We made it.

Tonight the kids will be staying up as late as they want to.

And tomorrow morning we will be sleeping in.

The craziness that has been our lives lately - lots of commitments, lots of driving here and there, late nights, early mornings - has finally ended, and it couldn't have ended on a better note. Today we attended our annual church picnic at the home of some friends and fellow church members who live on Hamlin Lake (a beautiful, popular inland lake, for my non-local readers). We had a pig roast, lots of great covered dishes and desserts, a wonderful outdoor service, and even a round of Kum-By-Ah. A group of us from Vacation Bible School sang a couple of songs from our "High Seas Expedition" week (during which I was too busy or too exhausted to take pictures - phooey), and the kids even got in a few minutes of fishing in the bayou before we left.

Other than Steve having to leave to go back to work in West Virginia after a wonderful visit - all 35 hours of it - it was a near perfect day.

This evening I sat down to take a break from cleaning house and started flipping through channels on the TV. I landed on Dateline. It was a special about how the recession has touched the lives of folks who were already poor, particularly in an area of southern Ohio.

I must have been overtired, because before long I was in tears.

I cried because I can't believe there are people going hungry in the United States of America. I cried because I understand the fear that comes with desperately seeking a job when there are none available, and wondering how long the food in the pantry and freezer will last. And then I cried happy tears because my family's life is so full and so blessed, and it was that way even in the midst of some pretty stormy times.

So while I am sad every time Steve has to leave again to go back to his job, and while I get a little sideways when I'm tired of parenting two children by myself (essentially), I praise God because we are blessed. We are fed and clothed and we have our home and each other. Our circumstances do not make life easy and perhaps are not ideal for a family, but we make it work. And while I feel overwhelmed at times when we have so much to do and so many places to go and people to see, I need to remember that it's much better than the alternative: having no one, or not being able to go and do and see.

This week will be a week of rest. The kids and I will be catching up on a few things around the house, but mostly we will be relaxing and enjoying each other (Ha! I can hope, right?) and I will be taking some time to reflect on the abundance of our lives.

Here's to enjoying the rest of the summer ... at a slower pace.

Cheers!

Stop the ride! I need to catch my breath.

I have been so busy lately, half the time I don't know whether I'm coming or going. This week is no exception. The good news is this week is the last of the crazy over-scheduled kind, so the month of August should be smooth sailing.

Psh! Yeah, right.

Anyway ...

Summer camp was a great experience for Sam. He's been talking about it since he got home Saturday. I am so excited for him that he had this experience, and I don't think it will take much convincing to get him to go again next year. Interesting note: he lost four pounds during the one week he was there. Those kids were on the move all day long, every day. Good stuff.

I managed to get away by myself for a couple of days to visit Steve in West Virginia. It was fabulous. Thank God for family members willing to watch our pets and our home and take care of our children while I'm gone. It was so good to come back to the comforts of home, but dang that's a long drive and man, I really miss my sweetheart.

While I was in WV I got to meet and have dinner with my friend Heather who I have been chatting with on-line for a few years. This was the first time we got together in person. It was a lovely dinner and we shared lots of laughs and Heather charmed the waiter to pieces.

And then she charmed her husband into taking our picture.

Oh, Steve and Heather's husband Mike were there, too.

Oh, and Mike is Steve's boss.

Details, details.

There has been much socializing on the homefront, too. The group of girlfriends I get together with on a monthly basis during less busy times of year finally managed to pull off a dinner together a couple of weeks ago. I had breakfast with my dear friend Sarah when she was visiting from Boston last week. Sunday the kids and I joined a group of friends/neighbors for their annual canoe trip down the Pere Marquette River. And somewhere in between all that, we've visited a local swimming hole with friends a couple of times, too.

So with all of this going on, why do I feel so out of touch?

I feel like I have been living in a bubble. Everything I do is about me and mine and I'd be hard pressed to tell you what's going on in my community on any given weekend. It's been weeks since we have attended church on a Sunday morning. Here I built this new deck on the house and I have hardly had a chance to sit out there and enjoy it. Shoot, I guess I don't feel too bad about that since it's been too hot to sit out there anyway and the deck will still be there in the fall when the weather cools off.

To top things off, today began Vacation Bible School at our church. This is my eighth year being a leader for VBS and every year brings new challenges and new excitement. Every year I am emotionally and physically exhausted by the end of VBS Week. Somehow I think the exhaustion is beginning to hit me already, though, after only one day.

More about VBS - and hopefully a few pictures - later this week.