I only posted twice in August?

Go figure. Also? I'm ridiculously behind on other people's blogs, too. Also? Emails. Also? Dishes and general house keep-uppery.

Why? Well there are several reasons.

1. We started out the month with 4 straight days of house guests (8 of them). In that time, we went to Hershey Park, Hershey Park's water park, and the Renaissance Faire (Thing 2 is a BIG fan of the shire). We were all worn out after that.

2. That was followed immediately with 4 straight days of birthday parties. As a note, we had about 21 different birthday celebrations in and around the month of August. Yes, many of those included parties. No, I'm not kidding.

3. We had more house guests (4 this time) for yet another 3 days. It was filled with lots of eating and laughing and was generally wonderful and went way too fast.

4. Lots of little things - watching meteor showers, being sick, supporting our friends who are local musicians, yet another visit to Hershey Park with local friends, coordinating some fun birthday surprises, lunch out with friends, property taxes, lots of cleaning and cooking, getting together with friends, visits with extended "family" (Mark's brother Scott's wife Lindsay's brother and his family moved to the area and even though we're not related, we like to think of the kids as cousins - well, their grandparents visited and wanted to see us. It was a short, but really fun and nice visit), summer ice cream party at the tae kwon do studio, car repairs, swimming at the pool, lots of Minecraft, lots of word games and park visits with friends, beach trip planning, business stuff, and more.

5. We were lucky enough to wrap up the month with a lovely blue moon "letting go" celebration, hosted by our friend at her house/farm - it was such an interesting and eclectic group of people. We all wrote down things in our lives (burdens, doubts, trauma, fears, people, events, etc.) that we would like to release and burned our papers in a backyard fire -- letting go of the energy associated with them and making room for new, positive experiences. SUCH a neat visual and ritual. And we all felt better afterward.

6. Extreme weather. This summer has been, well, extreme meteorologically-speaking. It has either been really hot, really dry, or really stormy. Of course it's always been one or more of those things anytime we've decided to host something at our house, hoping to keep people and fun outdoors. :/

7. Being a mom is more than a full-time job. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love it. You work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; you get no vacations, no sick days and certainly no personal days; overtime is mandatory; and you do not receive a paycheck. Sounds crazy. Thing is? Best. Job. Ever. But yeah, I have never felt busier in my life.

I saw a great comment someplace that talked about how being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) is a grueling and exhausting job. The commenter went on to say that of course she's grateful for it, loves it, and wouldn't want to do anything else. But, she said, that doesn't mean she can't say it's exhausting. "If I were to hear Heart surgeons and Rocket scientists say their jobs were exhausting, I wouldn't think they're complaining or dislike their jobs. Neither should anyone read a SAHM's expression of it being tough work as complaining. It is what it is. I just think it shows people's ignorance when they assume that if you're a SAHM, you're not "working." Bah! You work from sun up to bedtime without breaks and without pay and then come talk to me." Great point!

Well, that's it for now. I'll do a random thoughts post soon and hopefully get caught up on reading the blogs I follow soon, too. Also? I hope to do some regular blog posts with pictures and things soon.