My son is a sailor

This weekend we were able to travel to graduation for Robert from Naval basic training.  We are very proud!  We got up there Thursday afternoon, but we just had dinner and hung out at the motel.  Friday morning we were up super early, and were seated 40 minutes before the ceremony began.  His division marched in second from the last and I couldn't see anything.  Being short is sometimes a pain!  It was about 15 minutes later before I could pick out the one that I thought was him.  The ceremony was over 90 minutes long, but finally, we were all set free!  When we got to him, he had tears in his eyes.  It was very touching that he was so happy to see us!  He had to report back, and unfortunately, by the time he was able to see us again, we only got to spend another 2-1/2 hours together.  We had to come home that night because of the schedule for Catherine & Thomas.  There were many times when Andrew and I would look at each other and just smile because we noticed a change in Robert.  Don't get me wrong, he is still a nineteen-year-old, but he had grown up so much in the ten weeks since we've seen him.  Some things are up in the air regarding him right now, but I appreciate the fact that he now has a phone and we are able to call and text.  My son is a sailor in the United States Navy!

I love Saturdays in the fall

It's been a crazy busy week...mostly in good ways.  I will write about it more later, but right now I'm exhausted and some of the week was kind of "heavy".  However, I am always regenerated by Saturdays in the fall.  Today was a wonderful day.  The temps are in the lower 60's, and I know that the leaves are going to be changing here pretty soon.  October is my favorite month of the year, and Monday it begins!  This time of year, Saturdays are just the best.  I miss watching cross country meets in the mornings, but I don't miss what time we have to be up in order to do so.  I love that this time of year, Saturday can be a day where I can sit on the couch, accomplish a couple of things, enjoy cool weather, enjoy the lighted candle in my family, and watch good football.  I don't love that OSU/Penn St is on at the exact same time as Notre Dame/Stanford, but I love that it is on.  Saturdays in the fall are just awesome...I can't say it enough!

Today would've been Tim's birthday

Today would've been my brother-in-law's birthday.  I know it has to be hard on my in-laws, coming less than a month after his passing.  My mother-in-law is very strong and she will get through this, although I know it is really, really hard on her.  My father-in-law is not holding up as well, and it is accelerating his dementia.  I worry about them both, but right now there is no consideration to moving here, or moving closer.  While my brother-in-law was often challenging, today I choose to remember the good things, and hope he is having a happy birthday in heaven.

Sleeping patterns

Last week was busy, and the fact that I felt lousy at the end of the week made me even more exhausted.  I fell asleep before 11:00 Friday night and slept until nearly 9:00 Saturday.  I then went to bed around 9:30 Saturday night, although I was awake for about an hour around 11 when Thomas came home from Homecoming.  I had asked that he wake me because I wanted to talk to him.  I then slept until 9:30 yesterday morning.  It was wonderful to wake up and feel so much better!  I was able to accomplish so much yesterday.  I was thrilled, and I felt so rested.  So rested in fact, that I couldn't fall asleep last night.  I was after 11:30 before I finally could fall asleep, and of course 5:00 rolled around awfully early this morning.  So of course I'm beginning the week not feeling at all rested.  Many Sundays I am up and at church, and I need to just get up even when I'm not.  This is not a cycle I wish to keep repeating!

I hate being sick

I don't think anyone likes being sick.  I know I certainly don't!  I am grateful for the most part that I have no where I have to be this weekend.  However, because it is the weekend, it also means that everyone is home with me.  I love my family, but the little annoying things they are do are super annoying when I don't feel well.

I went to bed last night and was able to get over ten hours of sleep.  It was wonderful.  I had to set my alarm this morning though, because we had an appointment at the bank this morning.  This is one of the few Saturdays we are in town and Andrew didn't have to work, so we needed to get some banking done.  When I woke up this morning, I instantly knew I didn't feel much better than yesterday.  My plan was to enjoy the fabulously cool weather and sit and watch college football all day.  When my alarm went off, Andrew got up and took the dog on a walk, and I hopped in the shower.  Then I went out and unloaded the dishwasher and got dinner started in the crock pot.  I knew I wasn't well when the fact that there were no bags of frozen potatoes made me cry.  I found two bags that were half full though, and made that work.  After the appointment, I planned to just rest.  My family had other plans though.  I'll be honest, I am incredibly annoyed.  No one could put anything away, and when I started harping on them, Andrew took their side because I wasn't "being patient".  Why should I have to ask more than once (or even once for that matter) for the kids to throw away their trash or put their dishes in the dishwasher?  It took every thing I had to keep moving and fight tears, and I even told Andrew that.  In the meantime, in addition to picking things up, I started a load of laundry, folded a load from earlier, and paid some bills.  I am so incredibly annoyed that my family can't just let me be!

Fall arrives

Fall arrives, officially, sometime this evening.  I think it is after 9:00.  However, Mother Nature has already made it fall.  The high is in the 60's and tonight it will get down in the 50's.  It is a cloudy and overcast day, which makes it a perfect Saturday to watch college football!  It also makes it a perfect day to have potato soup for dinner...and we are!

It's Friday afternoon and I'm sick

We have made it to Friday afternoon!  In exactly 61 minutes the bell will ring, and I will get to go home.  I'm not going to lie, I am not sad about that at all!  Starting yesterday, I realized I was beginning to come down with either a cold or a sinus infection.  Not entirely sure which.  By last evening, I was pretty sure this could cause me to feel pretty lousy.  Andrew took the kids to the Homecoming parade, and I stayed home.  I woke up this morning feeling even worse than last night.  If I hadn't already had a job for today, I certainly would not have taken one.  However, I LOVE being in this room, and I knew for the most part I only had to sit and get through the day.  And I've almost made it!

This evening, Thomas has to be at a restaurant to meet friends for dinner at 3:30.  I found a senior who was willing to take him to the high school after so I don't have to worry about him.  Catherine has to be at the high school at 5:15.  I should be home by 5:30, and I plan to medicate and sleep.  Andrew will be at the football game with the kids doing his stat work, and I shouldn't have anywhere I need to be.  The dog and I can cuddle and take a nap!  It is a very unscheduled weekend, so I should be able to rest a lot...and that is the plan!

A rough year for our group of friends

In my life, I have been blessed with amazing friends.  One group has a friend that goes all the way back to my high school days.  Stephanie married Pat, and he had a group that also went back to his high school days.  One of them went to college locally, and before we all had kids we were pretty much inseparable.  In fact, we had a wedding photo taken on the altar when we were married.  Since that day, there have been five spouses and eight kids added.  We are a very close group, and although we don't get to spend a great deal of time together anymore, we are always there for each other.

It's been a tough year though.  Early in the summer, a friend named Sarah lost her father very unexpectedly.  At the end of the summer, Tom lost his father after a lengthy illness.  Andrew's brother passed just a couple of weeks later, and Jen lost her mom last week.  I was off work and was able to attend the funeral visitation.  I guess we are reaching that age where these things will happen more often but it's a lot for our group in a short period of time.  I'm grateful we all have each other.

A huge feeling of accomplishment

Five months ago my desktop computer crashed and died.  We were able to retrieve all of the data from it, but I had never been in love with it.  Frankly, I'll NEVER buy that brand again.  We decided to purchase a laptop this time since I am spending so much time at school.  The biggest challenge was the band financial information.  I was finally able to find something that would work, and I was using the "free" version just to get through.  I needed to actually make the purchase, but I didn't want to lose all the data I had.  I was certain it was going to require spending more time than I really wanted on the phone with tech support.  As it turns out, I was correct.  It was over an hour last night, but I am finally all set up and ready to go.  I felt this huge burden lifted and such a sense of accomplishment.  I was thrilled!

I used to snooze

Up until two years ago, the snooze button on my alarm clock saw lots and lots of use.  I would get up and hit that snooze button until there was no other option but to get up and get moving.  This would go all the way back to high school...as long as I can remember being responsible for getting up myself.

Two years ago though, things changed.  Up to that point, my days began after Andrew, so having the alarm go off multiple times didn't bother anyone.  Once Robert started going to the technical school though, I was the first one up.  That first year, Andrew was able to sleep in another twenty minutes each day.  Last year Andrew had to be up the same time I did on days I worked, but could still sleep that extra time on days I didn't, or on days I worked at the elementary.  That ended the snoozing.  I certainly wasn't going to make my husband try to sleep through multiple alarms!  It's amazing how quickly that habit can be broken.  Now, even if I am the last one, there is no more snoozing.  Ironically though, Catherine has become a snoozer herself.  The worst part is that her alarm is loud enough to wake the dead!

She struggles with transitions

We are having a tough time with Catherine right now.  I feel like she is really struggling, and the tough part (and at time even frightening part), is that we aren't entirely sure exactly what is causing this.  I know there are some big transitions, and she has never dealt with transitions well.  Although she wasn't close with Andrew's brother, it is still difficult to lose a loved one.  There has been the transition of having Thomas in school with her which she doesn't love, and of course Robert has left.  I think she forgets how much stress and chaos he brought to our lives, and I also know that to a certain extent, it doesn't matter.  She adores her big brother and is sometimes blinded by the things that were tough.  On the other hand right now, her younger brother can do nothing right in her eyes and is the worst person on earth as far as she is concerned.  Andrew and I are struggling with her reactions to things.  Parenting teens is by far the toughest thing I've ever experience in life.

Half way through September

It seems as though I can post from school again!  Yay!!!

It's hard to believe we are half way through September.  Life moves so quickly.  I feel like I'm currently in one of those phases where I'm not appreciating the little moments of life, and instead I'm wishing time away.  I need to remember though that just because middle school football and high school marching band will come to an end, swim season is right around the corner and it is equally crazy!  At the same time, I wouldn't mind the cooler weather that should come with swim season.

We enjoyed our visit with my in-laws and were able to accomplish what needed to be accomplished.  We were all pretty tired, but I was able to go to bed really early last night to help offset the fact that I felt lousy yesterday.  I feel as ready as I'm going to be to face this week!

It is Homecoming week at school, although I'm not entirely certain if either child is going to the dance.  I know Thomas wants to, but plans seem to be lacking.  Because of the parade on Thursday, band practice is moved to Wednesday.  Tomorrow evening Andrew has church council, so no evenings with all of us home this week!  Hopefully though, we are into our routine and all will be well.

I haven't been able to post

I worked every day this past week.  It was a pretty crazy week as two of those days were as a floater, meaning I went to cover for teachers as they needed to attend a meeting.  Many of them only took about 15 minutes, and on Wednesday, I was in nine different classrooms!  With working every day, it allowed me plenty of time to be on my computer.  However, the school has installed a new security system for the router.  They are trying to block anything they don't want the children to be able to access, but as usual, it's a little over stretching.  I am no longer able to post on my blog, and that is an absolute pain.  Based on conversations I've had, it doesn't sound as though it is going to get better anytime soon!

Visiting my in-laws

We are visiting my in-laws for the weekend.  Honestly, it has been the best visit in years.  I was concerned it was going to be absolutely exhausting, and to a certain extent that is true.  However, it has truly been nice to just visit.  There has been very little scheduled, and although there were some things that needed to be accomplished, we've actually spent a good deal of today just kind of hanging out.  It's been a very lovely visit.

A lot of sadness around

Sometimes, it feels like there is so much sadness around it can just take my breath away.  The fact that this week was the anniversary of the horrific September 11 attacks is definitely a beginning to the sadness.  Additionally, we learned earlier this week about a relapse of leukemia in an eight-year-old boy here in town.  His parents were students at the high school during my husband's early years of teaching, and Andrew coached his dad in football.  It doesn't seem like there are enough prayers to send up for the family.  A young lady in a town near our former town took her own life this week.  A family I knew from high school lost their young child after an extended illness.  It makes my heart hurt so very much.  The hurricane heading toward the east coast is awful, and two high school students (one of whom I know) have also been diagnosed with cancer...and it's childhood cancer awareness month.  My aunt is doing poorly, and I worry about the toll trying to help is taking on my mother.  It can be overwhelming.

At the same time, this all makes me very grateful for my faith.  I can't imagine losing a child, and I certainly pray I never have to experience that.  However, I know there is comfort in prayer, and I send so, so many prayers up on behalf of everyone.

I got a raise!

Today was my first paycheck of this school year.  I had been looking forward to it, and I was excited to be back in the world of income earners.  I was stunned when I got my paycheck today.  Apparently, the subs at our school got a raise!  I was so excited to find this out!  Hopefully it will help us build our savings account back up!

It really got cooler here

It has rained almost 48 hours straight around here.  Needless to say, there are some flash flood warnings around here.  The nice thing though, is that the humidity is gone, and the weather is so much cooler.  We are wearing flannel pajama pants and the fall scented candle has been lit.  With football on the TV for the last two days, it absolutely feels like fall.

I'm so grateful for this life.  As I was folding laundry earlier this evening, even though it is one of my least favorite tasks, I couldn't help but feel incredible gratitude.  I'm so lucky to have a job I enjoy, in a house that does far more than shelter us, surrounded by a family whom I love dearly.  I am blessed beyond words.

We don't take it for granted

There is a couple who both work at the high school, and now both of their kids are at the high school.  She mentioned that she doesn't take it for granted.  They know getting to spend so much time together won't last forever, and they will miss it when it's over.

I completely understand what she means.  By the time I started subbing, Robert was already at the career tech school.  There have been eight school days so far this year where all four of us living in this house have left the house for the same school building.  I love every minute of it.  Strangely enough, I haven't seen Thomas as much as I might want.  But I did get to have Catherine in class today.  I see the in the hallways, and sometimes Catherine even comes to see me where ever I am during the day.  It makes me smile, and makes my heart full.  I do not take this opportunity for granted.  Hopefully our finances can hold out and I can still sub the entire four years that Thomas is at school.  I am so grateful to be living this life with these kiddos!

It's just not fun to go to work in the dark

Here we are, just in the first week of September, and already it is noticeably darker when we are leaving for school in the morning.  Today was the first day in ten days that I had to be out the door at 6:30.  It sure got darker in that time!  As I mentioned to Andrew that I don't like like going to work in the dark, he pointed out that happens probably about 85% of the school year...and that is true!  I know it is only going to get worse, but at the same time, that's what leads to fall and winter, and the holidays.  All things I love!  Have to take the not-so-good with the good!

We are so ready for some cooler weather

Last week our area had a heat wave.  We had a wet weekend, although thankfully on Monday Andrew was able to mow the yard...and that was the beginning of our next heatwave.  Ironically, I was reading a post from a few years ago about how we had our first 90 degree days in September since the 1960's...and here we were having an all out heatwave!  It was absolutely miserable.  Andrew made the comment last evening that he is so ready for cooler weather, and even wearing sweatshirts.  Our heatwave is officially over today, but highs in the upper 80's aren't much of a break...and the humidity is still oppressive.  Hopefully we will start to see signs of fall like weather sooner rather than later!

I deserved those oreos!

As I've written before, I am trying to be mindful about what I eat and how active I am.  Since school has started, I've lost two pounds.  Not a great deal by any means, but give the fact that I'm neither truly on a diet or on an exercise regime, I am grateful it is going in the right direction and even this effort has an effect.

Today however, I had three oreos.  At the only elementary in which I will sub, they give a small water bottle and snack.  Many days it is oreos, and it was today.  YAY!  These Kindergarteners are a hand full, and there are also entirely too many in one classroom.  I am exhausted (and looking forward to what is currently a day off tomorrow) and I was delighted to treat myself to those oreos!

Tomorrow morning is going to be rough

Tomorrow morning we are all back in our school routine.  I'm not going to lie...it is going to feel really rough being up before 6:00.  We haven't been up before 9:00 since last Tuesday.  It certainly hasn't been fun and relaxing being off, but at least we've been able to get some decent sleep.  Tomorrow is going to feel really early.

I'm also in Kindergarten tomorrow.  It's going to be fun, but it's also going to be physically exhausting.  I'll be back there again on Wednesday.  It is definitely going to be a different kind of exhaustion from last week!

So proud of my kids

I am so proud of my kids.  This has been a tough week for them, but they have been awesome.  In fact, they have been awesome for years...going all the way back to five years ago when Andrew and I decided we were moving, and they jumped on board with much enthusiasm.

So much of the last five years have been focused on Robert...either dealing with his poor decisions or Andrew and I try to get ahead an prevent his poor decisions...which we never could.  I can't tell you the hours spent in that regard.  And some of Robert's decisions were publicly well known, and there were times for Catherine especially, that the kids had to deal with being his sibling and listening to people talk about him.  I know it wasn't easy.  Even this summer, when things haven't been going poorly overall, because of graduation and the Navy there was so much focus on Robert.

And of course, now Robert left for the Navy.  Even though he had been challenging, of course they love him and he is their big brother.  Having him leave has been a transition for all of us.  Certainly not all change is bad, but it is still change, which can be stressful.

Honestly though, they have been troopers through things, and continued this week.  With Andrew taking off first thing Monday morning, they were very helpful getting us out the door Tuesday afternoon.  They stood in the receiving line with Andrew and their grandparents, greeting hundreds of people they didn't know.  They missed two days of school, and not only were responsible for making sure they asked their teachers for assignments, they have been diligent in completing their missed assignments.  They were a big help this past week in helping Andrew clean out his brother's apartment, and honestly, they've been a great distraction for everyone.

I am so proud of my kids.  They are amazing, and I'm so grateful I get to be their mother!

A fabulous way to begin the season

Notre Dame beat Michigan last evening!  Woohoo!  It was a fabulous way to begin the college football season.  Catherine and Thomas were working concessions at the local university as a fundraiser for our church youth.  Because of storms, the game began 2-1/2 hours later than scheduled, but it worked out.  Of course we lost that game, but that is pretty much to be expected.

Today, our plans consist of cleaning and focusing on the week ahead.  This last week has been completely crazy, and I am grateful for an extra day to our weekend!

I always love this weekend

I always enjoy Labor Day weekend!  When the kids were younger, we could pretty much clear the calendar, with the possible exception of a quick trip to my dad's cottage.  Even then, we could pretty much just plan on watching the opening weekend of college football all weekend long.  As the kids grew older, clearing the calendar became more difficult, but we did the best we could.  Andrew and the kids all have some plans today, but for the most part, I can part myself in front of the TV (while folding laundry or taking care of other things!) and watch college football.  I love it!