In the spirit of gloating I decided to list the top 3 reasons why I'm a great wife.  All of you wives out there I recommend that you do the same. It's good to reflect on the great jobs you all have done.  I know it makes me feel much better.

1. I organize my household.  I make sure that the children are ready for school and my husband has what he needs for work.  I also make sure the animals are fed and the plants are watered.  If I wasn't around, then I don't know how my home would function properly.

2.  I ensure that the adequate amount of family time is spent.  I make sure that my husband and I spend plenty of time with our children. I plan family game nights, organize weekly activities, and ensure that we have a happy family.  I plan get togethers with our my parents, and my in-laws, so we don't seem disconnected from the rest of our extended family.

3.  I keep a neat and comfortable home.  I make sure the home is inviting to all that enter it and continue to make it better everyday.  I do a lot of house cleaning and reorganizing, when the home needs a face lift. I like to maintain a cozy home, so people feel welcomed from the moment they enter.

 There are plenty of other reasons why I am a great wife and mother, but these are just the main reasons.

It seems like a redundant post, but it truly is exciting.  We are heading to the lake this weekend to spend some time with my in-laws. We are meeting them at the lake for some fun and relaxation.  We will probably dine out both nights, because my in-laws love eating at high class restaurants, which is always a nice break from the oridinary chain restaurants. 

We always enjoy our Smith Mountain lake vacations , but this weekend will be a bit different, because there will be a lot of entertainment and catching up with family that we don't see everyday.  My husband rarely gets to see his parents anymore, so it should be a nice change of pace for him.  I believe my husband is taking his dad for a round of golf on Saturday morning.  It is a late Father's Day present, since they were unable to meet up last weekend.  My mother in-law and I will be taking my kids shopping and out for lunch on Saturday. 

It should be a great weekend... hope everyone enjoys it.  

My husband went for the idea of hiring a maid!

We will be interviewing applicants in the next few weeks.  I'm looking forward to having extra free time and a break from the monotonous jobs that I had to do. I'll be able to focus on myself and my family a lot more.  It will give me plenty of time to plan fun trips and daily excursions with my family. 

I'm not sure how the whole interviewing process works, but we will be finding out real soon. We're hoping to have our new maid in and working by the middle of July.  I've spent my morning calling various maid services to set up appointments with maids.  I have 5 appointments scheduled next week and I really hope we get some good candidates. I could really use a great helpful maid that knows the ropes, but is also personable and good with children.

I think my main focus for the interviews will the be experience with children and the attitude of the maid.  I want a fun and hardworking maid for my home.  

I've been having trouble using my new cellphone and my new Bluetooth headset.  It's taking awhile to get used to the new functionality between the two devices.  I don't feel that it is a really big issue, but it is a bit inconvenient when I'm driving and I'm not quite sure how to use it smoothly.  This almost makes it a hazard, because it doesn't always properly work with my phone. It can be choppy and difficult to hear sometimes.  I guess I'll have to take another look at the manual when I have a moment. 

I always seem to have trouble with new cell phone accessories and I'm not quite sure.  I would like to think that I'm somewhat technologically inclined, but then again there are problems like this that make me feel like I am not. Regardless, I always try to keep up with the newest and latest gadgets that can make life easier. I think I'm going to call my wireless provider and see if they can provide me a little assistance with the matter.   

I'm starting to realize that I'm slowing migrating towards a daily routine.  I'm a person that thrives on spontaneity, so this is starting to scare me.  I feel like I need to creep out of this mold or I will no longer be able to do things on a whim. 

My daily routine starts with the gym.  This is one part of my day that is completely fine the way it is.  I don't mind having the daily routine of waking up and heading to the gym.  Actually, it's much better if I make it a trend.  

After the gym, I head home to do some housework.  I don't mind doing the house work, but I would love it if I could talk my husband into hiring a maid service .  I think that this would free up a lot of time and allow me to make some not so routine decisions about my day.  

I usually meet my friends, parents, or husband for lunch.  This is another part of my day that is completely fine the way it is.  It gives me time to catch up with everyone in my life.

I come home from lunch and make dinner.  The maid would also come in handy for this portion of the day. I wouldn't have to spend my time in the kitchen, so I could be shopping or planting a garden.  I've always wanted to start a garden.  

I don't mind the daily routine that much, but it would be nice to add some different options.  You know they say variety is the spice of life.  

In my many years of traveling I have come to realize that there are three main reasons for my travels.  These three reasons are usually at the core of any trips that I take in a given time.  I'm not necessarily saying there is any reason to my travels, but there are reasons for the destinations. 

My first reason is to experience a new culture. I like to experience different ways of living.  I find that the more cultures I encounter, then the more I can grasp my own sense of being.  I enjoy trying different food and drink, because there is always something out there that I haven't tried.

My second reason is the need to get away from it all.  Sometimes everyone just needs some time way from the stressors in life.  A little time away to enjoy a few of your favorite things.  Magazine subscriptions happen to be my favorite thing about vacations.  I love reading my favorite magazines in a remote place.  It is my way of recharging after a stressful time period.

Lastly, my most important reason is to spend time with my family.  Nothing brings my family together better than a trip away from the ordinary.  It helps us refocus our attention on one another and to avoid the trivial things that can cause arguments and fights.  

Everyone should try to find there own reasons to travel, because these core reasons have made me realize what type of destination I should choose.  

I plan on going hiking somewhere tomorrow with my kids.  My husband and I have been avid hikers for sometime now and naturally our children just started coming with us. It's become our family's favorite past time for years.  This weekend we'll be strapping our Camelbak water packs and doing some hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I'm not sure what our destination is, but it should be a good time. We always manage to find the most scenic places, when we're just meander around in the wilderness.  Not knowing where we are going is half the fun and it really adds to the adventure of the trip.  We usually hike around 5 to 6 miles and then hike back 5 or 6 miles. It's a great way to get some exercise and spend sometime with the family in the wilderness.

So I decided after a month it was time to shave my legs.  Summer is here and I decided that I won't be wearing pants on hot days, even though I work and live in an air conditioned home.  I think I forgot to shave my legs correctly.

I started by shaving my legs with an electric razor.  This went off without a problem, because the razor was brand new and the hair was fairly long.  I didn't really require any extra effort and didn't cause any irritated to my skin, so I moved to the next step.

I doused my legs with water and applied some shaving gel.  I worked up a nice lather on my legs and started shaving.  The problem occurred when I realized that I didn't have a new razor.  I used my 3 month old razor on my legs.  I didn't run into any problems until half way through my second leg.  The razor began to pull my hair and not cut smoothly.

My legs bled more blood than I thought I had in my body, but after a few hours of adding wound care products to my legs the bleed did subside.  I learned my lesson and will never use an old razor to shave my legs. 

My family and I decided to head to the lake again this weekend.  We plan on leaving about the same time as last week and heading home early Monday morning.  My husband doesn't have to be back until around 12:30 pm on Monday, because there are morning meetings that he doesn't need to partake in.  We we will be venturing to Smith Mountain Lake to do some boating and fishing.

This was somewhat of a last minute decision, but there really isn't much trouble in packing up some things to take with us.  There are a few local supermarket's in the area, so there is no need to take much food with us.  I will probably just spend the rest of my day packing up a few things and planning out some fun things to do this weekend. We like doing fun things with our children on our weekend trips. 

I know I mentioned the amazing fishing tale of the weekend, but I failed to mention all of the other things that happened this weekend.  We went to Smith Mountain Lake and did a lot of boating.  We took our pontoon boat around the lake and spent time enjoy the beautiful weather along some delicious food.  We packed some specialty sandwiches and some freshly cooked kettle chips.  It was quite enjoyable to spend some time eating finger foods and not having to prepare a meal or two. We basically ate light the entire weekend, because I made a large bowl of fresh fruit salad and pasta salad.  The kids pretty much just ate that all weekend long.  The heat made my husband and I less hungry for a large meal, so I kind of followed the same path. 

We had campfires and made s'mores both nights.  The kids ran around and caught fireflies, while my husband and I talked around the campfire.  The weather was excellent both day and night, so a good time was had by all.  It was great to see other families out on the lake enjoying themselves as well. 

I'm really enjoying the warmer weather the East coast has been experiencing lately.  I've been spending large amounts of time outside with my children, especially in the pool.  The children haven't left the pool in the last week, which is great for me.  I can just sit up on the deck and read a book, while they swim. I thoroughly enjoy sitting outside on a sunny day and reading a good book. 

My son plays in a summer baseball league and I can say that I enjoy the summer nights much more.  I no longer have to wear my under armor underneath my t shirt.  I like the lazy summer ball games at night and then heading for ice cream right after.  Win or lose my son always gets his ice cream.

Nothing beats a nice juicy watermelon during the warm summer months.  Fresh fruit seems to be the status quo around this time of the year, which is completely fine by me.  Surprisingly, my children love to dig into some freshly made fruit salad when exiting the pool for a few minutes. 

Enjoy the nice weather.  

My loving husband recently surprised me with a paid day at the spa for me and my mother.  We're going this coming Saturday and I plan to get the full works done. I want to get a facial and a full body deep tissue massage.  I also wanna get the hot stone therapy.  I think this will help me out greatly, because I've been suffer from aches and pains for some time now.  I plan to get a manicure and pedicure at the spa's salon area.  I'm looking forward to not wearing any socks this summer. My feet have become unsightly, due to the excessive poor treatment.  I hardly wear the proper footwear for different tasks and I'm on my feet nearly all day. 

The spa will give my mother and I a chance to catch up on things.  We haven't seen each other in a few weeks, so it is much needed time.  We're planning on doing some shopping after our day at the spa.   I need to get a few dresses for upcoming graduation parties.  I'm hoping for a great weekend... Nothing is better than a nice day of spa treatment and shopping with my mother.

On one of our many fishing journeys this weekend, we ran into a very amusing tale. My son and daughter were fishing of our pontoon boat, while my husband was setting up his pole. As soon as my sun casted his line into the water a giant fish snag his bait. He got really excited and started reeling his line in as fast as he could. The line quickly snapped from all of the tension and my son put his pole down in frustration. He wouldn't cast his line in the entire day, so he just hung out with me near the front of the boat and enjoyed the sun.

The next day we went back out and my son quickly casted his line out. He immediately had a bite, but reeled his line in to find nothing on the hook. He baited his hook again and casted the line back out. This time he waited about 5 minutes, until he felt a big tug on his line. He slowly reeled his line in and found that he had caught a gigantic lake trout with a his line in the other side of its mouth. It was a story that should have been featured in Bassmaster Magazine . It was truly the highlight of our weekend to see him to get back at the fish that broke his line the first day.

My family is leaving this afternoon to head for a small weekend trip.  We're going to our favorite lake to spend sometime boating and fishing.  I prefer the boating part, because the idea of touching worms isn't on my favorite things list. I love a good day of lounging on our boat and enjoy the sun. Nothing puts a person to sleep like the gentle rocking of the boat.  We have a cottage and a pontoon boat on Smith Mountain Lake .  We recently just purchased both and have decided to spend as much time there this summer as possible. 

We will be leaving around 5 or 6 pm to make the small trip to the lake.  It is fairly convenient to travel there, because there isn't a horrible amount of traffic.  It is a nice getaway from the daily grind.  I can't wait for a few nights of peace and quiet.  I really don't have to prepare much food for the family, because most of our meals are cooked in foil packets on the grill and are just thrown away when we are done.  It's fair from fine dining, but it's my favorite kind of food.  Nothing beats freshly grilled chicken in a spinach salad. 

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend.   

I was at my son's Little League baseball game last night and he was hit by a pitch. The pitcher was throwing the ball pretty hard and he hit my son in the left leg.  My son went down and surprisingly he didn't cry. He was quite tough about it and walked his way to first base.  That was his last a bat of the game, so he didn't get a chance to get back up there and test his mettle again.

I'm quite nervous that he won't be as tough at the plate as he usually is.  I'm afraid he will be a bit "gun shy" as they say.  After the few hours of wound care to get the swelling to go down around his knee, I think he'll remember that the next time he's batting.  My son leads his team in batting average and homeruns, so he's an essential part of the team.  I really don't want to see his confidence go down because of this.

I guess everyone gets knocked down sometime and it's the people that get up the fastest that become better because of it. I'll just give him as much support as I can and tell him to grin and bear it.  

As I mentioned in my previous post my children are coming home for the summer, so I'm contemplating hiring a maid.  It should give me more time to spend with the children and my husband.  It's not the easiest of decisions to make, because I want to ensure that the maid or the cleaning service is trustworthy and industrious.  I'm having a hard time thinking of questions to ask during an interview as well.  Here is a list of my 8 questions that I will probably ask my maid.  Please give me some feedback on them.

1. What hours are you available?

2. What are your areas of expertise?

3. Have ever been convicted of a crime? If yes, describe.

4. What one word best describes you?

5. Do you have experience with children?

6. Do you have references?

7. What types of cleaning agents do you use?

8. Do you have experience with pets?

So my children are home for the summer...I love having them around, but it becomes quite a chore to clean up after them. We have a bunch of fun things planned for the summer. We will be touring a few different national parks and they will be camping with my husband.  Hopefully, they will be the times I can actually get some house cleaning done.

I'm excited to spend the summer months with my children at the local parks and afternoon trips for ice cream.  We will spend our afternoons reading books and splashing in the pool.  It almost makes me remember the days when I was a kid and loved summer break. Building tree clubhouses and swimming all day.  

I always tried to give my children every opportunity to see do as much as they can.  I try not to get too bogged down in house work during the summer, so I usually hire someone to do most of the tidying up.  This frees up a large portion of my time to spend with my children.