Sleeping in a cocoon

Now that the cooler temps have finally arrived, I am back to sleeping in my cocoon.    I'll be honest, this is just about the only thing about the cooler temps I don't like.  While I hate being hot when I sleep, my (apparent) OCD about falling asleep when cooler is rather annoying.  When it is chilly (the best sleeping weather) I have to sleep completely wrapped up.  I am a side/stomach sleeper, and in cooler weather it becomes almost exclusive stomach.  However, I can't sleep on one side of my head very long, so there is still "flipping".  And when I say I need to be wrapped in my cocoon, I need the covers to be completely wrapped underneath my torso so that no air can come in.  It's a little ridiculous...not to mention not fun for my husband who has to deal with my constant "fixing".

I'm not going to complain about this though.  Last evening I lit my Pumpkin Spice Candle and oh goodness!  Everything smelled absolutely wonderful.  I am in love!!!!!

Early bedtimes

I don't like Wednesdays because Andrew has games and it is so late when he gets home, but for the rest of us, it's our early night of the week.  It's early release day from school for Catherine and Thomas.  They were both home by 2:30 this afternoon.  I picked Robert up from the bus at 3, he had an appointment, I ran to work, and after I picked him up we were both home by 5.  The boys usually aren't home until at least 5, and there are evenings where Robert has to work or he runs errands with me.  Catherine has band two nights a week and mock trial once.  This doesn't count the weekends...when Robert works nearly every evening and there is Friday night football.  We are just a tired house.

It also happened today that there wasn't much homework, and there was plenty of time to do it.  I was up until after 11:30 last evening getting ready for today's volunteer assignment, and then was out the door by 7 this morning to spend the day at the school.  I came home and just sat.  I could be unloading the dishwasher, working on laundry, or any number of other things, but I just wanted to sit down.  I had the kids take early showers and we were just hanging out.  I happened to close my eyes during the evening, and when I awoke at 7:00, I realized that Robert was sound asleep in the other room on the couch.  I got him up and sent him to bed.  He'll be able to get ten hours, and that is awesome.  I'm a little jealous!  I put Thomas and Catherine to bed 1/2 hour early as well.  It never hurts to get some extra sleep when the opportunity presents itself!

Only three more games

It is 9:00, and Andrew still isn't home.  In fact, he isn't even in town yet so it will be at least another 1/2 hour before he's at the house.  I'm so grateful he is coaching middle school and not high school.  It's tough enough as it is.  We are getting there though.  There are only three more weeks left in the season.  Almost finished!

I'm really trying not to complain.  The extra money is very much appreciated.  It's just turning into something of a long week.  Thomas has two weeks of cross country remaining, and Robert has three.  Catherine still has five weeks of marching band remaining (the season that never ends!) and she has also joined Mock Trial.  So yep, there is a lot going on right now, but I know that there will come a time when we are going to miss this...especially after my lunch time experience today!

A "first" that made me a little sad

I am spending my day at the schools today helping to promote a fundraiser for our bands.  I don't mind, and I even enjoy the opportunity to see my kids during the day.  I enjoy being able to see them in their own environment.  It's part of the reason I enjoyed subbing so much.  The kids always enjoyed catching a glimpse of me during the day as well.  Thomas, in particular, loved having me around.  I remember so many instances of him incorporating me into his day.

I've always tried to respect my kids and their need for space.  As high school students, they already know that their dad is always there, and honestly I'm at the high school a great deal as well.  Today though, I'm also at the middle school.  I knew the schedule somewhat, and when it was time for 7th grade to eat lunch I decided to walk towards the cafeteria.  About half way there, I ran into Thomas.  I stopped and said hello, and asked if it was okay that I walk with him.  His answer was, "no."  To be honest I was surprised and definitely a little sad.  Not so sad that I'm going to make an issue of it.  He is certainly entitled to all of it.  It's not surprise that these days come...it's part of the process of them growing up.  I'm grateful for all of our experiences, but I miss those days when I was the center of their world!

Looking forward to it

In about five minutes I'm going to walk out the door for parent/teacher conferences, and I'm looking forward to it.  Catherine is having some minor adjustment difficulties to high school, but overall I'm sure she's going to be okay.  She is a hard worker, and takes a great deal of pride in her school work.  And I'm really looking forward to having a meeting with her world history teacher!  I love seeing Andrew at work, and since it is going to be a really late evening, I appreciate being able to see him even more!

Cooler weather is arriving

We turned our a/c off this weekend, but it's still been pretty warm.  I've been refusing to have it on though, because it was the last weekend in September.  It was getting cool enough in the evenings that it was tolerable.  Finally though, fall has arrived!  The temps this week won't reach out of the low 70's, and the overnight lows are going to be in the 40's.  I am so excited I could do a little jig!  This is my kind of weather!!!

His return to running

Yesterday was Robert's return to competing on the cross country team.  I wasn't able to be there because Thomas began his art classes.  Knowing that he hadn't run at all in nearly four weeks, and hadn't finished a race even before that, I was nervous about how things might go.  The coach had a conversation with Robert this week about not going out to hard.  He needed to recognize and accept his current physical condition and limitations.  Robert had told me his plan was to run in the 25 minute range, which is nowhere near his personal best, and also is nowhere near being competitive.  Andrew called me when it was over and said Robert had completed the race...and I let out a huge sigh of relief!  It took over 24 minutes, but he did finish.  Robert has learned a lesson about his lack of preparing this past summer, and combined with the surgery might very well take him out of any post-season competitions.  He still has his senior year though, and hopefully be running track, and actually preparing in the off season, he'll be able to be competitive again.