Kristen Blog

What a beautiful weekend we had here.  We finally got past the scorching heat and into some lovely Fall weather, just in time for the local Fall Festival. I'm not a big fan anymore. Forgive me. I promise I'm not a total scrooge or anything, but I feel like my personality has done a complete 180...wait...Did I ever really get that excited about festivals and holidays?  Maybe, a bit, when the girls were small.  I enjoyed letting them spend a little money on the rides and games.  But, back then, we had an excruciatingly tight budget.  And technology has only improved. Amazon has come in with the easy, online acquisition of just about (literally) ANYTHING you want.  And there is a trampoline park or an all-you-want gaming center around every corner.  The boys have so much access to so many fun things.  It is hard to get excited about walking shoulder to shoulder with total strangers in a confined outdoor space, when I know they can have just as much fun without having to violate my

Let's start with this, because I can NOT wait a minute longer. DRUMROLL, PLEASE... The absolutely, positively BEST and most dominating part of the week was hearing the words "healed."  The remainder has been filled up with a lot of blessings and firsts.  He got to go, last minute, with an old baseball buddy to see the Royals play.  They had awesome seats and managed to get 4 baseballs tossed from the players.  I was so proud to hear what my son did with those baseballs...he turned around and gave them to the younger kids sitting behind him.  And that was BEFORE he got the good news about the splint/casts.  These are the times when a weary mama stops and realizes, "Yeah...it HAS all been worth it." And speaking of weary... This week was a madman.  (I'm reading a book about one, so I'm pretty much an expert on identifying it.). I had meetings and schools and long drives and long drives and meetings and schools.  My exhaustion just seemed to snowball from o

I have been dreading the first week out of the house for a...pretty much ALL summer.  And you know what.  It was a pretty good week. Every time I walk into the room and see these kids' faces, and the teachers who have returned, my heart just swells.  I genuinely love these people with whom I am so fortunate to work. That said, it WAS a crazy, chaotic, intense week.  I think that's really what I dreaded.  Because, honestly, I have a workload enough to keep me around here.  And I realize I take on WAY too much, but upon reflection, there just isn't anything I am currently willing to give up.  It's all a trade off, anyway.  When I am out of the house, I just don't get the housework and "projects" done.  If you can't stand the occasional table full of laundry or cat hair dust bunnies rolling around like southwest tumbleweeds...just don't visit me here.  We can meet somewhere more sanitary, where I can offer my love and encouragement to you, undistracte

You know how, when you are at the end of your rope, and you are barely clinging onto existence, and it takes every last bit of your energy to just get up and put one foot in front of the other to function through the demands of your day?  And then, say...your washer goes out.  Or your A/C breaks down.  Or...let's just hypothesize...the transmission in your 5 yo car goes out. You guys...I'm starting to feel like a big, whiny complainer.  But...I have seriously been dealt a nasty hand this week.     I can't say more.  I wish I could...but... All I have to do is scan the news headlines each day to see that I am not alone.  And even when I really want to give up, I know I won't.  I've been in this place before, and I will be in this place again.  I hate the desert, but I know I will eventually find the water and shade. I think there are a lot of people having a hard time right now.  I am seeing a lot of friends making big changes.  Some are making smaller changes.  But,

Me and my great = LOVE!!! I was thinking about writing a story called Kristen Vs. The World...but turns out, they already made that one.  It's called "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," and I would post an explanatory pic...but I insist on more clothes in the current version. Speaking of clothes (and I should really put this on my knitting page), I finished a challenging piece just in time for my Great's 1st birthday party!!!  I can not think of a more special occasion for the big reveal.  It's not perfect.  Nothing I make ever is, and I am my worst critic.  Once I made a whole outfit, skirt and top, in a lovely small stitch.  I wore it to church, and when no one noticed it, I went home a threw the whole thing out. We do NOT suggest you follow this plan. Which brings me to...I really wish I could spend a LOT less time caring about what other people think.  And I realize my empathy is a gift.  But if I could just separate empathy from anxiously trying to read other peop

Fresh hair cuts!!  I threw this one in at the last minute the day before. Do you feel the change in the air?  Sometimes I think I can smell it.  I can definitely hear it.  I was playing Trivia Crack Adventures the other day, and I had no question on the answer to, "Which insect is the loudest?"  CICADAS!  They are a sure sign of the onset of fall and the impending start of school. Speaking of which, one kid officially started this week, and he is Hap...Hap...Happy!!  Last night, he came down to my room so depressed that today was not a school day.  Ahhhh...I wish I could preserve that enthusiasm.  I remember being so sad one day, when I woke up, and my mom told me I was sick and could not go to school.  My strawberry shortcake lunchbox was packed and ready in the refrigerator.  It broke my heart. That enthusiasm left me around 4th or (DEFINITELY) 5th grade.  So, by the time I hit Jr. High, they were trying to bribe me to just show up and stick around.  I don't know...the

All good things must come to a close.  And, honestly, this one was not all that particularly good, but I'm still NOT ready.  However, like it or not, this week marks the official end of the O'Hara summer.  I will say that it has been one of my easiest summers yet.  Lots of vacation time and my youngest becoming increasingly independent.  (I don't even have to get his milk anymore!  And when I left for Columbia, instead of being sad, he was mad he didn't get to do something "fun."  I tried to explain exactly how "fun" is a work trip, but...) And, speaking of Columbia, I got to the end of that stressful drive and found myself pulling into the wrong hotel.  So annoying!  Of course, I couldn't get any service to correct my gps mistake, and I have like NO sense of direction - unless I am in the mall looking for the restrooms.  (So there's that.). Fortunately, I found a McDonald's and accessed the wifi from my car.  15 more minutes on I-70...UG