Little by Little...it will eventually work out.

One stitch at a time, it seems that I am making a dent in my exchange stitches. I have finished stitching the one for the L*K exchange and working feverously on the one for the seasonal exchange. I have found patterns and fabric for each with are beautiful and quick/easy to stitch on. The only issue I seem to have is TIME. I will see how far I can get over the next couple of days and if it looks like I am running out of time, I will contact the moderators of each exchange and just let them know I will be a little late...but my partners will receive a beautiful finished exchange - might just be a little late.

School and homework issue
We have only dealt with Monday of this week, but there seems to be so much going on in our lives and more changes on the horizon, that I am feeling very anxious. First...Robert has had a ton of homework the last couple of weeks - since coming back home from DC. No, it wasn't make up work because the teachers were nice enough to either assign the work over spring break prior to the kids leaving on the trip, or give the kids something "special" to work on while they were on the trip...so they would all be caught up when they came back (assuming that they took advantage of the "nice" offerings of the teachers - which Robert did). The homework is coming as a precursor to State Testing. Several of the teachers seem to be a little behind prior to the testing and feel the need to assign a lot of reading, assessment questions, portfolio projects (a summary of all the chapters covered up to this point put in a binder - include two to three paragraphs per subject and there are 9 subjects in all), etc. So Robert has been spending about 5-6 hours on homework every night during the last week and a half. Last week he skipped the hockey clinic on Thursday to do homework - and he was still up at 11pm. With this issue, we just need to get through this week and with State testing occuring over the next 2 weeks, the homework load shouldn't be too bad.

Job Change
The job DH has had the last 3.5 years has been a unique one. After DH left the company that moved us from MN to CA, he got a job with a company that was new to this area. Basically an investment firm put some money in a great concept that provides dentistry to underprivileged children. DH's boss opened an office here and hired DH to work in the financial side of the business. The office here was more of the administrative part - the clinics were in other states. Any way, this business was suppose to run for 5 years, but due to the positive results, it is coming to an end much quicker as the parent company and the one here is going to merge this summer and DH will be done. He has started the job search - got the resume written and started to send that out; has talked with several of his contacts from previous work experiences; and started to investigate businesses that are for sale - for owning our own company has been somewhat of a dream of ours. But just knowing what is coming up in a month is very unsettling. We do have some ideas and options that just need to be investigated further - but change, at this moment, is scary. So, if I seem to be more of a downer or ramble on more in my  posts, please be patient with me.

Parents Visiting
My parents are coming for a visit (they live in MN) this Thursday and staying until Monday. I love them dearly, but just don't feel ready to have them here. I haven't seen them since September 2009, when Robert and I were in MN for a hockey tournament. And I think that it has been over a year since they have seen DH and Matthew. They will be totally shocked to see the boys because they have definitely grew since the visits. So, there is a need to clean and straighten up the house before they arrive (even though they are staying in a hotel). I am not the best housecleaner in the world - I use to be obsessed about it, until the obsession got in the way of living. So with my priorities set on dealing with the kids (getting them to/from school; making sure their homework is done; getting them to/from hockey) - I am never really at home long enough to get much of anything done and when I am home, cleaning and dusting is really not high on my list of things to do. And paying for someone else to clean the house....well, that is definitely not the answer, especially now with the job issue. So...I think that after I get home from work Wednesday - before I have to pick up the kids, I will spend sometime cleaning. At least I can get the house looking presentable (just don't look in my closets).

Well...I know that is a lot of complaining in this post. I just need to get it all out - not sit on these feelings and thoughts and that makes for a cranky hockeymom. So thank you for being there for me while I have these emotional brain dumps. I am sure that there will be more coming as I try to deal with "change"...but in the mean time...remember (I will try, too):

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa