Today I am making headway in dealing with an affliction that I have suffered from ever since I got married. Today I am relinquishing control… I am going to let my husband pack.

Now, let me quickly point out that this is not a “my husband can’t pack worth anything” rant post. No, D is quite capable of finding items and placing them in various carrying containers like duffel bags and suitcases. And D is capable of making lists and deciding what we need to take and what we shouldn’t take and getting things where they should go.

This problem, this affliction, it is all about me. Me wanting to be in control.

See, when we go somewhere, anywhere, I usually get asked a question that begins with the words, “Where is..?” And I like to know the exact answer. And if I don’t know the answer, I get a little stir crazy until I find the item. My stomach gets in a tiny knot and I can’t physically sit still until I have place my hand or made a visual of whatever it is that my family needed. I am a little more relaxed in the car because I know that if I can’t make contact with the item there isn’t anything I can do about it until we stop. But once we get to our destination, I have to know where it is.

When we were leaving my parent’s house at Easter, I was in the living room with all our stuff strewn about and D was still sleeping. My mother asked if this is how it worked, I packed while D slept? I said, yes, but it isn’t because he is sleeping, it is because I am anal about packing.

Usually I pack the stuff in the bags and he packs the car. Simple break down of duties, I think. I don’t have to know where in the car the bag is, I just know that if you wanted to know where I put your towel I could tell you that it is in the blue suitcase with Fuller’s clothes because that is where we had the room.

Well, today, all that responsibility falls on D. Last night I did pack Fuller’s clothes in the blue suitcase, along with all our towels, and then I placed all my clothes in the largest green duffle bag, but that is the extent of my packing. Instead, D and I made a list of all the things he will be responsible for- sippy cups, children’s tylenol, vitamins, packing our dinner and snacks in the cooler, transferring most of Fuller’s DVDs to a compact case, and making sure all our technology gets from here to The Lake.

With the technology, it isn’t just as simple as getting the camcorder into a bag. No, he has to make sure the camcorder, tape, extra tape, and charger all make it to The Lake. The camera is going, but so is the battery charger, the extra battery, the USB cable, and the extra memory card. And yes, I am aware that if we forget our extra battery or cable that my inlaws have the exact same camera, but still. I want to know where ours is. And D gets to do that this time.

And as I type all of that out I am starting to get that little knot in my stomach, so as I go to work and try to focus on work, if I ever wonder how packing is going, I am going to repeat this mantra to myself- “if we forget it, we can pick it up at Wal-Mart.”

At least I have the ipod with me.

We are working on packing for our trip. We leave tomorrow afternoon. I plan on getting off work early so that we can beat some traffic out of town.

But instead of the entertaining you with words spun to describe the annoying task of packing and repacking, I direct you… nay, I command you to go over to Cool Aunt Stina’s space and tell her Happy Birthday.

She is the one who made me a big sister. So, you know, go tell her she is old or something. Then add into your comment that she needs to move back to Chattanooga so she can see Fuller everyday. He would like that.

If you checked the Daily Fuller Fix today, you may have noticed a certain comment from a certain ladies magazine. Well, after a quick google check and a verification on our statcounter, I decided that it was probably legit and what would it hurt to make a phone call?

Well, I made that phone call and the conversation that occurred was pleasant and left me kind of tingly. Penny, the editor, was kind, interested in our little hobby here and will be getting back to me to see if we make the cut as a part of their story. I got to gush about Flickr, gush about my creative husband, and just gush about blogging in general.

If anything happens with it, all from a simple search engine and a comment on a blog, we will let you know.

Ok, maybe I should say that if only every day this week were like Monday.

Yesterday flew by. I got to work and before I knew it I was driving home, and no, I didn’t leave early. In fact I left kind of late. I was busy, but suddenly the day was over.

And today was ok, but it kind of dragged in the middle. I was very busy but still found myself clock watching wishing I was on my way home.

Anyway, I hope the rest of the week gets done quickly because on Friday we are out. of. here.

It you are a regular reader of crumleydotorg you will recognize the fact that it is summer and July is quickly approaching. Summer + July equals Lake Martin! And this year we leave on Friday and do not return until 10 days later. That means:

9 days of relaxing by the lapping waters of the lake.
9 mornings of Albert’s eggs, biscuits, and me snitching bacon.
10 days of Fuller being spoiled by Grandpa Albert, Grandma Linda, Grandpa Fred, and Veija.
10 days of 7 dogs (actually that depends on when D’s sister’s family gets there, otherwise it is only 5 dogs).
9 evenings of Albert asking “Who wants to go on a boat ride?”
1 evening of watching fireworks from the boat.
9 days to swim and get my toes nibbled by invisible fish.
9 days of watching Maple and Esau chase their balls into the deep waters of The Lake.
9 days to take at least two naps a day.
9 days of no voicemail, no work email.

Now, don’t you wish it was Friday already?

A while back a call went out to mom blog writers asking for applications to become paid bloggers. The main qualification was that you had to be a mom. I didn?t apply but every day that I check out the crop of mom blogs over at ClubMom, I kick myself. Hard.

After I remove the ice pack I start my daily blog surf of ClubMom bloggers. There are some really awesome writers from all over the spectrum of motherhood and I relish every word that they write (and get paid for) to enhance my personal wiki of ?Motherhood How To.?

At first I started reading women I had a previous blog relationship with- Amalah (aka Amy) & Sundry (aka Linda). And then I started checking out the rest of the blogroll and found a few new favorites. Actually, more than a few, I read a lot of them.

Recently I have been looking forward to Lissa?s updates over at The Lilting House. Lissa is a mom of five, a writer, and someone who is imparting her wisdom on the scary and exciting path of homeschooling. (Remember our thoughts from last year?) She started a series of posts on homeschool curriculum (part 1, part 2, part 3) and has pointed me to some really great resources. D and I both took this quiz (D is an unschooler, I am similar to Mr. Potato Head or something kind of flexible). And today she pointed me to the homeschooling wiki.

Beyond her homeschool knowledge, she is an inspiration as a mother of five- all with their different personalities, challenges, and desires (her eight year old is learning ancient greek because she wanted too).

I guess I could say I have a blog crush on Lissa. Even though I was homeschooled for two years, the idea of teaching my our son at home is a bit daunting. But I am appreciative that I found Lissa?s blog(s) and suddenly it isn?t so scary.

Sunday evenings we usually don’t do anything outside of the house. We are often winding down the weekend by spending time with Fuller and watching as much Fox animated TV as we can.

Tonight we bucked our normal routine for something really enjoyable- a concert!

We went to a Third Lobby concert at North Shore Fellowship. It was a fundraiser for a missions trip to Ireland and some people from our church are joining the group, which is how we heard of it.

I was really impressed with Third Lobby and their “Celtic Alternative” sound. Their sound made Fuller really happy. He wasn’t too keen on hanging out in the pew so we went to the back and hung out in the church’s overflow room. We could see and hear everything and Fuller was able to move around as he pleased.

And I am excited for the ministry opportunity that they will have in Ireland, using their music. When God gives us talents and people are able to use those talents for His glory, it just makes me excited to know that God is such a wonderful artist who is painting my life.

Recently it was brought to my attention that I have a lot of yarn. Of course, most knitters or crocheters have a lot of yarn, but I just seem to have a lot of it because it keeps getting in the way of things.

Anyway, I have a rule that I can’t purchase any more yarn until I get rid of at least a third of it. I may end up giving some away, but right now I am trying to find projects that 1) interest me and 2) can be done quickly. And since it is summer I prefer light projects that don’t seem “hot.” You know, no sweaters, blankets, or wool.

Well, I have done some filet crochet in the past and I actually enjoy thread crochet, so I started looking around for projects that were in that venue. Crochet Me is a a great crochet resource, with lots of modern crochet projects that make me excited to pick up a hook and ball of yarn.

I found this Happy Hippie Hair Tie in the Crochet Me archives and it begged to be stitched. As a plus, it works really well for my thick hair. I also made a pink version with white pony beads on the outer edge. It looks a bit more elegant but I had a hard time getting a decent picture. I used a cotton thread for both hair ties, so they stretch a little bit. Each one took me about half an hour. I would love to make more with beads, but since I can’t buy any more yarn, I can’t really justify starting a bead collection just yet.

One of the between issue emails that Crochet Me sent out recently included a free pattern called Hydrate! The purpose is to be a water bottle holder. In one evening I made this, using one ball of Sugar ‘n Spice kitchen cotton (I think it is traditionally used for making kitchen dishcloths or hotpads). I liked the black and white because I like to think it will go with anything. And having my water bottle with me at all times really helps me keep my water intake to what it should be.

Now, these two projects may not have made a terrible dent in my stash, but it has helped me get inpsired to keep crocheting throughout the summer months. I plan on attacking a thrift store t-shirt and attempt my own version of the Galaxy Top. And I have a few bag patterns rolling around in my head as well.

Maybe by Fall I will have met my goal of using at least a third of my yarn. And if I am truly inspired, maybe I’ll have exceeded it.
(Click pictures for larger view.)

Today’s number of the day was one. It seemed like such a let down, but the Count didn’t seem to mind.

Also on the Count front, I would like to thank The Count for teaching my son how to say “Un… TWO… free!” When you get him in the right mood, he’ll say it and he is just SO CUTE!

There’s this product that some company came out with that makes college themed videos similar to the “Baby Einstein” video series. There are some folks who think this is brain washing. I think it’s kinda cool.

Is it brain washing when you teach your child not to touch a hot stove?

No, it’s good parenting.

Anyway… it’s kinda funny that some people are freaking out over this, ’cause I’m currently working on a project (I’ll write a detailed entry about it once I’m done) that will make a college themed video look pretty tame by comparison.

(Remember, I’m the guy who sewed a matching set of father-and-son Auburn Elvis costumes so we’d get on TV at basketball games - WHICH WE DID!)

And in the my baby is growing up so fast category: Damon and Fuller go to Kindermusik today! Zoo Train, here they come!