Good Enough

Wouldn't you know it. As soon as I let go of the whole "trying to do it all" and "Sweating the Small stuff" we got a ton done this weekend. Of course. BigDaddy was home all day Saturday and none of us had any plans. Not the norm. We did a bunch of laundry, worked in the weeds, er... I mean the yard, and even planted part of garden. The kids were great and hung out with me outside "helping." BigBoy and I even planted the garden together during a toddler nap. I kinda jacked up my placement in the boxes of the plants, but oh well. I did it! After I was admiring our handy work, I realized I should have flip-flopped the plants, but it will be fine. Not perfect, but good enough. And sometimes all you need is Good Enough.

I really think after I got over not being able to get EVERYTHING done at once, I was able to see the pieces that make the bigger picture. And it was doable. So I did some. And then some more. And then a bit more. What a concept! I'm a genius I tell ya.

I'm beat now though. Worked in the house and then in the yard. Prayed for the rain to come late today. Prayed some more. And then the Carnival started. Not just any carnival. The carnival across the street. Yes, ACROSS THE STREET. As in, right on campus in the field by where we live. We saw the trucks come in last week. Then the Ferris wheel went up. Then the seats in the wheel. Then they tested the lights. My children saw every step happen and gave us a play-by-play from the living room window. The weather forecast? RAIN all weekend. We were walking on eggshells all day on Saturday. I did NOT want to deal with heartbroken munchkins with their mechanical love affair mocking them from across the street.

It decided to spit on us here and there, but overall it was only cloudy and the heavy rain stayed away! Good Enough for us! We were able to get there right at the start, hit the carousel (5 times), the scrambler, the swings,the dizzy dragons and some other rides that I have no clue what they were called. We popped the kids in and tried not to notice the duct tape holding my restraint bar together, or think about how many filthy germs were getting on us. We pet some baby farm animals, dunked a few students and ate some food at the buffet.

It was great and get this:. totally free. yes, FREE. Put on by the school for the college community. (The General Community was invited too, for an entrance fee.) I think it's great that the school realizes these types of events are good for its community of worker bees and their families. We got to see some neighbors again, after being in hibernation all winter. Saw a bunch of students and hung out with people BigDaddy works with. It's nice to reconnect with everyone. We also saw the family we met at BigBoy's open house. Yeah!

We also live in campus housing and saw lots of the people that keep the school, and our house, going: campus police, maintenance guys, housekeepers, etc. Some haven't seen the kids since we first moved in (we had a LOT of work done on our place.) It's so cute for them to see SassyGirl and be amazed at how big she is or not believe BigBoy is starting Kindergarten. We don't have family here so this is our extended family. The grown-ups that gush over how big the kids are. The friends that join us for "one more ride" before heading home. We had a great night and were exhausted when we walked all the way home.

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In other news...

Food and Diet
I know I said I'm not worrying about the scale, but truth is, I am. It's not going down at all. Our diet has improved, I've been working out 3 times a week consistently. My body IS better and I feel better. But I just want more. I'm thinking about counting points Weight Watchers style again. I really don't want to, but I kind of feel like I'm losing my focus on portion control again since I've been so concerned about what we eat being better quality, natural, etc. Maybe I just need to figure out point values for our "new foods" so I can mentally keep track. Before I was able to keep track of pretty much everything I ate. I'm not sure how to tackle this yet. I'll keep you posted. Mr. Snarky (wii fit) is keeping tabs on me. A few days ago my BMI was actually at it's lowest to date-- I've been doing it for 32 days now! I just feel like I need another kick start. I wish it were time for ridiculous amounts of fresh produce. That would make this a lot easier.

Yard
I have mentioned the swing set before, but I haven't given you the full scoop. The swing set, bigger than what we had planned, came completely disassemble. As in, not. a. single. piece. was. connected. to. another. really. BigDaddy and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named put it together over the course of a weekend- on and off. It was a huge task and they did a great job. Big props to you guys!! The kids looooove it and Mama loves that they are semi-enclosed at the deepest point of our yard and I can sit happily on the back porch or patio and still see them. Hallelujah!

I also noticed my Peonies are happy and might actually bloom!! These aren't just any peonies, these are peonies BigBoy and my Great Aunt dug up from the family farm in Nebraska (paternal grandfather was born there.) My Great Grandma's Peonies. We threw them into a plastic grocery bag during a visit there a few years ago and I packed them in my suitcase and hoped for the best. After Peonies are transplanted, they are a bit pissed off (in shock) and won't bloom the first year. I didn't know this and was heart broken. But the next year they were beeeautiful! When we put our house on the market last year, I told our Realtor they were coming with me no matter what. I dug them up and tossed them into a huge pot and prayed they would be okay. I just saw that the buds are sticky and it looks like I'm going to have Peonies our first year here!!! Peony buds secrete a sticky sap, then usually ants will cover them and eat the sap. It's totally fine- they don't hurt them. But we must not have many ants here as the buds are totally ant free.

Amazingly, all I could do was Good Enough with these bad boys, not once but twice, in transporting them across multiple states. Perfect shipping was not an option. Lo and behold, I have been rewarded none-the-less.