Sleepless Nights

 I feel like I've titled a previous blog with this same title. Maybe it's just become a theme in my life over the years. I don't know. I used to lie awake for hours, worrying about finances, our marriage, P's health. Now I'm awake because I feel like I've aged10 years in the past year. I take a very high dose of medicine for a medical condition (to no avail) that causes night sweats and hot flashes. (Doesn't that sound like an old lady issue? But wait! It gets better.) I have plantar fasciitis that makes walking pretty uncomfortable if I choose to wear cute shoes instead of sensible shoes. I have eczema that will cause my hands to feel like they are on fire some days. I have gained weight faster than I can think about losing it. (Although the pint of Blue Bell that I ate for lunch today probably didn't help.) I have arthritis in my hips, making exercise uncomfortable. By the time I fall into bed (at an old lady time of 8:30) I am uncomfortable and exhausted. I try to read to relax but my eyesight has gone downhill pretty fast in recent months. I wear my glasses a lot these days just to see the book I'm reading to my students or the computer screen that sits on my desk. By the time I go to bed, I don't want to wear my glasses and it's difficult to see the words if I'm reading a "small print" book. Oh the joys of aging! I can only imagine how I'll be in 20-30 years. 😞

Maybe I am dealing with insomnia because of the political junk going on. News media has declared Joe Biden as the new President elect as of today. I'm not a fan of his. But, in all honesty, I haven't been a fan of any of our presidents in recent years. I guess this election just made me mad because of all the fraud. The American people deserve better than that! When it's all said and done, whoever is inaugurated in January will be our President and, even if I don't respect the person, I respect his position. But I really just wish the USA could go back to the good ole' days of Ronald Reagan. 😃

No matter what causes my insomnia, I am thankful for nights like last night where I slept 7 consecutive hours. I rarely sleep more than 4 hours at a time and then it takes me an hour or two to get comfortable enough to fall back to sleep. I usually get one good night of sleep a week and I'll take it. I'm thankful when I wake up rested and do not take it for granted. So here's to more nights of good sleep, waking up rested and ready to take on a new day.....

Fun and Busy Month

 October has always been a busy month for our family. I feared, with COVID this year, that it wouldn't be. Boy, was I wrong! Between P's cross country season, birthdays, hunting, Rob's storm work, Halloween and our every day commitments, we had something filling up our calendar several times a week. 

At the first of the month, I felt like our lives went from 0-60 in no time flat. Rob was working long hours. I was a "mom taxi". P was involved with cross country, youth group, hanging out at friends' houses and wanting to go to his school's football games. E started piano lessons and spends every waking moment with his best friend.

On the weekends that we didn't have any big plans we went to camp to celebrate family birthdays. It was nice to be able to spend time with family, celebrating in the most normal way possible this year. 

Last weekend ended P's cross country season. We were so impressed with what he accomplished in only a few months. He practiced diligently and was able to shave 2 minutes (!!!) off his time by the end. It was fun to watch him blossom and find his athletic niche. 

Last night we rounded out the month with neighborhood trick or treating. I thought it would be cancelled since so many other things have been this year. But, much to my joy, it went on as scheduled. For the first time since moving to this neighborhood, most of the people handed out candy. After the boys and their friends were done stashing their bags with every form of candy, we went to our neighbor's house for dinner. Afterwards we sat around the fire pit, talking and enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. When we got home, both boys said it was the best Halloween they'd ever had. I guess when so much has been taken away from us this year, it makes you appreciate the things you are able to do. 

Here are a few pictures to highlight our month....

A Change of Plans

There is nothing I love more than a good surprise. Why? Because I love trying to figure out what the surprise is. Last week I was able to piece things together and figured out that Rob graciously used his "storm money" to buy me a side by side for my birthday. What I didn't figure out is that he had planned a huge surprise party for me tomorrow. So many friends were going to show up tomorrow afternoon to celebrate my birthday with me. But, alas, hurricane #268 of the year is about to hit Louisiana. Rob didn't want to chance him having to work or us losing power so he played it safe and cancelled the party. As much as I would've loved to have been surprised with my friends coming over, I am glad he changed the plans. Today I was going to take the boys to the gulf for the day. We were going to go to an aquarium and to a new restaurant. But, this morning we decided to stay home instead. I am glad we changed the plans.

Why am I glad the plans have changed? One of the reasons is that the weeks have gotten so busy that it's nice to have a day to relax once in awhile. As I said in a previous blog, we've gone from zero to sixty in a short time. While I'm glad some things are getting back to normal, I'm still not ready for all the busy schedules. For the first time in my life, I'm okay with the fact that I'm still kind of a home body. As much as I love doing new things with the boys and having friends over, I am thankful that we have a relaxing weekend ahead of us. Time to recharge after a busy week!

Grass is Greener

 I know the old saying “The grass is always greener on the other side.” But, this year I have really been feeling that. In March, when the world literally shut down, I would’ve given anything to have social interaction outside of our 4 walls. I felt claustrophobic and at times, lonely. I don’t do well being cooped up so I made the best of it by doing endless house projects that I never have time for. By July, things were slowly getting back to normal. We were busy to some extent but a lot of things were still closed due to Covid. In August school started, but we started on a hybrid model. Some students came Monday and Wednesday while others came Tuesday and Thursday. I had a lot of “prep” time due to our schedule so life wasn’t crazy busy. Then we had hurricane after hurricane after hurricane hit the gulf. The thing with hurricanes is that you don’t know exactly where they’ll hit until about 24 hours prior to making landfall. So we had a lot of days off of school in August due to “storm days”. Then all of a sudden...BOOM...life went completely back to normal. Talk about a shock! For 5 months, life was pretty much slow and easy and then within two weeks, life gets crazy busy. Between the boys’ activities, hair cut appts, car issues and errands, this week has been insane. Not to mention, I no longer have a lot of prep time at school so I bring work home in the evenings and weekends. This week it was overwhelming. I was so thankful that yesterday was the first day where we didn’t have any after school commitments. Usually on the weekends I run around, trying to get everything done for the new week. But today I had to decompress. I worked all morning and then I sat on the couch around 2pm and haven’t done much since then. I need this time to rest- physically and mentally. I do NOT want to go back to life being shut down but I am ready for a slower pace again. I’m not quite ready for life to completely go back to normal yet. That’s one thing I learned during the pandemic. That being said... how’s  the grass looking on your side of the fence??

Well Rounded Boys

Today is rainy, gloomy and shall I say chilly?? I don't think I ever remember wearing a jacket in mid September since moving to the South. But today I did and it was glorious. It's the perfect weather to cuddle up in a blanket, with a book and cup of coffee.....or blog. Usually I start my Days of Thankfulness in November but this year I decided to start early. Due to all the chaos, destruction and heartbreak this year I thought I'd start listing the things I'm thankful for now to remind me that we are so blessed. I am not going to go back to Day 1 on this blog but I will say that, by writing about our blessings on social media, it has made me realize just how blessed we are.

My biggest blessing is my family. This week I was thanking the Lord for everyone in our family. It got me to thinking about our boys and how well rounded they are. I am thankful that they have so many interests. Our oldest is thriving this year, which is so nice, since last school year was rough. This year he's got his confidence back. He is rocking all of his classes! He is on the cross country team and is trying out for the football team. He also enjoys playing his guitar and riding dirtbikes. He wants to get into trapping this year and has his first real job, mowing our neighbor's lawn every week. At night, he'll fall asleep reading and likes to use the money he earns to buy books.

Our youngest loves football and is obsessed with dirtbikes. He also loves hunting and fishing with his daddy. When it's raining or his best friend isn't home, he'll spend time drawing and painting. I love that he likes to help me in the kitchen, learning how to bake. He wants to start learning how to play the piano as well. 

Both boys love to help others and both do well in school. They are outgoing and have a great group of friends. Just like other kids their age, they play video games. But they would rather be outside than in front of a TV. I love that they challenge themselves to be better. 

Yes, they argue. Yes, sometimes they can work my nerves. But, I never take for granted that we have been blessed with such awesome boys. I love how well rounded they are and that they are so thoughtful. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses them in life!

Chaotic Month

There's been several times in the past month that I've wanted to blog. But I either lacked time or motivation to get it done. So this will be a hodge podge of stuff. There were a few times I wanted to get on my soapbox about stuff- defunding police, COVID politics, etc but I was convicted about sharing my thoughts publicly so only Rob got the honor of hearing them. Ha!

August has been a busy month. A week or two before school started we took the boys to ride dirtbikes and then stopped by a friend's house for a BBQ. That night E started complaining that he was tired and that his legs hurt. We chalked it up to riding his dirtbike. Monday, after playing with his friend all day, he started complaining that he was cold and that his muscles hurt. Out of nowhere he spiked a fever and we couldn't get it down. Tuesday I took him to his pediatrician and she was certain he has strep...until the test came back negative. We asked for him to be tested for COVID because of the fever and muscle aches. Tuesday was a rough day, full of tears (Both he and I cried several times). By Tuesday evening his fever broke and he was back to normal- eating, full of energy. By Thursday we hadn't received results but I was positive he didn't have COVID, mainly because Rob hadn't got sick and he always catches everything. Friday afternoon we got the call that he did test positive and that we all had to quarantine. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal but this was 3 days before I had to report for my teacher workdays. Talk about stressful!

That week was bittersweet. I hated that I missed the first day of school for the first time in my entire teaching career. But I loved that the boys got to go to theirs because they were done with quarantine. P got invited to have breakfast with some of his close friends before staring the first day of school. Then E wanted donuts to celebrate his first day. I took both boys to school then came home and cried. I literally watched the clock all day, wondering what my students were doing and counting down until the boys would be done with their school day. It was not fun.

Then I started teaching the next week and I have to say it's been a rollercoaster. I LOVE my group of students and I love teaching only ELA. But our district is doing a hybrid model and it's nuts. I can never remember which group is coming what day and what handouts have been given to what groups. Testing is all over the place because of grouping. It's a fast paced day, every day, trying to teach the kids in my physical presence while making sure the kids who are virtually learning understand the assignments. I come home exhausted every day, not because of the kids or any type of physical demands but because I'm mentally drained from trying to keep up with it all.

The weekends are fun, though. The boys are really into dirtbikes so E raced his first trail race a couple weeks ago and finished Top 10. Then last weekend Rob took the boys to watch a motorcross race, which the boys loved. This weekend both boys had friends spend the night. Then P spent the night at a friend's house the next night. Me? I've been working. I worked a few hours Saturday and then found out yesterday that school was cancelled today and tomorrow due to TS Marco. The thing fizzled out this morning and, other than a little wind and 10 minutes of rain, it's been a beautiful day. I'm sure tomorrow will be the same. Usually I'm thankful for storm days. But because of the craziness of this year, I don't like days off. I already have limited in-person time with my students so I don't want it wasted. I will be so thankful when the governor puts us at Phase 3 and all students can come back 5 days a week. 

This year has been crazy. But I'm thankful that I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. P is doing cross country and has his first scrimmage this week (If Hurricane Laura doesn't affect us. I have a bad feeling about that storm.). Both boys are having friends spend the night again. I am meeting up with friends when schedules allow and trying to get to Spin class when I can. I loved our much needed family time for a few months but I am also happy that life is getting back to a somewhat normal routine. All in all, it's been a good month, full of good times, and for that I'm thankful.

Camp Fun Memories

Growing up, some of my favorite Summer memories were of church camp. If memory serves me correctly, I went every Summer from the time I was in 2nd or 3rd grade through high school. So when we cancelled our trip to Cali this Summer due to dumb Rona, I asked P if he wanted to go to camp. Being in quarantine messed with him for awhile and he had become pretty anti-social until mid June. Needless to say, it didn't surprise me when he first said no. Then he asked if I would go as a counselor. I knew if I went he'd go and that's exactly what happened.
At my childhood church camp, I remember small group Bible studies. I remember outdoor chapel in the evenings with powerful worship songs and a dynamic speaker. I remember only having volleyball, an open field and a limited amount of pool time. I remember a snack shack that you would have to wait in line for what seemed like forever to get your sugar high. I remember a pay phone where homesick kids would anxiously wait for their turn to have a few minutes of talking to their parents before their change ran out. I remember racing to the bathroom to take a shower so you could be one to get hot water. I remember keeping the cabin doors closed during the day to keep the hot weather out and opening them at night to let a breeze through. I remember late night chat sessions with new friends. I remember camp crushes. I remember hot weather!
The hot weather hasn't changed a bit but everything has. Well, maybe the late night chats and camp crushes haven't changed from what I'm told but my sweet cabin girls were in bed early each night and didn't talk about cute boys. The cabin situation at P's camp was high class compared to mine.....air conditioning, showers IN the cabins and porches with rocking chairs so you could enjoy the view of the lake. Chapel was very different than what I experienced at church camp when I was growing up. There were silly songs, games and no guest speaker. The kids enjoyed it, though. What really got me was all the activities the kids got to choose from- canoeing, GaGa Ball, hiking, a Ninja Warrior course, a Survivor course, swimming, tetherball, basketball.... There was an endless amount of stuff to do. And the snack shack line was non-existent after the first night so P didn't have to waste his whole free time waiting for candy and soda instead of playing games. (His favorite, hands-down, was GaGa Ball!)
I am glad I was able to join him for his first camp experience. I am glad I got to meet new people from church. I am glad I got to see P form new friendships. I am glad I got to see him come out of his shell again. What a blessing the long weekend was at camp!
(I am going to be lazy and not take the time to proofread this so it is what it is. Sorry.)