Back in Phoenix

The last few days have been really busy, but really fun.  VBS was pretty insane.  It seemed crazier than it has been in past years.  I felt like we spent half the time trying to get them to be quiet and sit still and the other half actually having fun.  But that's the way it goes sometimes with little kids.  It was so weird that some of the kids I babysat as infants were in preschool now!  Those kids were in the nursery when I did it for VBS 4 years ago.  And the kids I had in preschool are now in 1st and 2nd grade.  Time goes by so fast.  The Friday night show was so disorganized and really scary for me.  I was told that my job was to help the kids learn their lines.  What I didn't realize is that nobody had figured out how the show was going to work.  I didn't know how to get the kids in the order for their lines and out onto stage in front of the microphone without having complete chaos.  So at the last minute, I let the 5th and 6th graders do all the lines.  The show went surprisingly well despite all the chaos and disorganization.  The kids had a great time.  And the best part is that Rylan was so attached to me all night :-)  When he saw me across the church, he took off and ran straight to me and gave me a hug.  During the entire show he sat right next to me almost perfectly still.  That's pretty good for a 2 year old.  Kian and Rylan are coming over on Sunday to go swimming.  I think that will be really fun.

Today, besides recovering from VBS, I have been cleaning out my childhood bedroom.  I have a ton of stuff to throw out, a ton of stuff to donate, and some stuff to take with me to our new house.  It's mostly old childhood memory stuff.  It'll probably go up in the attic or something.  But I don't want to get rid of it regardless.  Coming back to my parents house drives me nuts.  They have so much STUFF.  My dad keeps buying more and more. Every inch of the walls is covered in paintings, pictures, etc.  Every tabletop is covered in knick knacks or old mail or papers.  Every corner is filled with furniture..... I can't stand it.  If this were my house I would probably get rid of half the stuff in it.  But my dad wants to buy more!  I don't know what it is, but clutter makes me a little crazy.  So it feels good to at least get rid of the clutter in my bedroom.   Part of me doesn't want to take any of it to Denver because I'm afraid our house will get cluttered. But I also have to remind myself that I'm not taking all that much stuff and I will have plenty of space in closets and the attic to store stuff if we don't want to put it out somewhere.  I think Daniel is going to be upset at how many books I'm taking.  I love to read and there are so many good books I have accumulated over the years.  I'm hoping that I will be able to display them somewhere in the living room.  I think it will make us look smart and be sort of a conversation piece to have all these great books out where people can see them.  But Daniel thinks books are a waste of space.  As he put it "what are we going to do with books?"  But he will have to deal with it because he's marrying me and I love books!

Tonight I'm going over to Daniel's parent's house for dinner.  I think it will be nice to spend some time with them.  His mom was so sweet to invite me even though Daniel's not here.  And my parents finally decided to book the cruise over New Year's so the whole family will be together for a few days.  I think it will be so much fun.