Double Triple Threat

Last week might have been the busiest week of my adult life: 

• Monday: housework, track practice, kids piano lessons, grocery store, 6th grade beginner band event for Rose, I had to submit middle school track meet entries online, and parent teacher conferences till 7:45pm for Jeff. 
• Tuesday was our "easy day" of the week: demanding physical therapy appointment for me, housework, cooking, track prep and practice, and nothing else! We had dinner together as a family for the first and only time all week on Tuesday.
• Wednesday: final preliminary meeting with the contractor--work begins with demolition day on Tuesday, May 9th! Jay and I had a middle school track meet from 1:30-9:30pm way out in Naches, WA (an hour away), which included a stop at McDonald's for dinner with 35 middle schoolers on the way home. Jeff had track practice and then parent teacher conferences until 7:45pm (Jeff managed to slip away long enough to drive Rose and Amber home between track practice and conferences). 
• Thursday: I had a creaky crackly chiropractor appointment, plus a very satisfying/tiring run, and 2+ hours at middle school track practice. A surveyor came out to our new house and marked the property corners, since they were nowhere to be found. And of course the corners on one side are not in a great place, so we're going to have to apply to the county for a lot line adjustment and who am I and how did all of this become the norm? Jeff was in Wenatchee at a high school track meet until 10:30pm.
• Friday: I met with a lawn sprinkler guy at our new house and he took measurements/got the lay of the land to convert the existing agricultural irrigation system into a backyard-style system. Then of course there was track practice in the afternoon. Jeff took a van full of his elite distance runners from the high school track team up to the Seattle area (Issaquah) for a distance festival track meet. He did not get home until after midnight. 

The double: two nights of Jeff at parent teacher conferences and two challenging appointments for me (physical therapy and chiropractor). The triple: three track meets and three house prep meetings (contractor, surveyor, & lawn/sprinkler guy). Miraculously, we did manage to have family scripture every day this week, by reading a few verses in the morning before everyone scattered far and wide for the day. Jeff and I communicated via patchy brief phone calls when we could, which mostly consisted of me speed-talking-summarizing the latest news on the house and my little track team.

Also, our washing machine died a slow drawn out death over the past few weeks, so the laundry situation got rather limp and fragrant this week as we awaited the delivery of our new washer and dryer. We had to delay the delivery until Saturday because nobody was home for the four hour delivery window any other day this week.

By the time Saturday rolled around, we were still standing, though feeling a tad shaky and worn thin from the busyness of the week. But we had two acres of grass to mow and berries to water and weeds to whack! So the five of us went across the street and put in a few hours of house and yardwork. I removed curtain rods from the windows in preparation for demolition day, which begins this Tuesday. Jeff and I moved a few shelves that we want to save from the house to the barn (SO HEAVY, my poor skeleton nearly broke under the strain after my week of exhausting pinpointed physical therapy and chiropractic adjustments). 

While I worked laboriously removing screws from the curtain rods, Jeff and the kids did yardwork. It was a gorgeous day--sunny but not too hot, and I was a little grumpy and jealous that everyone else was outside sneezing with the pollen rather than inside with me sneezing in the dust and old dog dander. I'll take pollen-sneezes over dust-dander sneezes any day! Jay was a champion and mowed most of the massive yard. We went home nearly 3 hours later feeling tired, dirty, and satisfied with our work. 

I had been planning a Saturday morning run, but Saturday morning was over by the time we finished our yardwork! So I swallowed a granola bar and went on a Saturday lunchtime run. Somehow I found the energy to enjoy a sunny free glorious 6 mile run. It was a calculated risk, running my 6 mile loop, because given my small breakfast and hours of work, I knew I could bonk at any moment. Thankfully that placeholder granola bar held out and I was able to get into the zone and soak in the tranquility of a good sunshiny run. 

Saturday evening we finally got around to celebrating Star Wars Day--May 4th--may the 4th be with you. We watched the season finale to the Mandalorian. Well, I was in the room while my family watched. Baby Yoda is adorable, but I think the rest of the Star Wars shows and movies are so boring! Unpopular opinion alert! Haha. Even though I did not like what we were watching, it was nice to snuggle up on the couch with my family after our long long busy busy week.

This morning, Jeff and I looked at each other with bleary eyes and said, "we survived!" Then we went to church, where Jeff taught the adult Sunday school class.

Monday night: 120 6th grade band students from 4 schools in one gym. They about brought the roof down with their enthusiastic playing. There was a guest conductor and everything. It was such a cool event! Rose enjoyed playing what notes she could on her clarinet.

Amber meets us at the end of middle school track practice after school every afternoon. She must have picked every dandelion between the elementary school and the middle school last week.

I almost didn't share this picture, because it's horrible, but this is Rose and Amber's bedroom before their Saturday chore of put away all of the clothes. They live like hamsters with all of their clothes heaped on the floor, and I feel best when I simply don't look.

Team warm-up at the Naches middle school track meet! At practice the day before this meet, I had my team practice arriving at a meet and doing the warm-up together before disappearing to the bathroom and other unknown locations. It worked! They all did the warm-up together and looked like a real team while doing it. I felt all fluffy like a proud mama coach hen.

Before the hurdle races began at the middle school meet, one of my runners fell during his practice jump, and another girl said "coach, these hurdles feel really high!" A closer look showed that the hurdles were indeed one click too high. So I told the starter and the announcer called for all available hands to lower the hurdles to the regulation 30 inch middle school height. Whew! My trio of tiny cute 7th grade boy hurdlers were able to clear the hurdles during their race.

The starting line for the 1600 meter race: go Jay! It is hard coaching five different runners in one track race, but it is even harder when one of those runners is my own son, and even harder when the athletic director calls my cell phone right when the gun goes off! All of that happened at this meet. Thankfully Coach Winger made the trip out to Naches to spur these boys on to new heights. Jay shaved a few more seconds off of his mile PR, finishing in 5:54 on a hot sunny day.

I did not have enough hands to take a picture of Jay during his one mile race, but I did manage this homestretch pic during Jay's 800 meter race later that day. When I showed it to Jay later, he was pleased to see all of his leg muscles popping.

We snagged a patch of shade under this gorgeous blossoming tree at the meet. 

Thursday evening fatherless shenanigans: sisters attack the big brother.

My sweet sunshines in the sunshine. I always think they look extra angelic when the sun is shining on their golden heads. At this rate, it won't be long till all three kids' hair is the same length!

A not great picture of the property corner marker that is about 20 feet in the wrong direction. Not that we want more grass to mow, but the lay of the land and the flow of the driveway really require that marker to move north 20 feet. Sigh.

Middle school track practice usually has a breaking point every day: where focus and training break down into kids goofing off, playing, and having fun. On Friday, this tiny featherweight 7th grader laid on the high jump mat and the kids tossed him up and down in the air while carrying the mat back to the shed. These kids make me laugh every day.

Jay left to mow the grass before 8am of his own volition on Saturday. His note on the fridge made me happy.

That little speck in the middle of the field is Jay, working his magic on the bumpy lawn. As Jay finished up the last few rows of mowing, Jeff and I coiled the garden hose and then sat on a bench, looking west across the yard. It was so peaceful and quiet and sunny and perfect. We sighed and said yes, we will be SO happy living here in this unexpectedly beautiful tranquil corner of the world.

Jay, mowing the last little bit--that pink flag is the property corner. We think since we're going to be messing with the property line anyways, we may as well move the line back to the existing fence for simplicity.

Instead of paying attention to the latest high speed space battle on The Mandalorian show, I was taking selfies and making snarky comments about the ridiculous plot holes and costume choices in the show. Jeff and Jay caught on to my sly selfie, haha. Lame show notwithstanding, it was lovely to be still and snuggle up with my family after our double triple threat of a week.