Life never slows around this house but as it's my normal, I don't often see the purpose in sharing. I need to remember that other people (like Grandparents!) love to hear what is going on in our crazy lives. So here is a brief synopsis:
Marin has been in drama club this year and is making final preparations to perform "Joyful Noise". She plays a digger wasp, a whirlygig and a mayfly...I think. She is nervous and excited but has really enjoyed drama and theater this year.
Gabe is an outstanding reader! He passes his reading tests with excellent scores and is reading out loud to us in the evenings. He has such a mastery of punctuation, intonation and grammar. We are beyond lucky!
Brett is starting a string of trips with work....currently in Washington D.C., then Atlanta, then Houston and finally San Diego/Long Beach. He hasn't traveled this much since his last job but he is so good at what he does!
Marin has registered for Junior High School. Ugh. I'm not old enough for this! It was interesting to watch the dynamics with her friends....she thought they would all continue the same interests they have shared through elementary. Not so. Faced with some really great class options, each friend chose a different focus and left Marin wondering what was going on! Thankfully she knows they will all still be together at the same school and they will still be friends...she also wasn't willing to give up an art class that she fell in love with! I wonder if they will cure her of her scissor fetish?
Gabe is a collector. I am learning this about him as I appreciate how he manipulates me. It began with Blue's Clues, to Diego then to Thomas trains (that was a big collection). We moved to legos and kitties and now we are into Pokemon and Bakugan. It is becoming difficult to organize his room as he won't let us move any of the collections to another room. He has managed to find ways for me to skillfully purchase these toys for him when I truly mean to save the money. I am toast.
Brett is practicing a game of "PATIENCE" that is a much bigger and more complex game than I ever thought it would be. He masterfully phones or emails his dissertation chair weekly to get any information about his progress and skillfully evades all familial inquiries about progress of said dissertation. It is a mine field full of emotions and frustrations and short burst of progress. I liken it to birthing a child. If you really knew what it would be like, would you sign up for it?
I am making myself busy to distract myself from not feeling productive. I am continuing to offer PE support at our school (and a few others), chair a safety committee, sit on a couple volunteer committees within our city, help with anything involving trees, try to create paying jobs for myself and cross my fingers that I will get to go back part-time at the Health Department. I like feeling that I am a productive part of the family. I am not one to sit home and enjoy Brett's hard earned pay checks. I want to help! Hopefully the planets and stars will align and open all the doors I have been banging my head against.
Other than that.....we are all good! It's almost spring which is a good time for this crowd to get outside and play..and garden...and ride bikes....and kick balls....and watch flowers push up out of the ground. We're ready!
