Andrew back at work

It's official...whether we are ready or not the new school year is coming around!  Honestly though, it really isn't possible to be LESS ready than we were last year.  Actually, given the circumstances I thought we did a fabulous job of being ready for school last year, but this year is certainly much smoother!  I am even excited about it.  One of the things I always dread about going back to school is the loss of sleeping in, but since there was so very little of that this summer, well, you can't miss what you don't have!  I am especially excited that for the first time in three years, no one is entering a new district!  Robert is switching schools, but I get to be one of the very few that is completely and totally comfortable with high school and how everything works.  I am looking forward to our routine, and if I can locate my sub license I'll be looking forward to a little extra money as well.  I am very, very optimistic that this is going to be a great year!

Gotta take the bad along with the good

I love, love, love the fact that it is perfectly beautiful weather here.  The windows are thrown open, and last evening Andrew even closed them because of the chill in the air...even though he was wearing flannel pajama pants!  It is just a wonderful way to end our summer at home together (this is it today...Andrew goes back tomorrow).

At the same time, and I really hate to complain, but I can NOT stop sneezing!  Sniffling, sneezing...and just general yuck!  August 10 has kind of been the "marker" of when my allergies tend to really kick in, and this year is no exception.  I try not to take meds for it, because I am completely unable to function.  Better figure something out though...life has to go on!

A visit with my mom

One of the things that has been so hard on my mom is not seeing my kids.  She certainly hasn't been up to it though, and she even told me at one point that my kids had to see my dad so ill for so long, and she didn't want them to have to go through it again.  Although we had stopped to see her briefly in June, it really hadn't been since April that she had been able to visit with them.  Since she was feeling so well last week and this week was going to be the beginning of the final chemo (along with the fact that kids start school next week) I decided that we would journey up yesterday.  We were there a little less than two hours, and I allowed the kids to visit while I did a massive round of cleaning.  I know that it did everyone good (including myself) to be able to have that visit yesterday.  Hopefully in just a few weeks she'll really start to feel strong again and we'll be able to have more visits!

My in-laws' visit

My in-laws arrived here on Wednesday and just left this morning.  We truly had a very nice visit, and I hope they felt the same.  It's a little stressful when they visit because we give them our bedroom and move into Catherine's room, and three nights seemed like a long time, but I think it was relaxing without crossing over into boring...at least that's what I hope it was for them!  Robert and I had band duties while they were here and there was still cross country commitments, but overall it seemed to be just the right amount of time together.  We are headed there in about three weeks for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday, and that always makes it easier to say good-bye!

Really fabulous news

Yesterday was a really long day, but oh so worth it in the end!  I had to be in my hometown early yesterday to take my mom for a ct scan.  Later that day we had a follow up doctor appointment, then after a quick visit with my grandmother I spent some time with a very good friend at the funeral visitation of his grandmother.  I was gone from home nearly 12 hours, but the result of the scan made it so worth it!  Mom's tumor appears to be gone!  There are still cells and a PET scan later this fall will give more conclusive information, but this is such great news!  We could not be happier!

Sunday afternoon

It is Sunday afternoon.  Our family made it church today, the first time all together in over six weeks.  There have been Sundays when I was up with Mom, or Sundays where other family obligations prevented a successful 10:00 church attendance, but today we were all there.  I enjoy that we've met many people there, and I always enjoy feeling renewed each week.

Andrew has taken Robert into Cinci to buy some running shoes.  We agreed since he is in high school this year that we would spend money and invest in "real" running shoes that are fitted and suggested by people who actually know what they are doing.  Catherine and Thomas are just hanging out, and I will eventually get back to cleaning the house since Andrew's parents are coming to visit this week.

In the meantime, I'm just sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet, the beautiful weather, and remembering to be thankful for so many blessings.

Made it through band camp

Robert arrived home last evening and had made it through band camp.  He was exhausted (which he refused to admit) and was experiencing a great deal of pain from holding his trumpet up for hours on end, but he loved every minute of it.  Andrew and I commented that talking to him, it seemed as though he had matured in just the week that he was gone.  He had a senior for a roommate and at first I was concerned about being set up for "freshman pranks".  However, Andrew had assured me that Connor was a good kid, and that seems to have been the case.  Robert said there were a few pranks pulled on freshman, but not really anything on him.  A cousin mentioned that the fact that Robert looks older than a frosh would be beneficial, and I pointed out that the biggest benefit to Robert in that regard was going to be his last name.  Andrew is a very well-liked and respected teacher, and that was only going to serve Robert well.

I am very much hoping that this experience is going to help him find a good group of friends to fit into...and I continue to hope that we have turned the corner on his behavior.  He's a good kid, there is no question about it.  He just needs to learn to make good choices!