Today I am not feeling very well and I am trying to work up the energy to update the budget. I decided that sitting up in bed writing a blog post on my computer is less taxing, though. Plus I can stay under the covers which is good since I am really cold, especially because the air conditioning keeps coming on. Here is a summary of what we did this week.
Saturday (the 26th): We ran from one thing to another all day, it seemed. Seth had swimming and later he went to a birthday party. We had all been invited to another birthday party for a sister in our ward that was at the same time, so Frank dropped Seth off at his birthday party and then Frank and I went to the other party. Sam decided to stay home and Jared was gone down to Washington DC with Jessie all day. The party we went to was a surprise party and when we got there the guest of honor was gone--and didn't arrive for over an hour! By the time she got there (she WAS very surprised), we needed to leave soon to pick Seth up from his party. So we left shortly, but promised to come back. We took Sam with us to pick up Seth because we also wanted to buy movie tickets to see Solo on Monday, and Sam can get the tickets at a great discount because he's in the military. When we got to the party to pick up Seth, they weren't done, so we bought the tickets and then went back to pick up Seth. Then we dropped Sam and Seth off at home on our way back to the other party. We enjoyed visiting some more and eating some "lunch" (at about 3:00 pm). By the time we got home from the party, it was getting close to dinner time and I still had things to do, such as cleaning the kitchen floor, wrapping Seth's presents, and helping to gather up day camp forms from all the families in the ward who are sending their sons to day camp this summer. In between swimming and the parties, I also did some Cub Scout stuff with Seth and helped him get some homework done. It was just a busy day overall and I was ready for a day of rest!
Sunday (the 27th): I was having my usual leisurely Sunday morning, reading scriptures and such, when my friend Renata called me because she needed some help. Her daughter had a dance recital that day and she was trying to get her ready and Renata was having a difficult emotional day (her husband died very unexpectedly 9 months ago so some days are understandably hard for her) and she just wasn't sure how she was going to get everything done. It would help her a lot to have her other child, Sammy, out from under foot for a while so she brought him over here to play with Seth for a couple of hours and Jared and I dropped him back off at his house when we were on our way to choir practice. When Renata called, I hadn't even taken a shower yet, so then I had to really hurry!! It all worked out, though. Church was nice but I missed Sunday School completely because the Cub Committee Chair and I were getting all the day camp forms organized so they'd be ready to hand in at a meeting that evening. I wore the blouse that I had shortened to church and I got lots of compliments about it, so I am glad I managed to fix it (although honestly, I made it a little short--it would probably be better if it were about an inch longer, but that's okay.) When we got home from church I had to finish dinner and eat quickly because I had to be at a fireside at 5:40 (we don't get out of church until 4:00) and I had to stop on the way to pick up a couple more day camp forms. There was a thunderstorm going on and I got a little wet but mostly managed to avoid being outside during the worst of it. The fireside was to kick off the next round of self reliance groups. I'll be honest, I was secretly hoping that no one would be interested in starting a self reliance group at the beginning of the summer and thus I wouldn't have to facilitate a group right now. There definitely were a lot fewer people at this fireside than the one last fall, but a lot fewer facilitators showed up too. Actually only 7 facilitators were there (out of about 60 in the stake). They ended up forming one group for each of the four areas and I ended up with the "Find a Better Job" course. (This might be beneficial to Frank, actually, and he did think about going to the fireside and joining a group but he decided not to. He may still come to my group sometimes, I think.) The good news is, I am co-facilitating with a good friend of mine from our ward. Our group is very small--only 3 people. We are going to meet on Saturdays at noon, which doesn't seem like an ideal time but we chose that one because all the other groups wanted to meet at 5:00 or 6:00 on Sundays, and with our church meetings not getting out until 4:00, that sounded like a nightmare! I was really hoping to avoid Sundays this time around because last time I discovered that wasn't the best time for our family. I think Saturdays in the middle of the day are going to be kind of a pain also, but we'll see how it goes. I am glad to be doing this with a friend and since I have a co-facilitator it is okay that I will be out of town at least two of those weeks, and I can also skip some other weeks if I need to (and so can she--we'll cover for each other).
Monday (the 28th): Memorial Day and Seth's 11th Birthday! I had the usual laundry and such to do. Frank did the grocery shopping for me. We went to the movie (Solo) at 10:15, so we didn't have a lot of time in the morning to get things done. Frank made blueberry muffins for breakfast (Seth's request) and Seth opened his presents before the movie. We were going to the movie as a special birthday treat for Seth. A few weeks ago, I suggested to him that since he has so much stuff already, maybe he should consider getting fewer presents and instead we could spend some of the present money on an experience that he would enjoy. To my surprise, he agreed to this idea and chose to see the movie. He still got plenty of presents--a video game, a movie, a card game, a Lego buildable figure, and a Lego set. He was happy with everything and never once has mentioned all the other things on his list that he didn't get.
After we got back from the movie, Sam needed to get home so Jared drove him home while I baked cake and cupcakes and Seth built his Legos. Frank played Book of Mormon Battles with him too.
That evening we got pizza for dinner (Seth's request again) and later we had cake. Jared missed the cake part because he went to YSA family night. (He decorated the cake, though.)
(For those of you not acquainted with the game Minecraft, that is a "creeper" on the cake.)
Tuesday (the 29th): This wasn't the best day. It started with Jared calling in sick instead of going to work, which worried Frank and I because he's been doing that so much lately. He said his stomach hurt a lot and it probably did, but we want him to learn to get up and go to work anyway. He stayed in his room most of the day and didn't eat much but we both think he probably could have managed to work if he'd tried. Then we had really bad morning with Seth. He remembered that morning that he wanted to take his "timeline" into school that day to share (it has one picture on it from each year of his life) so we hurried to print up a couple of pictures to add to it (he didn't share it the last couple of years). For one of the years, he said he wanted his "picture of me sitting on the speeder" (we took the picture at Disney World last summer). There were actually two pictures of this event, and Frank and I chose the one we thought looked better but as we were leaving Seth saw it and said he wanted the other one. We didn't have time to change it at that point and he had a major tantrum and cried all the way to school. And I cried too because I couldn't believe how unbelievably selfish and rude he was being, after Frank and I had spent the morning getting the timeline put together for him (I hadn't even had time to eat breakfast yet). He was also bringing in cupcakes to share which I had made the day before. No thank you for any of that! Just a meltdown because one picture wasn't what he wanted. It is hard to explain how he can get this way sometimes. I know it sounds like he is just spoiled, but it goes beyond that, and it is very discouraging to me. That was just a day when all the different challenges--worries about kids' behavior and choices, worry about Frank's job--just seemed like too much. Seth was calmer by the time he got home from school, but we had to spend some time that evening getting ready for a camp out and he wasn't incredibly cooperative for that either but we managed to get through it without too many more explosions. I mowed the lawn that evening because it wasn't raining for once! Seth started getting stuffed up and coughing that night, and I wondered if he was getting sick.
Wednesday (the 30th): Seth didn't sound really great, but he didn't say anything about wanting to stay home from school so I didn't bring it up. He had a field trip that day to the Earth Space Science Lab and he was looking forward to going to that. He seemed to be fine when he got home (although still stuffy and coughing a bit) and he made it to 11 year old scout meeting that evening, where he was able to show that he was ready for the camp out. (Even though by then they had decided to postpone the campout, which was scheduled for this weekend, because the forecast was for thunderstorms all night and rain the next day). Showing that he was ready was one of the requirements he needed to pass off. By the time we got home from the meeting, Seth admitted that he wasn't feeling very well and by then he was losing his voice and he said his throat hurt a little. Meanwhile, I spent the day doing some shopping to get some things he needed for the camping trip (this was before I found out it was postponed), going to the religion class, doing a little crocheting, and the regular chores. Jared went to work and afterwards he went with Jessie and some friends to a state park called Cunningham Falls to go swimming, even though the weather wasn't very great. It was warm, at least, but it was cloudy and there were supposed to be thunderstorms. It turns out that the storms came in later than predicted, so they were able to swim and do the things they wanted to do and it didn't start raining until they were on their way home.
Thursday (the 31st): Seth wasn't feeling terrible, but he wasn't feeling great either so I decided to keep him home from school so he could drink liquids and rest. Although in a way I was glad the campout was postponed (since Seth wasn't feeling very well), having it postponed presented a new problem. Going on the campout was going to pass off the last thing he needs to do to earn his Arrow of Light, and he and two other boys are supposed to be getting that award at our Pack Meeting, which is scheduled for this coming Friday. So now what should we do? After discussing it with the other two moms, we decided to have a campout of our own at a different location where they would be in platform tents, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting all wet. (The dads are going with them.) So on Thursday there was a lot of emails going back and forth to get that planned. That was the other reason I kept Seth home--I wanted him to be able to go on this campout (or at least attend the evening portion, which will also fulfill the requirement) and I figured he would be more likely to be able to do that if he had some rest. I kept him home today too for the same reason. He has not improved dramatically but he isn't getting any worse either and overall he doesn't seem to feel too bad. In between all the emails / planning, I got all the regular chores done. Frank was gone all day at work--he had some meetings to go to and after work there was a social gathering that he decided he'd better go to. Then there was a bad wreck on I-270 North that had all the lanes blocked, so he just decided to stay at work until all of that cleared up. There was a big thunderstorm, too, which didn't help with the traffic situation. By late afternoon / early evening, I wasn't feeling too well either. I think I have the same thing Seth has, only worse--congestion, runny nose, coughing, headache, chills, and slight sore throat. I feel worse today than I did last night. Hopefully, whatever it is will be short lived. I didn't see Jared much yesterday--after work he went to Jessie's house for the evening.
That brings us to today (June 1st), but I think I've already covered today since I haven't done much yet. This is Frank's last day of work. He's still feeling pretty bummed about the whole thing but yesterday when he was at the social gathering after work he got a couple of phone calls from some of the places he has applied to so that is encouraging. Some of them are actually Marriott positions so he may end up back at Marriott for all we know. As part of his severance package, Marriott is paying for him to get professional resume help / advice, so he is working on getting his resume polished up. We are somewhat hopeful that something will come up soon.
I did a lot of reading this week in between everything else. Seth and I finished The Mark of Athena, and now we are reading the next book in that series, which is The House of Hades. There is only one more book after this one and then that series will be finished. I'm not sure what we will read after that.
I've made it a week without my glasses but I am really looking forward to getting them back in a week! I wear my glasses a lot more than I used to. The new contact lenses seem to be pretty good. However, my eyes seem to get infected a lot more often they used to do, and it seems to happen more often when I wear contact lenses more often. (This is one of the main reasons why I wear glasses a lot more than I used to.) So I've been trying to be careful about how much I wear my contact lenses but when I don't have another option I obviously end up wearing them more. One of my eyes has been slightly sore / feeling like it might be getting infected for days and now that I'm sick I don't want to wear my contact lenses either. So it will be really great when I can get my glasses back.
That is everything I have to report this week. Thank you to everyone who is fasting for us this Sunday! We will be remembering all of you in our prayers, as well.
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