I recently read an article titled “Busy is a Sickness” that struck close to home. I’m a high-functioning, chronic sufferer of self-induced busynesss as well as the complaining symptom that often accompanies it. Since reading the article, I’ve been trying to change some of that about my life. This last week was a bit of a challenge to that goal. Between having my sister visit, putting on a church event, trying to be involved with a community issue, and getting a little ambitious with projects, things were a little hectic, but definitely full. I’ll spare you most of the tedious details, but here are the highlights.

I knew the week was going to be busy and wanted to knock out as much prep as I could on Saturday. I borrowed my friend’s steam cleaner and cleaned all of our carpets. It turns out the carpets were filthy and glittery.

Because I was feeling a little overly confident (or maybe just delusional), I thought I could also squeeze in a tiny house project where I filled a bunch of cracks in our front door and stained it. This is something I’ve wanted to do for the last four years and for some inexplicable reason, bad-timing aside, I just couldn’t put it off any longer. The problem was, I forgot our formula for house projects and didn’t do the math so even though we started the project Saturday, it wasn’t officially finished until Tuesday evening.

All in all, it worked out. Our facade is much improved if I do say so myself. Bonus: light now only comes through the window.

Both Cooper and Noel suited up on Sunday and I had to capture my handsome fellas. It was good to have a day of rest – God really knew what he was doing with that one.

Monday, my sister, Hope, and her son, Porter, flew into town. Hope’s husband, Joe, was in Costa Rica for a class (right . . . ) so logically she came to the next best place to have fun. The kids were beyond thrilled. Ellen kept saying, “Porter’s my buddy.”

Tuesday we all wore green and spent most of the day prepping for a dinner for our church women’s organization. The kids did a great job of entertaining each other and even though my support staff was pretty much MIA, we pulled everything together for a lovely evening. Bonus: Since I always make sure we have a nursery for these events, Noel was able to attend a community meeting about an important school issue.

On Wednesday, we picked Cooper up from preschool and spent the afternoon at the zoo. Everyone was a little testy by the end, but it was nice to not be on the clock for wood stain time frames or event start times.

Thursday, my brother, Mitchell, received his mission call and we got to watch him open it via Skype. He’ll serve a two-year mission speaking Dutch in Belgium and the Netherlands. I’m so glad he’s made this decision and am excited for all the adventures and learning experiences he’ll have.

Today is the official first day of spring. I got up extra early to take Hope and Porter to the airport and then made a bunch of mini pies for a teacher appreciation lunch. The house felt a little lonely with Hope and Porter gone, but we’re glad they were able to visit. Life is definitely full.