Busy Days

We had a nice time at my high school reunion, even though Paul was practically comatose after his 90+ hour workweek. I just sat him down at a table and fed him tea all evening. I think about a dozen (out of a class of twenty-two) came. We also had some that had not actually graduated with us, but had been long-time members of our class attend. I really appreciated that. And I was so pleased that my first grade and one of my junior high teachers came! I pulled Miss Butterfield, my jr. high teacher, aside and reminded her how she used to tell me "If you're head wasn't screwed to your neck, it'd fall off!" I told her that one of my boys has a similar personality at times and I find myself telling him the same thing! When I was chatting with those teachers, they asked if I homeschool. Why? Do I have the "homeschooling" look? I avoid denim jumpers and my hair is short, but maybe I exude a homeschool "aura". The highlight of the evening was a video presentation one of the spouses put together. Everyone, even those that couldn't attend, had contributed pictures, so the whole video was a look back at our school years, complete with music of that year and reminders of popular culture of that time. I ordered a copy of it because I think the boys will get a kick out of seeing what things were like when Mom was a kid (centuries ago, of course!).

And then the next day we met for a picnic with our families. It's always fun to see each others' kids and to try and see how much they look like I remember their mom or dad looking like in school! Paul wasn't feeling well at that. He had a nasty seizure early that morning and really clawed up his eye, probably scratching his cornea again. So he was hurting. It was really hot and humid, too, which could inspire another post, about why I do not enjoy outdoor entertainment!

All in all, a good time, though. I liked my class, I liked most of high school, and I like getting together every 5 years with them. I just wish I wasn't so tongue-tied in public situations.

It took us about 4 hours to make a 2 hour trip home, though. Matt and Kirsti had been up at Mom and Dad's, too, over the weekend, leaving about 1/2 hour before we did on Sat. We were not quite an hour into our trip and Matt called, concerned that he had left his unemployment papers at Mom and Dad's. So, being the good sister I am, I had Paul turn around and we met Mom and Dad halfway back and they handed off his papers. Then, we met Matt and Kirsti in Ames at a gas station (the irony becomes apparent in a moment) and handed them over. I joked with Matt it seemed like a clandestine, spy operation, handing papers through car windows, as we were! So we got back on the road and all of a sudden we ran out of gas! I was trying to bite my tongue, but I just couldn't. I have never once in my entire life run out of gas because I actually watch the gas gauge as I drive. Apparently, Paul does not. So, we called Matt who was home or close to it by that point. He brought us some gas. Dumb, dumb, dumb!

Sunday we went to church and then afterwards we changed and hit the road going West to Council Bluffs. Well, first I had to go to Walmart. It seems that one of Ben's sandals had jumped out of the bag prior to making it into our van and he was going to be hopping around like Captain Hook after an encounter with a beaver, if I didn't buy him some new shoes. So we did that and got out to Council Bluffs mid afternoon. We stopped by the annual Heywood picnic which was going on then and saw a few people - not that I really know anyone except Paul's family. His dad is one of 16 children and they all have multiple descendants and then when you factor in the plenteous divorces and remarriages and stepchildren - it's a lot of people. We then went out to Paul's sister's and he fixed her central air. This was the whole point to us going. He had promised to fix her AC a long time ago and with schedules and distance, had not been able to make it happen. He didn't want to miss work to do it, so we just made it happen this weekend. It's not like we had anything else going on this weekend!

We stopped by Paul's grandma and played a game of Aggravation with her. I don't know if Paul realized it or not - I should mention this to him - but this was the first time ever that Ben has played a game with us all the way through. He was able to grasp the marbles and his attention was there and he quickly caught onto the game - I loved it!

We did find out this weekend that we are going to be "greats" again, as in Great-Uncle and Aunt. There's a baby on the way due in October. It's not a good situation and it's one that fills me with a great deal of sadness, making it hard to rejoice in the anticipation of new life. Since this is the boys' cousin, close in age to Will, we felt the need to talk with Will about the situation. We didn't want it to be a "Look what your cousin did!" kind of scenario, but rather, an opportunity to discuss why this happened, how it could have been avoided - things like that. I think it went well. Will isn't exactly a verbose person, but he willingly participated in the conversation. I told Paul that if nothing else, this serves as a strong reminder to me of the need to be purposeful in our parenting.

And that's my weekend report! Yesterday I spent housecleaning, and then shopping, and then getting home in time to meet with the realtor (who thinks we ought to hang onto our house until next spring, at least). Today I have been cooking and doing more cleaning because I am having company Thursday and it's possible I may be having other company both Friday and Saturday. Gotta keep those toilets clean! Now I am leaving to take Ben to Social Skills and then I have at least three places to go afterwards.

Funnies from the Middles: Last week Ben said to me, "Mom, I sure hope I have kids someday." I said, "Oh, why's that?" He replied, "Because when they're bad, I'm going to be a whole lot nicer than you are!" And then Sunday night the boys were wanting to know about which sins God really hates. So I directed them to the Proverbs passage that mentions things about "a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, etc" and the boys wanted to know what "gossip" is. I explained and then David started coming up with examples. He said, "Oh, it would be like if someone said 'That Sarah Heywood sure can't take of her kids!' And then he said, "Or, if someone said, 'Boy, that Sarah Heywood just has too much to do and she can't take care of her boys very well!" The kid came up with about five potential scenarios, all ending with "Sarah Heywood doesn't take care of her kids." I finally had to ask, "David, are you trying to tell me something?!" Give me a break!