Lots of ‘em. Meetings, that is. Just when you think, “Ok great! All the forms are in, clothes purchased, kids out the door and adjusting nicely to all those new classes. Yep, we’re all set!”

Nope. You’re not.

Well, that is we’re not, because tonight the Catholic Family and I found ourselves attending yet another parent meeting/orientation/open house and met with no less than 7 teachers and/or facilitators. It’s enough to make your head spin around in 360 degree circles, I tell you. Thankfully, ice cream was involved - although not for certain lactose intolerant parents (me) who can do without the painful side affects, but the kids were all over that cold treat at the end. *woohoo!*

But anyway, here are a couple of priceless quotes that I want to remember for all time, thus earning a plug on my blog. They were just that cool:

• Catholic Son on the way to school on a dreary, blechy weathered morning: “Mom, I think someone forgot to paint the sky today. There’s no blue in it, or any color at all.”
• Youth Chamber Orchestra Conductor: “Watch and stay with the tempo as I direct you. Because it’s all about me here, you know.”

Meanwhile, I’ll close with a little motivation for the morning Catholic Kid shuttle:
Mongo-Sized Double Espresso (It works miracles.)

Believe it or not, I am finally ready to get back in the swing of things and start blogging regularly again. Seriously, it’s true! For those folks out there without kids home with you 24/7 during summer break, you have absolutely no idea how much time and energy is involved in keeping young people occupied for over 2.5 months. That is unless you’re the type who is inclined to leaving them in front of a television set to zone out during this time, of which I am not.

But I digress.

So there it is. I’m back, and I really do have high expectations for what I’ll be posting here in the months to come. In the meantime, I’m hopeful that my blog readership hasn’t deserted me completely while I’ve been entertaining Catholic Peeps over the summer…? And if so, perhaps you’ll be back to see the goings-on in the Catholic Homestead as we trek through our usual crazy but fun life & times in the Heartland of America? I hope so. No disappointments, I promise!

If you’ve checked out Meez Avatar (see sidebar link on the right), you already know where the Catholic Family has been these days - at the pool. But just because we’ve been swimming practically every day doesn’t mean we’ve abandoned the rest of our summer ‘to do’ list. Just the opposite! In fact here’s a list of what we’ve accomplished so far:

• Las Vegas - and blogged about it here.
• Great Wolf Lodge - also posted, right here.
• Kids Day Camps - basketball for Catholic Son, arts & crafts for Catholic Girlie, complete fun.
• Reading Program at the Public Library - this one is on-going, but officially ends August 1st. Lots of hours logged - great reading!
• Strings Summer Jam Sessions - CG plays cello for the community every Tuesday at the park. Yowza.
• Zoo - visited yesterday and enjoyed the butterflies & budgies. We’ll be back for more exhibits later, as there’s way too much to do in one day.
• Swimming at the Pool - we’ve really covered this one!
• Tennis - some, but we’ll pick up court time when the temperatures move away from the 100’s.

When you add actual work into to the equation, you see exactly why this blog has taken a backseat lately. In fact, sometimes the idea of blogging about all of these activities seems a little silly to me when I know a million other interests have been pushed aside. Kinda makes me wish these long summer days could stretch out even longer, like 48 hrs/day maybe? Oh the amount of work & play I could accomplish then… and I’d be sporting a serious cape.

… and then some! After returning home from our annual Lodge vacation and cleaning up all that chlorinated laundry we brought back in our suitcases, the Catholic Family and I were absolutely thrilled about celebrating Independence Day WITHOUT our rude and obnoxious neighbors. That’s right - THEY ARE NOW GONE! It’s like the Dad Dude gave his wife and kids the boot, leaving us to enjoy our little family fireworks display in peace. Because really, we’ve had enough of all those teens partying it up on the Fourth by aiming roman candles, bottle rockets and other illegal fireworks at neighborhood homes and/or vehicles in our area. Enough.

So just sit back enjoy this flashback of our Great Wolf escape as I revel in our 4th of July family fun.

Who says God doesn’t answer prayers?
Thanks, Big Guy.