visiting!

I am sorry that I am such a bad blogger...this time of year is just not good for extracurricular activities in our family!

I am pretty excited that my sister is coming to visit me tomorrow. I am taking the entire day off just to hang out with her, get some pedicures, maybe eat some sushi (cause that cutie I live with won't eat it!), and just chat. I am thankful that she lives close enough to just come for the day when she chooses - I just really wish that our lives and schedules matched up a bit better than they do. Like I said, this time of year is nuts for our house. Chad has been out on a fire since Sunday - coming home to sleep around 5 or 6 hours a night - and then getting up and pushing the "repeat" button the next day. I am sure it is wearing on him...I know he is tired because we don't really talk when he comes home...He just crashes into bed and then is up again before the sun the next day. I worked 12 hours today in my office and I am exhausted. I can only imagine how he feels right about now with all the physical labor and heat he is dealing with these past few days.

I love my job. I know it pays the bills and I am oh-so-very thankful for employment in our current economy and even a job that I actually enjoy going to every day! However, I wish I was home more. And I REALLY wish I was home more when Chad and I could be here together. My house is a wreck right now and I feel like I never really "have it all together". I managed to sneak home and fold the giant pile of clothes last week but they are sitting there on the guest bed waiting to be put away. And now I am two loads behind again! My kitchen smells funny - which I can't seem to find the source of - took out the trash, no dirty dishes, scent checked the fridge - no luck. My dining room table is covered in...stuff. Mostly from where I cleaned off the kitchen counters. Depressing. And there are Gwendolen tumbleweeds blowing near the baseboards...from just 4 days of no vacuuming. Two lessons: you can't always have it all put together (meaning: not that I ever had it put together but for example...if I am succeeding at work, putting in lots of hours and getting my job done well, other areas of my life will fall behind). And two: I would rather spend time with the people I care about than clean my house. We went to Columbus this past weekend and saw people we loved. I went out last night to celebrate the birthday of a sweet friend with a bunch of other gals. And tomorrow - my only day off - I am choosing to spend it with my sister, ignoring the odd smell in the kitchen (ooo...maybe the chef can figure it out!). Hopefully the house cleaning will come in there somewhere but frankly, life is too short...

In other news, please pray for rain. It hasn't rained in over a month here, at least not enough to be considered the real thing. I realize there are places that are experiencing serious drought and the livelihood of entire communties are depending on that rain and I don't mean to minimize that. But we need it too. We need it to soak our land and keep the fires away. Sending people we love out to fire a forest fire is dangerous and rain is really the only thing that will stop it and keep the fires at bay.