First tennis match

Today was Thomas's first ever tennis match.  Since there is no spring musical on which he can work, he decided this would be a good year to give tennis a try.  He is playing JV and is playing doubles.  Today's match was a little rough, although they played a school that matched with the talent well so it wasn't awful.  A new adventure has begun!

The end of another break

In about 12 hours, I'll be leaving for work.  I'm very grateful I love my job, but I love my time off as well.  It's been very nice.

Friday morning I picked up my good friend from the airport.  She had gone to visit her ill father for two weeks.  It was an early pick up, and then we went and had breakfast with my mom.  I drove her around my hometown, and we all enjoyed visiting.  Catherine also came home that afternoon.  It was wonderful having her around for a Friday evening, and our family enjoyed some fun times.

Yesterday Andrew had his first official baseball game of the season.  We took our sweet pup with us, and the other coach's family, who are also very dear friends, joined us.  We had a very nice afternoon of visiting.

Today I took Catherine to see my sister so that she could sign some legal paperwork.  We then went to see my grandmother again since she hadn't seen the kids.  The wind was brutal, but the visit was lovely.  I'm so grateful she is vaccinated and we can see her!

This week there are three tennis matches and at least one baseball game.  I've also been able to make an appointment for Thomas to get his first vaccination shot, and Catherine is sticking around because she has an orthodontist appointment.  I'm so grateful!

Back to the grind, but I don't really mind! 

A day date on our staycation, and some good news

I am going to start with the good news.  Thomas passed his lifeguarding classes!  We are so excited for him.  He applied to work at the university pool and the community pool and country club pool will also be open this summer so he should be able to find a job.  He even passed the "extra test" that will allow him to work at the university pool.  It was required because they have a dive well that is more deep than normal.  Definitely a good day for him!

Andrew and I have kind of been considering this week a "staycation" and haven't worried too terribly much about home responsibilities.  Andrew still had baseball and assistant athletic director responsibilities, but we have allowed ourselves to do other things.  We ate out Tuesday evening and last night, and Andrew and I treated ourselves to lunch at our favorite restaurant today.  It is soooo good!  We also spent the day doing some shopping, and even buying a new recliner (that may or may not be delivered by the end of the year...good grief)!  We really enjoyed our day together.

As always, I am a little sad that this week is coming to a close.  Catherine is coming home tomorrow though, and probably will stay for an entire week.  Looking forward to more family time!

I got to visit with my grandmother

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my grandmother.  She was confused about her taxes and I went to help.  I told Andrew yesterday that I can see she is more confused about things these days overall.  After all, she is 90!  I also had to laugh when I mentioned that I hadn't taken my daily medication yesterday.  She mentioned that she sometimes forgets to take her vitamins.  That's right!  At age 90, the woman is on ZERO medications.  How is that even possible????  Grandma and I are both fully vaccinated, and it is absolutely wonderful to be able to visit together.  I am so, so grateful.

While I was gone, Thomas was taking the first of his lifeguarding classes.  He has them for three days this week.  When it is finished, he will be certified to be a lifeguard!  There are many pools in the area, and because of the university, there is even a pool open year-round.  It will be a good way for him to make some money.

Overall, it is a fairly uneventful spring break, and I suppose that isn't a bad thing!

The best part is almost always the beginning

Today was the last day of work before break.  Because there were no students, I didn't have to be there as early, AND I was able to leave an hour earlier than normal.  It is a bright sunny day (although still chilly) and there is all basketball, all day.  Other than a haircut tomorrow, I have no specific plans until Tuesday.  In between now and then is lots and lots of basketball.  I don't have to feel guilty about that, because it is the beginning of break.  The beginning is almost always the best part of break!

Only a few more hours

In less than eight hours, this house will officially be on spring break!  While there are no guarantees that my school and the public school will have the same break each year, this year we do, and I'm so very grateful for that!  Our school has not students today, so I can go in about an hour later than normal (of course, I didn't let myself sleep an hour longer), and I suspect I can be home a little early as well.  Just a few more hours until we all get to enjoy a week off!

I'm still not used to her leaving

Two weeks ago I received a text from Catherine, and I could tell that she was kind of "down".  She was going to come home the next evening because she was going to watch our sweet pup while we were gone for our friend's funeral, and I encouraged her to go ahead and come home that evening.  She did, and we were thrilled to have her.  While we were gone, she had an episode similar to the ones she had over the summer.  We were very surprised by this, and when we got home we had a conversation about things.  She was going to be coming home the following weekend (this past weekend) anyway, and then had a dental appointment yesterday.  We discussed that we had concerns about her driving if these were going to start happening again.  We explained that if she waited and left today, that would be another nine days for us to observes, and eleven days since her episode.  She agreed it was probably best that way.  I hated that she might have to be dealing with this again, but I certainly did not hate that my sweet girl was going to be home with us for such a long stretch.

It still went too quickly though.  We loved our family dinners together and watching some TV and some laughing together.  We had some wii bowling matches, and when Thomas was home Monday because of no school, I love that they made plans to hang out and get some coffee and doughnuts together.  Each day I was so grateful that the next day wasn't the day she was leaving.  But of course, yesterday arrived, and the next day was the day she was leaving.  I gave her a big hug before I went to bed last night, and spent a little time chatting with her.  This morning while she was still sleeping I went in to kiss her and prayed over her.

She let us know about Noon that she was heading back.  It still breaks my heart a little, although not nearly as much as the first couple of times.  Coming home today without her here, the driveway seemed empty without her car, and the house seemed empty without her laugh.  It isn't just me though.  She is truly Thomas's best friend, and it's hard that she isn't here to keep him company.  At the same time, I know that raising children who are independent is exactly how it is supposed to be.  I'm just not used to her leaving yet.

Not the answer we had hoped for

This morning Thomas put on very nice clothes and took time to do his hair.  He wanted to look his best as he asked Miss O, our neighbor, to this year's Prom.  She is only a freshman, and is a delightful young lady.  I had warned him that she might not be allowed to date, or might not be allowed to go as he is two years older, but since we know her parents it was certainly worth asking.  Sadly, he texted us at the end of the day letting us know that she said she couldn't go with him.  I found her wording such that it could reinforce that maybe she wanted to, but wasn't allowed.  We don't really know.

I know Thomas had really hoped this would work out.  Certainly, there are others he could ask, and he also has the advantage of knowing students at other schools.  It sure is hard to see our kids disappointed though!

Thinking of my kiddos

My heart is with my kiddos today.  There are some exciting possibilities as well as some struggles that both are facing.  I know they don't understand how they always have a piece of my heart with them, and I know they can't understand that until they become parents themselves someday...hopefully not anytime soon!  I'm so grateful to be their mother, and of course wish I could just make everything in life so easy for them.  Overall, things are well, but I'm sending up a few prayers on their behalf today!

So much on the calendar

I just finished updating our calendars.  Andrew is coaching baseball again, and Thomas has decided to try tennis.  As both are spring outdoor sports, the "schedule" that is provided at the beginning of the season seems almost laughable.  Regardless, I spent quite a bit of time making sure our calendar was as up to date as it could be.  To be honest, I had forgotten how crazy being a baseball coach's wife can be.  Adding tennis which is also every day to the mix, wowza.  Last year at this time we were literally doing nothing, and I had just forgotten how busy this can all be.  Our calendar squares are fairly full, and of course I now work full time.  I'm excited that Thomas is trying something new, and Andrew loves coaching.  I sure did love all that family time we had last year though!

The weekend goes too fast

The end of the weekend has arrived, and of course it went by entirely too fast.  We were supposed to go away this weekend, but our friends had to cancel.  Their daughter made some very poor choices, and they were afraid to leave her for a variety of reasons.  We completely and totally understand.  It is so hard to have teens that can't be trusted.  In the long run, I do believe that M will be okay, but she has some hard lessons to learn.  It's a tough situation.

My mom came down this evening for dinner.  Other than being here for Catherine's graduation party last summer, I think it had been Christmas of 2019 since she had been here.  She was able to receive her vaccination, so we all feel a little safer to be able to spend time together "just because".

And of course, as if weekends aren't short enough, we lost an hour this weekend.  That time change is always tough.  I do appreciate the extra sunlight we will get though! 

We really had no idea

As many do, I vividly remember one year ago today.  I was subbing for a math teacher that taught almost exclusively seniors.  We all knew the probability that the governor's 2:00 press conference was going to change our lives dramatically in an unprecedented manner was high.  They were worried about graduation and prom.  I assured them things would be fine, especially for graduation.  After all that was more than two months away!  We truly had no idea and did not understand what was really happening.  I remember being so incredibly impressed how well the students were handling the situation, and how they seemed to grasp that it was serious, even though we really didn't understand how serious it was.  We sat in Andrew's room after school and watched the press conference until we had to leave, and then listened to it in the car.  Such very vivid memories.

Like so many others, so many things changed that day.  It was stressful dealing with so much unknown, but I was so, so grateful that I had my amazing family to go through each day with me.  I loved how much togetherness we had, and while those early days were so scary, I appreciate the memories of our time together.  

It seems so incredibly unreal that it has been a year ago.  Three hundred and sixty five days ago we walked out of the high school.  Two days ago, I walked back in for the first time.  It was so wonderful, but yet made me a little sad.  Although I truly enjoy my new job, I still miss the people at school so much.  I miss getting to share part of my day with either Andrew or Thomas.  It felt like home, but still felt so strange.  It just doesn't seem possible that an entire year has gone by!

It was wonderful and beautiful and horribly awful all at the same time

On Friday we made the ten hour drive to be with our friend.  When we got about an hour away, I just couldn't stop crying.  Getting close made it so real that he wasn't there and we weren't going to see him.  After we checked into the motel and ate dinner, Andrew dropped me at her house while they did some grocery shopping.  We headed back to the motel and waited for our other friends.  We had some wine and got ready for the rest of the weekend.  Saturday was busier than we had anticipated.  Some shopping needed done, and we were very busy at our friend's house helping her get her house ready to host the meal after the funeral.  Andrew was watching the livestream of his cousin's funeral for a time, and most of the out-of-town family began arriving.  We decided to provide dinner for everyone.  After getting back to the motel, we shared some drinks with friends.

Yesterday morning everyone else went to breakfast, but since I'm not a fan, I decided to take advantage of some quiet time.  We arrived at the funeral home just as the visitation began so we could be useful if needed.  The three of us, along with our friends and three of their kids all sat together in a pew throughout everything.  I was so, so incredibly grateful that we were together for this, and that we were able to share this, but it was also so very awful.  It didn't feel real, and I didn't want it to be real.  After the services we attended the meal and visited for a bit.  We knew we had to leave early this morning, but after dropping the kids at the motel we decided to venture out for a margarita to toast Tim.  When we got back to the motel, I cried again for a bit.  I'd been in "we'll take care of it mode" and since the services were done and there was nothing left to focus on, my emotions took over.  Again, so incredibly grateful we could share this all together.

I was incredibly drained and slept quite a bit of the drive home.  We had lovely weather for traveling, and all the entire weekend.  The services were very well done, and everything was beautiful.  At the same time, the whole thing was so horribly awful that it was happening!

The reality of it all is beginning to set in

The reality of our weekend is about to set in.  We have a ten hour car ride today.  I told Andrew I'm usually excited about the beginning of our trip, because at the end we get to be there!  While I am excited to see Julie and thrilled we all get to be together, this is not a fun trip.  It truly doesn't seem real.

No more pictures

I've been spending some time looking at pictures that were taken of ourselves and our friends.  Our three families were so very close...we even had family portraits taken together as one big family.  Even eleven years later, those are some of my favorites.  Beyond that, there are so, so many pictures of the three couples.  I just can't believe we don't get to take any more of those pictures.  It just doesn't seem real.  I am so grateful so many of us are going to get to be together this weekend, but this is a trip I definitely don't want to make.

It was one year ago today that Andrew's cousin surprised us with a visit.  We knew with his terminal diagnosis it would most likely be the last time we saw him.  I am so, so, so grateful that he included us in his travels and that we had that time.  Andrew will be able to watch the livestream of the services on Saturday.

On the upside, we are having beautiful weather.  I loved February and the winter weather, but now I'm ready for spring and some time outdoors.  I'm ready to visit with people again as well!

So much love

Today I got a text from Catherine.  She was feeling discouraged by some of her classes.  She was going to come home tomorrow anyway, and I asked if she wanted to come on home this evening.  She was pleased at the thought of a free dinner, and I was thrilled at the thought of her being home.  I didn't tell Thomas she was coming, and when she pulled into the driveway, his smile was so big!  The laughter, jokes, and just absolute joy in our house this evening is infinite.  I am amazingly blessed.

Catherine is staying at our house this weekend with the pets while Thomas comes with us this weekend as we head west to pay our respects for our dear friend.  At least three of our friends' kids are joining us as well.  I'm so grateful that we all get to be together, but oh how I wish it was for a different reason.  I'm so grateful our family has been blessed to be a part of this "framily".  I regret that Catherine isn't coming with us, but I am very grateful to her for staying with the pets.   My heart is full of so much love!