SURELY YOU COULD DO A LITTLE BIT MORE?

Lemme "Esplain"
I'll clarify the issue by my experiences at the free county fair on Saturday.

Experience 1: I had my 4H rabbit club shirt (from Jackson County/Altus) on since we went to see the rabbits showing Saturday morning. Someone asked me that, since Grady County/Chickasha didn't have a rabbit club, why didn't I start one up?

Experience 2: This one was seriously out of the blue. We were looking at the awarded displays (you know, sewing, art, photography, etc.), when, around the homemade goodies, a man I don't know from Adam asked me if I'd put something in the fair. Nope. Why not? How about next year? I bet you'd win!

The animal shelter needs volunteers; the foster kids group needs parent; the women's shelter needs helpers. Etc., etc. Don't get me wrong; I sympathize with a lot of these causes (except the animal shelter. I can't feel guilty when my allergies preclude assisting).

But....I AM TOO BUSY! Seriously. Even attending the fair as I did took precious time I could barely spare. I've had people ask me if maybe I shouldn't get a full-time regular, daytime job. Between a dearth of vehicles and everything else I have to do (studying, caring for family, taxiing others around, etc.) there's just no way. I am exhausted and dizzy just trying to get done what I need to.

Typical Day Schedule
This takes into account schooling for some, jobs for others, and everything else in between:
Seminary in the early morning. I pick up a student, and afterwards I take her to school. Then I get home and get ready to teach one or two VK classes. Analiese started college this week, so she goes off to USAO MWF and then will be working for Braums TTHS.

I snuck this pic when she wasn't watching Tuesday. She looks so cute in her pink cap!

She's walking to USAO because I may be teaching classes when she needs to leave (first class for her is 9:05). Braums is across town, so I have to take her. Ken works Monday - Friday. So far it's early in the morning (like 3 a.m.), but may change later. Jonathan works Walgreens at various times between 9 am and 9 pm.

I have VK, Seminary, and tutoring study in between. That's right; it's now a trifecta. I am a reading/writing tutor (at the request of local EPIC teachers). I have to prep for that as much as the others. If you think about it, it means I now have 2 part time jobs. Mind you, they're contract work. I'm the boss. But I get what I get. I'm going to advertise in the library on their posting board this week. It's right next to the big room where the EPIC teachers meet with students and parents. Perfect spot!

Then, there is the housekeeping stuff in between. Meals, shopping, laundry, cleaning. And any other appointment or service that can be squeezed in between.

You tell me, when am I supposed to go work? And how do I get there while still getting others where they need to be?

New Things and Ending Things
Analiese had her first day, training, at Braum's on Tuesday. She worked Thursday and Saturday at Taco Bell, for the last time. She's getting paid more and from others who've worked there, Braum's is really good about working around school schedules.

Friday, she started at USAO. At first, we thought she'd have to walk (2 blocks east, 12 blocks south) by herself because I had classes. But, they cancelled, so I walked with her that first day. Thankfully, our heat wave broke Wednesday night, and the walk wasn't too bad, especially in the shade.

This Mississippi kite kept "talking" to me as I walked past it on my way home!

The street we went down, that runs behind the campus, has a median with a walking path. It was a nice walk.

We left in plenty of time and got there about 20 minutes before her writing class started.

My collegiate, ready for her first class! Gushy momma!

One of her fellow seminary students is in her writing class, and another is in her college math class. (I've been a little nervous about her math class, but she came out of it smiling and saying she actually understood what was going on. Blessing!) It's at 12:20, so she has a lot of time in between. It's too much of a walk to come home, but she takes a lunch and can study for classes or EPIC in the student center or the library or go work with a tutor if she needs it. She's very independent. She was going to walk home Friday, even with me having a 1 pm tutoring appointment at the USAO library. But my appointment cancelled, so she came home with me in the van.

Yep, I already have one tutoring student. They were coming for beginning meetup and evaluation, but forgot. I guess I ought to call my students the day before to remind them. When they sign the contract, it states I will charge them for no-shows less than 24 hours. Hopefully that will help. Part of my busy-ness this week has been prepping my tutoring bag and forms, etc.

The Fair
Not being in 4H anymore, we aren't that involved in our local fairs. But we still love to go! Our sister missionaries set up a booth offering free Bibles and Books of Mormon along with pamphlets and lots of conversation. I went Thursday (I brought them TB lunch instead of feeding them dinner later) and hung out for a couple of hours with them and a newer sister. We had some great conversations together and with people checking out the booth. I couldn't stay much longer (see my schedule), but I enjoyed the time I had!

Sister Bullock shows off their scripture display!

I saw that they had the set up for the rabbit show for Saturday. So I told Analiese later that day that - if she got the cages cleaned Friday afternoon/evening - I would take her to the fair Saturday morning before she had to work at TB to see the rabbits. She did, and Ken went with us. We had to move fast through the other exhibits so we could see the buns, but we did and enjoyed them very much. They had a lot of Dutches (very popular, almost too much) and some English and Mini lops. There was one Mini Rex, a youngster named Charlie. I showed his little girl owner how to hold him right for showmanship before the judge. Her mom appreciated that and I got a chance to show off and snuggle with a baby bun!

During our rush through the halls, I'd found a Tupperware vendor. Now, I have three lids from those cereal-type containers (long and tall) that have nearly completely disintegrated. I've been told for years that I have to contact the company directly and send it in. I didn't want the hassle, but I still hold on to the stuff. The gal at the fair said she'd take care of it for me! Score! My new friend!

So after Analiese got off of work, we went BACK to the fair. The rabbits were gone, but we had more time to spend enjoying things. We got to see some heifers,

Wendy, this was the sweetest little gal. You would have loved her!

talk to some of the bank vendors (we need to make a change) and just enjoy chatting up people! Analiese saw a couple of her friends from "Mary Poppins," which was her favorite part.

Ken caught the girls on the midway!

We also got there in time to help the sisters take down their booth and transport things back to the church. I asked them how the whole weekend went, and they said they'd had good responses. It was a very successful weekend for them and the other missionaries that came to help!

We ended up having a late dinner and I stayed up too late working on things that had to be done before Sunday & Monday, but we hadn't done much fair stuff in a long time. It was good!