Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A Late Update

I know it has been more than a week since I posted.  I have plenty to talk about, but I kind of feel like hibernating.  I just feel really lazy lately, and since I have quite a few commitments that can't be shirked, I have been sluggish on the few things I can be (like cleaning, cooking, and this blog.)

As for the exercise goal I set for myself it is getting bypassed too.  I knew that setting a goal this month was tricky, but since I have not actually exercised since the last time I wrote in this blog I think I will have to say I failed my Feb. resolution. I will have to try it again (and soon.)

It is ok though because at least I have maintained my January goal of being thankful.  In fact the past week has given me one especially great reason to be thankful.  A few days ago my Mom ended up in the hospital with chest pains.  All the symptoms she described sounded like a heart attack.  Plus, for my Mom to voluntarily go to the doctor, much less the hospital, scared me.  My Mom and I are very close, and the thought of her being gone was unbelievably scary.  Couple that with the fact that I had to maintain a strong front for the girls, and it was exhausting.  Luckily it turned out that her heart is just fine.  She has some severe form of reflux as a result of her gall bladder surgery.  She needs to stay on prilosec for the rest of her life.  I was so relieved to hear that she was ok.  It was such a jolt to consider that someday she might not be there for me, and I am so thankful that today is not that day.

Bear continues to have meet after meet in gymnastics.  She is doing very well, but she is on a team of girls who get all around titles at every meet.  So far she is handling it well, but sometimes I know it is tough for her.  Three or four of her teammates come home with an all around trophy after each meet, and although she is placing, her bar scores are keeping her from those trophies.  On any other team she would be one of the stars.  Still she is having fun most of the time.  I am so impressed with her work ethic, and her team spirit.  She even has the right attitude about her awards.  She got first place on vault at her last meet.  I can't deny her excitement at standing on the top of that podium, but on the way home all she could talk about was how doing the vault felt.  The actual experience of the meet overshadowed the experience of the awards.  I could not wish any more than that for her.

Curly Q. is experiencing some growing pains.  When she was little and we considered public school for her I talked to the school about moving her up a grade.  They were not opposed to it, but they cautioned me that even if a child is ready for the move now there are often problems in a few years.  So we decided to homeschool her and accelerate her schooling.  So she has always been working a year ahead, and that has worked well for us.  For some reason she has also always made friends with girls who are at least a year older than her.  Even in a group with kids much closer to her age she always fit in best with the older kids.  Fast forward to the present... Many of her friends are starting to notice the opposite sex.  Her best friend has been doing it for a while, and Curly Q. was ok with that, but now that it is all of her friends she feels left out.  She is just not there emotionally yet.  Couple that with some other factors, and she is really struggling.  I keep wondering how difficult this situation would be if we had moved her up a grade in public school.  At least in this instance I can really help guide her through this.

Lastly, we bought a minivan.  Correction, we bought a really nice minivan.  In fact it is the nicest vehicle I have ever owned.  Originally, I wanted to get a basic minivan that would allow me to haul some extra kids around.  We went to a dealership, and picked one out.  They had to have it delivered from another dealer so we planned to go back later in the week to sign the papers and pick it up.  When we left I was relieved to know that I would have a reliable vehicle again, but I really wasn't all that excited.  The next day, as I  was trying to get info together for the insurance company I came across info that made me realize we were not getting a good deal on the van.  So we tried to work something out, but eventually the deal fell through.  So on Saturday, although we were terribly busy, we took the time to drive to a huge dealership up north.  My husband somehow talked me into the van we ended up with.  It is so much nicer than the one we had originally planned to buy (costs more too), and I thought I would feel bad about buying a luxury item for myself.  I am a very practical woman.  I don't tend to need a lot of pampering (especially in a vehicle), but... I LOVE THIS VAN.  I can't explain it.  When I get in it to go somewhere it makes me feel good.  Part of it is the simple fact that the radio works, but it is more than that.  The inside looks really nice, not just new, but nice. 

And so, there are all the updates that I should have been making all week.  I will try to do better, but to be honest I am just trying to survive til April.  Luckily I have so many great things in my life that they offset the craziness.

1 comment:

Shannon said...

So, glad to hear your mom is okay - that had to be very hard for you!!