at their house. I have such fond memories of their home, their yard and them especially. I've been surprised by how excited I am to spend time there. The state poetry convention was a lot of fun and I imagine this will be even more so. I am especially looking forward to the speakers and workshops they have planned for us. And not sure whether or not I want to win any contests. I wouldn't complain, of course, about the money or the recognition even. But, the winners "get" to read their poems aloud in front of everyone. And, well, last time that was less than wonderful for me. I almost fell off the podium with my shaking. :) Ah, well. I'll get better with it. I have no trouble with public speaking or teaching or sharing my poetry in a small group. But somehow, reading my poetry in front of such a large group of people was rather unnerving for me.

Okay, so I'm rambling now. I have SOOOOOOOOO many pictures to post here. I just found our camera a while ago and need to upload pictures. Someday I'll get good at doing that regularly. Maybe.

Hope you all are doing well, staying cool and being happy.