Melissa and Girls

This was one of those crazy weeks where work and home had me exhausted by the end of it.

Monday wasn't too bad. I spent the day at work preparing for two days worth of training I had to present to the Heber and Spanish Fork District Court clerks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our district has been chosen to be the "pilot program" to see if cross-training Juvenile and District Court clerks is a) possible b) cost effective and c) a legitimate long term goal for the entire state to have. I was responsible for training them on the very basics of Juvenile Court and the computer program we use, CARE. The problem, because we are the first to attempt this, I was going in blind and was trying to tweak a 100 slide PowerPoint presentation. Later in the day I found out a bunch of the "big bosses" were going to be there so then I was nervous all night worrying about it. Anyway, more on that in a sec. After work I picked up the girls, we had dinner and fhe. Thank you, Ali, for linking to the blog "A Year of FHE" because it has been such a great help for me.

Tuesday morning I decided I needed to fix a few more things for my presentation and therefore needed to go to work early. However, on Monday I had forgotten to take Jordyn's birthday treat to school since her b-day had been during spring break. So, I had to wake them up really early because Jordyn wanted to take doughnuts to school. At about 6:45 a.m. we were out the door and on our way to the grocery store. Jordyn picked out the doughnuts she wanted and then I took Jordyn and Maegan to school. Thank goodness this elementary school as an early morning program that I take them to every day. I then dropped Brooklen off at day care and headed to work. I hurried and dropped off my cards for June card group which I had finished the week before so I would have them out of the way. I then hurried and added a few more slides and then headed to Orem to meet up with everyone that was going to attend the training. We drove to Heber and began our training. The District Court Clerk of Court presented us with the CORIS program that is used by them. As she was presenting I had all sorts of ideas that I should have included in my presentation. Yikes! Luckily everyone was really friendly and it was a little more laid back than I had anticipated. So, when it was my turn to present for the afternoon I wasn't too nervous anymore. Unfortunately there is just SO MUCH information that we ran a little late and didn't leave Heber until about 4:45 p.m. By the time we got back to Orem I rushed home to pick up the girls. Maegan quickly changed into her gymnastics clothes and I gathered up 24 plastic knives for Jordyn, dropped Jordyn off at Activity Days where they were having a crazy dinner party and then took Maegan to gymnastics. Brooklen & I stopped at Del Taco for dinner and headed home. I just did some cleaning around the house and then headed back to pick Maegan up. About 5 minutes after we got home Jordyn was dropped off. By this time everyone was tired after our early morning so we all went to bed.

Wednesday I normally get off work at 2:00 p.m. However, this day I had to stay all day for the training in Spanish Fork. In contrast to the previous day I was able to take the girls to school a little later because I am only about 5 minutes away from the court building. I spent the first part of the morning playing around a little more with my presentation. I am glad that I was so close to home because at lunch I ran home and threw my purse in the washing machine. Somehow my pen leaked red ink all over it and when I tried to spot clean it it started spreading everywhere. Don't worry, the purse is fine now! lol. This day we finished training at 4:30 p.m. and I headed home to get Jordyn ready for her recorder performance before the Nebo School Board. A couple weeks ago she came home from school and announced that she had been learning the recorder in music and had tried out to play it for the school board and was one of 5 kids in her class to play. I was really surprised because my experience at home with the recorder is just that it is a high pitched noise maker that drives me crazy! I got her ready and then we picked up Brooklen and headed to the meeting. By the time we got there it was already packed. Jordyn headed off to sit with her group and Maegan, Brooklen and I sat on the back row. I had very little information about what was taking place at this meeting and wasn't sure how long we would be there. Turns out it was much longer than I had thought. They recognized the 2010 Sterling Scholar's from all 5 high schools in the district. Then they recognized the Academic Athletic students. I want to add how refreshing it was to see such great kids after dealing with those at work that are struggling. Sometimes we court employees forget that there really are "normal" people still left in the world. Then it was time for East Meadow Elementary to do their presentation but it wasn't just Jordyn's class. There were a few other skits and slide shows and her group was very last to perform. By this time Brooklen and Maegan were about ready to die from boredom. Maegan takes a purse with her everywhere. Normally it's filled with an odd assortment of things she likes to collect. So, I was so surprised when I looked over at them and they are chowing down on goldfish crackers and candy! Apparently Maegan had decided to pack some snacks. It was hilarious and good thing she did because I don't think Brooklen would have lasted through everything without that distraction. Eventually we were able to sneak out and head home, eat dinner and go to bed.

Thursday calmed down quite a bit. Work was really slow and I was able to get caught up on some of the stacks I have in my office. Because I had stayed late on Wednesday I was able to leave work at 2:30 p.m. and go home. Sean always picks up the girls on Thursday's so I didn't even have to worry about picking them up. It was so nice and I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I went home and planted myself on the couch and didn't move until it was time to go to bed.

Friday I went to work and it was another great day and I am completely caught up. Well, with the stacks, I think I have around 560 or so emails that I am devoting myself to go through next week. Yuck. Anyway, after work I headed to SF and finished purchasing the rest of the supplies I needed for Jordyn's party. After the shopping I decided to finally go and sign up for a gym membership at Gold's Gym. Quite a few people have been pushing me to do this and I have kind of resisted for a while. Before I moved out of the house in Mapleton my reasoning was that I just didn't have the money. But since the move my excuse has been because Sean and his wife Ashley work out there at night. I know this because I am told almost every day by somebody that they ran into them at the gym the previous night. Maybe it's a silly reason but after being married to someone who was so mean to me about my looks I really didn't want to be in the same place as him while working on them. We usually get along well enough and have no major issues anymore when dealing with the kids but that doesn't mean I want to spend my "social" time with him and his wife. But, in the end, I finally decided I would work out in the morning and what I really want access to are the weight machines. So, after signing up at the gym I went home and finished preparing for the party. This was the week the girls stay at Sean's until Saturday. I was at home and really bored so I decided to actually go back to the gym and work out for the first time. I was really glad that I went. Afterwards I played on the computer and then went to bed.

Saturday I woke up around 6:15 a.m. and got ready to drive to Orem to go to a pump class with my friend Ashley Palmer. Oh my gosh I just about died! My upper body strength is still fairly strong. My legs, however, were like jelly. I don't know if it's because I had been on the treadmill the night before but wow I was shaking by the end of the class. I was so sore for the rest of the day! I really liked the class though. I think I'll try to go every other week for a while until I feel like I can handle it more than that. After the gym I stopped at Target and then picked up some balloons for Jordyn's big birthday party. I got the house cleaned up and got all of the clues hidden. I then picked up the girls from Sean and got them ready for the party. About 6 months ago Jordyn decided she wanted to have a "mystery party." About a month ago she decided she wanted to have a karaoke party like the other girls in her class. I put my foot down and had a conversation with her about how she didn't need to follow other people, that it is okay to be different and that everyone will have fun at her party too. She finally agreed to try so I have to admit I was feeling a little pressure! When the girls arrived we watched the movie Nancy Drew. They were able to get some "concessions" for the movie and most of them ended up doing crazy stuff like stirring their Sprite with their suckers and adding candy so it would color the drink. They were definitely overloaded with sugar. While they were distracted by the movie I slowly took the presents and hid them leaving a 'ransom' note in their place. When the movied finished it was time to open them and Jordyn was really confused because they weren't on the stairs anymore so she started to go look for them. Good thing some of the other girls noticed the note and read it. When they realized what was going on they gave it to Jordyn and she read it outloud and the hunt was on to solve the mystery. I was excited to see that the clues I had come up with were hard enough to get them to think for a minute but not too hard. A couple of times I had to help them think it through but they were always able to figure it out on their own. What I didn't anticipate was that as soon as they figured out the answer they all took of RUNNING!!! My whole house felt like it was shaking. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what was going on. Clue #1 led them to the basement, #2 to the back fence, #3 to Jordyn's bed, #4 to the piano, #5 to the clock, #6 to the tub, #7 to the window well in the backyard, #8 to the freezer and #9 finally led them to the dryer which is where all the presents ended up. After they found them we brought them back downstairs so Jordyn could open them. After presents we had sang Happy Birthday and ate the ice cream cake she wanted (Asphalt Pie). When finished eating the girls played games and dressed up and made a general mess of things until their parents came to pick them up. As each girl left I gave them a large envelope filled with some 'sleuthing' supplies such as a a mechanical pencil, notebook, calculator and some gum. To the envelope was clipped a "Super Sleuther Award." A few of the girls told me this was the best party and afterwards, Jordyn admitted she was happy we stuck with the original idea because, "you are always right!" Ha! I never thought I'd hear her say that! Anyway, it really was a lot of fun but I must admit I was ready for them to leave by the end. 10 year old girls are a LOT noisier and crazy than younger kids! This is why I have the girls take turns with their parties. I would not be able to turn around and do this next Saturday with Maegan. The rest of the evening I cleaned the house back up, took a long, hot relaxing bath and then watched a movie with Maegan.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I have choir practice before church because we are singing in Sacrament Meeting. After church I hope to be able to come home, take a nap, and have a nice day recuperating so I will have enough energy to tackle next week!

Also, I have spent a lot of time practicing the piano this week. Whenever I felt the urge I would sit down and play. I've learned about the first third of River Flows in You aka Bella's Lullaby (song #2 on here). I'm not quite as fast as this version but almost. I'm so excited! After not playing the piano since before I graduated from high school I think I'm not doing too shabby!