Swamped

I just need a hug

And a live-in-chef-nanny-housekeeper-personal assistant.

Or an "Oprah vacation", the kind where they pack your bags, take care of your obligations, whisk you off to someplace relaxing and foot the bill.

Or family nearby.

Or just a hug.

Yesterday, at the bank, the teller who is a perfect stranger looked at me and said, "You look stressed." Holy cow?!? Is it that obvious? I mean, it's not without merit. 

We're moving, which is a long tale in and of itself. Long story short, it wasn't our plan, but it is apparently in God's plan, so I'm down with doing that. It's not easy. It means downsizing a lot for a little while. That's the cost of my one non-negotiable, which is that my kids stay in the same schools. I am going through the counter-culture process of getting rid of "stuff". Even some of that work has been, not just time-consuming, but hard as I come to terms with why I keep things. Who knew going through my belongings would cause me to address things like guilt, security and wastefulness? In the end, it's just things and I have some faith that a lighter load will be healthy for me. (I'm reading 7: A Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. It's really helping me keep this change in perspective.) Since everyone is asking, moving day(s) are July 21-31. We have a big overlap, which will either make it more chaotic or more manageable in bite size chunks. I'll let you know.

My kids are home for the summer and we are full force with their activities-all planned pre-move-awareness. Justus has enjoyed Strength Camp and is looking forward to church camp next week. He kicked off the summer with Musical Theatre camp and will conclude it with Football camp. Lexi is performing in Willy Wonka with Queen Theatre. She's working hard at three nights/two weekend rehearsals each week and Tech Week starts next week (eek!) She kicked off her summer with Musical Theatre camp, followed by VBS. We've had a fun summer! Needless to say, my Mazda has seen a few miles since school has been out.

Jeremy and I are both working from home, which anyone who has ever done it knows the perks and pitfalls of that! Correction: he designs patios at home and spends a lot of time in appointments and overseeing installations. He's been working jobs from Sugar Land/Richmond/Rosenberg to Cypress. His truck has seen a few miles, too.

I'm excited that one of my very best friends just got engaged this past weekend! Her wedding is fast approaching in November and I'm helping her plan it. If you know me, this event-planning thing is right up my alley. I love it! We're playing catch-up to get where we need to be for a wedding four and a half months from now. So that is busy-busy-busy.

Our small group has grown so large! It's thirteen families, which is sixty-four people. Whoa. We made the supremely difficult, but exciting decision to multiply into two groups. I'm excited to see what God will do as we create a little margin in our groups. I hope to grow deeper in our relationships with each other. I hope to continue to have room to add new families. I hope to be preparing the next set of leaders for the time when we've outgrown our homes again. Change always brings out all kinds of feelings. I'm  working on planning a special last time together in August before we multiply into two groups.

I'm sure there is bunch of normal life going on, too. I guess I'm feeling kind of numb to it all. That's what happens during stressful seasons. I put my head down and try to get after it. I guess this is a bit of an attempt to re-connect with people. I miss people. It will be good when July is over.