Kruse-a-palooza

Wow, Kruse-a-palooza is less than a week away. I am officially on vacation right now. I have started the pre-party cleaning. I have lists of things that have to be done and lists of groceries and supplies that need to be purchased before everyone gets here. I sure hope I haven't forgotten anything. Oh well, if I did I guess I will just have to figure it out later. Tuesday I am heading to Sioux Falls for some last minute things to complete the sidewalk that leads to the new patio. While we are there I may hit sams club and get massive quantities of some things we go through a lot of during Kruse-a-palooza.

Okay, enough cleaning and such for tonight. Time for a cocktail or two!!!!!

Happy & Sad

How can a person be so happy and yet so sad. I am so excited. Kruse-a-palooza is less than 2 weeks away. It is going to be so fun to have everyone together. I always love the time we spend together. It is a family connection that I feel would not happen if we didn't have Kruse-a-palooza. There is nothing more important than family. It is the one time a year where I get to see many family members. Especially the family members that don't live around here. I think there is a special relantionship exists between myself and the family members that don't live here because of Kruse-a-plooza. I hope they feel the same way.

Okay so that is the happy part. The sad part is that my daughter, son-in-law and kids are moving. Not just moving, but moving to Michigan - 11 hours from here. My heart just aches! I am so used to having them right here. I take the kids to daycare, I pick them up from daycare, on Sunday after church we have lunch together . . . . I am going to miss all of that. I just can't think about it. When I have a few minutes to think about things, I just cry. I know it is a good move for Travis and his career, but it still makes me so sad.

Life Changes

You know what they say about life - the only thing constant in life is change. I guess I wouldn't want things to stay the same all of the time. How boring would that be? I generally embrace change. It keeps things fresh and keeps the mind working. But there are some changes in life that are harder to embrace. Not that they are bad, just not easy. I try to be open minded and look at all of the positive aspects of change, but sometimes it is very hard.

On a different note, it is only 2 1/2 weeks to Kruse-a-palooza. I have been busy cleaning and planning. I need to get bedding washed, bathrooms scrubbed and carpets cleaned. Then I need to do heavy duty shopping. It takes a lot of food to feed that many people for a week!!!!!! I am so excited to see everyone. I can hardly wait.

Responsibility

Sometimes the responsibility of life seems overwhelming. There is the responsibility of home - making sure laundry is done, groceries are purchased, bills are paid and the house is clean (at least for the most part). Then there is the family responsibility - your spouse, parents, in-laws, children, siblings. Being the oldest in the family and the only girl, I feel that my brothers depend on me to take care of my mom. You know what they say about the "sandwich" generation - parenting both your children and your parents. There is the responsibility of friendship. I work hard at being a good friend as well as a good family member. Sometimes the friend and family thing kind of intertwine! The responsibility of my faith, and I know that I shouldn't feel that my faith is a responsibility, but sometimes I do feel that way. There is a certain responsibility to stay on task. I am ashamed to say that my faith sometimes waivers. I don't doubt my faith, I just worry A LOT and I guess I equate that with not having enough faith. The hardest responsibility of all however, is the responsibility of a job. Some days I can roll along and it is no problem. Other days the responsibility is overwhelming - the responsibility to bosses, co-workers, customers and all the others that you deal with on a daily basis. I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I am always trying to find a balancing point. Hummmm - just thinking out loud!

Stress

We had another beautiful weekend. We took advantage of the weather and spent most of the weekend outdoors. We got the lawn mowed, weeded the gardens and worked on the patio. We even ate all of our meals outdoors. Of course the weekend went way too fast, but it was a nice change of pace from the stress lately. I am taking Wednesday off and just doing some "me" things. When I requested the day off I said I needed a mental health day. Senior management laughed, but it truely is a mental health day. The rest of the week is full! Tomorrow we have rehearsal, Thursday is our concert and Friday Leon will head to the races. Then Saturday we have a parade in Fulda so we will have to get the band wagon out and wash it off. Maybe Sunday I can relax a little. The weeks just seem to be getting longer and the weekends shorter.

the past week has been soooooo busy. Whew! What a blurrr. this weekend however has been so nice. The weather was perfect. We got so much done outside. We worked on the lawn, the garden and the patio. I feel good. . . . . . . We really got a lot done. That is a good thing because this week is going to be very stressful!!!!!! I will make it through this though. Just need to do a little damage control.

Get r done

Well, it was a cool rainy weekend. It was definately to my advantage though. I got so much done. I got cleaning and laundry done, then I started on a big project. I got my sewing room re-organized!!! I got it done early so I started re-organizing the back area of the basement. That feels so good to get those things done. I have wanted to get my attic areas cleaned out though and I didn't get to that project. Leon has a fire department drill tomorrow night so maybe I can get started then. Especially if it is cool and rainy again. If it is nice and warm I will end up being outside working in one of the gardens. That is what summer in Minnesota is all about - being outdoors.

Tomorrow it is back to work. I have that pit feeling in the bottom of my stomach. I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. I really want to be home getting things done. I guess maybe I just need a few days of vacation. I better get it taken now, I may not have a chance to take it later.