I’m up in Washington right now, spending a few blissful days with Sara and her children while recovering from the whirlwind last few weeks. Sean is out of the country for a study abroad program, and I promised her I’d help out for a few days. 

Let me recap, so you know what I mean when I say whirlwind--first there was the wonderful Australia incentive trip, then I was sick for almost a week, and then I spent 10 days helping out at the Browns (first one up in the morning, last one to bed at night). Last week was our corporate retreat, which is valuable and important, but it’s three solid days of focusing on strategy and planning and making quite important decisions, which was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.  

On Friday I spent the entire day doing a video shoot for three videos (you’ll see two of them in the next few weeks; the other one is for the regionals that I will not be attending personally—only a few of those, I hope), which is also very emotionally and physically draining. 

I only got a few hours of sleep the night before because I hadn’t even had a minute to prepare the projects I was going to demonstrate in the videos. I hope I didn’t look as tired as I felt! I also slipped Phoebe’s celebration in there, as well as a wonderful dinner with our Board of Directors on Friday night.  

My flight to Seattle left very early on Saturday morning, and I didn’t sleep at all on Friday night. I hadn’t had any time to pack during the week, so I came home from the dinner on Friday and started that. I had to pack for both Washington and Founder’s Circle (I’m going straight to southern Utah from here), which are very different climates and temperatures. I also needed to figure out my swap for Founder’s Circle and gather the supplies for that so I could make those while I’m here at Sara’s.  

Now, let me assure you that I’m not complaining. I love my life, although it’s a bit more hectic at times than I would like. But I’ve made choices and I’m happy with them for the most part. I just told you all that so I could tell you this—I arrived here in Washington about 10 in the morning, got my luggage, and Sara picked me up with all five kids in tow and we headed for Seth’s soccer game. 

I had taken a nap on the plane, but I was still exhausted. I was quite proud of myself for staying awake through the entire first half of the game, but as the second half started, I told Sara I just couldn’t do it anymore and I had to take a quick nap. 

So there I am, in the middle of this huge soccer park with hundreds of people (there were at least 15 different games being played on 15 different fields), and I curled up on the quilt on the ground and zonked out. Sara told me that at one point, the soccer ball hit me in my fanny, but it bounced right off my rubber butt, and I didn’t feel a thing! I’m sure people thought I had lost it, but I felt much better by the end of the game. 

I read your comments faithfully, and one of you mentioned that I was a super mom. Well, my snooze on the soccer field proves otherwise! I’m just like the rest of you in so many ways—working hard to get everything done as well as I can, hoping to drop as few balls as possible and keep the right things as priorities. I don’t always take the best care of me, I don’t always get the sleep I need, I don’t always do everything as well as I’d like. But I sure enjoy trying, and when I fail miserably, I’ve found that a good cry does wonders!

Then I just pick myself up, dust myself, and determine to do better next time. Or I sneak a nap during a soccer game.