A Month of Quiet

School started and I threw myself into it. I had a pair of blog posts drafted to finish the teacher workweek, but never finished them.

It's been busy, but not so busy I haven't had margin.....so long as I cut out the blog.

So I cut out the blog. 

The blog is a creative outlet for me. Right now, the majority of my creativity has gone into adapting to the new school year. 

I had more time to work on the blog when I worked at LMA. I had a shorter commute, an earlier start with less dead time in the morning, and the school day ended earlier. As long as it wasn't wrestling season, I had a lot more time on my hands. Sometimes there were even slow days due to truancy and/or suspensions and I even had spare time at work! That gave me more time and energy availability to write.

And when the storms did come at LMA, the price paid was often paid in emotional toil rather than minutes or hours. The blog acted as a reflective tool for me where I could set my minds on things other than the stresses at work.

My current position takes more time. From the commute, to the grading, to the answering emails, to the hours in the building it all adds up to more. It's not necessarily harder. I haven't had the "Oh, *(#!$" emergency moments, but I spend a lot of time thinking about my students by nature and now I have so many more.

Don't think that I'm going crazy or being worked to the bone, though. I've had time at home to rest or work on other projects. There is margin! I typically come home from work and move slowly for the first hour getting a snack, talking to my family, and playing on my phone before doing any more work. Instead of blogging, my spare 'fun' energy was put into other projects like exercise (and then Civ VI and books when I had to stop that!). 

As I write this, it's Wednesday, 9/22. It's also a day off from school! There are anticipated heavy storms and ACPS closed schools. I suspect the bus driver shortage, extended walk zones, and the spread of COVID played heavily into the decision....and I'm A-OK with it. 

No, I'm ecstatic! Wednesdays are my roughest days so far with lunch duty and my A-Day classes and I get to sit at home! So I get a day off midweek and I decided to catch up on other things today including the blog. 

Hopefully, I'll have a slew of things posted and other drafts cued up behind the scenes before going to bed tonight. I plan on enjoying the day, so I'm not going to push myself too hard!

Summer Reflection

Sadly, summer is ending. It was a needed break, but much too short.

The majority of the time was spent hanging around the house. If Shane was in town, I took him to the pool. If not, Carrie and I streamed more shows. I spent an average of 10-15 hours a week working at the barn. We spent the first 2/3rds of summer wishing for rain and the last 1/3 getting more than enough.

My summer goals were:

1 - RELAX!
2 - WRITE!
3 - LEARN!
4 - RECONNECT!

There was definitely some relaxing. I wish there were a couple of more weeks of summer, but with the school year ending late it was not meant to be. I'm thankful for the time I did get.

Goal #1 - Success!

Writing was more difficult. I mostly kept up with the blog, but fiction was largely a bust. The last week Shane was with Nana and Pop, I sat down and quickly drafted a chapter, but that was it. I've (re)learned that I work best when I can sit down, get in a groove, and work uninterrupted. That doesn't happen often. My perfect scenario involves Carrie off riding with friends and Shane off at an activity or with family while I'm at home with unencumbered time. That means that the house is in a decent state, chores have been done, and I've already done enough stuff that I feel safe sitting down. If I was a pro writer, I'd have to have an office I could escape to (Detached! I can hear the TV through closed doors anywhere in the house).

Goal #2 - Blog win, Fiction fail!

I have been working on my Spanish. Whenever I do my morning Bible reading, I read the assigned New Testament verses in Spanish (Nueva Version Internacional). I started listening to a learn Japanese audiobook with Shane to keep him busy in a car, and decided it worked well enough I should try it with Spanish. Shane's given up listening to the Japanese audio, but I've stuck with the Spanish. How much have I learned? No sé, pero estoy haciendo algo!

Goal #3 - ¡Victoria!

While we've mainly been around the farm, we have had the chance to reconnect with people some. The family beach trip was right after school ended. First, Kim and Ryan broke the ice and then Gen and Chris visited before summer ended. Shane's spent time with Dylan, but we haven't seen Henry since January. I've been around Hazel's dad, but Shane hasn't played with her in months (The travel/grandparent schedules never matched). Shane spent time and SC and both of us started up VBS again, and we made one short day trip to NOVA where I got to see John briefly. There were definitely many ways that we returned towards normal. I would have liked more play dates and to have made more road trips, but we did get to spend an awful lot of time at the pool. I'm hoping Shane will feel more connected to kids at his school this year, because of that.

Goal #4 - Success!

I'm not sure how I'm going to pull off my yearly goal to write a book. Cutting back one day on the blog each week has allowed me to keep up with it rather than fostered new time to be creative. Honestly, I'll probably keep that up next year. At some point, Shane will be old enough I shouldn't write about all his comings and goings anyway.

The other yearly goals are going well. I survived school, started exercising, and Carrie hasn't gone crazy yet!

We never focused on Carrie and Shane's summer goals. There was maybe a day or three I forced Shane to work on his keyboard skills. Carrie started riding, stopped, but is riding again lately. She's more active about doing morning chores, but has learned (to her chagrin) to let me handle all the heavier lifting. Her knee still hasn't fully healed (She can point out areas with swelling). It got better to a point, but plateaued and has lingering pain. We're not sure what to do next (and go figure, her orthopedist is retiring). So that's still an issue in progress. She's going to have to do more with me going back to work, as well.

Dye Job

Carrie dyed her hair this week! Most of the time it looks like her natural color, but when the light hits just right...

I thought it looked great! It was the other bit of news that surprised me: She dyed Shane's hair, too.

It was at his request.

I was not a fan.

"Right before he starts school!?" I asked. 

"He likes it!" Carrie said.

"That's because Shane likes nearly anything that draws attention. Good or bad!" 

I hoped it was temporary and would wash out, but Shane's going to have green hair for a few weeks. I could buzz it off, but he's pleased. 

They both are.

In the end, I felt I had to bite my tongue. Shy of shaving him bald, there was no going back. 

And he was happy. 

The dye jobs were a bonding moment that kept Shane and Carrie entertained while I was at work. I'd rather not send Shane back to school for the first time in a year and a half with green hair, but if he wants to make a splash, I guess he'll make a splash! 

So at this point, my prayer is that my initial reaction was wrong and things play out for the best. A shock move is a gamble that can go well or fall flat. I pray Shane will get some attention and share some laughs rather than be laughed at. 

I wonder if this is going to be a recurring theme through the teenage years....

Blue Screen of Death

Lenovo wanted a bios update. It bricked Shane's computer.

Carrie spent days unsuccessfully trying to make a recovery drive, format, or do anything with it. It seemed dead, so she shifted towards researching what new computers cost nowadays in case we do get him something to work on.

Ironically, I just watched a video on planned obsolescence....or maybe this was incompetence? I won't update the bios on anything Lenovo in the future if we even purchase from them again. 

But there's more.

I discovered a new wrinkle to the story when I got home: Carrie bought a replacement.

Carrie was unimpressed with his school laptop and wanted him to have something for the school year. She said that Costco upped a deal on the model she'd been eyeing from $150 off to $200 off. The setup included a mouse and keyboard with a final cost including taxes under $750. She said Grandma and Grandpa donated Christmas money towards it, too.

Frankly, I didn't want it. I wanted to wait.

But now it's here and it's working. It is nice to have a place for Shane to do his "chores" (Prodigy, Rosetta).

I guess I agreed with the general idea, but not the timing. In the end, it should all work out as long as I swallow my pride and don't make a stink that it wasn't done in the manner I preferred. 

Which segues brings up the next blog post...

EOY Pool Party

Sunday was the End of Year Pool Party. The forecast foretold a cancellation, but nothing rained on this parade. 

Genevieve and Chris were in town, but Shane and I weren't about to miss the fun (If anything, it gave the adults some quiet time!).

The Pool planned all sorts of activities like tie-dying and a selfie-scavenger hunt. 

I asked Shane if he wanted to bring a T-shirt, but he refused. That meant he was one of the only kids in the pool swimming around while the others dyed. I think he was fine with it, but Shane's super social so I wanted him to plug in with something.

I half-encouraged and half-made Shane join the saran wrap game. He got to wheel and deal candy as a result!

The party was a pot-luck. In hindsight, I should've asked Carrie to bake some bread. Since we didn't bring anything, I planned on visiting the snack bar to show support that way. Shane wanted to try their chicken patty, so I bought him one of those.

He said it was better than Chic-Fil-A!

A game of water polo broke out not long after and Shane worked his way into it!

Shane sometimes frustrates and sometimes amuses the other kids. Rather than play by a game's rules, he creates his own mini-games. He'll do things like make noises and act like a robot who can't decide who to pass the ball to, or follow around a single older kid and try to cover them. He likes to play announcer and hype-man from the field of play, too.

I thought Shane would be full, but when they served food he ran to jump in line. He came back with a full plate of mac and cheese. "[The adults] were all surprised by how much food I got!" Shane said.

"Then you better eat it," I replied. "Taking all that food means someone else can't have it. If you throw it away it's an insult."

Shane ate 80% of the plate and then acted like he wanted to barf. 

It was at least partially an act, because he went back to swimming, no problem. 

He took a few more bites before we left to satisfy me that we weren't wasting much.

The pool was one of my best parenting moves this summer. I've been thrilled. The party was the 32nd day we went there this summer. There were a few days we showed up as thunder closed it down, but most of the time we spent hours (and some days we showed up twice!). I hope Shane will feel more plugged in and a part of his school's community this year.

Weekend Visitors

 No, we're not getting a new cat. This is Lillian, Genevieve and Chris' cat!

We had visitors over the weekend! The last time Gen and Chris came by was in December 2019. They arrived late (11 PM) Friday night, so Shane didn't see them until morning. 

Carrie and I weren't playing WoW anymore, so there was no LAN party this time. Instead, there was a lot of TV.

Which Carrie fell asleep to Saturday night!

I took Shane to the pool both days for several hours to work out his energy. His nose got sunburned (first time I've seen him burn!). He got to play with some kids in Sunday school, too (He got one girl's Roblox name).

Carrie cooked, but we also took everyone out to the Dairy Market.

Because ice cream.

I didn't take a ton of pictures, because aside from chores and food we didn't do anything overly photogenic. Carrie showed them Chio, Sleepy Princess, and Chris found a penguin documentary to watch with Shane. Then we talked, we ate mapo tofu, we played a round of Dixit, but it was all low key.

We said our goodbyes Sunday around 7 PM. Lillian got thrown back in her "Adventure Cat" backpack.

She wasn't thrilled with adventuring. She'd peed and pooped in the backpack on the way over! Shane's fascination and Loki's presence probably didn't help.

And so ended a weekend. I report back to school on Monday, so it was nice to do something before work starts again. Hopefully, we won't go over a year in between visits this time.

Carrie was mean

"My mom never taught me how to braid hair, but I've done it on horses," Carrie said.

In between her cackling, I told her I hated the feel of my hair swinging around. Instead of taking the braid out, she worked it under and laughed some more.

Shane got a haircut in SC (and lost a molar). I'm mildly jealous (Of the haircut. I'll keep my teeth). 

Shane's Back

Pop and I met up on Thursday in NC to hand off the boy. He had a hard time letting Shane go.

Originally, Shane might have stayed a couple of weeks, but "with a bum ankle, knee, and bum" Nana, Pop, and Dot were wearing themselves out faster than usual. Pop fell on Matt and Renee's stairs and hurt his ankle and wrist while watching the boys for them, Nana has had knee and lower back pain for a while, and Dot fell the Monday after Shane arrived. Stu watched all of the kids most mornings to help out (in between mowing, lifting, and other stuff), but he had to go back for his teacher work week. 

Pop called and we made plans to meet up on Tuesday or Thursday. It flopped around a little bit, but that's how life goes (When you think about it, it's incredible that two people hundreds of miles away can talk and arrange to show up at the same place in between within minutes of each other).

The first thing I did when Shane got home was to make him put on his swimsuit. After being in a car all day, I figured he'd have energy to spare (and the pool is one of the best things about home for him!).

We stayed for hours before returning for dinner.

The next morning, Shane spent some quality time with the pets...

...and with us. He requested Rummy (Which we hadn't played in what feels like half a year or more).

But he had to get back to chores, as well. He'd lived the good life with Nana and Pop long enough! They said he was really helpful, but I'm sure they had him doing less than what we do (He's quick to talk about how Cole gets more electronics, does less chores, etc).

There's only a few days left before I report back to work. In the past, Shane would go to TKD or Nana and Pop for childcare during my workdays. This time, he's going to have to stay at home with Carrie. We're planning on sending him back to school full time with all the other kids.

Carrie's New Thing

 Carrie's a heavy drinker....of Zero Sugar A&W Root Beer.

We buy in bulk. Frequently.

A year ago, I would have told you it was diet ginger ale mixed with juice, but times change.

More Random Stuff

Loki hasn't been happy with us leaving the house together for errands. I let him out while I unloaded some stuff at the barn and he hopped into the car!

He didn't want to leave, either! Carrie had to get out to convince him.

Loki wishes he could go with us into town, but it's not going to happen. I'm okay with him pacing cars, but I don't ever take him past the fence to get the mail or go near the road itself.

Speaking of mail, Carrie ordered bungee ties to replace the broken ones lying all around the yard from the microburst.

Rain was predicted, so we installed them Friday night.

Carrie decided to take a break when we finished the boys.

She stayed up there while I walked off and finished chores for the night, the bum!

I kicked the boys out while she was still up there. I led Eddy over and he spooked when he realized Carrie was lounging in his food!

He didn't want to go near the feeder after that! 

Don't worry about him starving. Now that we've been getting rain the grass is growing again!

Tuesday morning, we got around to installing another fan.

The ponies haven't had one, so we pointed it into their lot.

It didn't take long. Carrie worked on fixing Ernie's door and some other long ignored 'quirks.'