School's Out!

I've not been here for an entire week - how can that be? Too much going on, not enough energy to mess with blogging. Some days, I prefer to live my life rather than document it.

Other activities are taking up my energy. Today, on top of everything, I've had wicked headache. I folded some laundry, but not much else. And now we have a house full of teenage girls, so I won't get much done tonight.

Highlights of my week include, but are not limited to:

• Yet another swim meet. One in which my youngest improved her time in every event, and the oldest improved in two and swam in two relays. We are not the most competitive family in the world, but we were very proud.

(And I should clarify: Athletically we are not terribly motivated. But don't mess with us when it comes to board games. Yahtzee or trivia challengers, beware!)

• I turned another year older: I am 42. I don't mind telling my age - I still look fairly young, and I feel great (other than the occasional headache). Sure, I'm carrying around a few more pounds than I would like. But to be fair, I was at a deficit in my younger years, so I still look OK.

• My parents were here over the weekend to help me celebrate. We visited the Forbidden Gardens - a reproduction of the Terra Cotta army and the Forbidden City, right here in Houston - ate fajitas, and drank margaritas. Caught the end of Indy, too - too bad Danica Patrick couldn't pull it off, but there's always next year.

• And on Monday (my birthday often requires a three-day weekend) we - get ready for this - visited the National Museum of Funeral History. I found it kind of fun - quirky and weird, yes, but fun, too. If you're into caskets of all kinds, hearses, and odd bits of funeral trivia, this place is for you. I quite enjoyed the display on presidential funerals and the look at mourning clothes and implements from the late 19th century. If they hadn't been out of t-shirts, I'm pretty sure we'd all have them. After all, who wears a National Museum of Funeral History t-shirt?

• And I got presents - my girls are so sweet! They never forget to properly fête me - which included making my favorite cupcakes: Chocolate with cream cheese/chocolate chip filling.

• Then on Tuesday, being the dedicated parent I am, I stayed up til midnight correcting a project for one of my children. She did it, but it didn't turn out quite right. So, to help her out, I fixed it. I paid for it the next day, though.

• Oh - and our house is for sale. Which means I spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning/tidying/straightening every last thing. No spare papers, no unfolded laundry, nothing on countertops or tables. Ever. (You try this with three children and a dog.) In other words, our house looks nothing like it does on a regular basis.

This is something I felt bad about. But the realtor took me to look at the competition. We toured one house on the market, and talk about clutter - my house doesn't look like that on a normal day, much less when it's for sale. So I suddenly didn't feel so bad.

And lest I forget, school is out - yay!! The 50th anniversary bash that I am helping plan is two weeks away. And much, much more ... but my headache rages on. I think I'll go supervise kids in the pool.