The house of stash and dash

Our household has taken a real beating in the past several months.  We had an awesome start to the year, and then February hit... two birthdays, a short visit from the inlaws and the customary seasonal emotional downward spiral on my part.  March was busy, April... well you all know how I feel about April.  May was (is) just insane.  My first free day was - today!

I haven't had anyone over to my house since March, and the house shows it.  We have been in survival mode with laundry, dishes, and shopping for weeks now.  You need to excavate the kitchen counters in order to find what you are looking for.  Remnants from the Girl Scout tea party are on top, followed by a camping trip, canning supplies, then Mother's Day and planting the garden day, then Rylan's and Jordan's birthdays, paperwork from 5 different Dr. appts, and about six different projects in various stages of completion.  Just dig through the layers and you will find what you are looking for.  Unless you are my husband or 12 year old son - then you will require my help.  :)

So on my first free day in ages, I cleaned out the family closet and did four loads of laundry, two loads of dishes and watched 3 episodes of America's Heartland (PBS), 3 episodes of Phineas and Ferb, and an entire afternoon of HGTV.  Then I helped Dean clean out the garage, adjusted three bikes to fit the growing kids, and unloaded a ton of lumber from the car.  Dean is building a three-compartment compost bin tomorrow.

Heaven.  Minus the work part.

The house of stash and dash has worn me down more than I realized.  A lot of yelling happens when you stash stuff and can't find it when you need it.  A lot of yelling happens when you have to dash out the door for the umpteenth time in one day.

I am looking forward to pulling this house back together in the coming weeks.

I'm off to shine my sink....

Girl Scouts...by the numbers

Meadow Mtn. Girl Scout Ranch 8/11

1. Number of girls: 8 Daisies, 4 Brownies, 7 Juniors

2. Number of camping trips Rylan and I attended: 2

3. Number of home meetings: 7

Investiture 9/11

4. Number of field trips: 7

5. Number of Girl-Scout troop-related emails received: 612

6. Number of those emails that required a response: just about all of them

Miller Farms Gleaning trip 10/11

7. Number of times I went to the Girl Scout store for badges/books: 5

8. Number of trainings I attended: 2

9. Number of hours I spent recordkeeping/updating Yahoo group: (about) 50

Spring Creek Community Gardens 12/11

10. Number of dollars I spent out-of-pocket: (about) $85

11. Number of times girls argued during a meeting: None!!

12. Number of nature walks we took in the neighborhood: 3

Artisan You Pottery Studio 1/12

13. Number of hours Rylan spent selling cookies door-to-door: 12

14. Number of hours Rylan spent selling cookies at a booth: 3

15. Number of boxes of cookies sold: 260

Booth Sales 2/12

16. Number of boxes of cookies we personally bought: 13

17. Number of Starbucks purchased to stay warm during booth sales: 5

18. Number of girls who attended every meeting: 1 (yeah Chanah!!!)

Environmental Learning Center 3/12

19. Number of girls who earned all of their daisy petals this year: 5

20. Number of girls who left mid-year: 1

21. Number of Journeys we completed: 1

Magic Sky Girl Scout Ranch 3/12

22. Number of girls with food allergies: 4

23. Number of months a project stayed on my kitchen counter: 7

24. Number of times we cancelled a meeting: 2  (snow)

Tour of Poudre Fire Authority Station # 4    4/12

25. Number of times we learned about nature study: 3

26. Number of crafts: 5

27. Number of service projects: 3

Master Naturalists 4/12

28. Number of times we cooked in the kitchen: 2

29. Number of times we read a story (not including the Journey): 4

30. Number of times a sibling attended a meeting: every time!

Spring Creek Clean-up Clover Project 4/12

31. Number of hikes: 1 (on a camping trip)

32. Number of hours I gave to thinking it through before offering to lead the Daisies: 4

33. Number of hours I regretted making that decision: a handful

Tea Party 5/25/12

34. Number of hours I was thrilled to do this with my daughter: too many to count

35. Number of minutes we spent making Rylan's tea party hat: 10

36. Number of minutes we spent choosing the items for Rylan's hat: 45

37. Number of degrees in the air temperature at yesterday's party/ceremony: 65

38. Number of badges/fun patches Rylan earned this past year: 33

39. Number of hours I spent preparing for yesterday's party/ceremony: 8

40.  Number of parent thank-yous I've received over the year: 5    yesterday: 0

Despite the frustrations with this past year, I will, in the end, say it was worth it.  The amount of distraction involved with emails, disagreements, record keeping, cookies, and prep time was costly though.  Our home life and our schoolwork truly suffered.  I am thankful for the time I got to spend with my daughter - doing girly things, and for the opportunity to get to know some truly wonderful, special girls.  I am thankful that they all got along so well, and worked together as a team a time or two.

I don't know what next year will look like yet - and I don't even want to think about it right now.  I feel like I have just completed a long, exhausting emotional marathon.  And it isn't over yet - we've got to get through Girl Scout Day Camp next month, as well.

For now I will celebrate that we did it - we got through the year and had a lot of fun along the way.