Friday: Remember that last week I mentioned Seth was working on a project on Martin Luther King Jr, and it wasn't going so well because he was having meltdowns and not focusing? Well, that is all we did for the rest of the day on Friday is work on that. Actually, I'm positive he spent more time having meltdowns and being distracted than he did working on the project. We literally worked on it from about 2:00 to 10:00 with only breaks to pick up Jared from work and have dinner, and all he managed to get done is a list of events that he thought he should include in his report, and writing a few paragraphs of his rough draft report. It was a very long and frustrating night for us, and I admit that I was not very patient with him. Sam came to spend the night and I asked him if he were seriously thinking about not having kids and he said "yeah, maybe not" but he laughed when he said it! I won't go into all the details, but Seth was really being very unreasonable and difficult.
Saturday: Seth had swimming lessons in the morning and that went pretty well. After he got back from that, he took a shower and then we started working on his project again. I expected another difficult day, but this time he sat down quietly and worked steadily without any meltdowns and in less than 3 hours he had finished writing the rough draft and created a poster with a timeline of Martin Luther King Jr's life. We also sat down together while I offered suggestions for a few changes to his report and then typed up the final draft. It's amazing what his ADHD medicine will do for him! (It's usually starting to wear off already by the time he gets home from school.) Sometimes I don't think it's helping him much, but in this case it was obvious to me that it made a big difference--not just with focusing, but with being more cooperative. It's a good thing it didn't take Seth a long time to get his project done because we had our ward Christmas party that night and I had volunteered to help with decorating and the Elders Quorum (Frank) was in charge of setting up all the chairs and tables. After Jared got home from work we headed to the church to help with that. Not very many people showed up to help with the set up, but those who came worked hard and they managed to get it done. There was a better turn out of decorating help and it looked really nice when we were done. The decorations were actually pretty simple but it's amazing what a few centerpieces can do! For dinner we had potluck soups, salads, breads, and desserts. There was plenty of food and it was really yummy. Frank had volunteered to make some wassail--mostly to help it smell better in the gym (there were basketball games going on in there up until less than 2 hours before our party started!)--and we had some trouble finding a recipe that used ingredients that we had on hand, but we finally figured something out. It turns out that it tasted completely delicious and a lot of people wanted the recipe. Funny! The Primary kids did a live nativity program which was really cute. Seth was one of the wise men. He wore his Jedi cloak (without putting up the hood), tied with a belt and--of course--a crown. He also had a "gift" to carry. He looked really cute, but I forgot to take a picture! Jared helped with the music / technical stuff, so he was busy all night. The High Priests were supposed to be in charge of clean up, but none of the group leadership showed up for the party so the whole ward worked together to get things cleaned up. As usual, Frank did too much for both the set up and the clean up, and he was really hurting by the time we got home (and the next day as well).
Sunday: This was the first Sunday in 12 weeks that I didn't have a 2 hour self reliance class, and that was definitely nice! Jared and I did have choir practice. We also had tithing settlement and the Elders came over for dinner.
Monday: Jared had the day off work so he got the leaf blower out and mulched and bagged all the leaves on the front lawn again. The neighbor's tree is bare of leaves now so we won't have to do that again this year. Jared also got up early and went to Seminary because they asked him to help them learn a song that they will be singing on Sunday. I kept busy all day just doing the usual stuff--laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming, crocheting, and preparing for the next day's den meeting. I also wrapped some presents (more things have been arriving in the mail) and we had family night. Frank started feeling kind of sick on Sunday and by Monday he wasn't feeling well at all. He has been quite sick all week, with head ache, body aches, feeling cold / hot, congestion, and a terrible cough. He went to the doctor on Wednesday morning and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. He is taking an antibiotic but so far he hasn't improved much. In spite of that, he worked every day this week. Most of the time he worked either from home or at the Frederick location, but he even went down to the Gaithersburg office one day. Hopefully he will start feeling a lot better soon!
Tuesday: This day started pretty abruptly when I woke up at 10 minutes to 7:00 and realized that Jared was supposed to be at work in 10 minutes and he wasn't up yet. I managed to get him to work just a few minutes late. (His alarm didn't go off.) This day was also busy with the usual things. I also took a Christmas gift over to one of the sisters that I visit teach. The Elders in the YSA ward came to visit with Jared for a while, to talk about ways he can help them. For den meeting that evening we had all the dens meet together and the boys made gingerbread houses. It was crazy but fun!
Wednesday: Jared was supposed to work but when he got up and checked his schedule, he wasn't on the schedule to work anymore. He texted the manager and found out that they had hired a new person and needed to train the new person that morning, so they took Jared off the schedule. (They intended to give him a different shift instead, not realizing that he was scheduled to work every day the rest of the week already.) Anyway, he went back to sleep for a while but I didn't, which was kind of annoying! I wish they had let him know sooner that they had changed his schedule. (Frank didn't sleep well most nights because of his terrible cough, so I didn't sleep well either.) Anyway, Wednesday was once again busy with the normal things (Walmart shopping, crocheting). I didn't have the religion class but instead I spent that hour visiting one of the sisters I visit teach. After I got back from there, Jared and I went shopping. I wanted to get some ties for the Elders in our ward and I wanted him to pick them out. I ended up getting a few presents for a few other people while we were at the store, too. The line to buy things was long and it was getting close to the time that Seth needed to be picked up from school, so Jared went to do that while I stood in line and then they picked me up afterwards. I did a bunch more present wrapping when we got home. Jared went with the YSA Elders that evening to teach a lesson to a new member. Or rather, the Elders went with him since Jared was the one who drove. It was a long drive so he was gone a lot of the evening.
Thursday: Jared went in to help the Seminary kids again, then I took him to work. (He says while at work that 40-something women customers keep telling him he's adorable and wanting to set him up with their daughters! He also occasionally gets to take orders in Spanish. If a customer sounds like they are struggling with English, he asks them if they prefer to order in Spanish. They are always surprised that he knows Spanish, since he obviously isn't Latino. Apparently he has a really great accent, too.) Anyway, I had my last physical therapy appointment that morning. The rest of the day I did the usual things, plus I made two batches of fudge. I also finished crocheting the afghan I've been making. It turned out to be even bigger than the first one I made (the yarn I used must have been "loftier"). It covers my entire king size bed, and then some! I think I will take a break from crocheting for a while now. Well, maybe I will make myself a scarf first! :)
That evening Seth and I went to my friend Renata's house for a little gathering. One of her sisters is visiting from the Ukraine, and she played an instrument (I forget the name of it) and sang for us. They also had a few treats. The music was really beautiful and it was fun to hear some Ukrainian songs. Renata was telling us how they learned Christmas carols when they were children (in the early 80s) but they couldn't sing them in public at all because the Ukraine was still a communist country then. So sad!
(The two children in the picture are Renata's children.)
Jared went to Institute that night and then he did some Christmas shopping on the way home.
Friday: I spent most of the day getting the budget updated, which is why I didn't post yesterday (I started writing this, but didn't have time to finish). When I picked up Seth from school, he had a gift from his teachers. The teacher's aid in his class knits, and she had asked all the children in the class what their favorite color was and then knitted a winter hat for each of them in their favorite color. His teacher got them each a pair of gloves. I thought that was so cool! Here is Seth in his new hat:
Jared went to work later than usual, but had to work until 8:00. We thought we were going to be rushing to pick up Tanner at the airport as soon as Jared got off work (his flight was supposed to come in at 8:40), but then Tanner's flight got delayed by a couple of hours so he didn't get in until after 10:00. Scott dropped Tanner off at the airport in Salt Lake City before he went to work, so Tanner ended up spending 7 hours at the airport before his flight left! He said it wasn't too bad since he ran into some friends to talk to. He also ended up sitting next to another friend on the flight home--a girl from our stake who also attends BYU. Anyway, we're glad he got home okay and it is great to have him here!
Blurry photo of Tanner walking toward us. Jared said "he looks like a college student!"
They hadn't seen each other for 2 1/2 years. I actually let Jared hug Tanner first!
Seth hugging Tanner while we wait for his luggage (and Frank coughing!)
When we got home from the airport it was close to midnight so we all went to bed--except Tanner, who is still on Utah time. I'm guessing he was up half the night, and we probably won't see him until sometime this afternoon. Jared had to be at work early this morning but the rest of us slept in. I have a busy day of baking cookies ahead of me, so I should get going on that now.
We are glad that Dad is home from the hospital and doing better. We will keep praying for him! We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!
A few pretty sky pictures I took this week, to finish up:
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