Busy Bee

Which is busier?  A Bee, a beaver, or Accomplishment Girl?

Here is a story for starters.  I have decided that my Ward Choir needs some extra help to learn the music I have chosen for our upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas performances.  We just had a two-week hiatus for General and Stake Conferences, and I'm going to be out of town for two weeks in November.  Between that and the fact that we only get 30 minutes each week to rehearse, I'm feeling a huge time crunch to get things done.

So, I decided to make rehearsal videos for the choir and post them to youtube.  It was Spiff's idea, and I think it's brilliant!  However, making the videos is time-consuming, even though they are completely un-edited and very poor quality.  It was hard to find time to make them when the kids weren't around.  I felt like I was trying to squeeze in video-making moments for an entire week.  I finally finished them last night and emailed them out to the choir today.  Feels good to check that off the list.

The other side of that coin is that the choir needs music to practice with if they're going to practice at home.  We don't have enough copies of the music for everyone to have one, nor do I trust everyone in the choir to be able to bring all the original copies of the music back to church.  So, I need to make copies, which I will destroy after we're done using them (I do know about the whole copyright thing).  I tried using the church library copier at the church on Sunday, and the kid who is in charge of making the copies refused to help me because it's a job that "just takes so much time."  He then went back to staring at his phone.  I agree that it takes time, but I was so mad!  I may or may not have stormed out of the library, as I said (as politely as I could, in a signature high-pitched Mindy mad voice), "It's okay.  It's okay!!!"  But I was really mad.  I am trying to magnify my calling, and he was making it difficult for me to do my job.  Now I have to find some more time to get away from my kids and get the copies done during the week.  Not impossible, but difficult and frustrating.

I came home from church on Sunday feeling completely overwhelmed by all of this, and by my huge to-do list filled with large projects, not small tasks.  Projects are difficult for me because of the kids.  It's hard to start anything because I never know when or if I'll be able to finish it.  I'm proud to report that I have pulled-out my Accomplishment Girl Underoos, and I have been the Master of Projects this week!  (If I worked at a large corporation, they were give me an award for that.)  Just to prove to myself that I can get things done with my kids around, here is a short list of my accomplishments and the coincidentally super-awesome dinners we have had this week:

Sunday Evening--I picked out background music/playlists for my sister's wedding (three lists including Classical piano music, Jazz, and other easy listening songs).
Plus I made Crockpot Pork Carnitas w/ Southwest Blackbean Salad and Cilantro Lime Rice for dinner.  So good!

Monday--Took the kids to the library.  Took the time to get the kids and me to the store to buy a thumb drive, load my sister's music files onto the drive, and go back to the store to send it to her.  I also went through my bins of kids' clothes and toys, pulled out Winter clothes for the boys, put things in give-away piles.  I love getting rid of things!  It feels so good!
Dinner: Chicken Noodles.

Tuesday--Took the kids to a playdate with friends.  Then cleaned out the garage and put away Summer toys/tools so that Spiff can park in the garage over the Winter...you know, since it's snowing here now.  Made Choir rehearsal videos.
Dinner: Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew (one of my all-time favorite recipes that I have had forever and can't find on the web)

Wednesday (today)--I did laundry, and I did the other side of the Winter Clothing job, which was to put away all of the Summer clothes and shoes and get out Winter Gear.  I changed out any too-small clothes in the kids' drawers to store for later.  I went through two of my own drawers and got a whole garbage bag full of things to take to Goodwill. Also got a haircut while the kids played with friends.  And I finished up the choir video/emailing-links project.
Dinner: Pork Carnitas Enchiladas

Other thoughts:
1.  Good food always makes me feel better about pretty much everything.  I'm so glad to have the chance to eat some of my favorite foods this week.
2.  The week is only halfway through.  Maybe I'll be able to tackle some of my other projects.
3.  Or maybe I'm tired now and need to take a break.  I should do something fun with the kids.