Weather: It is winter now! We got about an inch and a half of snow on Saturday, a dusting of snow on Wednesday night, and it is snowing again right now (although not very hard so it will just be another dusting). It has also been very cold! A few days earlier this week we had highs in the 20s and with the wind chill it got down to 5 degrees. Yesterday we got into the high 30s and that felt kind of warm! Today it feels colder again (I think it's mostly the humidity) although at least it isn't windy. Here's our yard with snow on Saturday night (it all melted within 24 hours):
Bedroom painting project: I made a little bit of progress on that this week. On Saturday I finally sanded down all the spots I had patched about 3 weeks ago. Then Jared put primer on the large area that needs to be patched. On Tuesday I patched the large spot on the wall and later (after it dried) I sanded it. Now we are ready to prime the entire room. I wanted to start on that yesterday, but instead I spent the evening helping Seth with a school project (more on that later). Maybe we will get time to start priming tonight or tomorrow, but it is doubtful.
Ward Breakfast: The Elders Quorum planned a ward breakfast for last Saturday (Frank's idea). Unfortunately, it didn't happen because on Friday they were predicting that we were going to get 2-5 inches of snow on Saturday, so the decision was made to cancel the breakfast. The snow was supposed to start coming down after midnight and we were supposed to have a couple of inches by 9:00 am, the scheduled start time for the breakfast. Instead, it didn't start snowing until around 8:00 and we didn't get as much as predicted (2 inches, tops) so the breakfast could have happened. Oh well!! Instead, we went to a local restaurant that has been doing all you can eat pancakes or biscuits with sausage gravy for $1.99.
Baptism: We had another baptism in the late afternoon on Saturday--the wife of the guy who got baptized last week got baptized this week. It was cool to have baptisms 2 weeks in a row!! The lady who got baptized (Julie) asked Frank to be one of the people to stand in the circle when she was confirmed the next day.
Festival of Lights: On Saturday we also went to the Festival of Lights at the temple grounds / visitor center. They have a concert of some kind every night and on Saturday it was the Mormon Choir of Washington DC. This choir has done concerts in Frederick a few times and they are really good! They actually did a concert in Frederick at our stake center on Sunday but I couldn't go to that because the time conflicted with my self reliance group meeting. So when I saw that they were performing at the visitor's center on Saturday night, I made the executive decision that we were all going to go to that! The concert was wonderful, the lights at the temple were beautiful, and the huge display of nativity sets from around the world was amazing. The newly fallen snow added to the atmosphere as well. We got to hear a bell choir perform a few numbers while we were waiting to go into the concert, too. The concert was kind of difficult for Seth--he was kind of bored and wiggly and some of the time he was practically squirming out of his chair. But then at the end of the concert the choir walked up the steps on either side of the auditorium holding small lights and surrounded the audience as they sang the last song. We were on the end of our row, right next to the steps so some of the choir members were right next to us. I looked at Seth at one point during the song and his face was all lit up. I whispered to him to ask him if he liked it and he said "Shhh!!! It's too beautiful!!" So I was glad that he had a positive experience in the end! The whole evening really helped me to feel the spirit of Christmas, which I was grateful for.
(If you look closely at the picture above, you can see that it is still snowing!)
Self Reliance Group: We had our last meeting on Sunday and it went well. The group members did a great job on their presentations. I brought spinach dip & crackers and other people brought cake, ice cream, and brownies. I am glad that I got to participate in this group and I really enjoyed getting to know the group members! They are amazing people. I am happy to have my Sunday evenings back, though. It's been hard on our family to have me gone every Sunday night.
Cub Scouts: We had den meeting as usual this week and I was able to finish up an adventure with my two Bears. Next week we have a special activity planned for den meeting!
Christmas Parties: Frank went to three work related Christmas parties this week--three nights in a row! The first party was on Tuesday night with one of his clients for his business. I was also invited to this party. We had dinner at a restaurant in downtown Frederick. It was as enjoyable an evening as possible when you are spending the evening with people you barely know. :) Actually, they are really nice people who really try to help me feel included and comfortable, which I appreciate. The second party on Wednesday night was with a vendor he works with at Marriott and the party last night was the Marriott party. Today at his work they are also paying for everyone to go see the new Star Wars movie, so that should be fun for him. Since Frank was gone those nights, Jared usually ate at work, and Seth doesn't eat much, I didn't bother to cook dinner any of those nights. We had lots of leftovers in the refrigerator that I could eat. No cooking for three nights in a row = Merry Christmas to me!
12 Days of Christmas: I got a box and got all of the presents labeled and put into the box, and on Wednesday evening the boys and I delivered the box. Actually, I drove the car and Seth sat in the car with me. Jared was the one who actually carried the box up to the doorstep, rang the doorbell, and ran--so he had the hard job.
Dentist: Seth and I had our 6 month check ups at the dentist on Wednesday. Neither of us have any cavities. Bonus: the lady who cleaned my teeth is one of the sisters I visit teach, so I got to find out how she is doing.
Snickers: I took him to the groomer yesterday. About an hour later, the groomer called to say that while she was trimming the hair on his ears she nicked one of his ears. There is a veterinarian there too (Snickers goes to Pet Smart for grooming) so they took him over there and had the vet look at it. They got him fixed up, but decided that he should wait and come back in a week to get the hair cut finished. Luckily, he was almost done when she nicked him so he doesn't look too strange. The hair on his ears is still long and there are a few places on his face that need trimming so he looks a little funny but not too bad. The good news is that they didn't charge us anything.
Physical Therapy: I went to physical therapy yesterday morning. I only have 2 appointments left. I haven' t made any appointments for next year because our insurance company is changing and the physical therapist doesn't accept our new insurance. However, at this appointment she said that she thinks I've progressed enough that I probably only need one more visit so I can cancel one of the appointments that I have left. I have been feeling better the last week or so although I still feel pain in my hips sometimes. At any rate, I had decided to stop physical therapy for a while anyway and see how it goes, so we are on the same page.
Seth: He came home from school on Monday not feeling well. He said his stomach hurt although he never threw up. Within an hour or so he had a fever, though. He lay on the couch huddled up in a blanket all evening and even took a nap for a while. At bedtime, Frank and Jared gave him a blessing and in the morning he had perked right up and didn't seem sick at all. I still kept him home from school on Tuesday, just in case, but he was ready to go back to school on Wednesday. He does seem to be a little stuffed up now but other than that he is fine. Unfortunately, things aren't going so well right now with school work. On Wednesday he told me that he had a project on Martin Luther King, Jr. which was due the previous Friday and that he hadn't started it yet. What?!! I knew he had a project but I had no idea when it was due or that he wasn't working on it. He had forgotten to bring home the instructions that day so we couldn't work on it but yesterday he brought home the paper and I tried to help him work on it. Not any fun for either of us--there was weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth! I think he had about 20 meltdowns in the course of 2 or 3 hours. Then he finally settled down and got the things done that I told him he had to get done that night. Unfortunately, today has been more of the same. He's been home for nearly 2 hours (they had a 2 hour early dismissal today) and hasn't accomplished anything yet except for several more meltdowns. He's currently in his room pouting. Wow, it's going to be a fun weekend. This is where having an ADHD child can become really trying. It's not easy with any kid to get projects done but with Seth it's harder because he has no concept of time management or setting priorities. I am going to have to communicate a lot more with his teacher than I have been up until now. On a happy note, his swimming lesson on Saturday went well again.
Jared: He has also been sick this week. Remember how last week I mentioned he's been sick off and on since he got home? Well, he came home Friday feeling really wiped out and unwell. I decided he really needed to go to the doctor but of course the doctor's office was already closed. So I told Jared to ask for Monday off so that he could go to the doctor then. He didn't have to work over the weekend so he felt a little better and was able to get some things done. On Monday, he was diagnosed with a nasal infection and he was given an antibiotic. He was supposed to work on Tuesday but he ended up not having to go in because an extra person came in and they knew he had been sick so they just texted him and told him he didn't need to come in. It was really nice for him to have that extra day to recuperate. Frank also gave him a blessing on Monday night. He is not 100% well yet but he is feeling a lot better. On Sunday he helped direct the choir at practice (he is going to be the director for one of our Christmas songs) and he also taught the missionary prep class. (I saw the high councilman in charge of that later this week and he told me Jared did a really good job.) He worked early morning (opening) shifts on Wednesday and Thursday. Today he went in later but tomorrow he opens again. Last night, he went to Institute and then he went to see the new Star Wars movie with a couple of guys from work so he was up really late but he didn't have to be at work until 10:00 today, so that was good. He mostly enjoys work, it just makes him tired. Sometimes he gets to speak Spanish with people. He also talked to his manager to let her know that he's going back to school and she actually said that they might be able to get him a scholarship...how nice would that be?? I am pretty impressed with Chick fil a as a place to work, overall.
Frank: He has been busy as always. Besides going to Christmas parties, he also did maintenance for all of his clients this week. On the way home from the Christmas party last night, the traffic was so bad that he decided to stop at a store to look at computers to give time for the traffic to clear up. He has been needing to buy a new computer for his business because the laptop he's been using needs to go with Jared to college next month. He found what he needed, so he bought it last night. He hasn't had time to set it up yet, though.
Annette: I covered most of what I did this week in all of the other categories. Of course I did all the cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, etc as usual. I exercised most days although my leg was hurting one day (I think I pulled a muscle in it) so I didn't exercise one day. I have continued to crochet every day and will finish that project on Thursday. I visited my friend Wanda on Monday. I went to the religion class on Wednesday--that will be our last one this year, since we aren't meeting the next two weeks. I also did some more shopping--I've got everyone covered now except for my dear darling husband, who still hasn't given me a list. I wrapped all the new things that I bought (or that arrived) so I am caught up on wrapping. All in all, I am feeling pretty good about everything getting done before the big day!
I hope that the rest of you are getting things done and having some time to enjoy the wonderful spirit of the Christmas season.
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