where wildly different is perfectly normal
Halfway through summer
Halfway through summer

Halfway through summer

It was the Fourth of July.  The band was in their shirt sleeves and getting ready to rise for the director. The oboist was setting up his tuner and sounding the Bb. But it was wrong, so he tried a new reed. As he put the reed into his mouth, he accidentally inhaled it and began choking. The desperate oboist threw his music stand to the ground and stomped it to bring attention to his desperate situation. The band director stormed over to give a lecture to what he thought was an outburst from yet another temperamental oboist.  But he saw the poor guy was choking and turning purple.  By now the oboist was on the ground and pounding the  floor of the gazebo. The band director quickly dialed 911 and explained the situation to the dispatcher.  The dispatcher reassured the director that help was on its way.

“Do you know what to do until we get there?” asked the dispatcher.

“Yes!”  replied the band director. “We are going to use a muted trumpet”.

***************************************************************

And if you get that joke, you’re a band geek.

It’s summer!

How do you know, Jen?

It’s July 1st! It’s going to be 95F today! Both boys are on electronics blackout until tomorrow night for disobedience!

Whee!

Today marks essentially the halfway point of summer. The boys have been out of school for roughly six weeks, and return to those hallowed halls in roughly six more. (And as an aside, those construction workers had better start hauling ass here pretty soon to get those classrooms done!) In a few days we celebrate the Fourth of July and then summer just zips by. Right now we’re just in the slowest part of the summer. I intended to sign the boys up for swimming lessons for this week and dropped the ball on that, so we’re not doing a whole lot right now. My in-laws get here tomorrow night for several days, and that will break up the monotony for the boys. It also means I won’t be getting a hell of a lot accomplished until about this time next week.

Gah. Note to self: remember to put in the sugar when you make iced tea. Bleh.

And further proof that I’m just slightly behind the times, I finally surfed on over to Pandora and fell in love. Internet radio is the most beautiful thing…ahh…

One last thing. I’m actively working on being more productive. Stunner. I’m already incredibly organized (and you can ask anyone who knows me about that!), but productivity could use a little work. I’d love to have your fave productivity suggestions. Anything, for any aspect of life. And now time is up for writing, just in time to hit post. 🙂

6 Comments

  1. We have opposite problems. I am extraordinarily productive, yet live in whirling chaos and clutter.

    Productivity, for me, is actually just organizing time. You put your activities into boxes of time and singularly focus on that activity. I actually picture BOXES of time. But that’s what I do.

    Make your list of what you want to accomplish (which you do so well). Then…EDIT. Shorten your list to the priorities that are immediate. Everything else goes on the list for tomorrow to be reviewed again. This step is hugely important and often overlooked.

    Next, take ten to fifteen minutes to chart out exactly what time you are going to accomplish the items on your list. You might not give yourself enough time for new tasks at first, but don’t sweat it. People with lots to do tend to underestimate how long it will take to do something because they have a lot they want to do in very little time. You’ll get your rhythm.

    The trick is to pare down your list, compartmentalize and do one thing at a time. It’s a discipline, but once you get in the habit of it, it’s almost second nature.

    I sound like a total know-it-all…who IS that?!

  2. I can’t seem to get much accomplished during the day. I need to be better disciplined. But hey; it’s summer, right? That’s what my vacation is for, right?!

    My kids have a limited amount of “screen time,” too. You’re a good mommy. Good luck with the visit from the in-laws….

Whaddya think?

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