Past Due

It's an update that is way past due. Just haven't been in the mood, and nobody has picked up the slack. I've been sick this past week and even though I was home there was not an ounce of energy or inspiration required for the blog. Today I pulled myself together enough to return to work so I figured I'd go all out and try for an update too.

Taryn is working away at Subway. She is starting to get tired of the 6" subs she gets to bring home but there is always a willing family member or a lunch that it could go into the next day so we keep telling her to keep 'em coming! One day she made one for me and I gotta say, she made one heck of a great spicy Italian sub! She is not feeling well today, and I think she is coming down with a cold. She has a sore throat and runny nose so I am claiming innocence since I quarantined myself in the computer room and never saw Taryn and did not have a sore throat!

Gib is thinking he will be working at Subway soon too! He is liking that 6" sub deal and is pretty jealous when Tayrn hogs it for herself. But, for now, he is working on finishing his Personal Fitness merit badge by going to the gym 3x a week and getting used to the high school homework load. He is carrying A's & B's. Seminary is going well. He doesn't have a problem getting up early, but I am sure he would prefer not! Gib is Senior Patrol Leader for his troop again and in the next couple months will be working with the troop leader who heads up Waterworld to get the details involved in an Eagle Scout project with the Army Corps of Engineers at Centerhill Lake this fall. I think it is pretty safe to say that Gib will make Eagle before or around age 15 (next July).

Mariah is adjusting well to middle school. She is bringing home all 100's. She is in the Art Club and Chorus. Art Club meets after school on Tuesday's, and Chorus meets before school on T/W/Th's. She tried out for 1 of 10 sixth grade spots on the volleyball team but didn't make it, but figured that was okay because that meant she was able to do Art Club which she decided was more important to her because she can still do rec league volleyball too. We might take one season off to get used to the pace of all these changes of high school, middle school, and college. I know this mom could use it!

And that brings us to our college student! Indie is doing great. I knew she would hit the ground running and she has. She was well prepared to be independent and out on her own, setting priorities and making new friends. A cease-fire and truce has been declared with the roommates and from what I hear it's going pretty good in that grin-and-bear-it situation. I was right, by the way, and my child made it exactly 2 days before it all hit the fan (and deservedly so). But they have worked out their problems and are all playing nice now. Indie loves all her professors and is doing well with establishing her study time. She is reading, reading, reading! She discovered that the library is the best place to study because there the roomie's friends aren't interrupting, the comfy bed isn't calling out for a 20 minute cozy nap and the texts & rings of the cell phone aren't distracting her from her work. The cafeteria food, however, remains yucky. She eats a big breakfast and picks at lunch and dinner. Salad is about it for the edible list in the cafeteria so she is using her Bear Bucks at Chic Fil A and Subway alot. Hint: gift cards for those two establishments would bring a big smile to her face. She says she's lost alot of weight, and between the food, ALOT of walking and working out her clothes are hanging. I need to send a belt. Indie has made a ton of guy friends, spends more time in the guy dorm than her own, but she does have a girl friend who is in Service Scholars with her, whom she is very close to already. They work out and eat together when Indie isn't being one of the guys. And sometimes Lauren is being one of the guys with Indie too. We get to go down for Family Weekend on the 19th and are really looking forward to seeing her!

Mike has been sending Indie letters every week and I am both amazed and touched at the fatherly advice and content coming from the self-professed guy who "isn't good at that sort of thing". It is very sweet. I hesitate to write to Indie for fear of stealing Mike's spotlight and stopping the great show! He's doing such a fantastic job. Mike had poker night here recently and came out the big winner again. That was great!!

I guess I'll stick to the blog and try to get out of my funk - too many changes for me this summer I guess. We're coming up on a very busy week at preschool. Next week is our assessment; it hits us just 4 weeks into the school year, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because it is over with soon, and bad because in some cases, the routines and transitions aren't running like clockwork just yet. No matter which of our 3 Pre-K teachers is chosen, I will be in the mix as their T.A. It's stressful. I hate how the assessor writes everything down. If you turn left, she writes it down. If you pick up a toy, it gets written down. You're like, "should I have left that toy out? should I put it back down?! What do I do?!?!?!" It's awful. You get to where you don't even know how to wash your hands properly. And believe me, there is a right way and a wrong way to wash your hands, and to turn on and OFF (that's the clincher) the faucet!!! Holy Schmoly, that's all I gotta say. The anxiety is already building, let me tell ya. And, with me being out sick the past two days, we've lost precious time getting our last minute routines down pat, and stuff ready. Wish us luck next Thursday that one of our older Pre-K classes gets chosen - especially the teacher who wants to have her name drawn out of the hat and of course, it never happens!! If her name gets drawn I will be smiling ALL day long - no worries!