Several prayer requests

I am a huge believer in the power of prayer and good thoughts, and I have a few requests...

1) A friend lost her mother yesterday after a several year battle with cancer.  She lived longer than many with her particular form of cancer and while I am sure there is comfort that she is no longer suffering, only eight days before Christmas is a very tough time to lose a loved one.  Not that there is ever a good time, but there are particularly crappy times, and this is one of them.  Please pray for her family.

2) There is a young family in town whose son (only eight-years-old) had a leukemia relapse and had a bone marrow transplant around Thanksgiving.  He is doing well, but please pray for continued good news and healing.  While I am so grateful that things are going well, I can't even imagine the fear of his parents.

3) Our high school students have finals this week, and that means it is most certainly finals week in our home.  For Catherine I'm not overly concerned, although Math is always a challenging subject for her and that exam will be first thing tomorrow.  For Thomas, and many freshmen, it is not always completely understood how much just one 90 minute test can affect their semester grade.  Please pray for all of our students, specifically that they work hard and find the knowledge they need in their memory banks!

4) Lastly, please pray for safety for all who are traveling this holiday season!

A day to wrap things up

I am off today!  There was a job yesterday I could've taken, but Andrew encouraged me to be home.  I'm not sad!  The kids and Andrew have a meeting after school, then will go straight to swim work out and Andrew will also work out.  He will then drop them off at swim practice and come home.  I have a meeting at church at 6:30 this evening, but no where I have to be until then.  I have the next 9-1/2 hours completely to myself.  And I plan to wrap, wrap, and wrap things up!  I have Christmas music on, and a Christmas candle lit, and the trees are on.  This is the only day that I have the entire day, and we finished our shopping for the kids yesterday just in time!  So looking forward to today!

I took the morning off

A few weeks ago I accepted a job for this afternoon.  It's in band, and let's face it, the kids all know me!  I loved the fact that it meant I didn't have to be at school until 11.  Most days this happens though, I am called in for the morning.

I'll be honest, the call came this morning and I said, "no."  I had a plan for my morning and it didn't include being at the school.  Nine times out of ten I will always go in, and I do hate to miss the opportunity for extra income.  However, sometimes I just need to step back, and this morning was one of those times.  Being able to do so is one of the greatest blessings of this job.

I still don't have to be at school for another three hours.  I have enjoyed a cup of coffee, and I've sat here with the Christmas lights on and enjoyed a very quiet morning.  It is truly a blessing.

We finally have a plan...sort of

When anyone has asked about our Christmas plans, my response has been, "Everything is TBD.  It depends on Robert's schedule."  Obviously, we weren't going to make any definite plans until we knew for sure what Robert was going to be doing.  However, I was beginning to become concerned as the days kept ticking away.

Finally, over the weekend we developed a plan.  Robert was coming in on the 23rd and staying until January 2.  Oh, and he plans to bring a dog.  Okay.  Lots to work on there, but at least some definite information. 

Because of other commitments, we decided it would be best if my in-laws came here.  Of course, that means ten hours of driving to go get them, and then ten hours of driving to return them, but things were starting to formulate.  We could get them on the 22nd, and if both Andrew and I went we could do it there in back in the same day.  We would have to, because Andrew had to work the evening of the 21st and we have Christmas at my grandmother's house on the 23rd.  We worked it out though, and we had a plan.

Then along came Monday.  Because an eye infection caused him to miss a test, Robert's plans changed.  He decided he would be coming in on the 22nd and returning on the 29th.  The good news is that the 22nd was a very late flight, so we would be back in time to get him.  And if the dog didn't come (he isn't certain about those plans) then he could stay over at my grandmother's house until the next day when we would be there for lunch anyway.  Unfortunately his return flight is 6AM, which means leaving our house at 3:30.  I was not pleased, but it can be done.

Then came Tuesday.  He decided to change his arrival flight to earlier on the 22nd.  Well, no one can pick him up.  By this point I was beginning to be a little irritated.  As I pointed out to him, when one needs to rely upon others to make things work, one ought not to assume we are sitting around twiddling our thumbs waiting to serve him.  And still no definitely information on the dog.

So the in-laws are coming, although we aren't exactly sure how long they are staying.  Robert is coming for a week, and possibly a dog as well.  We have an idea where everyone will sleep, and I know we will be busy and enjoy each other's company.  I'm also grateful that by the 29th or 30th, it should all be done.  So while Christmas week might be crazy, we will have an entire week after before we go back to school.

At least we have a plan...sort of!

So happy to be back at the high school

This week, I was off Tuesday, and then Monday and yesterday I was in Kindergarten.  I love the little ones, but they are oh-so-very exhausting.  The schedule of working much later into the afternoon is also tough on our family, but I do enjoy seeing little friends every once in a while.

Today is probably also my last full day until after the holidays.  I am scheduled both tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, but nothing all day.  I don't expect anything else either, and honestly that is fine with me.  There is definitely a lot that needs to be accomplished in the next couple of weeks!

It was a lovely morning drive

I had a doctor appointment this morning in my former town.  Last night we had a very cold night around here and there was frozen fog.  It was just after sunrise as I was driving this morning, and it was really very lovely.  It's especially beautiful right here in the holiday season!

Army Navy

Today is the Army and Navy football game.  We've always been a fan of this game in our house, and last year we rooted for Navy given Robert's plans.  However, we are now officially a Navy family, and this is our first football game as such.  Andrew and I are both dressed in our "Navy Mom" and "Navy Dad" sweatshirts.  We are in different rooms because I am cleaning and he is grading, but we both found ourselves being more emotional than normal as the introduction to the game was taking place.  While Robert isn't at the academies, he is serving our country, and we are very proud.

I also get a little emotional because this game means the end of college football Saturdays.  They are the best Saturdays of the entire year.  College basketball just isn't the same until March.  So for today, I am going to enjoy what I hope will be a Navy win!