A fraternity asked permission to harvest our bamboo. How in the world did that happen!?
Carrie was surprised, but said, "Sure!"
I came home to them hacking away. They had a Uhaul they were filling with bamboo for some sort of party. They mainly cleared out areas in the vacant lots and not near the house, but I'm not going to complain about free labor!
Random observation:
For college kids, they didn't know much about helping guide a truck. Carrie helped them the first time they backed in. The second time she sent me out to supervise.
"Turn the wheels to the left. Okay, back up. Turn the wheels to the right. Okay..." the kid said.
I pointed out that if he moved to the driver's side his friend could see him in the mirror so he could give hand signals. Plus, he'd hear him way better.
I guess guiding a truck in backing up isn't natural. It's one of those skills that's easy to pick up, but you have to actually do it once or twice.
One of my students tried to sell me on a mobile game. It was a bid for connection (and free), so I went ahead and downloaded it. It was also not my sort of game, but appropriate for Shane so I let him level me up some (My student will never know the difference).
Shane was hooked while Carrie looked at all the lights. I got nostalgic and asked to borrow her phone for a picture.
I get sentimental when I look at old pictures. There were a lot of great moments in between surviving parenthood!
Waxing maudlin prepped me to feel old when Carrie wanted to show us the new refrigerators. I do not need a touchscreen and speakers attached to my appliances. At all.
Carrie was excited about a new feature with a quick access button.
You click a button and you can access shelves.
Or you don't click the button and you can open the whole door.
My first thought, "Why would I ever want to open the same door twice and in different ways?" I'd rather open the door and get what I need than install a button that could break.
I was unimpressed. Probably a buzzkill, too, but I stand by my appraisal: The new gimmicks are overpriced, unnecessary, and not for me.....unless there's a huge sale and it'd make Carrie happy. I like sales. I, also, like 'ding & dent' discounts.
Shane has his last basketball practice today. There's one special needs kid on the team that Shane really likes to play with. He tries to tickle, make noises, and poke him. The kid pokes back and they seem to have a grand old time.
Most of the other kids pay attention to the actual basketball.
Honestly, most of the team are squirrels. I happen to focus on my squirrel out of the bunch. He's more likely to try and climb the bleachers on the sideline, yell "Look at me! Over here!," and climb on things than to push in line and try to cut ahead and get a ball.
The practice was well-timed, because our carpets were steam cleaned this morning. Carrie didn't want anyone stepping on anything until as late as possible. I'd cleared the floors last night and Carrie combed everything to un-mat the carpet.
And it turned out great!
One more thing done. This was way cheaper than trying to replace the carpet to make the house look nice.
Mommy and Shane learned a valuable lesson last time: Shane prefers electronics to anesthetics. He asked right away if he could have a tablet.
And right away, I said, "Yes."
When the doctor asked if we wanted laughing gas, I said we had Minecraft.
Then she remembered, too.
It went really well. Shane had a "curious tongue," but he stayed calm when he couldn't see the tablet. The assistant went through and applied some sealants when the dentist had to deal with something else. The only struggle was on the second novacaine shot to numb him before the fun began.
"I've got a special toothbrush to clean your teeth," the dentist told Shane. "No drilling today!"
Which confused me. "Wait...are we....?" I started to ask.
"It's a special brush," the dentist replied and I clued in.
They went through all the preparations and I thought "it's so obvious!" Only Shane never realized what was going on. I managed to stay in my seat the whole time! I threw out some nonchalant encouragement from time to time and tried to hide how excited I was that it was going well.
There were a few close calls where Shane almost clocked the dentist with the tablet trying to look at it, but he did a good job and she typed the password back in for him when it was all over.
I couldn't believe it. Shane didn't even realize what happened. I'm not going to tell him until he's much older either!
I let Shane play on the iPad for a while in the waiting room after. It kept us out of the house. Then we went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Lowe's before returning home.
Two games to go. Shane's actually starting to look more like a basketball player.
He wants to get the ball and dribble it around!
Shooting and passing are not his forte, but he grins, laughs, and makes a big show of it when he gets to run around dribbling, at least!
He didn't wear socks and lost his shoes a few times, but nobody's perfect! Shane complained to the ref that the kid he was guarding elbowed him in the gut. I don't remember seeing it, but Shane likes to half-smother kids when he's on defence and nearly hugs them.
The refs started to get annoyed this game when kids were leaving who they were guarding. Shane's basketball IQ has improved some and he likes to turn around and throw his body in the way of whoever's got the ball. Other kids with a clue like to crowd the hoop for rebounds and it's technically smarter playing, but against the rules for their age group.
It was a great game and came down to the wire again. Shane celebrated by making lots of fart noises and encouraging the rest of the team to join in.
BONUS:
Shane couldn't find his TKD uniform anywhere in the house. "I put it in the dresser!" Shane exclaimed.
The dresser which we'd moved to the storage unit.
I made the executive decision to rush Shane over to look for it only it wasn't there!
Instead, I thought backward and remembered Shane had gone to daycamp on Monday. We searched the car and found his uniform (which he was supposed to bring inside) in a grocery bag under some other junk.
I made Shane change clothes in the storage unit. He said it was cold, but we made it to class!
What you're not seeing in retrospect is I'm going 4 or 5 days without posting (Maybe even 7 or 8 or more...). Then the next few days I rush to catch up.
The following week I fall back behind and the cycle repeats.
I came across a meme the other day.
I mostly agree. If the meme changed "Unpleasant" to "An unpleasant lesson to be learned" I'd agree even more.
I'm dealing with my burnout. Sometimes it takes a summoning of willpower to do things at work I'd consider basic.
And yet, through it all I still have hope. I don't believe the burnout will last forever. In the end, God's got this. If anything, this season will help me empathize with other people who go through something similar.
Maybe that's the plan.
Even if it's not, I'm living it and time will march on.
I'm still working on "...consider it pure joy,..., when you face trials of many kinds...," but I'll get there.
I had a personal turning point this morning. It was feeling extra rough (My boss was checking on people to make sure they weren't 'hopeless') and then the next day my outlook brightened. I can't tell you a reason other than I prayed about it. I find myself going back to thinking about how I felt before and after, but the only thing I can tell you is, "I feel better." Not that I'm there yet, or that I'm not counting days of school and doing the math to see what percentage is left, but I feel better about things.
Which is good timing, because there's lots of work to be done prepping the house, updating my resume, and doing everything else that needs to be done! All in God's time...
Shane and Samuel talked about it after basketball practice, so we had to make Pokemon night happen this week!
Shane was more than a little gun shy about taking Samuel on. "He's got all the best cards! I don't have a chance!"
I told Shane it was more about having fun and getting better than winning........and making your own victories. "Try taking at least one prize card. If you get one, go for two!"
Winning can happen after you get better and have fun. It's like dessert. It will complete the meal, but it shouldn't be necessary for a healthy diet!
Samuel did whoop on him twice. Shane hasn't even played the physical or the online card game in forever and a day.
Their games ended when one of the adults advertised they were going to have a Gameboy battle and display it on a computer. Shane was excited to tell them everything they were doing (but the guy seemed to enjoy counter-narrating, so everyone won, I guess)!
Shane got in one more game after Samuel left. "I finally won one! YES!"
Meanwhile, I walked around, talked some, and played a little solitaire card game to kill time. I bought a booster pack on the way out as a "Thanks for hosting." Shane was thrilled to tear into it and type the online code in.
FUTURE UPDATE: Shane was all about Pokemon Thursday night, but he hasn't cared about it since. I've had to make him pick up his cards after he left them out. He wants computer time, but he wants to play games like Slither (Snakes) on Poki instead of anything Pokemon related. We'll see how he feels about Pokemon night next week.
Shane found an old Gameboy in a drawer and it worked!? I don't remember charging it any time recently. How long as that battery held a charge?
They don't make them like they used to. Shane spent the morning on Pokemon Yellow.
I was so pumped for a snow day. I've been drained and battling myself and the students to get through each work day. It was melting and turning to rain, so it would just be one day off mostly likely.
That's okay, though. I needed it!
The sleet had a neat effect on the bamboo.
The bamboo got taller as Shane whacked it with the sled. We knocked on Rah's door to ask if he wanted to play and then farted around for a while.
I started trying to see how far away I could hit the street sign from with snowballs.
The boys eventually started, but no one beat my record (from the bamboo!).
We only went sledding for a little bit. The sleet turned to rain and never let up. It fell slowly, but with the snow melt and everyone getting wet it wasn't destined to last for long.
We didn't do any real packing or work at all today. We watched season 2 of The Dragon Prince and I played a lot of Xcom 2 (Ironman mode makes it way more fun!).
I was trying to get a picture of Shane, but ended up with a picture of Ryan being goofy instead.
If you look past them to the head in the background just behind them, you'll see my boy.
Why is it that Shane has his best practices as the season ends?
Shane wasn't 100% into drilling the moves with intensity himself, but he was listening and talking to coaches and trying to teach his partner who hadn't paid attention.
There was a little wrestling at the end, too. They went through the lineup in Shane's group three times. He got taken down quickly the first and third times through, but I happened to video the one round he strutted his stuff!
I kept filming when Ryan came up (if you kept watching). He had a few good runs.
Shane and I met Ryan and Sarah for roller skating at Carver Rec Center today. It was a lot more popular than I expected. We had to wait in line over 40 minutes to get inside! Shane and Ryan wrestled and entertained themselves for the most part.
Shane does not know how to roller skate.
Typical me, I was trying to break it down in steps and explain concepts, but all Shane wanted to do was get right at it. He's a pretty crappy listener at times if I'm going to be honest about it.
When Shane wasn't instantly good (and after he fell on his butt multiple times), he was ready to give up. "Skating is not for me!" "I wasn't made for this" "I don't like skating anymore." "Can we go to Ryan's house?"
I made him keep at it for a while and then told him to sit down, rest, and let his butt heal some while I skated. We waited in line for 40 minutes, and it's good to teach kids the world doesn't revolve around them. I was going to skate no matter what!
Shane popped up and tried to skate on his own almost immediately after I skated off each time. I think it was more from impatience and being left out than grit, but I made sure to praise his effort and progress whenever he got up.
He made a lot of gains for his first time ever. I told him he'd gone from level 0 to level 1. "You're doing way better than everyone who hasn't tried and everyone who gave up after falling once!"
I'll need to make him go again to keep improving. I'm not sure how he'll react to that, but I guess I'll find out.
Shane tried to invite himself to Ryan's house afterward. Ryan invited him afterward. I was invited too, but Shane really, really, really wanted to go without me.
I felt bad dumping my kid on someone, but I let him ride home with Ryan, Sarah, and their dad. Truth be told, it made me a little anxious. I'm not used to letting Shane drive off with other people, but it's gonna happen.
It was only for a short time. Ryan's family had to go somewhere, so I picked Shane up around 50 minutes later.
They played Fortnite the whole time.
Not my first choice, but when it's social and at another kid's house I don't mind. It's a popular game with my students, as well.
Bonus visit: Genevieve and Chris stopped by! They were on their way back from visiting some friends in Roanoke. Chris scratched at the door instead of knocking and gave Carrie the heebie-jeebies! I was upstairs having a talk with Shane. The laughter clued me in we had visitors. There's a short list of people I knew Carrie would invite inside, so I was merely surprised instead of shocked to see them!
Shane wanted them to spend the night, but they had to keep on driving. Adults have to work to pay bills!
Today was the most fun basketball game I've watched in years. The score going into the final 6 minutes was 22-22 and Shane was up.
It was so exciting I forgot to take pictures. That's saying something when it comes to 2nd grade basketball!
The final score was 24-24. Shane is showing a much greater understanding of the game. He hasn't scored, but he took 5 shots. One even hit the backboard and another the net! Before, he would stand still and have the ball ripped away, double-dribble, or run away without dribbling at all.
Defensively, Shane is being more aggressive. He's stolen the ball (albeit mostly on accident). He doesn't look up for rebounds and doesn't watch usually watch the ball (instead he faces the guy he's covering the whole time). However, this game Shane seemed to understand he could throw picks and use his body to get in the way of whoever had the ball. He'd sometimes run up and immediately turn backwards in their way. Why? Because he was thinking. Upward requires you to guard someone with the same wristband as you. Shane figured by turning backwards and 'butting in' he wouldn't be called on it.
I made sure to praise Shane for his effort and using his head after the game! I like how Upward uses the wrist bands, but sometimes there's one player on the other team who's nearly unstoppable with a one-on-one. If Shane had tried to steal the ball, they would have called him on it and that's okay. The fact that he recognized who on the other team was talented (or at least had the ball) and took measures within the rules to hinder him? Fantastic.
I got one picture at the end of the kids snacking.
I drove Ryan to and from wrestling on Wednesday. He and Shane enjoy talking and I enjoy helping out.
They talked about Fortnite the whole drive in.
The only other topic that came up was Shane pooped a lot at school today.
Let's call it foreshadowing.
It was a decent practice. The boys were goofy, but they wrestled some and didn't do anything seriously wrong.
They ended up in a group of three after Shane's sudden departure, but it worked out well enough. Ryan's the only one really motivated to improve (albeit with the focus of an average 8 year old!).
On the ride back, Ryan wanted Shane to come over so that Shane could watch him play Fortnite. I said, "Maybe this weekend."
