Tuesday, June 30, 2009

What a month!!

June has past and I think the Browning family needs matching shirts that says "I survived June '09". Don't get me wrong, it has been a blast but even though we are always busy around here, I don't think we have had so many things going on at once since, well at least since oh maybe April '09.

VBS was the first week, what a blast! We all had a really good time, Robert being in charge of games, Andrew and I doing the "Dockside Drive-in", then Cherilea had this photographers book that we made a powerpoint off of...too cool. Good times, good memories of VBS '09. The next week, was spent in preparations for the fair, buying candy for the Band Boosters concessions and Robert continuing to bag ice-- the kid bagged over 40 150 lb bags of ice, sometimes going twice a day so he would be sure to work around his football buddies' schedule too.

We also got new tires for the Jeep that week. Five new tires and two new spares meant mudding, if anyone remembers, there was plenty of rain and mud.

The next week, Andrew's grandmother and dad arrived. We had a wonderful time with Grandma and she seemed to have a wonderful time too. We took her to Springfield and even made an impromptu trip on up to Lincoln to see the Wind Farm Nila has blogged about. That was such a neat day too.

Grandma left on Saturday morning, Sis and Richard got here Saturday afternoon, and so did the start of the fair, anyway, it tried. Our first activity was rained out before it ever hardly got started. We drug Nila and Richard along to help tear down the concession stand in blowing rain. Glad they helped, the more the merrier! (and the quicker we got out of the rain).

Sunday, Nila and Richard left and Bob returned. That night at the fair never got started because the band's equipment got wet. Sadly, Robert had already went out at 2 that afternoon and did all the prep work--including hauling 4 of the 150 lb bags of ice to the fair and loading the trough with pop. We tore that down and rescheduled our evening.

The next week was kinda a blur, Robert prepping the concessions everyday, me running out to take money and go get it, actually going to fair ourselves... Then Sunday was our Independence Day cantata and Ice Cream Social at church. This is always a good time. I love this day because unlike Christmas and Easter, people don't have to rush to another family function and can really "socialize" for a while. Being the choir director though, I am always happy when we make it through the cantata.

Last night Robert went to practice for the Fine Arts Council of Effingham County's musical--Oklahoma. This just turned July into a busy month for him. We start our cooling program next Monday so I was already looking forward to being busy. The play is the 23rd-26th of July. Five of Robert's friends are in the play also so he is really excited about the whole deal. One more thing to be able to add to his "What I did on my summer vacation" as well as one more musical under his belt. He has a name and lines--totally happy.

My father-in-law leaves this morning for Clinton MO. I believe we will at least meet up with him when band season starts. He and Robert have such a good time together, I know Robert is hating to see him go-- as are we.

That's June in a nutshell. I have some cool pictures and I really plan to have them on in the next couple of days. We are having friends over tonight to reminisce about time spent in the Newton Marching Eagles--can anyone else hear "Glory Days" playing in the background??

Happy Last Day of June!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Still here...I think

Okay, biggest excuse, yes, is probably Facebook. My own husband is complaining though that he really doesn't know what is going on in our lives unless I blog so..... (didn't know he used it as a calendar--sorry dear).

My grandmother-in-law and Father-in-law arrived yesterday evening. We are having a great time, Grandma is staying here at the house, Bob at the campground. Bob and Robert have already been out playing in the jeep and have planned a trip to Cape Girardeau next week. Robert loves having his granddad around and is already looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Springfield to take Grandma to see the Lincoln Library. I think she will love it. Bob will take her home on Saturday and return on Sunday.

Saturday, Nila and Richard will be here for a visit. It is also the first day of the Jasper County Fair, which I volunteered (along with Andrew) to chair the concessions, this is the nerve-racking part- everything is pretty well ready, just have to make sure it goes as planned. I pick up the popcorn popper and the pop on Friday, then go set it up Saturday, right now, just wishing it was over and nobody is worse off...

Sunday the 28th is our 4th of July cantata at church, along with an ice cream social. I always love this event as it is not like Christmas or Easter where everyone is at church but they really have tons of other places they have to be too. This one, everyone gets to visit and just have a nice time. The cantata is one we have done before so I really have no worries about it but it is still a responsablity.

I made dinner plans with some friends for the 30th, THAT is the day I am really shooting for. Just to sit back and relax a little. Then of course, the next week, starts our cooling program at work--this is a fast-pace, almost frantic program because we have to take a lot of applications, get them processed and finished in just a little bit of time. I am really excited the Carrie, my assistant, is looking so forward to it. Once again, we made the right choice there--she has been great.

My "IT" position has been really crazy, of course, we are in the "slow time" for our offices and Head Start both so everybody is needing everything worked on now. I think it will settle down soon. I start taking classes again today. This time "PC Troubleshooting". I am really excited about that.

Okay....I am caught up. Will TRY to do better. I guess I didn't even blog about Robert and I going to see Rent. All I will say is it was interesting. I'm not sure I liked it, it was too "real" to be entertaining to me.