Thursday, April 15, 2010

Springbusy

Pardon my absence... all my free time lately is spent on genealogy... or on Facebook.  I noticed that I stay away from blogging when I've got a black cloud over my head for days, or weeks.  There's negative stuff I can't shake, and not blogging about it is the best way to avoid what comes naturally: me sticking my foot in my mouth.

In February, Kevin built an ice rink in the front yard.  He was totally dedicated to the rink, going out two times a day to spray it with more water...It was in perfect shape for about a week until we had a few warm days.  The kids loved it!  Taia was one of the last 5 spellers on stage in the spelling bee;. Kira did great kneel jumps during the Junior NYO competition in Anchorage; I put in a lot of work towards our Girl Scout troop's booth at the World Thinking Day event in Palmer -  I admit to retaining my micro-managing Hover Parent skills...but they're not as strong as they used to be.  Really.

The short version of March:  I started managing Taia's soccer team (biiiiiig learning curve); we watched the Iditarod Re-Start at Willow; spent Spring Break at Red Shirt Lake just like last year; I went back to part-time babysitting; the kids had dental appointments; Kevin had 5am flights all month and also flew to Anadyr, Russia; we sold Girl Scout cookies; and... the SUN came back to our part of the world.

My health is stable.  If I have lupus symptoms I don't notice them much, and I very rarely get that hint of head-pounding blood pressure inside my ears, a feeling I had every day in Laramie.  The only issue I've had recently is a fluctuating INR, the measurement of how quickly my blood clots.  I've got the home-tester so I don't have to make an appointment at the clinic anymore, but I struggle with it sometimes, not getting a big enough drop of blood from my finger before the machine times out.  Once I stuck 7 fingers and wasted 4 test strips and still didn't get a result.

Now we're prepping for the big Fifth Grade Homer Field Trip.  Every year the 5th-grade teachers and parents manage to get two groups of 10- and 11-year-olds down to Homer for a 4-day science field trip.  Kevin's schedule worked out so that he'll stay here with Kira and Remy while I chaperone.  That means I cram the mamavan full of kid gear, drive for 7 hours, and get up at 6:30 every day after sleeping on a middle school floor...!  The kids get to do tide-pool observations, take two different boat trips around the area, have cookouts and do lots of marine biology-related activities.  I actually can't wait, I know it's going to be a very memorable experience.

After that, the countdown begins to the Last Day of School and the ballet recital in Anchorage.

No comments: