Oh, I'm a very bad blogger. But it's Tuesday!

1. The darkness is beginning to creep in... the other night when I left work at 6:30 it was completely dark. Oh no! And now Kyler leaves for his morning run (6:30!) in the dark. Less than 12 hours of light. And it's only going to get shorter... time for walking in the dark again.
2. Kyler ran his first varsity race on Saturday... several seniors on the team were taking their SAT and couldn't be there so the three top JV runners got to run varisty... He had a decent race - it's tough to go from the front of the pack to the middle - the race feels really different from back there, I guess. But he finished 39th out of 85 runners, which doesn't seem too shabby to me... not for his very first time out of the gates in that varsity uniform!
3. Ethan had a spectator snafu at the race... he saw his friend from a distance and wanted to go stand with him to watch, but didn't realize that his friend was on the other side of the course... so he ran across the path, somehow slipped on the wet grass and landed right in front of a runner as he was racing. Miraculously, the runner didn't step on Ethan (with his spikes!) and somehow managed to stay upright. He tripped, for sure, but it wasn't the complete disaster it could have been. I'm thankful Ethan didn't fall in front of a group of runners and get completely trampled and fallen on. He could have been seriously hurt and caused a big mess...
4. Every Tuesday and Friday night the cross country runners (both boys and girls teams) enjoy a spaghetti feed before race day... they're hosted by the XC Parent Groups... and today is my turn. So I'll have 60 teenagers at my house tonight. Crazy. Fun.
5. I'm pondering organizing a series of workshops... getting my other 'older' women friends together and putting together workshops for the younger women at our church to teach life-skills we've acquired over the years... sort of like the cooking classes my friends and I had over the summer. I'd love to do one on couponing/bargain shopping, one on organizing, one on how to manage summer with kiddos... still brainstorming, but excited about the possibilities.
6. My flower beds are completely out of control. Somehow after our vacation to the beach, I stopped caring. The weeds are ridiculous. I really wish I had a free afternoon to get out there and clean things up. Maybe the weather will hold out and I can do it next week... hoping so. It would be nice to put them to bed for the winter a little tidier than they are now...
7. I'll be selling stuff at a Fall Market this weekend - it's the same one I did last year. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to make nearly as much as I did last year. Hopefully I can make a couple hundred dollars... I'll be satisfied with that. It's been hanging over my head for weeks and frankly I'll be glad when it's over. Somehow creative time is sadly lacking for me at this stage in life. I'm okay with it personally, but it's going to make my selection for the sale sort of slim-pickins... Ugh.
8. I'm really struggling with busy-ness lately... I hate that every fall my life feels so out of control. I've added a seventh meeting to my work schedule which unfortunately, has me working 6 days a week. Granted, it's only for a couple of hours, but it's a noon meeting, which somehow eats away at the whole day. I don't feel like I can start anything in the morning because I know I've got to be ready to go by 11:15 and then I get home at 1:00 which is just a couple of hours before the kids get home. I took the meeting to help with $$$ for our trip, but it's not my ideal schedule by any stretch of the imagination.
9. Kyler's girl/friend came with us on Sunday afternoon to shop for his homecoming outfit. We had fun finding just the right thing together... she came home with us afterwards and ate dinner and played games for family night... they are not officially boyfriend and girlfriend. But wow - they sure really like each other. It's pretty stinkin' cute. She came over the weekend before to do homework and watch a movie... They watched the movie in the living room, both lying on the floor (under my watchful eyes from the couch.) Funny thing - Kyler was lying facing the tv and she was lying facing him the entire time. Oh dear.
10. The dance is Saturday. I'm giving up going to a fabulous wedding in Coeur D'Alene to stay home and play chaffeur/photographer. I wouldn't miss it for the world.
11. (Eleven!) Savannah's been on a photography kick, stealing away with my camera and shooting everything in sight. Here are a couple of her recent shots... it's so fun to see what she comes up with.

    This is her best friend, MacKenzie. Isn't she a pretty little thing?

    

I remember taking lots of shoe shots when I took photography class in high school...

Happy Tuesday, friends!