Proud of my girl

One of the things I love about small towns is that we know LOTS of people, and in turn, LOTS of people know us.  For instance, last week at Thomas's basketball practice, I was talking to someone who works as an aide in the school.  I had been off that day, but she mentioned to me that Catherine had been in trouble at lunch and was weeping.  She said apparently Catherine had been throwing grapes during lunch, but was clearly remorseful for her actions.  When I got home, I mentioned to Catherine that it's a small town and that I heard someone had been in trouble at lunch.  Tears began to fill her eyes when she mentioned it was her.  I asked what had happened and she said that she had been throwing food.  I asked why, and she said that Tracy (name changed) was making fun of Catherine's friend Lexi because Lexi had to go to court involving a family situation.  Lexi was crying and Catherine told Tracy to stop, but when she wouldn't, Catherine threw grapes at her.  I'll be honest, my eyes began to tear up as well.  I hugged her and told her that I was SO proud that she stuck up for her friend.  I was so proud that had stood up to Tracy (who is well known to not be a nice person) but that in the future, she needed to find a different way to express herself.  Catherine was crying again and kept nodding.

And I meant what I said, I was SO PROUD of my girl for standing up for Lexi.  Don't get me wrong...Lexi is not exactly who I would choose for my daughter's friend, but I don't get to choose.  And NO ONE deserves to be treated meanly, especially over what is undoubtedly a painful family situation if the courts are involved.  With everything mean and awful that seems to happen in schools every day, I was so proud of Catherine for trying to make it stop.

Wedding video

Earlier this month, my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary.  About a week later, we decided to get out our wedding video and watch it.  The kids had never seen it, and I thought they would enjoy it.  It was really neat to watch it, and of course it brought back so many memories.  There were definitely some bittersweet parts.  At the time, my father didn't require oxygen 24/7.  And of course, we got to see some people who have passed on...my grandfather who died about 18 months after my wedding, my cousin Gary who died about three years ago, and several friends of my parents who are no longer with us.  At the same time, it was amazing to realize how much more I love my husband than I did that day.  Of course a wedding is fun (and I've been told by many that we threw a great party!), but it was just a day...our first day as husband and wife.  Now, all these years later, my husband and I have been through so much.  I'm very grateful for the fact that our good times outweigh our bad times what seems to be nine-to-one...and we are very blessed for it.  It made me proud of the life we've built together, and I'm also very grateful for the friends and family who help share our life with us!

A rest from our weekend is needed

We've had an absolutely exhausting weekend, although it certainly didn't start that way!  Friday was a great day!  We had an ice storm come through at exactly the right time and pretty much every school was shut down.  Andrew celebrated by walking the kids over to the little diner in town and having breakfast, and we all just kind of hung out for the day.  Yesterday my sister brought both of my grandmothers down to watch Catherine and Thomas play basketball.  Catherine had her best game of the season!  She received several comments that she had played so well.  Thomas also had a good game, but he had hurt his finger (more on that later) in practice on Thursday and was in a little bit of pain.  He had a really good steal right in front of us though, and we all enjoyed that.  In between the games we all went out to lunch, then after the games we headed north to my parent's house for dinner.  Dad is still really low on energy, but his spirits over all are pretty good.  My aunt joined us for a bit at dinner, and we also stopped by my cousin's house on the way home.  Everyone tumbled into bed last night to get some sleep before our day today.

This morning the Methodist church in town was having a pancake breakfast.  Andrew is committed to Sunday School at our church, and Robert is not "allowed" to miss his religious ed classes because next year is his confirmation year.  I took Catherine and Thomas to breakfast and then to the service at that church.  Upon returning home we decided to make a quick trip to urgent care to make sure Thomas's pinky finger wasn't broken.  We had discussed that there wasn't really much that could be done even if it was broken, but yesterday a friend had told us about her son.  His finger was broken and they hadn't done anything about it for over a month...of course now he's having surgery to fix the damage!  As it turns out, the pinky is not broken, just severely sprained.  It turned into a 3 hour and 45 minute trip to urgent care, and it completely screwed up the plans for the rest of our day.  In the meantime, after Mass at our regular church, Andrew took Robert to his baseball hitting camp and then straight to his two hour baseball practice.

All-in-all, it's been a very long couple of days.  I know that this is really only the beginning, and I know that people keep telling me I'm going to miss it.  Seems hard to believe, but I do know that I don't want to wish life away!

He's on his way home

Just talked to Mom, and she is on her way to the hospital to get Dad.  Hopefully, that , combined with the fact that I will most likely not work tomorrow due to parent teacher conferences, means I'll be able to sleep well tonight!!!!

Not sleeping

Last night was another night of not being able to sleep.  The really strange thing is that I don't even feel tired right now, although I'm scheduled to be work in first grade this afternoon so that's bound to change quickly!  I just couldn't fall asleep last night.  I tried all of my normal relaxation tips, but nothing seemed to work.  This morning when Andrew's alarm went off, I was awake for another hour because I couldn't fall back to sleep (that was aided by some cats not getting along so well), and then I still woke up before my alarm went off.  I just can't help but feel unsettled and I'm not entirely sure I know why, although Dad being in the hospital might have something to do with it.  There is also just something about this time of year...February has just never been a fun month!

It's almost eerie

Two years ago, I wrote about my father being ill and how I was convinced I sensed it, even before I knew.  It's eerie, but sometimes, I really think I just know.  For instance, I didn't sleep well at all last night.  For absolutely no reason, my mind was racing and I felt jittery.  At times it even felt as though my heart was pounding.  I was somewhat grateful to be off work today, although when I look at the scouting camps and select baseball fees, I'm well aware that I NEED to work.  I decided that this would be a very good day to really dive into a project I've been working on for my father.  When my dad's days at the company are over, so are this work-from-home gig, and I just felt a sense that I needed to get to work...and of course the kids' activity bills are also a reminder!  Anyway, my mom called mid-morning to discuss our dinner plans for Saturday, and then mentioned nonchalantly that Dad was in the e/r.  He'd been experiencing a rapid heart rate since yesterday, and although the rest of his vital signs appear to be good, they are keeping him for observation given all of his other health issues.  Yes again, I just couldn't help but feel that somehow I just knew something was wrong with my dad.  Hopefully though, the next 24 hours will bring good news!

Another week in the books

Another week has just flown by.  We had a total of one quiet evening last week, and when I mean quiet I really only mean that no one had any place specific to be that evening, but we still had plenty of things to do!  Monday evening Catherine had scouts and Thomas had basketball practice.  Tuesday was our one evening free.  Wednesday I had my day all planned to do some shopping and get some specific items I'd been searching for, but of course I got called into work, literally at the last minute.  That meant that I wasn't able to pick Robert up from school, and he had to spend the afternoon/early evening at an academic challenge meet with his dad.  Andrew has agreed to help out with this group because their regular adviser has been very ill.  Thursday was supposed to be a day where I was off and able to get some things done.  Instead, I spent the morning with Catherine at the doctor, because she has a virus on her hand it was very swollen and starting to turn purple.  I was able to run a quick errand, but as I was returning to town I was texted by a friend asking if I could help out at school.  I spent the next two hours at school with her working on preparing and delivering Valentine's cards for classes.  My mom came down that afternoon, and when Catherine and Thomas were done with school, we headed to my husband's school.  He had parent teacher conferences that evening, so we picked Robert up and ate dinner before dropping him back at the school for his band concert.  I was really impressed with how nice they sounded!  Andrew and Robert didn't have school Friday, but I had to work.  Lots of sugared up kids running around!  That evening Andrew and I finally took an opportunity to go out to dinner, just the two of us. We were looking forward to a belated Valentine's Day dinner, and while we very much enjoyed dinner, the fact that we had both come down with colds dampened the fun a bit.  Yesterday we decided that Robert was going to skip his scout hike in the morning so we were all able to sleep in!  Catherine and Thomas had basketball games in the afternoon, then we had to quickly get ready for Thomas's blue & gold banquet for scouts.  Our friends picked up Robert and took him to church with them, then we met up afterwards for the jr. high quiz bowl at this church.  Our junior high students brought home the trophy!  Today has been Sunday School, Mass, baseball camp, baseball practice, and a girl scout function.  THANK GOODNESS there is no school for anyone tomorrow...we need another day to try to get rid of these colds!

I'm pretty sure I understand why I'm so tired, but I'm so grateful for all of these opportunities!

Dinner then bed

This is a very, very tired household.  Yesterday morning we had to be up very early in order to get Robert to a scouting function.  He had to BE THERE at 7:45 AM, so we were up at 7.  Our day was very, very full of obligations (most of which were very fun), and last night we were up until about 3:00 (technically I suppose that is this morning, not last night).  This morning was Sunday School and because it was the weekend where the children are in charge of the mass we had to be there earlier than normal.  So yes, Andrew and I are very tired.  Robert is a teenager and is accustomed to sleeping in on the weekend and he hasn't been able to do that.  He also has two baseball practices and youth group today so he will be exhausted by the time he gets home this evening.  Thomas went to a friend's birthday slumber party last night and got very little sleep, and Catherine is having an allergic reaction to a bug bite so I gave her Benadryl and she's pretty wiped out as well.  I'm pretty sure dinner is going to be take-in, and then I'm expecting most of the family to tumble into bed VERY early this evening!

Our anniversary

Today is our anniversary, and it's a special one.  I'm so grateful that I get to share every single day with my amazing husband, and he truly is my best friend.  I would be lost without him!

We had hoped, at one point, to go away this weekend, but as time passed it quickly became obvious that wasn't going to happen.  Today he is, obviously, at work, and I'll also be working this afternoon.   This evening I'll be working at our agency and he'll be home with the kids.  Tomorrow he has to have Robert at scouts by 7:45 and I have to be at the jr high at 9:30 to judge the science fair.  Andrew is coaching Catherine's basketball game at noon and I'll be getting Robert from scouts at 1:00.  Thomas has a 2:00 basketball game and I'm hoping to run to the grocery afterwards.  Sunday morning Andrew teaches Sunday School then there will be Mass, then afterwards Robert has baseball camp and will go straight from there to baseball practice.  Not so much togetherness time.

We do get to celebrate with friends at dinner tomorrow evening, and we are looking forward to that!  Maybe this summer we'll get a chance to get away for a few days..and if not, a day with my kids is never a bad thing either!

I'm not gonna lie

It's been a rough week here.  To protect the privacy of my children, I'm not going to give details or specifics of some of the issues we've been dealing with this week.  I will ask though, that if anyone has a prayer to spare, we would be grateful.  I have faith that things will work out exactly as they are supposed to work out, but as a mother I can't help but feel, oh honestly I don't even know how I feel!

Along with that, plus the church drama, but Thomas missing for a few minutes on Tuesday, we had a scary moment with him yesterday morning.  When he got up, he just didn't seem "right".  I asked him if he was sick and he replied, "I don't know."  I asked another question and got the same response.  I told him to go downstairs and we'd take his temp.  He walked into our living room and curled up on the recliner.  I couldn't get him to sit up or to open his eyes, but he did respond to every question I asked.  Granted, most of his responses were, "I don't know."  There was no high fever, but I was very concerned by his lethargy, especially when I realized he was also really clammy when I touched him.  I called the school to report him absent, and the secretary asked what was happening (she likes to keep track of any bugs/illness trends that might be happening).  I explained I wasn't really sure and she mentioned giving him something to drink to make sure he wasn't dehydrated.  I hadn't really been concerned about dehydration, but got him some orange juice anyway...that kid LOVES his OJ!  I had to kind of help him, but I insisted he drink the entire cup.  As this was happening, I remembered dinner the night before.  He literally ate one tiny bite of broccoli and two peach slices.  That was it, because he was being difficult about dinner.  I had told him that I wasn't going to force him to eat anything else, but that he was not to ask for any other snacks...his next meal was going to be breakfast.  He was fine when he went to bed, but I suspect that yesterday's behavior was due to low blood sugar since he hadn't eaten hardly anything.  When I work in the schools and have a diabetic in my class, the one thing they always tell me to look for when a child might be low is lethargy and clammy skin...the exact same symptoms I was dealing with in Thomas yesterday morning.  By mid-morning, he clearly felt better and had another glass of OJ and two poptarts for breakfast.  I'm so grateful that everything worked out okay, and while we'll certainly keep an eye out for anything more serious, I suspect he might have had a touch of a bug (Robert stayed home from school last Friday with a touch of something) and that, combined with the blood sugar, just didn't work out so well for him.

All-in-all, these little trials and tribulations have been just that, "little".  Adding them up though, I've felt pretty emotionally drained most of the week!

Not really sure what to think about things

It's been a strange few weeks.  I'm not quite sure what to think about things.  After working almost non-stop through December, I've barely worked since Christmas break.  I was prepared for a slow January, but it seems as though these days I'm not really going to get called much by the scheduler.  I'm only getting scheduled by teachers who schedule me personally.  There is nothing I can do about this, so I'm just trying to go with it and accept it.  This morning about 8:00, I received a text from the scheduler asking if I could go in today.  I responded that I wouldn't be able to get there by the report time of 8:20, and that it might be closer to school starting but that I would be there!  She texted back a few minutes later with "Nevermind.  Thanks anyway."  I'm a little stunned.  I didn't say I wouldn't go in, and in years past it's always been perfectly acceptable to get there close to school starting if it was a last minute phone call.  I kind of feel like I just got fired, and I'm not at all certain that I understand what happened.  Again, there is nothing I can do about it so I just have to accept it.  Maybe it's a sign.  Maybe I'm just supposed to be the best stay-at-home Mom that I can be.  My concern is that I'm not at all sure I'm very good at that.  Mom guilt is really creeping in these days.

There has also been much continued drama surrounding our schools, and massive drama has popped up regarding our church religious ed program.  There is new drama surrounding my husband's school contract, and we are very grateful that he will have his administrator's license by the time summer arrives.  I don't anticipate him making the jump into administration, but it will be nice for him to have that option.  Of course that brings up all the unsettling questions of whether or not we need to be moving to my husband's school district, and it just seems as though so many things in life are in limbo and/or turmoil right now.  I try to remember that we are very truly blessed and life is really pretty good, but I've never been one that was good at handling conflict or drama very well.  Hopefully things will settle down quickly!

Fear

Actually, it was more like shear terror.  Wait, no, it wasn't like shear terror, it absolutely was shear terror.  Today after school, Catherine had tone chime practice which meant Thomas would have to walk home by himself.  We hadn't discussed it this morning, because honestly, I forgot.  I was pretty sure they had forgotten as well, but it's a fairly small school building so I figured once Thomas found Catherine and realized what she was doing, he would just walk home by himself like he does every week.  I wasn't terribly concerned when he was five minutes late and he hadn't arrived yet because I assumed it had taken him some time to realize what was happening.  I decided to head out to meet him on his way home.  The more I walked though, the more concerned I became.  By the time I got to the school, I was fighting back tears.  School had now been out for 15 minutes...where could he possibly have gone?  I walked in the door and saw his teacher's daughter who is a sixth grader.  I asked if she had seen Thomas and she hadn't, but she walked with me to her mom's room.  No sign of him.  As I turned around, his teacher and three other third grade teachers (all of whom I love dearly!) came out of the room across the hall.  The tears began to flow as I said, "Thomas didn't come home."  I felt like an idiot because the calm and rational part of my head knew that he had to be there somewhere, but with all of the drama in our lives lately, this just pushed the tears over the edge.  Two teachers set off to find Catherine and see what she might know, and Thomas's teacher and another walked with me to the school office to see if they might know anything.  I kept apologizing for my tears.  These are people with whom I work, and crying just seemed so unprofessional.  It was only about two minutes after we arrived at the office that Thomas's teacher's daughter came running up with the information that he had been located.  Apparently Catherine had met him at their spot after school, and since I had not discussed with them that he should walk home, she decided to keep him there with her.  In fact, the teachers who located him reported that he was sitting there quite nicely and was working on his homework!  Of course when I saw him the tears were flowing again, and we all had a conversation about how things should have gone.  I explained that I wasn't at all mad at anyone, but Thomas very much understood how scared I had been.  I kept thinking of all the missing children that are reported, and even though I knew that the odds were that everything was fine, I was sure those parents had been certain the odds were everything was fine also.  I don't know that I'll ever forget that feeling when I looked at his teacher and said, "Thomas didn't come home."  Tonight, as we were sitting around the dinner table, I don't think I've ever been more grateful that we were all home, safe and sound!

Reds Caravan

At the end of last month, the Reds caravan came to our area.  Robert has his first day of baseball hitting camp for the year and couldn't attend, so I took him to camp and Andrew took the younger two to the festivities.  They had gone two years ago but hadn't realized that in order to be guaranteed autographs you pretty much need to be there 90 minutes before it even begins.  This year Marty Brenneman and Brandon Phillips were both going to be there.  Marty Brenneman is the Reds announcer and has been since the early 1970's...basically my entire life, and certainly every summer that I can actually remember.  Todd Benzinger was also there.  He caught the last out of the 1990 World Series where Cincinnati swept Oakland.  I can still see in my head him making the catch and leaping into the air as the celebration began!  Catherine and Thomas absolutely had a blast and loved every minute.

We also took the kids out to a really nice restaurant in Cincinnati this past weekend.  The (original) Montgomery Inn has so much sports memorabilia and I loved watching the kids' faces light up as they got see some amazing things.  One of the Gold Gloves won by Buddy Bell had been given to this restaurant, along with baseballs signed by players from all over the county from almost every era (even Ted Williams!)  There was the "Reds room" where there is a poster of the 1976 World Series champion Reds team, and every one in the poster signed it.  I love that my kids appreciate the history of the game as much as I do!

With all of this, we are pretty sure that our vacation this year is going to include a stop at Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame.  I can't wait to share that with my kids!

In case you are wondering...

...I'm still feeling pretty agitated and irritated.  There is a huge part of me that thinks I should write it all out and maybe I'd feel better.  And there is a really big part of me that feels one should not complain and be negative (and judgmental) in a blog post.  Because, in essence, by being intolerant of the intolerance of others I'm guilty of what other are doing as well and I'm being judgmental.  Make sense?  No?  Welcome to how my insides are feeling these days!

So much going on

There is so much going on in life right now, and I'll be honest, I'm pretty sick and tired of a lot of it.  I will further go on to say that this is exactly why I am not a "joiner" and I don't play well with others.  I get pretty annoyed by ignoramuses who feel the need to share every thought that comes in their heads and then expects ME to agree with them.  INFORM yourself!  Believe it or not, someone else might have a good idea even if it isn't the way YOU would do it.  Oh, and for parents out there who may be reading this...parenting is INCONVENIENT.  Stop blaming others because they aren't doing exactly what you want them to do (more specifics will be in another post).

Sorry for this rant, but there is just so much overwhelming and ridiculous sh** going on around me right now that I felt the needed to put this out there.

I hope to be back before too long with something more pleasant.  Right now it just isn't in me.