TGIF

Rowr.

This has been one bizarre week, mostly because lots of Big Things have cropped up, each on their own section of the proverbial horizon, so that together they seem to have created a new landscape.  Vague enough for ya?  Sorry.

So here's as far as I'm willing or able to go with specifics:  there are some people, rather a lot as it turns out, some of them close to us (in the royal sense), who are wrastling major, heart-rending, soul-ripping, crazy-making issues.  Think for a moment, paging through your friends, family, acquaintances.  Anyone there who just seems out of sorts lately?  Probably in some very subtle, can't-put-your-finger-on-it way?  Call that person.  Email.  Stand and throw chocolates at their front door (preferably wrapped chocolates) until they come out and shriek at you that they're calling the cops.  Erm.  Until they come out and ask what's up.  And then you can take that person to lunch and offer them random but sincere words of encouragement and maybe ideas for resources until you're satisfied that your person is bolstered, somewhat, and you can go back to your regular routine of not annoying people by throwing chocolates at their front doors.  Tra la.

Seriously.

Someone you know needs a soft place to fall.  Be the feather bed.  Go hold a hand.  Move in for a hug and then give an extra squeeze.  One day, you'll be in need and unable to do so much as wave a hand as you go under, and someone will come and lob things at your front door.  Or throw you a life ring.  Whatever. 

Sorry for the mixing of the metaphors.  Q has had a rough couple of weeks, sleep-wise.  Today in the pool, I thought maybe he would take the toys and make a break for it, losing the PT in his spray.  Well, almost.  Heh.  He was pretty funny.  He worked so hard, standing up and reaching for and then grabbing and waving various toys.  Unreal.  And can I say how dearly we love the therapy people?  (I know that I just did, I'm getting punchy here, approaching downright dizzy, so just humor me...)  Q is probably the luckiest boy in the world for therapists.  Each of them is just awesome, all with different approaches, everyone funny and wicked smart, terribly resourceful.  I could go on and on.

Anyhoo.  It's been a super crazy week, evidenced by the fact that I am edging on toward vertigo.  Sheesh.  Since the boy is plumb worn out, I'm off to bed. 

Hope you're having a lovely weekend, full of restoration and peace and time with those most dear to you.  Hoping also that you do take the time to reach out and tweak someone a couple of notches toward happy.  You, all by yourself, can make a huge difference for someone who might just be flailing.

"We are all in this together..."

XO.

Shift

"So if not all Victorian women scorned sex, why do we think of them as prudish?"
 
An amazing article.  Too bad the prescriptive was confused with descriptive.  I imagine that single fact has by now had the opportunity to ruin generations worth of expectations, at least in certain venues.  How very compelling and gratifying then is this small body of research.

Hiding

Yes, I am here because I should be doing something else.  I'm taking a few minutes off from being a grown-up. I'd like to be cocooning somewhere, welcoming in fall while wrapped in a blanket in front of a fireplace and reading, or something.  Whine.

Q's had some trouble sleeping over the last couple of weeks.  I'm hoping it was the virus he seems to be over now.  I do not do middle of the night on call mommy like I once did.  I may be slightly past my peak in that regard.  Whine.

Perhaps what I really need to do is three good things.  Yes.  If I were a grown-up, which I will not be for another three minutes, that is what I would do.  (She sits, still, waiting for the time to elapse...)

Okay. 

First, some amazing contacts have been made lately.  County and state developmental disability people are just incredible.  Good things are afoot and miracles abound. 

Second, school is going pretty well for all concerned.  Some of us have some speed to pick up, some of us have some organizing to do (spreadsheets are a girl's best friend), but overall, wow.  Q loves Preschool.  S loves her new math book.  K loves the opportunity to be silly with her English.  E loves thinking about never having to do schoolwork ever again.  And G loves that one day he won't have to discuss Latin or Algebra or writing with me ever again.  And I'm a little bit floored at how quickly those days are approaching.  Yikes!

Third, time with the kids.  We've been running together, averaging three times a week, using the Couch to 5K layout.  The app for the iTouch is pretty cool - K and I have made playlists for the runs and the C25K app shuffles the songs for us and then rings bells at us and hollers "WALK" or "RUN" when it's time to switch out the interval.  It is an experience that sort of knocks me over, running with them.  We start out all together, so we can hear the music in the cheap little clip-on speakers that hang from the back of Q's chair.  We can't make it too very loud, or Q will go deaf and people who pass by us will get snippy, but too soft and no one can hear the bells and voice or the music, both of which we've all decided we have to have or we just won't make it.  As we warm up and then run, we spread out a bit.  G's legs are so incredibly long, he can outlope us all and make us look just silly.  S's legs are so short, comparatively, but she runs hard and often passes some or all of the rest of us.  And whomever is pushing Q has harder work to do - usually me - and mostly ends up in the middle, trying not to lose sight of anyone.  We begin in a clump, cheery and full of extra wind, so that anyone more than a few steps away will be brightly hollered at when it's time to run:  "We're running!"  By the second round it's, "Running,"  and by the third a flat, "Run."  This cracks me up every single time, though I'm not laughing because I'm too busy gasping, "Cool down!"  So when we're out there, and I'm watching them moseying around a track or down a trail, I think about how blessed I am to be there with them, watching them do this cool thing, and participating in their growing up.  It's so big that it's almost too much, like accidentally getting an eyeful of the sun itself.  It makes the runs feel short indeed.

I'm heading to bed because I can.  :o)  Hope you're getting good rest and plenty of renewal.

P.S. We helped some friends last week who had flooding in their house.  I still don't have words to express how horrifying it is to see a home so terribly disrupted.  And I cannot imagine having to be the people in charge of whipping various subcontractors and insurance issues into shape so they will all produce what has to be a livable space once again.  It's heartrending and completely overwhelming. They could use your prayers, and probably some dinner if you're in the area.

Reward

I'm rewarding myself with a moment here, because I've all but finished certain portions of curriculum planning and wrangling for the school year.  First Year Henle is no longer scaring the bejeebers out of me, but I'm still expecting to be visited by spectors in the night:  The Ghost of Latin Past.  And of present subjunctive active.  And then of perfect and future infinitives active.

We began today and I'm just rounding out the rest.  This week is our "find your neck braces kids, and let's get ready to roll at full speed" week.  So the kids are immersed in workbooks and reading times and refreshing their wee (or not wee) heads on math concepts - how do math concepts just escape like that?  And I have one who is now a talker, who wasn't so much this way last year, and her sibs are not inclined to tolerate her happily in this regard.  We'll be working on that.

So I'll be writing actual lesson plans over the next few days, filling up our binders with spreadsheets and other bits and pieces that need to be adjusted, and cracking open a lovely box of new pencils.  Good times.  There are a handful of books to order yet, a couple from the UK, some from Amazon, and a few from more obscure (educational) publishers.

Earlier this evening (or yesterday) we attended the last concert in the park for the summer - a group of five young men who play all manner of stringed things, including fiddle, and are/were homeschooled.  The sense of humor and stage presence was neat - they were very comfortable up there, in contrast to some of the other acts we watched in other weeks.  Really talented guys, and we especially enjoyed the oldest's favorite hymn (Come Thou, Font of Every Blessing) and the youngest's take on James Brown's "I Feel Good."  So we're carrying that with us as we go forward to our own fun evening tomorrow, when we head out to a local assisted living facility to play our little hearts out for the residents there.

Happy almost fall, peeps!  In honor of the time of year, crack open a book you've been hoping to read.  You know you want to.  XO.