Read, Cook, and Rest

Spring break is here and I couldn't be happier.  People keep asking me what we have going on and I want to shout with glee, "Nothing!!!"  It's going to be a mellow week around the Clarks and that is a-okay with me.  I want to read, cook, and rest, and if I get to see some friends and watch some shows on the DVR inbetween, then even better.

The weeks of March leading up to spring break felt all-consuming with work.  I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing to wake up first thing in the morning thinking about work, working all day, bringing work home with me, working at night, and thinking about work and my to do list the several times I wake up in the middle of the night.

Let's just say I was ready for spring break.

In the past few weeks we had a quick visit from Grandma Carmen and Grandpa Doug, Declan's birthday party, and a trip to Eugene.  Trey had a dentist appointment (thank god for my husband who took him to spare me the pain of the bad news of his cavities), and I had a fun happy hour with Jen and Sarah.  Random events, I know, but those are the highlights.

I know you working parents know what I'm talking about, but I can't express enough how much I hate the weeknight grind.  Home by 5 or 530, try to get dinner on the table by 6, start bedtime at 7, and get some schoolwork done inbetween.  I try to spend quality time with Trey, but it is really difficult, and there tends to be too much screen time on weeknights.  By the time I get Trey down to bed (later than I'd like), I'm too tired to even watch tv.  All I want to do is go to bed, read a little, and go to sleep.  I've been trying to remember some of the tips that Brigid Schulte recommends in Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time.  I would like to check email and do social media in batches of time rather than spread throughout the day (so far, that hasn't been working).  I'd also like to follow the suggestion of carrying a little notebook with me to write down thoughts, worries, or things to do.  Right now I have a lot of those thoughts while I'm driving and the best I can do is a voice memo on my iPhone.  She also mentions taking time to pause and thinking about what is most important...to me that is most definitely Trey.

Last weekend we went to Eugene to see my dad and Sandy and to go to my uncle's funeral.  My mom's oldest brother, Lloyd, passed away a month ago, and the family had a memorial for him in Eugene.  We drove down on Saturday morning, spent the afternoon at my dad and Sandy's, and went to dinner with Sarah, Chris, and the kids.  Sunday we had a relaxing morning at my dad and Sandy's, went to lunch at Hop Valley, and then went to Uncle Lloyd's memorial.  It was good to see family and spend time remembering Lloyd.

Riding the merry-go-round with Sarah and the kids

Video games with Dad 

Lloyd's memorial was at the Sons of Norway lodge in Eugene where my grandparents belonged.  This picture of my grandmother was on the wall.  She must have been on the board or something.

Here is a picture of my mom and her two brothers that I have in my photo collage in my hallway.  My mom's brother Jerry (Sandy's husband who passed away in 2002) is on the left, and her brother Lloyd is on the right.  My mom loved her family, and I know she wished that she saw them more than she did.

Midway through the first real day of spring break.  I've done chores, finished my first book, had Mindy and Camille over for pizza and cookie decorating, and am watching Downton Abbey from a month ago.  Spring break rocks.