Busy Season

It's another tremendously busy week here. I am starting to think that the problem isn't my schedule, but it's me. I'm getting this way every week - feeling panicky and short of breath because I have SO much to do. But maybe it's just because it's May and things typically speed up then. I don't know. If I didn't have to sleep, then things would be so much better. Think of all that extra time I would have to get things done!

We had Ben's IEP mtg last Friday. It went well. The principal and teachers told me repeatedly what a delight Ben is. The principal said that his day just is not complete unless he's had a chance to see Ben. They also told me how bright and intelligent he is - music to my ears. A year ago at this time I didn't even care how much or if Ben got educated. I just needed him to be somewhere else. But to find out that he's learning and he's learning well - very sweet to hear. We made the right decision with him.

We decided to let Ben start riding the bus. This week he has been riding on the way to school and we'll probably have him start riding home next week. Boy, was that one tough for me! I would prefer to totally protect him and get private transportation for him. But I had a chat with the bus driver before Ben started and that definitely helped put my mind at ease. He's actually a pastor somewhere and just drives buses to supplement his income. They've put some protective measures in place for Ben and he's been excited all week long to ride! So -- it might be ok! This loosening of my grip on Ben continues to be a rather painful process...

Oh, speaking of pain...my brother-in-law (married to Paul's sister) was grinding a battery or something like that on Sun. and the grinding wheel malfunctioned, sending the wheel into his eye. He was wearing safety goggles and it just either broke through them, or pushed them up. Anyway, the wheel went into his eye and he had to have emergency surgery. They don't know yet if they'll be able to save the eye. The big concern right now is that he avoid infection because it's an open portal to the brain. To that end, they had him leave the hospital on Monday, saying he'd be less likely to get an infection at home than in the hospital. Ooh - nasty! Just makes me shiver!

Will did the sound for a wedding at church last Friday night. It ended up being quite chilly and rainy that evening. Will said that the bride and groom rode away from the church, from Indianola to Des Moines, on a motorcycle! Can you imagine doing that in the cold?!

There is another wedding at church next weekend. I've been asked to help serve at the reception in Norwalk. That kind of tickled me. The best part is that I won't have to try to feed my kids at the reception. It's always stressful whenever we do any kind of buffet, trying to get food for both Sam and Ben. Now, it will all be on Paul. I'll probably owe him, big time...

This week Sam told me that there is a snake "guarding the garage." I thought that was kind of a funny way to express that. It wasn't until later that I remembered David saying something about a garter snake out by the garage. That's what Sam was talking about, only he misunderstood and thought that the snake was a "guard" snake - ha, ha, ha!

Yesterday David had to get his picture taken for his upcoming birthday. And I had a bunch of errands to run, too. So we ended up being in town together all day long. He's really delightful company. But one of my errands was that I needed to buy some new undies for me. Well, David thought he was just going to die, having to spend time in the underwear section at Target. He cried, "I don't know where to look, Mom!" It didn't take that long to find what I needed, but by the sounds of distress David was making you would have thought I spent hours in there. Later, I told David just how much I had enjoyed spending the day with him. He replied that he had enjoyed it, too, "except for the underwear part, Mom!" Poor kid!

Last weekend our news was reporting a story that school officials in Marshalltown, which is north of here, have become discouraged by the number of tardies the students in the district are racking up. So you know what they are doing? They're sending wake-up calls to all the kids! I could NOT believe it! Is this the ultimate welfare state or what? How utterly, utterly stupid. It just goes to show you the total lack of responsibility out there - in the kids and their parents, and the lack of expectation of responsibility expected by the school officials. Give me a stinkin' break, as my husband would say.

I finally gave in and went to the chiropractor this week for my poor neck that I was complaining about in my last post. I found out that when I had sneezed, I knocked a rib out of place which put pressure on my neck. How is that even possible? It took 2 visits, but I'm finally feeling better - which is good because I was in a LOT of pain. The bad thing is that I found out that this chiropractor no longer takes our insurance of Jan. 1. Bummer! But he's so good, which is why I went to him instead my regular chiro. in Pville who does my monthly "maintenance" work.

Ok, I think I have covered it all. Maybe next week will be easier? Not counting on it. I have another city newsletter to crank out, David's birthday to shop for, VBS to plan (I am teaching the pre-primaries), Special Olympics in Ames, and an interview to conduct for my newsletter. Plus, I need to figure out our homeschooling needs for the next year since the conference is in a couple of weeks. This weekend I am hoping to get our office re-painted. Then, if it doesn't rain - and it might - we are going camping on Sat. night as a family. Paul and the older boys are headed up to Clear Lake tomorrow to attend the Father/Son retreat and then I'm supposed to meet them somewhere on Sat. Just a little bit of busyness...

It's a season -- a very long and tiring season, but temporary. I hope.