"Winging it" is not a plan for college success.

My son started his Spring semester classes this week.  It was definitely a different feeling for him starting this semester than his first semester.  He was more relaxed than he was on his first day last semester.

Last semester presented some challenges for him, especially in time management and organization.  During his 4 week break, we spent time discussing with him what went really well last semester and what could be improved.  We spent a lot of time discussing strategies that could help him with his time management:  creating a daily schedule, creating study plans for himself, asking others to check in with him as accountability partners (not nags), etc.

He received his English syllabus a week ahead of time.  He looked that over and put some due dates on Google calendar.  He received his Geography syllabus at the end of last week.  Looked at it and panicked a little bit!  We talked him through it.  It’s all good. His geography class is an online class which means he needs to be diligent in creating time to study and work for it.

Which brings us to this week.  The other day he was hanging out, walking around downstairs in circles, not being very productive.  He had work that could have been done, but he was roaming like he didn’t have a care in the world.  

I asked him, “Are you going to create a study plan for yourself this week or are you just going to wing it?”

“Since it is the first week of the semester, I think I will just wing it.”

SERIOUSLY???

I very kindly told him that was the wrong answer.  Please try again.

I will be on the couch with chocolate…..

I thought you were exaggerating.

My son who started college 3 weeks ago is feeling overwhelmed as he creates his “to-do” lists for his classes.  This is what we hear during and after the list making process:

“How am I supposed to get all of this done?”

“I have a project and my homework to complete for Statistics!”

“I need to read, take notes, and write an essay.”

“When am I supposed to _____?”

Background

My son was homeschooled for 7 years throughout middle and high school.  We knew he planned on going to college.  We prepped him for it.  We made sure he had the classes he would need. We worked REALLY hard to get him to practice and utilize good study habits. 

The challenge my son has in implementing good study habits (setting a schedule, organizing himself, time management, etc) is that he has ADD so these are not traits that come easily to him.  

Every year, every day, we have talked through strategies that might be helpful to him.  We have read information.  We have shared information.  We have asked for input from him to try to figure out how to best help him help himself.  

We have used wall calendars.  We have used Google Calendar and the task list.  We have listed work on a white board in order of priority after talking through the process of prioritizing.  We have talked about reasonable time limits for work.

High School

As S made his way through high school, we continued to stress the importance of having a list, a plan, a schedule, etc. to get his work done in a timely fashion.  This would allow him to have free time which we all need.

As college became a reality, my husband and I told him that the work was going to be more difficult.  It was going to be faster. It was going to be a balance between the classes.  College professors aren’t overly concerned with the fact that you have a project, test, and paper due all the same week or day.

College

Now that my son is in college and can see all of his work up on his 4 month calendar, the reality of the pace and workload is upon him.  See the above quotes.

Yesterday, as we drove to campus, he was telling me AGAIN that the pace is just crazy.  

How are we supposed to learn that quickly?

You are in college.  This is how it is.  We have been telling you that for years.

I know, but I didn’t think you were telling me the truth.  I thought you were exaggerating to get my attention.

Nope.  Nothing but the facts.

I will be on the couch with chocolate, and I’m not exaggerating about that!

Almost to the end of Senior year!

On the Homefront

You know it's been a crazy week when I start with the homefront first.  Our calendar has looked like a mosaic with all of the different colored boxes overlapping and butting up next to each other.  This week the boys have had 3 medical appointments, 2 meetings, an SOL test, and college placement testing.  This is on top of regularly scheduled activities - horseback riding, youth group, and gymnastics practice.  And, my husband had a church meeting squeezed in there.  My husband and I are tired!

Although it was a crazy, busy week, these were all necessary things that were accomplished. That is always a good feeling.  

We have a fairly relaxed weekend ahead of us, so we are looking forward to that.  We are going to a cookout Saturday evening.  We have 2 invitations for Sunday.  Not sure we will make it to both.  S is volunteering all day Monday.  As long as the weather is nice, my husband, J, and I will hang out at the beach during that time.  Looking forward to that!

The Senior

S has had things on the calendar every day this week - Chiropractor, Social Security meeting, College Placement testing, Youth Group, meeting with DBVI Vocational Rehab counselor, and horseback riding.  

With all of the various agency meetings S has had to attend lately, there have been a lot of discussions at home about his future.  They are always interesting conversations as S’s ADD starts to run rampant.  My husband does a good job of summarizing our conversations in his post, Simple problem solving.

This was a week of getting answers and planning the next steps forward. All of the frustration S has felt in the weeks building up to this point is gone as he sees how it all fit together. He got through the wave. Last night was one of the first nights in a LONG time that we didn't have things we needed to get together or discuss or finish something up. He enjoyed that very much.

The big news this week is that S is done with English!!!!  He has one class to finish up for his senior year - German IV.  As he told me yesterday, “You know, I can sit and do that for hours.”  

He hasn't volunteered all month since he has been working hard to cross things off his to-do list. He will be volunteering for 6 hours on Memorial Day.

Tonight we are going to Busch Gardens to partake in the Food and Wine Festival while J is at practice. J figured S could eat his way through the park tonight and make recommendations for when he is able to go. The Food and Wine Festival is S's favorite activity there!

The Sophomore

J had a busy week also.  He started his week with bloodwork for his allergy testing.  He has ended his week with a 730 appointment with the Pediatric Nephrologist for a follow up for his high blood pressure.  My husband took him to the early appointment.

In between his bookend appointments, he had an SOL History test for school.  He has some projects to work on this weekend.  He finished up a project last weekend and is turning it in today (early) for extra credit.

He only had practice for 4 days this week since his coach was just returning from vacation.  J was glad to be back in the gym although he got a nasty rip the first night of practice this week!

What did I write this week?

Graduation is coming - ready or not!

How much did he cost? and other questions  

After this crazy week, you will find me on the couch (and the beach) with chocolate!

Linking up with:

Senior Stress - 13 Weeks Left

The Senior

This has been an unusual week.  S had 3 appointments - 2 chiropractic appointments and a dentist appointment.  In addition, he went to 4.5 hours of volunteer training one day.  Today he has horseback riding.  All of this has thrown his school schedule off a little bit.  There are so many times I appreciate the flexibility we have with homsechooling, and this is definitely one of those weeks.

S finished another assessment for College Algebra.  He started working on his Low Vision project.  The rest of his work was writing intensive.  He was studying the Cold War for History, so he wrote letters as if he were a world leader writing to another world leader.  He had fun with that.  

We have also finished dissecting his research paper.  He understands what needs to be improved, and we are discussing topics for his next research paper that will be started on February 16.

The past week has been stressful for S with graduation rapidly approaching. He's not ready for it, but it's coming.

S will be volunteering 4 hours this weekend.

The Sophomore

J had a routine week at school.  That’s good.  He had homework, but nothing too crazy.  It’s nice for him to have a little bit of breathing room after exams.  He is working on portraits in photography.  He usually prefers scenery, so he will definitely learn a lot in this unit.  He has a half day today.  Not sure why…He is going to try making Oreo truffles with the Red Velvet Oreos. I will report back after the taste test is complete.

He had an orthodontist appointment on Tuesday.  They put on his final bracket and a stronger wire.  He has had braces on for 30 months, and they have been waiting on a tooth to finally make its appearance.  The orthodontist was pleased that oral surgery wasn’t necessary to get that tooth to drop.  Not nearly as happy as J was (or mom and dad)!  Now, the orthodontist is working hard to get everything in place so, at some point before J graduates, the braces can actually come off of his teeth!

He had practice for 17.5 hours this week.  He is 2 weeks out from his next meet.  He has been working hard in the gym.  He has been working on a new skill for a few weeks and finally got it!

This is what his hands usually look like.  The rips aren't too bad in this picture.

There is chalk everywhere in our house and vehicles!

On the Homefront

Obviously, it has been a busy week with appointments.  Next week isn’t much better.  Time is moving by quickly!  

The day that S had his 4.5 hours of volunteer training he asked me what I was going to do in all of my free time that day. I really thought I might have some free time (insert laughter here). I spent an hour of that "free" time driving from the museum and back to the museum. I put gas in my van. I went to the grocery store. I went to Target. I went to CVS. I went to Kohl's. Good homeschooling mom that I am, I went to the library to pick up audio CDs for a book we are going to study. After that, I realized I had about 30 minutes to run home and throw supper in the crockpot. After arriving home after picking S up, I realized that I had not bothered to plug in the crockpot. If I have too many more days with "free" time, I might just collapse. [Disclaimer: Chocolate may/may not have jumped into a cart while I was running errands.]

Last night, I scheduled our family portraits for April.  We were going to have them done the day S had his Senior Portraits; however, the weather was not very cooperative and S really didn’t see any need to have senior pictures much less family pictures.  We decided we would use his energy on his pictures and do ours later.  I figured I should get that on the calendar since our photographer books up quickly. I hope our family pictures turn out as well as S’s pictures.  She did an amazing job!

Speaking of his pictures, we finally bought frames for his pictures.  It was the first “free” weekend we have had in a while.  We also bought some more items for S’s graduation party. J is having fun coming up with ideas for it.  He is definitely a creative, out-of-the-box thinker.

We got together with friends for the Super Bowl.  We have a good time when we are together talking, eating, watching the commercials, eating, watching the game, eating;  there may have been a really yummy chocolate cake there also.

What have I written this week?

Senior Stress and ADD

The Chiropractor

It looks like we have another open weekend.  They are few and far between, so I will enjoy it on the couch with chocolate!

Linking up with

http://www.lovethatmax.com/

And as our busy season starts…..

The Senior

S stayed with friends this past weekend while we were up in northern Virginia for J’s gymnastics meet.  S had a good time.  They went to see “Dumb and Dumber To”, went out to eat, ate Duck Donuts, had pizza, and watched more movies.  My friend had 4 teenage boys at her house.  

This week S has been busy working.  He’s trying to make sure everything is completed, so he can be on a relaxed schedule the next couple of weeks since Grandpa and Grandma are coming. Love that part of homeschooling!  He has been working on his College Algebra, Human Eye Lesson 3, WW II unit, Grammar, and research paper - Notes are complete, thesis statement is revised, and outline is finalized!  The final paper will be written after Grandpa and Grandma leave.

We received his insurance authorization letter for his SmartDrive for his wheelchair this week. He is quite excited about that.  We are hoping it is here before Christmas.

S has 2 sessions of horseback riding today.  He had his scheduled lesson at 8:30 this morning (it was quite chilly), and he has a makeup lesson this afternoon.  He will be tired tonight!  My husband is taking the afternoon off to take S back up this afternoon.  He is hoping to get some good pictures of him riding.

My husband and I are going to preview S’s Senior Portraits Saturday morning.  He has decided he’s not going with us.  Fine.  He took the pictures and didn’t complain, so we will preview without him.  

Volunteering

S went back to church Tuesday night with my husband to help serve the homeless.  Their shift was shorter than expected because we had another representative from our church on site.

S is volunteering 6 hours this weekend.

The Sophomore

J has had a typical week at school.  He had a number of quizzes and tests this week.  He will be wrapping up his science fair project this weekend.  He really likes his science classes, but he doesn’t like doing the science fair.   He has an English poetry project that he will be finishing up also.  I hope he doesn't have a lot of homework during Thanksgiving break since he could use some down time.

Gymnastics

J had his first meet of the season last weekend.  He did well.  He is at a new level with new skills. There were some falls, but he did not get hurt.  That is always a good thing.  He placed on 3 events and in the All Around.  There are some things to work on at practice before the next meet.

He has 17.5 hours of practice this week.  The next meet is hosted by our gym in 2 weeks, so there is a lot of activity happening at the gym.

On the Homefront

We spent the weekend in northern Virginia.  We stayed in Old Town Alexandria.  We were able to spend Saturday morning with our niece who was in Washington DC for a conference.  That was fun.  We had brunch at the Bittersweet Cafe.  The food was delicious!  J chose to go back there Sunday morning for breakfast before we headed to IKEA.  

This has been a busy week of appointments.  My husband had 2 PT appointments.  I had 2 appointments.  I had to go to Dermatology for my annual mole check.  I have A LOT of moles. Everything looked good. The doctor told me to keep using sunscreen and come back in a year. Can do!

I have been able to get some birthday and Christmas shopping finished this week. I am a big fan of online shopping.  I don't really like going to the mall. Also, I can have things shipped to my parent's house since we are going to Minnesota for Christmas.

Tomorrow, we have S's picture review.  We are looking forward to that. Tomorrow evening we are having Thanksgiving with our friends since my friend’s husband has to work on Thanksgiving.  

Most of my weekend will be spent cleaning because my parents are flying in from Minnesota on Monday night.  They will be here for a couple of weeks - Thanksgiving, a weekend trip to the Outer Banks, both boys’ birthdays, and J’s meet.

We are going to be busy, but I will still find time to be on the couch with chocolate!

Linking up with:

And it is getting busier....

The Senior  
S has been working hard again this week.  He has worked on College Algebra, The Human Eye Lesson 3, World War II unit, Grammar, German IV, and his research paper. He’s almost finished with his notes for his paper!  My husband had Tuesday off for Veteran’s Day, so he supervised note taking that day.  It was a productive day.  

S heard back from his supervising teacher at the School for the Blind for his Human Eye course. He received an A on Lesson 2. He was happy about that since he got a B on Lesson 1 after she had asked him to fix some things. He didn’t really like that.  I told him to be thankful that she gave him the opportunity to make the corrections.

S had horseback riding this morning, and it was cold!  Next week is his last week of this session.  He will have his regular lesson in the morning and a makeup lesson in the afternoon. He will be tired next Friday night. We found out he has a noon slot on Fridays for the next session. That means we can leave our house at 11:00 rather than 7:30. Woo hoo!

S has become more slack about getting up in the mornings this week.  He had done pretty well with getting up, getting ready, and taking some time to chill out before he started work at 9:00. That seemed to help him focus more on his work.  This week he has decided that he will sleep in. No reason.  Just didn’t feel like getting up when he was supposed to.  We have been trying to get him to understand that you can’t be on a schedule like that when you have college classes to attend.  The professors don’t want to hear that you were tired, so you just thought you would sleep in instead of attending class.

S will be staying with friends this weekend.  We are going out of town for J’s gymnastics meet. S has no desire to attend those any more.  It’s not enjoyable for him to sit there for HOURS, so I can’t blame him.   Often, the venues are difficult for him to get around, and he can’t see well. As soon as the meet schedule comes out, he coordinates for weekend stays with our friends. He’s taking initiative!

Volunteering
S volunteered 6 hours last Saturday.  My husband and I finally met the museum historian.  S often talks about him and the conversations they have.  We are hoping he will have some opportunities to job shadow him in the spring.  

Our church is hosting the homeless this week at our church.  We coordinate with other churches in the area for this ministry.  Our church provides the workers and the meal for the first night.  We have a site rep at church the other nights.  S loves volunteering for this.  He is very comfortable sitting and talking to the guests at our church.  They love talking to him too. He definitely has a servant’s heart.   My husband will be the site rep one night next week, so S will be going back.

The Sophomore
J has had a busy week at school.  He has had quite a bit of homework for AP History; however, he does a good job of working ahead.  He started his Science Fair project presentation.  He will be glad when that is finished.  He had a half day of school on Tuesday, but he had to go to the dentist that afternoon.  He was moved out of the pediatric dentistry side to the adult side, so this was his first appointment on the adult side.  

J is happy because one of his favorite winter beverages is back in stock at Trader Joe's. Every time I'm at the store, I buy 3-4 boxes of this.

Practice 
J had practice for 17.5 hours this week.   His first meet is Saturday afternoon/evening. He’s looking forward to it.  It’s always nice to get the first meet done.  It helps set a gauge for scores since he’s at a new level with new skills.

On the Homefront

Sunday at church I had this conversation with the photographer (C) who did S's Senior Portraits:

C: Can I talk to you?
Me: What's up?
C: I talked to S in the Fellowship Hall. He asked if I could please post some sneak peek photos because his mom is getting quite antsy, and we don't want her antsy.
Me: I know you are busy, so there's no rush. We are looking forward to seeing them when you get to them. I know you are busy.

After church, I asked S about his conversation with C. His response, "I didn't use the word antsy. I told her you were impatient." Well, that's even better....She did post a couple of sneak peeks, and they are really good. I'm anxious to see the rest - not antsy or impatient but anxious.

I baked cookies on Sunday afternoon for the meals for the homeless at church. This is what 16 dozen cookies looks like. We had to eat the cookies that fell apart.

My husband is finally out of his sling!  He’s very happy about that.  The doctor was pleased with his progress, and his PT is going well still.  He has been very good about doing his exercises at home.

We have scheduled an appointment for S to meet with his new PCM up in the Family Practice clinic.  That will be in a couple of weeks.  Looking forward to meeting him.

My husband had to go to the DC area for work this week.  He went up Wednesday night and came home late Thursday night.  

We are heading back up to the DC area tonight after J is done with practice.  We were going to go up on Saturday for the meet and stay with old Army friends Saturday evening; however, we found out that our niece is going to be in the DC area for a conference and flies in today.  We are going up tonight, so we can spend time with her before the meet on Saturday.  Her conference starts Saturday afternoon, so she can’t attend the meet.  There’s a possibility that we will get to spend some time with her Sunday morning before we head home.  What a bonus for this weekend!  We are not staying with our friends now.  Fortunately, they are very understanding friends.  They are all about family.  Needless to say, my sister-in-law is a little jealous.  Even though we get to see our niece, S decided to still stay with friends.  We will all be together for Christmas next month.

This is the craziest time of year at our house.  That’s why I said last week it was the calm before the storm.  Fortunately, we know it is crazy.  We block out family time on the calendar to make sure we can all decompress.

I do make sure I have a few minutes to sit on the couch with chocolate.  Enjoy your week!

Linking up with:

It's Been a Winning Kind of Week!

The Senior:  This week hasn’t been too crazy.  We were able to get settled into a routine.  We suggested to S that he start getting up at 7:00, get ready, and take some time to listen to the news and/or read his Bible until 9:00.  At that point, he could start his work.  So far, that seems to be helping him stay on task.  [Otherwise, he gets distracted reading news headlines when he's supposed to be logging onto the computer for math.] He has had his work finished around lunchtime every day.  We will call that a win!

This week S has been working on College Algebra, Daily Grammar, World War II unit, The Human Eye course Lesson 2 (Science that he is interested in is always a good thing.  He just told me that it is a useful course. It is quite interesting.), his research project, Personal Finance, and German IV.

S is enjoying getting his work done early in the day because it is giving him free time in the afternoon and evening - kind of a new thing for him.  We have taken time to watch some DVD lectures on History (his idea of fun).  One day after watching some segments, S went to the computer and sat down to write (this is a child who doesn’t enjoy writing).  I told my husband we have been waiting for this day! Again, we will also call that a win!

He had horseback riding this morning which he always enjoys.  The one downside is we have to leave the house at 7:30 - not an easy task for S.  For the winter schedule, they are going to change his time slot again.  We will see what he ends up with for a time.  He prefers Friday slots because he likes to end his week that way.  He works hard to have his schoolwork finished or almost finished, so he doesn’t have much, if anything, to do when he gets back home.  

This weekend he will be getting his clothes together for his Senior Portraits which are scheduled for November 2.  He’s not very excited about having these done.  Outfit changes will be minimal (swapping out shirts).  He thinks we could just take a picture of him sitting at the dining room table on our phones and call it good.  

I sent the email to our state homeschool organization telling them we want to know when graduation registration starts.  I also asked about accessibility for him at the ceremony. We can work out glitches now rather than later. Again, S really doesn’t care if he goes through a ceremony; however, we feel he should be honored for his hard work.  He will do it. He just wants to have a party in Minnesota.

All week long, he was supposed to get his clothes put away in his room.  I don’t think it has happened.  He would be content to live out of his clothes basket.

Volunteering: S volunteered 8 hours last weekend, and he will volunteer 4 hours this weekend.

S is wearing his National Park Service Volunteer hat that he received for being one of the top volunteers.

The Sophomore:  J had a busy week at school.  He has some really good teachers this year. He had a Chemistry test and a Math Analysis test. He had an AP History essay due today.  He was working on his Science Fair project using Survey Planet.  If you would like to help him, feel free to click on the link and take his quick survey.  Thanks!

This weekend he will be working on an AP History project and working on a write-up that is due for his Science Fair project. He will also be carving our pumpkins for Halloween. He always comes up with something fun to carve. Looking forward to it.

J had a bracket fall off of his tooth Wednesday afternoon.  He has to go to the Orthodontist Tuesday morning.  I called, and they said it could wait until then.

He will also be volunteering at an Open House at the stables where he volunteered this summer. It looks like the weather will be nice.   We will be heading to that right after church and Sunday school

Practice:  J practiced 14 hours this week.  He took Thursday night off to complete homework and rest (I felt like he was a little stressed when he came home from school. Everyone needs some recharge time). His rips are healing, finally.  They are starting to put their routines together gearing up for competition season.  His first meet is in 3 weeks. He’s looking forward to it. Monday night he was the only upper level boy at practice, so he had 3.5 hours of 1:1 coaching.  He was tired that night!

On the Homefront:  We had our gas logs installed in our fireplace on Monday.  S is really excited about it.  The fireplace is in our office area where he does his schoolwork.  He is looking forward to having a fire while he sits at his desk.

My husband ended up taking off Monday from work.  He was going to take time off while the workers were here.  They ended up coming late, and my husband’s shoulder was quite sore. I told him his boss would be upset with him if she knew he went into work not feeling well (He is blessed to have a wonderful boss). He is still recovering, and he still can’t drive.  Next week, he can start driving again!  Not sure who’s more excited - him or me.

My husband is the primary cook at our house (he is very good and enjoys it), so his recovery has hindered that. I have been doing a lot of slow cooker meals which actually has been nice for J. The food is ready in the slow cooker, so he can eat what we are having prior to practice. S loves it because there are always leftovers.  It makes lunch for him much easier.

I have been able to get to the gym in the morning during S’s quiet time.  It’s been nice to get back in there.

Since it hasn’t been too crazy here, I will be enjoying some quiet time on the couch with chocolate and my new book that I hope to finish this weekend since it deals with the topic I want to blog about next week. Stay tuned to see if that happens.....

Linking up with:

"S" Week: The Senior, The Sophomore, and Surgery

The Senior:  S made it back home!  His flight was scheduled to arrive Tuesday night at 10:40. Then, it said 10:24.  He actually landed at 11:06, and I finally saw him around 11:30.  We made it home a little after 1:00 AM after driving home in rain.  He slept in a little bit Wednesday morning, but school work was waiting….Senior year will wait for no one!

Since he has been home, he has worked on College Algebra, his World War II unit, Daily Grammar, practicing with Dragon Dictation to make it more effective for him, and Assignment 1 for his Human Eye course through the School for the Blind.

We have scheduled his Senior Portraits.  A friend of ours from church will be doing them.  We are very lucky to have such talented people at our church.  We are going out to another friend’s stable to have his pictures taken.  Looking forward to that.

S attended Youth Group Wednesday evening at church.  Our youth are leading our 3 church services on Sunday morning.  He also had Horseback riding this morning.  It was good for him to get back since he has missed 3 weeks.

World Sight Day was this week (October 9).  It is something we are now aware of since S now has an identified Vision Impairment.  I wrote 2 blog posts about that:  Low Vision Diagnosis and Why Wasn’t He Identified Earlier?  We took him to pick up his spare glasses and have his glasses tightened.  His prism lenses are heavier, so his glasses tend to slide down his face more often. His new lenses seem to be helping him in more ways than we had originally anticipated.  That’s always a good thing.

S also received notice this week that he has been moved out of Pediatrics to the Family Practice Clinic. We need to contact his pediatrician because he had a plan for S's medical transition, and it didn't involve receiving a postcard in the mail telling us the he had a new Primary Care Manager (PCM).

S still has a fairly long list of “to dos” on the whiteboard.  It’s just a lot of little tasks:  sending emails, balancing his checkbook, contacting his pediatrician, unpacking, etc.

Volunteering:  He isn’t volunteering this weekend.  He did send in his hours for the October schedule.  He also wrote his thank you notes for those who sponsored him in the Light the Night walk.

The Sophomore:  It’s been a busy week for J also.  He went to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Sunday night with friends from the gym.  He had a good time, but he was tired.  

He missed practice Monday night because he was scheduled to have a Spanish Quiz on Tuesday, and he didn’t feel very well prepared (this is one of his more difficult classes).  We used Quizlet to study which was very helpful.  My husband was really impressed with the different features it has available. He also had an AP History Test scheduled for Wednesday, so he studied for that Monday night also since he was home.  

He didn’t have his Spanish quiz on Tuesday.  That was changed to Thursday.  He was a little irritated since he missed practice to stay home and study. The lesson learned was:  don’t put off your studying so you have to miss practice.  

He will be taking the PSAT next week.  He has a study book that is still in the same spot that he put it when he brought it home.  He told me the other day that he should study.  I told him his school work comes first.  If he has time, he can look at the PSAT book.

Practice:  As stated above, he missed practice Monday night.  He had 14 hours of practice this week.  His coach is a great coach.  What I really like about J’s coach and his wife is their belief that school comes first!  Gymnastics is a demanding sport; however, academics are the priority.

On the Homefront:  My husband is still in recovery mode.  He had his follow up appointment on Tuesday.  His stitches were taken out.  J and I had to remove his dressing on Saturday.  I think they used 8 pounds of tape.  It was something trying to get it all off, and it is industrial strength adhesive.  He had his PT appointment on Wednesday.  He has more exercises to do every day. He understands the importance of doing them, so he will be good about it.

My husband went to work for 2 hours on Wednesday, 4 hours on Thursday, and he will put in about 6 hours today.  When he had 2 laptops, an iPad, 2 cell phones, the house phone, and headphones near his recovery chair, we decided it was time for him to go back to the office.

Of course, since my husband can’t do much around the house, we have had little projects popping up.  I have replaced the shower head in the upstairs bathroom after we had water start spraying out all over the bathroom.  I had a great instructor standing there telling me what to do.  (He actually thought he was going to get up on a little ladder and do it. Can you hear me explaining that to the doctor?)  

The engine light came on in my van Wednesday right as J and I were getting ready to leave for practice.  Quick vehicle switch, and we made it.  Our vehicle repair shop has a courtesy driver, so my husband and I figured we would utilize that service Thursday morning when we dropped the van off to have the light checked (My husband can’t drive for 2-3 weeks).  

After I picked J up from practice on Wednesday night, I called my husband quick to make sure he hadn’t taken any pain pills yet.  Here's a thought: J has his permit.  He can drive one vehicle with my husband as the responsible adult, and I can drive the van.  Easy solution!  

We were hoping the engine light was a glitch and just needed to be reset. Nope!  It was a $600 repair.  I actually thought it would be more, so…..

I have been driving a great deal since I am the only one driving right now.  My schedule is quite chaotic.  There are some other things compounding the schedule or lack thereof also.  Why not?

When I’m not driving my kids or my husband around, you know I will be on the couch with chocolate!

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