I get very frustrated sometimes looking at Facebook.
"Social Media Depression" I think is what they're calling it.
As I scroll down my feed, I am bombarded with post after post about everybody else's WONDERFUL child. This young man has received X, Y, and Z awards. This young lady has pulled a 4.0 and received a scholarship to the university of her choice. These young men and women are all going off to serve missions for their church after graduating from seminary.
Moms (and even some Dads) love to brag up their children on Facebook. I admit, I like to, too.
And I'm happy for all of them and their achievements.
But mostly I'm frustrated and jealous.
Not all of us have 4.0 students.
Not all of us have children who have won awards.
Not all of us have children who are interested in religious studies or service.
In fact, some of us are simply celebrating the fact that our children have barely met the mark for graduation, despite all they have done to undermine themselves along the way. Some of us have smart kids who submarined themselves and underachieved rather spectacularly.
And, yes, I am very proud of my child!
I am proud that he met the mark and is completing this milestone in life. I am proud of his determination to serve his country and join the Army. I believe in his intelligence and his ability to attend college when he is ready.
But I get dragged down by green meanies when I see all the brag-fests on Facebook.
And then I saw it.
A post on the memorial page of my son's school friend who took his own life last year. A post from his parents wishing all the graduates well. A post filled with the pain of loss made fresh with every milestone their son should have been experiencing.
And I am so moved to tears that I have no words to express my feelings.
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Prom 2014
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Will told me over and over again for MONTHS that he wasn't interested in Prom. I stopped bringing it up because he would just roll his eyes and walk away.
So, imagine my surprise when I received this text conversation from him last Wednesday;
Will: Hey I'm going to Prom :P
Me: WHAT?! Cool! With whom? Also, home soon?
Will: I'm getting fitted for a suit.
Me: Holy crapinoly! Awesome, love you!
Keep in mind, Prom was in THREE DAYS.
It turns out that he and Brenna were talking (for those of you not in the know, Brenna was Will's girlfriend last summer, but they broke up last fall), and they both discovered that neither of them was going to prom. So, they decided to go together. They doubled with Brenna's friend and her date.
Will was bemused at how much we reacted to the news. But, really. After months and months of saying "No", this sudden whirlwind of three days of Prom prep was pretty amazing! He took care of all of the arrangements himself, and paid for all of it himself. He rented the tux, picked it up, and presumably returned it today. He got her corsage and the prom tickets.
I have to say, he looked AMAZING in his tux! The short jacket with long tails look great on his trim figure. It was also a perfect match to Brenna's dress. They looked very happy and seemed to have a great time. It would now appear that Will and Brenna are back together.
I'm very happy, too. I wanted him to go to prom so much! It is an event that only happens at this point in life, and it would be a shame to miss out on the experience. Maybe I am projecting my own youth, since I was never asked to prom, or any other school dance, for that matter. I always wanted to go, but never got the chance. It was hard for me to have my son say he didn't want to go. However, I reconciled the fact that it was his choice. It's not like he wanted to and never had the opportunity.
Still, I'm very happy they had a good time! Now, just 5 more weeks until graduation, and only 9 weeks until he ships out for Basic Training! Ahhhh!
The Food Bank
Will is taking psychology this semester. The teacher set a term project for the students to do 5 hours of community service. Only two hours have to be physically at some location. The rest can be accomplished through writing letters to senators, showing her a voter registration card (if the student is over 18) and other such things. Will really hates writing stuff, however, and he's only 17, so he decided to do all 5 hours in physical service. We signed up to volunteer at the Food Bank.
Yes, we. It's not very fun to volunteer alone, and I wanted to volunteer, too.
I've never been to the Food Bank before. I've donated canned goods often enough. Every Scouting food drive, mail carrier food drive, school food drive, and any other food drive that comes our way, we usually pull some cans out of the pantry and send them on their way. For the first time, on New Year's Eve, I saw where they all go.
It is a run down building near the end of the FrontRunner line. Down by the train tracks, in other words. In a dodgy part of Provo. It's a warehouse in severe need of fumigating. I spent most of my time stocking shelves in the "pantry"/store where people in need are sent through with helpers to insure they only take what they need. They have to have visited a case worker, first, then they are sent through with a pallet cart and specific instructions to take X # of cans of soup, Y # of cans of vegetables, and Z # of cans of fruit, and so on. The numbers were based on the number of people living in the family. My job was to keep the shelves stocked so people could make their selections.
The canned foods had been sorted into bins in the back of the warehouse. Many/most of the cans were dented in some way. You know how you always leave the dented cans on the grocery store shelves when you are shopping? Most of those cans end up at the food bank. Some of them burst and spill their contents all over everything else in the bin. Yuck. That leads to the problem with mice.
The shelves I was stocking had mouse dropping on them! Ugh!!! I wanted to bleach wash them SO BADLY! These poor people! I desperately hope they sanitize the cans BEFORE opening them! Who knows what kinds of viruses are being passed to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Honestly, I'm not blaming the people who run the Food Bank. They are understaffed and underfunded. They are at the mercy of volunteers and there are never enough. I want to go back so badly and bring a bunch a bleach wipes with me...
...but I dread going back because I had the worst allergic reaction I've had in years! My eyes burned and were all swollen and puffy by the end of the day. I also came home with several flea bites.
The people we helped were a mixed bunch. Some were elderly and mentally struggling. Some were new to the system and seemed almost apologetic. There were several who didn't speak English. Those who spoke Spanish could get a translator, but there were a couple of people who looked Asian, and no one could really help translate for them. We didn't know if they spoke Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese. Lots of pointing and holding up fingers to indicate numbers, mostly got them through the store.
I remember one young woman. She was VERY pregnant. When she got to the soup shelves, she noticed there were no Spaghetios. She asked me if there were any in the back. I told her 'I'm sorry' and that there had been no Spaghetios all day. She frowned and pouted that she just would have to skip the soup shelves, then, since her kids wouldn't eat anything else in that section.
?!?
Oh. My. Gosh. If I had to rely on the Food Bank to feed my children I would make sure to take EVERY BIT OF FOOD I was allowed and my kids would EAT IT! You don't like chicken noodle soup, kidlets? Tough cookies! Eat and be glad you have food! Oi.
Some of the things I put on the shelves disappeared instantly because they were so rare. Like Miracle Whip, mustard, or chocolate syrup. Other things are just staples and whole shelves had to be restocked several times over the course of the day, like green beans. Peanut butter was another fast moving food item.
Will helped with stocking the dry goods. Stores donate day old bread to the food bank, and that is sent on to families as quickly as possible.
The guy in charge told me that just before Christmas, an anonymous family donated a thousand stuffed stockings to the Food Bank to hand out to families with children.
I was so glad to have the opportunity to serve and I am shamed that it took my son's school assignment for me to do so. We spent two hours, went to lunch, then spent three hours more. The time went by really quickly and when I got home I was BUSHED! (and grossed out, and allergically puffy...)
I need to go again.
With bleach.
Yes, we. It's not very fun to volunteer alone, and I wanted to volunteer, too.
I've never been to the Food Bank before. I've donated canned goods often enough. Every Scouting food drive, mail carrier food drive, school food drive, and any other food drive that comes our way, we usually pull some cans out of the pantry and send them on their way. For the first time, on New Year's Eve, I saw where they all go.
It is a run down building near the end of the FrontRunner line. Down by the train tracks, in other words. In a dodgy part of Provo. It's a warehouse in severe need of fumigating. I spent most of my time stocking shelves in the "pantry"/store where people in need are sent through with helpers to insure they only take what they need. They have to have visited a case worker, first, then they are sent through with a pallet cart and specific instructions to take X # of cans of soup, Y # of cans of vegetables, and Z # of cans of fruit, and so on. The numbers were based on the number of people living in the family. My job was to keep the shelves stocked so people could make their selections.
The canned foods had been sorted into bins in the back of the warehouse. Many/most of the cans were dented in some way. You know how you always leave the dented cans on the grocery store shelves when you are shopping? Most of those cans end up at the food bank. Some of them burst and spill their contents all over everything else in the bin. Yuck. That leads to the problem with mice.
The shelves I was stocking had mouse dropping on them! Ugh!!! I wanted to bleach wash them SO BADLY! These poor people! I desperately hope they sanitize the cans BEFORE opening them! Who knows what kinds of viruses are being passed to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Honestly, I'm not blaming the people who run the Food Bank. They are understaffed and underfunded. They are at the mercy of volunteers and there are never enough. I want to go back so badly and bring a bunch a bleach wipes with me...
...but I dread going back because I had the worst allergic reaction I've had in years! My eyes burned and were all swollen and puffy by the end of the day. I also came home with several flea bites.
The people we helped were a mixed bunch. Some were elderly and mentally struggling. Some were new to the system and seemed almost apologetic. There were several who didn't speak English. Those who spoke Spanish could get a translator, but there were a couple of people who looked Asian, and no one could really help translate for them. We didn't know if they spoke Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese. Lots of pointing and holding up fingers to indicate numbers, mostly got them through the store.
I remember one young woman. She was VERY pregnant. When she got to the soup shelves, she noticed there were no Spaghetios. She asked me if there were any in the back. I told her 'I'm sorry' and that there had been no Spaghetios all day. She frowned and pouted that she just would have to skip the soup shelves, then, since her kids wouldn't eat anything else in that section.
?!?
Oh. My. Gosh. If I had to rely on the Food Bank to feed my children I would make sure to take EVERY BIT OF FOOD I was allowed and my kids would EAT IT! You don't like chicken noodle soup, kidlets? Tough cookies! Eat and be glad you have food! Oi.
Some of the things I put on the shelves disappeared instantly because they were so rare. Like Miracle Whip, mustard, or chocolate syrup. Other things are just staples and whole shelves had to be restocked several times over the course of the day, like green beans. Peanut butter was another fast moving food item.
Will helped with stocking the dry goods. Stores donate day old bread to the food bank, and that is sent on to families as quickly as possible.
The guy in charge told me that just before Christmas, an anonymous family donated a thousand stuffed stockings to the Food Bank to hand out to families with children.
I was so glad to have the opportunity to serve and I am shamed that it took my son's school assignment for me to do so. We spent two hours, went to lunch, then spent three hours more. The time went by really quickly and when I got home I was BUSHED! (and grossed out, and allergically puffy...)
I need to go again.
With bleach.
High School and Army Reserves
My youngest is going to be a senior in high school this fall.
Yikes! How'd I get so old?
Originally, we signed him up for only morning classes at the high school, because he planned to take a computer tech class at the local applied technology college (they work in tandem with the high school offering career building skills, free tuition, and high school/college credit) that would fill his afternoons all year long. However, Will decided he would rather take an EMT course than the computer course. The EMT course is only one semester long, so he ended up with holes in his schedule for fall semester. I figured we'd get that fixed sometime this summer.
Will is joining the Army Reserves! Holy cow. I know I've talked about it before, but it just seems so much more real now that the gears are in motion. He took the real ASVAB on Monday (not the student version that is given at the local high schools), then he and I met with his recruiters that afternoon to go over his scores and choose a job specialty to be trained in (an MOS in Army acronyms). Will's ASVAB scores were quite high, opening the doors to any job the Army has to offer enlisted guys. The only limitations would be on what jobs are currently available for his projected ship out date.
The job he chose is Chemical Operations Specialist. In other words, he will be trained in maintaining and operating chemical decontamination gear used in chemical warfare, weapons of mass destruction, and/or accidental toxic spills. The job comes with a $10,000 bonus just for being willing to train for it.
So, now back to Will's high school schedule. One of the recruiters called the school to make sure he is on track to graduate next May as part of processing the paperwork for Will to swear in next Monday. There was no one at the high school, so he called the district office. When they looked up Will's schedule they told him "no". Great.
So, this morning was a mad scramble to fix it up and get all of Will's ducks in a row so there would be no problem with his enlistment. At this point I have to give a great big shout out to Mr. Bayles, the HS counselor, who called me and fixed Will's schedule while on vacation at his in-law's place!
Now Will has a full schedule including some weight lifting, PE, psychology, and digital photography added in with his regular math, English, and whatnot. And the EMT class to look forward to in the Spring!
So. All the ducks are in a row.
Will reports in to the recruiters on Sunday evening. They will take him up to a hotel by the base in SLC overnight, then he will spend Monday being poked and prodded by Army doctors during his military physical. Monday afternoon, he will swear in as a member of the Army Reserves.
!!!!!
To those of you who might think it is a shame he isn't going to college...
He is going to college. That is why he is doing Army Reserves instead of regular Army. The recruiters emphasized that we will get his college admissions and registration all squared away BEFORE his ship out date (June 30, 2014) so that as soon as he returns from Basic Training and Job Training (AIT... the Army and their acronyms!), he can start school without any difficulties. The Army's tuition assistance and GI Bills are going to be paying for it. He currently plans to get a bachelors of Aviation Science and become a pilot. He will serve as an enlisted soldier while working on his college degree and possibly even join ROTC while in college and become an officer.
I am so proud of you, Will!!!
Yikes! How'd I get so old?
Originally, we signed him up for only morning classes at the high school, because he planned to take a computer tech class at the local applied technology college (they work in tandem with the high school offering career building skills, free tuition, and high school/college credit) that would fill his afternoons all year long. However, Will decided he would rather take an EMT course than the computer course. The EMT course is only one semester long, so he ended up with holes in his schedule for fall semester. I figured we'd get that fixed sometime this summer.
Will is joining the Army Reserves! Holy cow. I know I've talked about it before, but it just seems so much more real now that the gears are in motion. He took the real ASVAB on Monday (not the student version that is given at the local high schools), then he and I met with his recruiters that afternoon to go over his scores and choose a job specialty to be trained in (an MOS in Army acronyms). Will's ASVAB scores were quite high, opening the doors to any job the Army has to offer enlisted guys. The only limitations would be on what jobs are currently available for his projected ship out date.
The job he chose is Chemical Operations Specialist. In other words, he will be trained in maintaining and operating chemical decontamination gear used in chemical warfare, weapons of mass destruction, and/or accidental toxic spills. The job comes with a $10,000 bonus just for being willing to train for it.
So, now back to Will's high school schedule. One of the recruiters called the school to make sure he is on track to graduate next May as part of processing the paperwork for Will to swear in next Monday. There was no one at the high school, so he called the district office. When they looked up Will's schedule they told him "no". Great.
So, this morning was a mad scramble to fix it up and get all of Will's ducks in a row so there would be no problem with his enlistment. At this point I have to give a great big shout out to Mr. Bayles, the HS counselor, who called me and fixed Will's schedule while on vacation at his in-law's place!
Now Will has a full schedule including some weight lifting, PE, psychology, and digital photography added in with his regular math, English, and whatnot. And the EMT class to look forward to in the Spring!
So. All the ducks are in a row.
Will reports in to the recruiters on Sunday evening. They will take him up to a hotel by the base in SLC overnight, then he will spend Monday being poked and prodded by Army doctors during his military physical. Monday afternoon, he will swear in as a member of the Army Reserves.
!!!!!
To those of you who might think it is a shame he isn't going to college...
He is going to college. That is why he is doing Army Reserves instead of regular Army. The recruiters emphasized that we will get his college admissions and registration all squared away BEFORE his ship out date (June 30, 2014) so that as soon as he returns from Basic Training and Job Training (AIT... the Army and their acronyms!), he can start school without any difficulties. The Army's tuition assistance and GI Bills are going to be paying for it. He currently plans to get a bachelors of Aviation Science and become a pilot. He will serve as an enlisted soldier while working on his college degree and possibly even join ROTC while in college and become an officer.
I am so proud of you, Will!!!
27
That is Will's score on his first try at the ACT.
I think it is pretty fantastic! He out-scored both his Dad and his sister, and this was just his first try, going in cold turkey. Most kids naturally improve their score by about 2-3 points on their second try just by being more familiar with the testing procedure. He probably beat me, too, but since I never took the ACT, I guess we'll never know.
That's right. I never took the ACT.
I took the SAT. I'm sure the scores are floating around the scrapbook pile somewhere.
Will plans to take the ACT again in the fall and hopes to get a 30.
It is gratifying to see test scores that verify what I've known all along...
Will is one smart kid! He has the high intelligence and IQ that will allow him to be whatever he choses to become in life. Not everyone is so blessed.
He actually does not do well in school. His grades are average, or even below average. There will be no scholarships waiting for him upon graduation. He simply does poorly in a traditional academic setting. It doesn't have to be that way. He could succeed if he put his mind to it and decided it was something he wants. That is frustrating to me. He has no desire for academic achievement. He puts up with school for my sake. I want him to go to college, but I have a hard time visualizing him as successful in traditional college classes based on his high school performance. Still, I hope he does go, and I know he can be successful at it... if he has the right frame of mind about it.
Last year his math teacher tried to limit our registration choice to College Prep Math (instead of Pre-Calculus) due to his grades. I had to go in and see the counselor about it. His counselor took one look at his test scores (not the ACT, but the state core tests) and agreed with me... that Will needed to be in Pre-Calculus. The counselor was able to bypass the math teacher's meddling and unlock the registration for us. Will's grades in Pre-Calculus are not great, but he definitely has learned a lot in that class this year.
So have I. I have done all of Will's homework side by side with him this year. You see, I never took Pre-Calculus, or Calculus. I got sidetracked into a College Prep style math course in high school, myself. In fact, while in college, I took TWO YEARS of college French in order to avoid one class of advanced mathematics. Stupid, huh? There I was, conjugating verbs, reading French literature, and writing essays in French (oh, the agony) for two freaking years just to avoid learning one semester of what turns out to be really awesome math stuff! Yeah, I'm a special kind of stupid.
Anyways, this turned into quite a ramble of a post. I'm proud of you, Will. You are one smart cookie!
I think it is pretty fantastic! He out-scored both his Dad and his sister, and this was just his first try, going in cold turkey. Most kids naturally improve their score by about 2-3 points on their second try just by being more familiar with the testing procedure. He probably beat me, too, but since I never took the ACT, I guess we'll never know.
That's right. I never took the ACT.
I took the SAT. I'm sure the scores are floating around the scrapbook pile somewhere.
Will plans to take the ACT again in the fall and hopes to get a 30.
It is gratifying to see test scores that verify what I've known all along...
Will is one smart kid! He has the high intelligence and IQ that will allow him to be whatever he choses to become in life. Not everyone is so blessed.
He actually does not do well in school. His grades are average, or even below average. There will be no scholarships waiting for him upon graduation. He simply does poorly in a traditional academic setting. It doesn't have to be that way. He could succeed if he put his mind to it and decided it was something he wants. That is frustrating to me. He has no desire for academic achievement. He puts up with school for my sake. I want him to go to college, but I have a hard time visualizing him as successful in traditional college classes based on his high school performance. Still, I hope he does go, and I know he can be successful at it... if he has the right frame of mind about it.
Last year his math teacher tried to limit our registration choice to College Prep Math (instead of Pre-Calculus) due to his grades. I had to go in and see the counselor about it. His counselor took one look at his test scores (not the ACT, but the state core tests) and agreed with me... that Will needed to be in Pre-Calculus. The counselor was able to bypass the math teacher's meddling and unlock the registration for us. Will's grades in Pre-Calculus are not great, but he definitely has learned a lot in that class this year.
So have I. I have done all of Will's homework side by side with him this year. You see, I never took Pre-Calculus, or Calculus. I got sidetracked into a College Prep style math course in high school, myself. In fact, while in college, I took TWO YEARS of college French in order to avoid one class of advanced mathematics. Stupid, huh? There I was, conjugating verbs, reading French literature, and writing essays in French (oh, the agony) for two freaking years just to avoid learning one semester of what turns out to be really awesome math stuff! Yeah, I'm a special kind of stupid.
Anyways, this turned into quite a ramble of a post. I'm proud of you, Will. You are one smart cookie!
Too Much to Write About...
OK. So I know I have neglected this thing something fierce. I apologize. There is lots to tell you, and I'm not going to be able to do everything justice in one post. I think that's part of the problem. If I don't get things recorded right away, they start stockpiling in my mind and it gets overwhelming thinking of all the things I need to write about. I really haven't forgotten about writing, you see. I am constantly composing posts in my head. Unfortunately, most of those posts never happen because I am not in a position to actually write them in the moment. So what you read on the blog is only a fraction of what gets composed in my head. Then, if it piles up in my head, you don't get to read any of it because I get shut down by thinking of how much catching up I have to do. And, the "catch up" posts are never as vivid and detail rich as the original composition in my head. So, again, sorry about that!
What have you missed?
Each one of these things deserves its own post. I will try to work my way through them tomorrow. That should be a good Sunday activity, right?
What have you missed?
- Bill and I traveled to Oahu for a week to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Lots of stories to tell you. Awesome pictures will be posted to Facebook at some point... probably.
- As soon as we got back, Helena moved out and is now living with her best friend in a basement apartment two towns over. I am super sad she is no longer my little girl and I miss her something fierce!
- On the same weekend Helena moved out, one of Will's classmates (and friend) committed suicide. I did not know the boy, but man! It made me so sad for his family and worried about my own son and his mental health. I am exhausted from the roller coaster of emotions between joy on my anniversary trip, and grief the following week for the senseless loss of this young man.
- Will took the ACT for the first time back in March and got a FANTASTIC score! We're super proud of his brains.
- We refinanced the house to a 10 year term with a rockstar interest rate. It will save us tens of thousands of dollars without changing our monthly payment! Yeah, baby!
- I am still training for the marathon, though it is painful and difficult. Today's run was 16.5 miles. I doubt I will ever do another marathon after crossing this one off my bucket list. I am even considering removing the full Ironman from the bucket list simply because 26.2 miles of running is super hard on my knees.
- Will is off on another National Guard drill weekend. He still plans to enlist on his 17th birthday. I can feel how very little time I have left with him before he, too, moves out. With Helena and Will both gone, the house feels WAY too quiet and empty. I find myself wandering into their rooms and just standing there, feeling sad.
Each one of these things deserves its own post. I will try to work my way through them tomorrow. That should be a good Sunday activity, right?
Trust Issues
Will and I went to Parent/Teacher conferences at the high school this afternoon. Not much to report there. We got in and out and on our way in just a little over an hour. I was starving, so I decided we needed a Wendy's pit stop. On our way there, Will made a comment that was the genesis of this post.
"I don't really like driving." he said.
He went on to explain that he thought driving was a pretty poorly laid out means of transportation, with a high level of risk and too many opportunities for a bad ending. The fact is that two massive metal contraptions pass within feet of one another at high rates of speed, filled with strangers who are trusting one another to not zig when they are supposed to zag.
I completely understand where my son is coming from on this, because I have always felt the same way. I had a really hard time coming to terms with driving when I was a teen. In fact, I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18 years old for that very reason. I really didn't like driving. I wasn't a bad driver (neither is Will), I just didn't like it.
After Will said that this afternoon, I remembered a Top Gear episode Helena was watching the other day. One of the show's hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, had an opportunity to drive a specific car on a specific race track that he had already "driven" in a popular video game. He was trying to see if he could drive it just as fast in real life as he had in the game. He couldn't. His analysis of why he was unable to recreate the same track times caught my attention. He said that while he was racing around the track, his mind would suddenly think, 'what if a tire blew right .... now?' or 'what if I lost traction going around this curve?' Essentially, the whole time he was racing the car in real life, his mind was supplying him with every worst case scenario it could come up with, causing him to drive more conservatively than he had in the video game, where his brain KNEW there were no life-or-death consequences to his actions. His conclusion was that race car drivers must not have much of an imagination, or a means of shutting it off.
That's Will's and my problem. Too much imagination. Both of our brains are supplying us with an instantaneous barrage of worst case scenarios every time another car passes us while driving. It is also why I am such an absolutely ROTTEN passenger. At least when I am driving, I do have control over one aspect of the whole dodgy experience. When a passenger... I have absolutely NO CONTROL of any of the variables! My mind goes into overdrive supplying me with all sorts of not so calming assessments of what might go wrong at any given moment. Sometimes, truthfully, I just have to shut my eyes in order to remain calm while sitting in the passenger seat.
I really don't mind driving so much anymore. I was able to reassure Will that it gets better with time and experience. You learn to deaden your imagination a bit and trust the strangers around you ... sort of.
OK. Maybe not the trusting strangers part. I still expect anyone and everyone around me to pull a stupid stunt with their vehicle...
"I don't really like driving." he said.
He went on to explain that he thought driving was a pretty poorly laid out means of transportation, with a high level of risk and too many opportunities for a bad ending. The fact is that two massive metal contraptions pass within feet of one another at high rates of speed, filled with strangers who are trusting one another to not zig when they are supposed to zag.
I completely understand where my son is coming from on this, because I have always felt the same way. I had a really hard time coming to terms with driving when I was a teen. In fact, I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18 years old for that very reason. I really didn't like driving. I wasn't a bad driver (neither is Will), I just didn't like it.
After Will said that this afternoon, I remembered a Top Gear episode Helena was watching the other day. One of the show's hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, had an opportunity to drive a specific car on a specific race track that he had already "driven" in a popular video game. He was trying to see if he could drive it just as fast in real life as he had in the game. He couldn't. His analysis of why he was unable to recreate the same track times caught my attention. He said that while he was racing around the track, his mind would suddenly think, 'what if a tire blew right .... now?' or 'what if I lost traction going around this curve?' Essentially, the whole time he was racing the car in real life, his mind was supplying him with every worst case scenario it could come up with, causing him to drive more conservatively than he had in the video game, where his brain KNEW there were no life-or-death consequences to his actions. His conclusion was that race car drivers must not have much of an imagination, or a means of shutting it off.
That's Will's and my problem. Too much imagination. Both of our brains are supplying us with an instantaneous barrage of worst case scenarios every time another car passes us while driving. It is also why I am such an absolutely ROTTEN passenger. At least when I am driving, I do have control over one aspect of the whole dodgy experience. When a passenger... I have absolutely NO CONTROL of any of the variables! My mind goes into overdrive supplying me with all sorts of not so calming assessments of what might go wrong at any given moment. Sometimes, truthfully, I just have to shut my eyes in order to remain calm while sitting in the passenger seat.
I really don't mind driving so much anymore. I was able to reassure Will that it gets better with time and experience. You learn to deaden your imagination a bit and trust the strangers around you ... sort of.
OK. Maybe not the trusting strangers part. I still expect anyone and everyone around me to pull a stupid stunt with their vehicle...
Senior Registration - Part 2
Wednesday's registration went off without a single hiccup! HOORAY!
I admit, I borrow trouble on a regular basis. On Wednesday afternoon, I hurriedly shut down my classroom early in order to make sure I made it home in plenty of time to sign into class registration at exactly 3:00. I worried that I'd be stuck in traffic, or that I'd get pulled over and ticketed (so I did NOT speed), or that some less than brilliant individual would unexpectedly pull their minivan in front of me, causing a crash (like that would ever happen...)
Thankfully, none of the above occurred and I arrived at home with almost 30 minutes to spare.
Why exactly 3:00, you ask? Because that was the moment the registration portal opened... and classes fill up on a first come, first served basis. If you aren't quick enough, the carefully designed schedule you and your child spent several days constructing could go up in smoke. That happened to us one year. I had troubles with signing in that put me 5 minutes behind the curve. Only 5 minutes. We were left scrambling to try and construct an acceptable schedule on the fly as classes literally got pulled out from under us right and left. What a nightmare!
But not this time! I was in and out and on my way in five minutes! Of course, I only had to build half of a schedule. Here it is...
A DAYS
A1 Seminary
A2 AP Calculus AB
B DAYS
B1 English 12
B2 Government/Citizenship (Sem 1) - Weight Training (Sem 2)
That's it! Will has all his science requirements done. In fact, he has all his math requirements done, too. That calculus class is being taken as an elective.
I'm glad I was able to get in successfully, because 4 of the 5 classes I signed him up for were full only moments after I was done. Weight training was the only one not filled. That class will be mixed with younger kids.
Will is going to be done at the high school at 10:30 every morning. That will give him time to come home and eat an early lunch before heading off to his afternoon class at Mountainland Applied Technology College. I have not yet signed him up for that class, because I have to wait for the admissions to come available. That won't be until sometime this summer. But I have spoken to the secretary, gotten his demographics entered in their online system, and am setting up an appointment with the counselor there. He will be in class at the college from 11:30 until 2:30 every day, learning all sorts of computery stuff.
I think he will be very happy. All that time just focusing on computers. Also, high school has not been a great time for him. His "friends" have turned out to not be very great friends, after all, so I'm hoping he'll meet some new people over at the IT class. It should be full of high school seniors from schools all over the valley who are all into computer stuff.
In the meantime, Will is still planning on joining the National Guard on his 17th birthday and spending this coming summer at basic training! More on this later...
I admit, I borrow trouble on a regular basis. On Wednesday afternoon, I hurriedly shut down my classroom early in order to make sure I made it home in plenty of time to sign into class registration at exactly 3:00. I worried that I'd be stuck in traffic, or that I'd get pulled over and ticketed (so I did NOT speed), or that some less than brilliant individual would unexpectedly pull their minivan in front of me, causing a crash (like that would ever happen...)
Thankfully, none of the above occurred and I arrived at home with almost 30 minutes to spare.
Why exactly 3:00, you ask? Because that was the moment the registration portal opened... and classes fill up on a first come, first served basis. If you aren't quick enough, the carefully designed schedule you and your child spent several days constructing could go up in smoke. That happened to us one year. I had troubles with signing in that put me 5 minutes behind the curve. Only 5 minutes. We were left scrambling to try and construct an acceptable schedule on the fly as classes literally got pulled out from under us right and left. What a nightmare!
But not this time! I was in and out and on my way in five minutes! Of course, I only had to build half of a schedule. Here it is...
A DAYS
A1 Seminary
A2 AP Calculus AB
B DAYS
B1 English 12
B2 Government/Citizenship (Sem 1) - Weight Training (Sem 2)
That's it! Will has all his science requirements done. In fact, he has all his math requirements done, too. That calculus class is being taken as an elective.
I'm glad I was able to get in successfully, because 4 of the 5 classes I signed him up for were full only moments after I was done. Weight training was the only one not filled. That class will be mixed with younger kids.
Will is going to be done at the high school at 10:30 every morning. That will give him time to come home and eat an early lunch before heading off to his afternoon class at Mountainland Applied Technology College. I have not yet signed him up for that class, because I have to wait for the admissions to come available. That won't be until sometime this summer. But I have spoken to the secretary, gotten his demographics entered in their online system, and am setting up an appointment with the counselor there. He will be in class at the college from 11:30 until 2:30 every day, learning all sorts of computery stuff.
I think he will be very happy. All that time just focusing on computers. Also, high school has not been a great time for him. His "friends" have turned out to not be very great friends, after all, so I'm hoping he'll meet some new people over at the IT class. It should be full of high school seniors from schools all over the valley who are all into computer stuff.
In the meantime, Will is still planning on joining the National Guard on his 17th birthday and spending this coming summer at basic training! More on this later...
Senior Registration - Part 1
I can't believe it is here already! It is registration time for Will's Senior year in high school.
My baby.
Ugh. I know he'll hate me saying that. After all, he's a lean 6'1"teenager, now. He has big hands and big feet, and he has to practically fold himself in half just to hug me these days.
There is so much potential hanging around him that it is practically a vibrating force. I can feel it. He is thinking about and planning for the future. More on that in another post sometime later, though...
Will has almost all his graduation requirements filled. He still needs a senior English class, and the Government/Citizenship class that all seniors are required to take. Other than that, he needs 5 elective credits. So, just 6.5 credits stand between him and graduation. And a schedule that has slots for 8 potential credits.
Here's the plan as it stands today...
He'll take Senior English and AP Calculus AB (first semester college calculus). Both are full year classes. He'll take Gov/Cit first semester, and weight training second semester. And he'll take release time for seminary, which won't earn any credits, of course. That will all be scheduled in his mornings. The mornings net 3 credits for him.
In the afternoons, he'll leave the high school campus and travel over to the MATC (Mountainland Applied Technology College) campus at Thanksgiving Point for their Information Technology certification course all year. In this course, he'll get a chance to certify in A+, Network+, Linux+, Security+, and a bunch of other stuff that means absolutely nothing to me and just looks like a bunch of letters strung together.
The Tech college and the high school have an agreement. He can take the tech college class and receive high school credits! Four of them, in fact. And, the courses are tuition free to high school students! This class normally has a $2,000 tuition fee, so it is really great that he can take it free while still in high school! There is a lab fee of a couple hundred dollars, but I'll gladly pay that to give him a head start in a field he is interested in.
If we manage to build the schedule we have planned, it will give him 7 credits to finish high school.
High school registration was supposed to happen at 3:00 this afternoon, but the district is experiencing some network hardware malfunctions, so registration has been postponed to Wednesday.
So, Part 2 of this post will come later this week when we have successfully managed to get Will signed up for the classes he wants.
Stay tuned!
My baby.
Ugh. I know he'll hate me saying that. After all, he's a lean 6'1"teenager, now. He has big hands and big feet, and he has to practically fold himself in half just to hug me these days.
There is so much potential hanging around him that it is practically a vibrating force. I can feel it. He is thinking about and planning for the future. More on that in another post sometime later, though...
Will has almost all his graduation requirements filled. He still needs a senior English class, and the Government/Citizenship class that all seniors are required to take. Other than that, he needs 5 elective credits. So, just 6.5 credits stand between him and graduation. And a schedule that has slots for 8 potential credits.
Here's the plan as it stands today...
He'll take Senior English and AP Calculus AB (first semester college calculus). Both are full year classes. He'll take Gov/Cit first semester, and weight training second semester. And he'll take release time for seminary, which won't earn any credits, of course. That will all be scheduled in his mornings. The mornings net 3 credits for him.
In the afternoons, he'll leave the high school campus and travel over to the MATC (Mountainland Applied Technology College) campus at Thanksgiving Point for their Information Technology certification course all year. In this course, he'll get a chance to certify in A+, Network+, Linux+, Security+, and a bunch of other stuff that means absolutely nothing to me and just looks like a bunch of letters strung together.
The Tech college and the high school have an agreement. He can take the tech college class and receive high school credits! Four of them, in fact. And, the courses are tuition free to high school students! This class normally has a $2,000 tuition fee, so it is really great that he can take it free while still in high school! There is a lab fee of a couple hundred dollars, but I'll gladly pay that to give him a head start in a field he is interested in.
If we manage to build the schedule we have planned, it will give him 7 credits to finish high school.
High school registration was supposed to happen at 3:00 this afternoon, but the district is experiencing some network hardware malfunctions, so registration has been postponed to Wednesday.
So, Part 2 of this post will come later this week when we have successfully managed to get Will signed up for the classes he wants.
Stay tuned!
Anything that can go wrong...
You know the saying.
This is a grump-fest post. Please don't feel like you need to cheer me up or anything. Sometimes I just need to write down some of the stuff banging around in my head to make it stop bothering me. Believe me, once I finish this post, I will feel lots better and I'll be able to move on cheerfully. First, though, a rant.
Why is it that bad stuff all happens a once? I mean, really?!
This is a grump-fest post. Please don't feel like you need to cheer me up or anything. Sometimes I just need to write down some of the stuff banging around in my head to make it stop bothering me. Believe me, once I finish this post, I will feel lots better and I'll be able to move on cheerfully. First, though, a rant.
Why is it that bad stuff all happens a once? I mean, really?!
- You already know my new car is in the body shop getting plastic surgery after an unfortunate incident that messed up its tail end. Still not back.
- You also already know I hate my weenie-mobile rental car. Now more than ever for reasons about to be revealed.
- Monday, Will drove to school and accidentally left the parking lights on in the Expedition, which killed the battery. Dead as a doornail (what a weird phrase!). Do you know how long it takes to use a weenie-mobile battery to jump start a big beastly Expedition battery? A little over 40 minutes. Since we were in the mostly empty school parking lot... no sweat.
- This morning, while Will was driving to school, the Expedition suddenly lost power everything (steering and electrics), then died on him when he managed to get it pulled mostly onto the side of the road. He was blocking the right turn lane, but at least he was out of the middle of the road, right?
- Automotive gymnastics was not on my to-do list today, but I still managed to get the weenie-mobile nose to nose with the Expedition despite all the other drivers on the road looking at me like I'd lost my mind. Oh, and to get the full visual, be sure to put me in pajamas!
- Trying to jump start an elephant like the Expedition with a mouse like the weenie-mobile in the middle of traffic during morning rush hour? Not on my list of fun activities for the day. It didn't work, of course, because we didn't have 40 minutes to sit around and wait for a big enough charge to build up.
- Don't you think tow companies are in the business of coming to the rescue of stranded motorists? If you thought so, you'd be as wrong as I was. I was told by two different companies that they "didn't have time to come out to tow my car".
- I can feel more expenses coming on with these new car troubles.
- Helena's phone is on the blink (it only works sporadically at this point), so she missed the text from her boss telling her that the shifts had been changed and why wasn't she at work today?
- Helena also managed to fall on the stairs today while home alone and is now sporting wicked scabs and bruises all over her legs and feet. (I am truly glad it wasn't worse! What if she'd broken a leg while all alone at home! Poor girl.)
- Will's friend, Dallan, actually DID break his leg yesterday. He'll require surgery that sidelines him for the entire skiing season. Poor boy! Dallan is Will's best skiing buddy, so I know Will's bummed, too.
- Will has been given an "Unexcused Absence" by his English teacher for leaving class early. That freezes his grade until he goes to Attendance School TWICE. An unexcused absence is considered a sluff and carries double penalty. Each attendance school session costs $5.
- I've had a dead toe nail ever since the half Ironman back in August. Could it just fall off already?!?
- And to top it all of? I HAVE A STUPID COLD SORE! Gah!
See. I feel better already.
PS: I do need to say this...
As Will and I were stuck on the side of the road, desperately trying to figure out how to get out of the way of traffic and get the dumb Expedition back home, Liz M (Bill's niece) happened to drive by in her (nicer, newer, better-er) Expedition and asked if we needed a tow!
!!!!
Hooray for Liz!!!!
I sent Will home in the rental while I rode in our Expedition as Liz towed it back home. She was my life saver this morning and completely turned a disastrous situation around!!! (Note to self: I was very impressed that Liz just happened to have a tow rope in her car. I should get one and put it in my car, just in case...... whenever I get my car back, that is)
PPS: I also need to say this...
When Bill got home from work this evening, he used his gargantuan work truck to jump start the Expedition and then left them hooked up charging the battery for a couple of hours. That should keep the Expedition running until Saturday, when he can take it in to have the battery and alternator checked.
PPPS: Really, I'm just about done...
Can you tell that some of my rants are just silly? Those are my way of humorizing my life. If you can't laugh at yourself, life is pretty grim.
...and Now He Drives!
I briefly mentioned in the post titled "First Accident" that Will has his driver's license. He took driver's ed over the summer (early June, in fact), but only finished up the road portion of the class in early October because the school got backlogged and didn't get around to scheduling him until then. Yeah. I signed him up for SUMMER driver's ed so I could have a full week of early morning road tests done DURING our busy school schedule. Thanks for that!
Anyways, he completed it just fine and was able to get his driver's license over the weekend. Today was the first day there was a car available for him to drive himself to school. We have two cars. I drive one to work (which is currently a 'weenie-mobile' rental car while my damaged car gets repaired), and the other is for whomever in the family needs it at the time. Sometimes Bill takes it off into the mountains for adventuring, but usually it is used by Helena to get to and from work. Now, it is also for Will to get himself to and from school. So, we have to plan out the week in advance to see where everyone needs to be, and when. If Helena doesn't work until afternoon/evening shift, then Will can take the car to school. If Helena works morning shift, Will is out of luck and I drive him to school.
This is not an easy thing for me; letting my youngest son drive.
Fourteen and a half years ago, my youngest brother was 16 years old, and just 3 months into having his driver's license when he was killed in a car accident. That was a dark and difficult time for everyone in our family and I hesitate to even bring it up, for fear of bringing my mother pain. I know she reads this blog.
A tragedy like that is something you never truly 'get over'. Will was only 2 years old at the time, so he never got to know the uncle of whom he reminds me.
Because he does.
There is much in Will's personality that is similar to my little brother, Kris. Will has a sensitive soul. He is empathetic in a way that is rare in someone so young. Kris was the same way. Sometimes, I even thought his features were similar. So, I have seen echoes of my little brother within my son as he has grown.
And now he is driving.
It makes me extra nervous, beyond the norm. Last weekend's car accident didn't help, either. I wish I knew how long it will take me to become okay with him driving. Three months? Six? A year? Until he is 18?
Never?! Gah! I hope not!
I am grateful for the probationary nature of new driver's licenses here. Besides night-time restrictions (no driving from midnight to 5 am), he is also not allowed to have ANY passengers other than family members for the first 6 months. This is supposed to eliminate showboating for peers during the first months of building driving experience. The woman who issued him his license was also kind enough to remind him that, until he is 18, his driver's license belongs to his parents, who can take it away from him at any time and for any reason.
He drove to school for the first time, today. He left 30 minutes early to avoid the "rush hour" parking situation at the high school parking lot and texted me upon his safe arrival. After school, he went to see teachers about improving his grades... and to allow the parking lot to empty out before he drove home. That will be the routine until further notice.
I can't and won't stop him from driving. It is part of growing up and I can't deny him an important part of that transition from childhood to adulthood.
But, oh! It is hard.
Anyways, he completed it just fine and was able to get his driver's license over the weekend. Today was the first day there was a car available for him to drive himself to school. We have two cars. I drive one to work (which is currently a 'weenie-mobile' rental car while my damaged car gets repaired), and the other is for whomever in the family needs it at the time. Sometimes Bill takes it off into the mountains for adventuring, but usually it is used by Helena to get to and from work. Now, it is also for Will to get himself to and from school. So, we have to plan out the week in advance to see where everyone needs to be, and when. If Helena doesn't work until afternoon/evening shift, then Will can take the car to school. If Helena works morning shift, Will is out of luck and I drive him to school.
This is not an easy thing for me; letting my youngest son drive.
Fourteen and a half years ago, my youngest brother was 16 years old, and just 3 months into having his driver's license when he was killed in a car accident. That was a dark and difficult time for everyone in our family and I hesitate to even bring it up, for fear of bringing my mother pain. I know she reads this blog.
A tragedy like that is something you never truly 'get over'. Will was only 2 years old at the time, so he never got to know the uncle of whom he reminds me.
Because he does.
There is much in Will's personality that is similar to my little brother, Kris. Will has a sensitive soul. He is empathetic in a way that is rare in someone so young. Kris was the same way. Sometimes, I even thought his features were similar. So, I have seen echoes of my little brother within my son as he has grown.
And now he is driving.
It makes me extra nervous, beyond the norm. Last weekend's car accident didn't help, either. I wish I knew how long it will take me to become okay with him driving. Three months? Six? A year? Until he is 18?
Never?! Gah! I hope not!
I am grateful for the probationary nature of new driver's licenses here. Besides night-time restrictions (no driving from midnight to 5 am), he is also not allowed to have ANY passengers other than family members for the first 6 months. This is supposed to eliminate showboating for peers during the first months of building driving experience. The woman who issued him his license was also kind enough to remind him that, until he is 18, his driver's license belongs to his parents, who can take it away from him at any time and for any reason.
He drove to school for the first time, today. He left 30 minutes early to avoid the "rush hour" parking situation at the high school parking lot and texted me upon his safe arrival. After school, he went to see teachers about improving his grades... and to allow the parking lot to empty out before he drove home. That will be the routine until further notice.
I can't and won't stop him from driving. It is part of growing up and I can't deny him an important part of that transition from childhood to adulthood.
But, oh! It is hard.
To Remember, or Not
I am pleased and proud that the school where I teach chose to take a moment and honor the day by having all the students stand and salute the flag while the National Anthem played throughout the school. It is an elementary school, so none of the students have an actual memory of the events that transpired 11 years ago today. In fact, of all the students, only the 6th graders and maybe a few 5th graders were even alive when tragedy struck and the world as we knew it changed forever. However, I think that fact alone is strong reason to perform an act of remembrance.
My son's high school did NOT do anything to mark the significance of this day. What an utter failure! They missed an important opportunity to teach recent history, patriotism, and civic honor and pride to our young adults. These are not tender young minds that need to be sheltered from the horrors of the world. They should have been given a special media dense lesson on modern history at the very least in their history classes. My son is in US History right now! Yet no mention was made, probably because it isn't 'in the curriculum' and won't be featured on end of year tests. How can we claim to always remember, never forget if we don't take the time to memorialize and reflect on what was lost that day?
I imagine my grandparents feel the same way about December 7th. Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. But how many really remember the day? For most of us, the events of Pearl Harbor are just some dry facts in a history book, read once and not remembered again. But the events are similar in scope and national/historical significance. December 7th should be remembered. So should September 11th.
So, again, well done Harvest Elementary. Shame on you, American Fork High School.
Getting Back Up To Speed...
Okay. I can breathe, now.
It has been a crazy few weeks here in the Watson house. I have wanted to write, but have had too many pent up emotions to be able to write the right thing, if that makes any sense. It is NEVER a good idea to write in the heat of anger, or frustration, or anxiety, or depression... because once thoughts are out there, they are impossible to retract. And there were thoughts swirling around in my head that would have been damaging to expose to the light of day. Now that the crisis has past, and life has slowed down to its blissful summertime crawl, I can start to articulate where I have been these past weeks that I have been absent from you.
Simply put, I was agonizing over my high school senior; now high school graduate. She impersonated an anchor and nearly sunk all her chances of graduating high school with mere days between herself and the deadline. In only 10 days, she went from 4 NC's (No Credits) in 3rd quarter and SIX 'F's' in 4th quarter, to passing all classes and receiving all credits for graduation... with only one day to spare on the deadline!
This was more than just a nail biter for the whole family. There were a lot of fights, frustration, and tears involved, as you can imagine. Those who were in the know kept asking "why is she doing this to herself?! She is such a smart girl!", over and over. Which, by the way, was the least helpful thing on the planet. I was in so much stress and pain over it, that I didn't really want to discuss how a child o'mine could so completely sabotage herself.
Anyone who is a parent can tell you that they feel responsible for everything their children do or do not accomplish. That is a load of twaddle, of course. At some point, your children become autonomous and are fully responsible for their own actions and outcomes. Still, I don't think that feeling every truly leaves a parent. It is wondrous and amazing when your child soars and achieves. It truly sucks if your child struggles and fails.
While trying to deal with the graduation crisis, I was also inundated with phone calls and paper work from insurance companies about the car accident, going to physical therapy for my neck and shoulders, trying to train for a marathon (which has now been deferred to next year), and shopping for and buying a car. Life never throws challenges at you in the singular. It always seems to be a hailstorm of challenges hitting all at once.
It got to the point that I just had to drop everything and focus only on my daughter and her needs. Everything else just had to wait. I skipped out on Art Council meetings, even though I am supposed to be helping with the art show next month. I put off dealing with the insurance stuff. Just everything I could shove out of my head went by the wayside, because this one thing and the agony it was causing was too much overload for me to be able to handle anything else.
But, even the darkest night has to end, and this one ended with a beautiful sunrise (metaphorically speaking)! She did pass all of her classes, she did graduate with her class, we did celebrate! School ended for another year. We now have only one child still in high school. Will is going to be a Junior in the fall, which means we only have two years left of public school! I have flipped that mental switch from being a highly scheduled employed person and parent of high school students, to the free spirited there-are-no-clocks-or-schedules kind of unemployed person I become in the summer months. I have a loose summer schedule, but it gets rearranged more often than not. The daily schedule always includes a trip to the pool. "Trip" meaning a leisurely stroll over to it.
Have I ever told you that I LOVE SUMMER!
The only firm item on the schedule right now is Will's driver's ed class. We signed him up for the afternoon session, because who wants to start summer vacation with an early morning class? Pffft! Not Will, and certainly not his taxi driver!
There are still lots of things to blog about, and lots of pictures waiting to be shared, too. But I have babbled on long enough for one post, so I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Until next time... a very relieved me.
It has been a crazy few weeks here in the Watson house. I have wanted to write, but have had too many pent up emotions to be able to write the right thing, if that makes any sense. It is NEVER a good idea to write in the heat of anger, or frustration, or anxiety, or depression... because once thoughts are out there, they are impossible to retract. And there were thoughts swirling around in my head that would have been damaging to expose to the light of day. Now that the crisis has past, and life has slowed down to its blissful summertime crawl, I can start to articulate where I have been these past weeks that I have been absent from you.
Simply put, I was agonizing over my high school senior; now high school graduate. She impersonated an anchor and nearly sunk all her chances of graduating high school with mere days between herself and the deadline. In only 10 days, she went from 4 NC's (No Credits) in 3rd quarter and SIX 'F's' in 4th quarter, to passing all classes and receiving all credits for graduation... with only one day to spare on the deadline!
This was more than just a nail biter for the whole family. There were a lot of fights, frustration, and tears involved, as you can imagine. Those who were in the know kept asking "why is she doing this to herself?! She is such a smart girl!", over and over. Which, by the way, was the least helpful thing on the planet. I was in so much stress and pain over it, that I didn't really want to discuss how a child o'mine could so completely sabotage herself.
Anyone who is a parent can tell you that they feel responsible for everything their children do or do not accomplish. That is a load of twaddle, of course. At some point, your children become autonomous and are fully responsible for their own actions and outcomes. Still, I don't think that feeling every truly leaves a parent. It is wondrous and amazing when your child soars and achieves. It truly sucks if your child struggles and fails.
While trying to deal with the graduation crisis, I was also inundated with phone calls and paper work from insurance companies about the car accident, going to physical therapy for my neck and shoulders, trying to train for a marathon (which has now been deferred to next year), and shopping for and buying a car. Life never throws challenges at you in the singular. It always seems to be a hailstorm of challenges hitting all at once.
It got to the point that I just had to drop everything and focus only on my daughter and her needs. Everything else just had to wait. I skipped out on Art Council meetings, even though I am supposed to be helping with the art show next month. I put off dealing with the insurance stuff. Just everything I could shove out of my head went by the wayside, because this one thing and the agony it was causing was too much overload for me to be able to handle anything else.
But, even the darkest night has to end, and this one ended with a beautiful sunrise (metaphorically speaking)! She did pass all of her classes, she did graduate with her class, we did celebrate! School ended for another year. We now have only one child still in high school. Will is going to be a Junior in the fall, which means we only have two years left of public school! I have flipped that mental switch from being a highly scheduled employed person and parent of high school students, to the free spirited there-are-no-clocks-or-schedules kind of unemployed person I become in the summer months. I have a loose summer schedule, but it gets rearranged more often than not. The daily schedule always includes a trip to the pool. "Trip" meaning a leisurely stroll over to it.
Have I ever told you that I LOVE SUMMER!
The only firm item on the schedule right now is Will's driver's ed class. We signed him up for the afternoon session, because who wants to start summer vacation with an early morning class? Pffft! Not Will, and certainly not his taxi driver!
There are still lots of things to blog about, and lots of pictures waiting to be shared, too. But I have babbled on long enough for one post, so I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Until next time... a very relieved me.
Spring Break 2012
Sorry it has been so long since I posted on here. I have had several ideas about what to write about, but the moment has always passed me by and I miss my opportunity to record my thoughts.
There is lots to talk about, but I'm not sure how much of it I want to share. Parenting is never easy, and there are times when it is downright painfully difficult. We have had some difficult days around here, dealing with teens and school. I'd like to vent, but I don't think it is very productive and may, in fact, do more harm than good. We are in the home stretch now, with only 4 weeks remaining in the school year, so I think it will be best if I just hunker down and battle through to the end with a stiff upper lip and minimal commentary. Someday, when it is all safely in the past and can be laughed about, I'll share the ups and downs of getting teens through their high school years.
In the meantime, let's talk about Spring Break!
Originally, I had planned to take the family on a Mexican cruise for spring break this year. Unfortunately, finances weren't in line for that, so we didn't go. It turned out to probably be a good thing, because this year the cruise lines closed some of the Mexican ports for safety reasons and tried to compensate by adding a US port to the itinerary. Pfft. Who wants a US port? No thanks. Maybe we can do a cruise next year and, who knows? Maybe the ports will be back up by then.
So, we had a staycation. Most of the vacation was pretty lame, really. I spent half of it on getting the taxes done. Yippee. At least we are getting a refund this year. Last year we owed taxes. I was so stressed that we might owe again that I kept putting off the taxes, afraid of what I might discover. So it was a huge relief to discover that we didn't owe after all.
Matt was on leave and spent it up in Idaho trying to find a job and a place to live when he gets out of the Marines in a few months. We had hoped he could stop by here for at least a weekend. We didn't have a spare bed, though, and that bothered me. So, we upgraded Helena's bed to a queen size (her room will become my guest room someday when she moves out), and put her twin bed in the spare room for Matt. You'd think the spare room would be the guest room, but it will become part of the master suite in the remodel, part 2.
So, we were all set up for Matt to arrive, when he sent word that he wasn't able to come, after all. We invited him to Helena's graduation in May, so I hope he can come then.
Our one day of fun spring vacation happened on Thursday. Megan came over and joined us for a family fun day up in Salt Lake City. We went to the new City Creek Center. It is a big, fancy mall. Most of the stores were outrageously expensive. Still, the building itself was pretty impressive, and we all had a good time doing a whole lot of nothing.
The rest of Spring Break was spent at home, just relaxing, sleeping in, and enjoying the time off. To be honest, I don't even remember anymore what we did, because I didn't write it down right away. That is what happens when you let the stresses of life take over. Things fall through the cracks, including memories. :(
There is lots to talk about, but I'm not sure how much of it I want to share. Parenting is never easy, and there are times when it is downright painfully difficult. We have had some difficult days around here, dealing with teens and school. I'd like to vent, but I don't think it is very productive and may, in fact, do more harm than good. We are in the home stretch now, with only 4 weeks remaining in the school year, so I think it will be best if I just hunker down and battle through to the end with a stiff upper lip and minimal commentary. Someday, when it is all safely in the past and can be laughed about, I'll share the ups and downs of getting teens through their high school years.
In the meantime, let's talk about Spring Break!
Originally, I had planned to take the family on a Mexican cruise for spring break this year. Unfortunately, finances weren't in line for that, so we didn't go. It turned out to probably be a good thing, because this year the cruise lines closed some of the Mexican ports for safety reasons and tried to compensate by adding a US port to the itinerary. Pfft. Who wants a US port? No thanks. Maybe we can do a cruise next year and, who knows? Maybe the ports will be back up by then.
So, we had a staycation. Most of the vacation was pretty lame, really. I spent half of it on getting the taxes done. Yippee. At least we are getting a refund this year. Last year we owed taxes. I was so stressed that we might owe again that I kept putting off the taxes, afraid of what I might discover. So it was a huge relief to discover that we didn't owe after all.
Matt was on leave and spent it up in Idaho trying to find a job and a place to live when he gets out of the Marines in a few months. We had hoped he could stop by here for at least a weekend. We didn't have a spare bed, though, and that bothered me. So, we upgraded Helena's bed to a queen size (her room will become my guest room someday when she moves out), and put her twin bed in the spare room for Matt. You'd think the spare room would be the guest room, but it will become part of the master suite in the remodel, part 2.
So, we were all set up for Matt to arrive, when he sent word that he wasn't able to come, after all. We invited him to Helena's graduation in May, so I hope he can come then.
Our one day of fun spring vacation happened on Thursday. Megan came over and joined us for a family fun day up in Salt Lake City. We went to the new City Creek Center. It is a big, fancy mall. Most of the stores were outrageously expensive. Still, the building itself was pretty impressive, and we all had a good time doing a whole lot of nothing.
The rest of Spring Break was spent at home, just relaxing, sleeping in, and enjoying the time off. To be honest, I don't even remember anymore what we did, because I didn't write it down right away. That is what happens when you let the stresses of life take over. Things fall through the cracks, including memories. :(
The Republican Caucus
There is a place on facebook where you can list your interests. One of the areas to fill out is "Politics". My answer?
I avoid it.
I know. Bad, bad. This is a country that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. And if the people don't participate in the system, it stops being by the people and bad stuff happens. I get it.
But let me tell you, I live in such a homogeneous neighborhood that I could shout myself blue in the face and it wouldn't amount to a thing. Not that I feel like shouting. I am more liberal than most of my neighbors, but still on the conservative end of the spectrum. I am actually a registered Republican, if you can believe that. I can't remember why that is.
The truth is, my voice doesn't count for anything here. And I'm mostly okay with that.
So, you might be wondering what in the world would entice me to attend my neighborhood caucus meeting tonight.
Two of Helena's teachers are offering extra credit to seniors over 18 who attend the caucus and report about it...
...and Helena had to work tonight.
So, while I might avoid politics, I am willing to take a bullet for one of my kids and show up to video portions of it for her so she can write up the extra credit report.
Hopefully I can make up for my apathy as a citizen by being an excellent mom?
Anyways, the caucus for all the districts in town were held at the high school. I arrived a tad late, and discovered that I would have to park a couple of blocks away from the school and hike in. It took me a bit of research to figure out which district I'm currently in (due to redistricting, we've been in 3 different districts in the 12 years we've lived in this house). I'm in AF09, now, which was being held in the south side of the cafeteria... while AF06 was being held simultaneously in the north side of the same room! Oi! It was hot, crowded, and noisy in there! I figured I'd missed the prayer and the pledge, but they hadn't even gotten started yet. Since I'm a registered republican, I was given a slip of paper that stated I was an accredited something-something that gave me a right to nominate people, run for office (thanks, but NO!!!), and vote.
I won't bore you with a blow by blow of the hour and a half that I actually stuck around and participated. They were nowhere near done when I bailed. But, while I was there, I got to participate in putting a friend and neighbor in as our committee chair (or head honcho, or whatever the heck you call the person who represents the rest of us at the next level). It felt good to personally know the person who is going to speak for me as a delegate. And the whole thing felt very grass roots. The epitome of grass roots, in fact. The three people nominated each took a turn speaking for 2 minutes and fielding questions from us about political stuff. Only one of the three seemed out of touch and unprepared. Our votes were hand written on slips of paper, collected in a shoe box, and tallied the old fashioned way off in the corner. My friend and neighbor, Reese Day, won the majority in a single round of voting. (Well done, Reese! Congratulations!) The other nominee who seemed intelligently prepared ended up being voted in as the vice chair.
I got some video for Helena to use in writing up her report tonight, but even better, I can now say that I have officially done my civic duty as an American! It was more interesting than I thought it would be, and I'm glad I went. Huzzah.
I avoid it.
I know. Bad, bad. This is a country that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. And if the people don't participate in the system, it stops being by the people and bad stuff happens. I get it.
But let me tell you, I live in such a homogeneous neighborhood that I could shout myself blue in the face and it wouldn't amount to a thing. Not that I feel like shouting. I am more liberal than most of my neighbors, but still on the conservative end of the spectrum. I am actually a registered Republican, if you can believe that. I can't remember why that is.
The truth is, my voice doesn't count for anything here. And I'm mostly okay with that.
So, you might be wondering what in the world would entice me to attend my neighborhood caucus meeting tonight.
Two of Helena's teachers are offering extra credit to seniors over 18 who attend the caucus and report about it...
...and Helena had to work tonight.
So, while I might avoid politics, I am willing to take a bullet for one of my kids and show up to video portions of it for her so she can write up the extra credit report.
Hopefully I can make up for my apathy as a citizen by being an excellent mom?
Anyways, the caucus for all the districts in town were held at the high school. I arrived a tad late, and discovered that I would have to park a couple of blocks away from the school and hike in. It took me a bit of research to figure out which district I'm currently in (due to redistricting, we've been in 3 different districts in the 12 years we've lived in this house). I'm in AF09, now, which was being held in the south side of the cafeteria... while AF06 was being held simultaneously in the north side of the same room! Oi! It was hot, crowded, and noisy in there! I figured I'd missed the prayer and the pledge, but they hadn't even gotten started yet. Since I'm a registered republican, I was given a slip of paper that stated I was an accredited something-something that gave me a right to nominate people, run for office (thanks, but NO!!!), and vote.
I won't bore you with a blow by blow of the hour and a half that I actually stuck around and participated. They were nowhere near done when I bailed. But, while I was there, I got to participate in putting a friend and neighbor in as our committee chair (or head honcho, or whatever the heck you call the person who represents the rest of us at the next level). It felt good to personally know the person who is going to speak for me as a delegate. And the whole thing felt very grass roots. The epitome of grass roots, in fact. The three people nominated each took a turn speaking for 2 minutes and fielding questions from us about political stuff. Only one of the three seemed out of touch and unprepared. Our votes were hand written on slips of paper, collected in a shoe box, and tallied the old fashioned way off in the corner. My friend and neighbor, Reese Day, won the majority in a single round of voting. (Well done, Reese! Congratulations!) The other nominee who seemed intelligently prepared ended up being voted in as the vice chair.
I got some video for Helena to use in writing up her report tonight, but even better, I can now say that I have officially done my civic duty as an American! It was more interesting than I thought it would be, and I'm glad I went. Huzzah.
When Life Gets Too Busy
When life gets too busy, what goes on the back burner for you?
For me, it is always exercise.
Always.
Exercise is something I do solely for me. It is personal time. It is 'me' time.
So, when the schedule gets overly full and I am needed by too many others, I sacrifice 'me' time.
I am sure I am not alone in this. I know a lot of mothers who sacrifice 'me' time all the time. That's why it is so hard to lose the baby fat and why it is so easy to pack on even more pounds as the years progress.
This is my way of confessing that I only got in my Monday and Saturday workouts this week.
I had my work evaluation this week. Once every three years of my teaching career I am required to be evaluated by my principal on my teaching skills and techniques. Once every three years is a long interval, so, when it crops up, my stress level shoots through the roof! I had been dreading it and stressing about it for weeks. The days leading up to it were consumed with worry and distraction. I practically chewed my lip off I was so nervous. I gave up exercise on Wednesday night (the night before the evaluation) in order to go over my lesson plan and design the worksheet to go with it.
That was after spending the first half of the evening over at the high school for parent/teacher conferences, of course. Fortunately, Bill was able to come with me and we did manage to see most of the kids' teachers. My kids both had some missing assignments/papers, so, Thursday evening (and night) was spent helping them catch up. More specifically, in helping my son get a literary analysis paper done for his English class. That was fun, especially since I had never read the book he was writing it on. It's a good thing he did otherwise that paper would have been doomed.
Just a side note to all you parents out there. If you feel like there was some part of high school that you did not learn thoroughly enough back in the day, never fear. You will get a second chance to re-learn all of it when your kids go through. I ROCK at Algebra 2, now.
So, how did the evaluation go, you ask?
FANTASTIC!!! I got a perfect score. I was giggling like a demented school girl in the car on the way home yesterday afternoon after finishing up the post evaluation debriefing. Be glad you missed it, because I am sure I sounded disturbed. It felt like floating on air to have all that stress and worry lifted off my shoulders. I had known all along that it would be fine. I would have had to do something majorly idiotic to be fired, but I wanted that perfect score. Goofy, I know.
And, there is the fact that my principal had never done a formal evaluation on me before. He asked me 6 years ago to leave my old school and come start up the art program when this school first opened. When it was time for my eval 3 years ago, we had an assistant principal who stepped in and did the evaluation (and I wasn't happy with that. He was new at the job and felt like he couldn't give a perfect score to anybody, so he fabricated reasons to mark a couple of things down to prevent it), so this was the first time since hiring me that my boss actually sat down and watched me teach with the purpose of evaluating how good I am as a teacher. I'm glad I measured up.
I saw the cycle class instructor at the gym this morning and he mentioned that he missed me in the class this past week. It is nice to be missed. I promised him I'd be back at it this coming week. I can't let myself give up 'me' time too often. I have a date to keep. Two in fact. June 9th and August 25th!
For me, it is always exercise.
Always.
Exercise is something I do solely for me. It is personal time. It is 'me' time.
So, when the schedule gets overly full and I am needed by too many others, I sacrifice 'me' time.
I am sure I am not alone in this. I know a lot of mothers who sacrifice 'me' time all the time. That's why it is so hard to lose the baby fat and why it is so easy to pack on even more pounds as the years progress.
This is my way of confessing that I only got in my Monday and Saturday workouts this week.
I had my work evaluation this week. Once every three years of my teaching career I am required to be evaluated by my principal on my teaching skills and techniques. Once every three years is a long interval, so, when it crops up, my stress level shoots through the roof! I had been dreading it and stressing about it for weeks. The days leading up to it were consumed with worry and distraction. I practically chewed my lip off I was so nervous. I gave up exercise on Wednesday night (the night before the evaluation) in order to go over my lesson plan and design the worksheet to go with it.
That was after spending the first half of the evening over at the high school for parent/teacher conferences, of course. Fortunately, Bill was able to come with me and we did manage to see most of the kids' teachers. My kids both had some missing assignments/papers, so, Thursday evening (and night) was spent helping them catch up. More specifically, in helping my son get a literary analysis paper done for his English class. That was fun, especially since I had never read the book he was writing it on. It's a good thing he did otherwise that paper would have been doomed.
Just a side note to all you parents out there. If you feel like there was some part of high school that you did not learn thoroughly enough back in the day, never fear. You will get a second chance to re-learn all of it when your kids go through. I ROCK at Algebra 2, now.
So, how did the evaluation go, you ask?
FANTASTIC!!! I got a perfect score. I was giggling like a demented school girl in the car on the way home yesterday afternoon after finishing up the post evaluation debriefing. Be glad you missed it, because I am sure I sounded disturbed. It felt like floating on air to have all that stress and worry lifted off my shoulders. I had known all along that it would be fine. I would have had to do something majorly idiotic to be fired, but I wanted that perfect score. Goofy, I know.
And, there is the fact that my principal had never done a formal evaluation on me before. He asked me 6 years ago to leave my old school and come start up the art program when this school first opened. When it was time for my eval 3 years ago, we had an assistant principal who stepped in and did the evaluation (and I wasn't happy with that. He was new at the job and felt like he couldn't give a perfect score to anybody, so he fabricated reasons to mark a couple of things down to prevent it), so this was the first time since hiring me that my boss actually sat down and watched me teach with the purpose of evaluating how good I am as a teacher. I'm glad I measured up.
I saw the cycle class instructor at the gym this morning and he mentioned that he missed me in the class this past week. It is nice to be missed. I promised him I'd be back at it this coming week. I can't let myself give up 'me' time too often. I have a date to keep. Two in fact. June 9th and August 25th!
All about the Kids
This post is a little update on the lives of my kids.
Matt still lives in San Diego and is still in the Marines. From the tone of his facebook posts, however, both of those facts are about to change. His term of enlistment is going to expire this year, and he does NOT plan to re-enlist. Once he is out of the military, it sounds like he plans to move back home, so to speak. Home, meaning Idaho, not his mom's house or ours. I am glad! You wouldn't think a trip to San Diego would be so difficult to manage, but it is. I will be glad to see him back in the mountains and closer to us! He finalized his divorce and he currently has a girlfriend named Autumn. He seems head over heels in love with her. I sincerely hope for lots of happiness to head his way!
Helena went to a job interview today at ... RUBIO'S! Ooh, yeah! It went well, and once the paperwork and orientation are done later this week, she should be working there by next week! I think it will be great. The manager, Eva, is VERY nice. Bill and I are very happy for her and hope she has a great experience. This is her first official job, you see. Sure, she has 'nanny-ed' for lots of people, and house-sat. But this is different. And I am happy for her. Also, I'm looking forward to ordering my dinner from her sometime in the near future!
While she was gone on her job interview, her friends stopped by and 'heart attacked' her room as part of a date invite! Braxton wanted to ask Helena to the Valentine's Dance at school (also called the "Winter Social"?), so Megan and Dallan helped him decorate her room as the invite. She didn't realize the 'heart attack' was an invite, at first. She thought it was just her friends' way of cheering her up after a rough weekend, until she read the letter attached to the red rose laying on her bed. It is a good thing she is a relatively neat person and her room was decent (although she says she would have cleaned it up if she knew they were coming).... no underwear on the floor, thank goodness!
Helena has been enrolled in an online Financial Literacy class ever since summer vacation and has had a hard time motivating herself to finish it. So, she is now taking the more traditional approach and is now taking it at the high school. We had to move Seminary to after school in order to fit it in. However, her final semester schedule is still somewhat up in the air. Her Advanced Photo class only has 8 registered students. The school may drop the course because the numbers are too low. If that happens, we'll have to go in and do some juggling of her classes to fill the void. The school would take those students who still want Photo (like Helena), and add them in a Photo 1 class (which she has already taken), and have them take it 'seminar' style with a personalized contract with the teacher. It is unlikely that she would learn as much that way, and much more likely she'd become a glorified TA to help the teacher with the photo 1 students. Phooey.
Will has a science fair project looming large in his life right now. Can I tell you just how much I HATE it when teachers take an event that is supposed to be voluntary and turn it into a mandatory class assignment?!? It is like they sat around in a teacher meeting and said, "You know, we just don't get enough entries in the science fair to justify the cost and bother of running it... I KNOW! We'll MAKE the kids enter it, then we'll look like our science department is freaking awesome because so many kids are participating!" (Never mind that 90% of the projects are pieces o'CRAP!)
Yeah, well, here we are. Doing a mandatory/voluntary project. And yes, it is WE. He is supposed to submit photos of himself performing the experiment. So I became the photo journalist documenting him. He also needed an assistant to help him time the reactions as he performed them. And, of course, he needs a swift kick in the behind to remind him to get it done; because while performing the experiment is fun, processing and writing the paper is not.
Lacrosse pre-season conditioning starts tonight. Will is there now. And he is also over the moon about the new snowfall we received today. I am sure he is going to want to hit the slopes ASAP. He's the only one in the house truly thrilled to see winter finally arrive.
Matt still lives in San Diego and is still in the Marines. From the tone of his facebook posts, however, both of those facts are about to change. His term of enlistment is going to expire this year, and he does NOT plan to re-enlist. Once he is out of the military, it sounds like he plans to move back home, so to speak. Home, meaning Idaho, not his mom's house or ours. I am glad! You wouldn't think a trip to San Diego would be so difficult to manage, but it is. I will be glad to see him back in the mountains and closer to us! He finalized his divorce and he currently has a girlfriend named Autumn. He seems head over heels in love with her. I sincerely hope for lots of happiness to head his way!
Helena went to a job interview today at ... RUBIO'S! Ooh, yeah! It went well, and once the paperwork and orientation are done later this week, she should be working there by next week! I think it will be great. The manager, Eva, is VERY nice. Bill and I are very happy for her and hope she has a great experience. This is her first official job, you see. Sure, she has 'nanny-ed' for lots of people, and house-sat. But this is different. And I am happy for her. Also, I'm looking forward to ordering my dinner from her sometime in the near future!
While she was gone on her job interview, her friends stopped by and 'heart attacked' her room as part of a date invite! Braxton wanted to ask Helena to the Valentine's Dance at school (also called the "Winter Social"?), so Megan and Dallan helped him decorate her room as the invite. She didn't realize the 'heart attack' was an invite, at first. She thought it was just her friends' way of cheering her up after a rough weekend, until she read the letter attached to the red rose laying on her bed. It is a good thing she is a relatively neat person and her room was decent (although she says she would have cleaned it up if she knew they were coming).... no underwear on the floor, thank goodness!
Helena has been enrolled in an online Financial Literacy class ever since summer vacation and has had a hard time motivating herself to finish it. So, she is now taking the more traditional approach and is now taking it at the high school. We had to move Seminary to after school in order to fit it in. However, her final semester schedule is still somewhat up in the air. Her Advanced Photo class only has 8 registered students. The school may drop the course because the numbers are too low. If that happens, we'll have to go in and do some juggling of her classes to fill the void. The school would take those students who still want Photo (like Helena), and add them in a Photo 1 class (which she has already taken), and have them take it 'seminar' style with a personalized contract with the teacher. It is unlikely that she would learn as much that way, and much more likely she'd become a glorified TA to help the teacher with the photo 1 students. Phooey.
Will has a science fair project looming large in his life right now. Can I tell you just how much I HATE it when teachers take an event that is supposed to be voluntary and turn it into a mandatory class assignment?!? It is like they sat around in a teacher meeting and said, "You know, we just don't get enough entries in the science fair to justify the cost and bother of running it... I KNOW! We'll MAKE the kids enter it, then we'll look like our science department is freaking awesome because so many kids are participating!" (Never mind that 90% of the projects are pieces o'CRAP!)
Yeah, well, here we are. Doing a mandatory/voluntary project. And yes, it is WE. He is supposed to submit photos of himself performing the experiment. So I became the photo journalist documenting him. He also needed an assistant to help him time the reactions as he performed them. And, of course, he needs a swift kick in the behind to remind him to get it done; because while performing the experiment is fun, processing and writing the paper is not.
Lacrosse pre-season conditioning starts tonight. Will is there now. And he is also over the moon about the new snowfall we received today. I am sure he is going to want to hit the slopes ASAP. He's the only one in the house truly thrilled to see winter finally arrive.
Preference 2011
Helena and Megan double dated for Preference this year. Megan took her boyfriend, Dalan, and Helena took Dalan's golfing buddy, Braxton. I don't have a picture of the group because the girls were in charge of this one and picked the boys up. They joined a larger Preference group and had the 'day date' on the Friday evening before the dance by going to someone's house to play games. They took the boys to the Pizza Factory for dinner, then to the dance. I don't really have much to say, other than I think they had fun. I just knew you'd like to see the pictures of their dresses!
Day Full of Doctors
For being a day off, today felt like a lot of work.
I took Helena to her doctor this morning to be checked out after the accident last Thursday. Her back is stiff and sore. He ordered back x-rays to make sure nothing is out of alignment. So, we went straight over to the hospital to get that done. By the time I got her to school, she had missed first through third periods. All that was left was lunch and fourth. Ah well.
After dropping her back at school, I went straight to the physical therapist. His name is Russ. We (meaning Bill) know Russ very well. Bill and Russ have been mountain biking buddies for quite a while, now. And Russ helped Bill regain the use of his right arm after the monster reconstruct of it this summer. In fact, Russ told me today that 1) he is very impressed with the surgeon's skill in rebuilding Bill's arm, and 2) Bill is an 'animal' when it comes to both mountain biking and physical therapy to regain total use of the arm.
Physical therapy was awesome! I have never had it before, so I didn't know what to expect. He asked questions about the accident and what my body did in the crash. Then he poked and prodded, twisted and turned my neck and back asking what hurt and what my range of motion was. Once he established that, he worked out a schedule of stretching exercises for me to do so that, as the muscles heal, they will remain long and stretchy instead of tight and constricted with scar tissue. Then I had electrodes placed on my back and neck while heat was applied. That felt tingly, but not bad. After that, they used ultrasound waves to send heat into the deep muscle tissue. That didn't feel like anything.
Then, I got a back massage! Other than the sore parts, that felt great! Finally, Russ pulled and pushed a bit and made sure I could explain to him all my homework stretches before sending me on my way with a schedule of return visits for the week.
After therapy, I just had enough time to get to the pharmacy to fill some prescriptions before picking the kids up from school.
Then it was off to do the groceries that had been neglected over the weekend (because I was too sore and tired to do it).
Finally, the kids and I went to our dentist appointments. Those had been scheduled 6 months ago. Once again, Will has no cavities. I don't know how the kid does it, but I am not complaining! I, too, passed with flying colors, but Helena wasn't so lucky. She has a cavity that will have to be taken care of next week. Boo.
We stopped at Wendy's on the way home. That is a standing tradition. Those with no cavities get to have a fast food meal of their choice. Will wanted a Baconator (ugh). By the time we got home for the day it was after 5 pm and I was beat! It really was a day full of doctors.
I took Helena to her doctor this morning to be checked out after the accident last Thursday. Her back is stiff and sore. He ordered back x-rays to make sure nothing is out of alignment. So, we went straight over to the hospital to get that done. By the time I got her to school, she had missed first through third periods. All that was left was lunch and fourth. Ah well.
After dropping her back at school, I went straight to the physical therapist. His name is Russ. We (meaning Bill) know Russ very well. Bill and Russ have been mountain biking buddies for quite a while, now. And Russ helped Bill regain the use of his right arm after the monster reconstruct of it this summer. In fact, Russ told me today that 1) he is very impressed with the surgeon's skill in rebuilding Bill's arm, and 2) Bill is an 'animal' when it comes to both mountain biking and physical therapy to regain total use of the arm.
Physical therapy was awesome! I have never had it before, so I didn't know what to expect. He asked questions about the accident and what my body did in the crash. Then he poked and prodded, twisted and turned my neck and back asking what hurt and what my range of motion was. Once he established that, he worked out a schedule of stretching exercises for me to do so that, as the muscles heal, they will remain long and stretchy instead of tight and constricted with scar tissue. Then I had electrodes placed on my back and neck while heat was applied. That felt tingly, but not bad. After that, they used ultrasound waves to send heat into the deep muscle tissue. That didn't feel like anything.
Then, I got a back massage! Other than the sore parts, that felt great! Finally, Russ pulled and pushed a bit and made sure I could explain to him all my homework stretches before sending me on my way with a schedule of return visits for the week.
After therapy, I just had enough time to get to the pharmacy to fill some prescriptions before picking the kids up from school.
Then it was off to do the groceries that had been neglected over the weekend (because I was too sore and tired to do it).
Finally, the kids and I went to our dentist appointments. Those had been scheduled 6 months ago. Once again, Will has no cavities. I don't know how the kid does it, but I am not complaining! I, too, passed with flying colors, but Helena wasn't so lucky. She has a cavity that will have to be taken care of next week. Boo.
We stopped at Wendy's on the way home. That is a standing tradition. Those with no cavities get to have a fast food meal of their choice. Will wanted a Baconator (ugh). By the time we got home for the day it was after 5 pm and I was beat! It really was a day full of doctors.
Car Accident!
On Thursday afternoon, I hurried home from work to pick up Helena and take her to a doctor's appointment. Just a routine, every day kind of checkup. However, getting from point A to point B in Utah County these days is an exercise in frustration, no matter which path you choose to take. Road construction has turned into some kind of mutating virus in the county. There is no where I can go without running into orange construction cones and flaggers standing there with a stop sign. I am not exaggerating. I only wish I was!
As I drove from American Fork to the doctor's office in Orem, I contemplated the pros and cons of side road construction vs. freeway construction. It was only a little after 4:00, so I thought the freeway would be my best choice, because then I wouldn't have flaggers stopping me.
That turned out to be the wrong choice.
There was a long line of cars trying to merge onto the freeway from the on-ramp when a semi drove past in the merging lane. The ramp is short, and the cars on it came to a complete stop, unable to merge due to the semi. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO COME TO A STOP ON THE ON-RAMP! But, of course, I had to stop because the cars in front of me were stopped.
The car behind me didn't stop.
You know how you glance in your rear view mirror as you hit your brakes... to check and see if the car behind you notices you are slowing down? Or is that just me? Well, I glanced in the rear view and thought she was stopping, so I turned my attention forward because I was a bit freaked to be stopped in the first place when suddenly, with a loud metal punching sound, we lurched forward! My sunglasses flew off my head as my head snapped backwards, then my whole body surged forward and my head hit the sun visor above the windshield. I had my whole body weight pressing on the brake pedal, but that didn't stop us from being pushed into the car in front of me.
I said a few choice words and pulled off to the side, along with both the car in front of me and the car behind. I asked Helena if she was alright. I knew her head had done the same pinball maneuver mine had; I had seen it in my peripheral vision. Before the accident, she had been reading a book. The book was now at my feet. I was shaking and disoriented. Just moments before I had tucked my phone under my leg, but now I couldn't remember where it was so I could call 911.
Fortunately, I didn't need to. The moment I found my phone I looked through the rear view mirror and saw lights flashing behind us. A patrol car was already on the scene. He must have been just a few cars behind us on the ramp. I was so glad! Only a few moments later, another patrol car arrived. The first officer talked with the second, then drove away. The second was a highway patrol. I wonder if the first was a city policeman and he turned it over to the highway patrol since it was his jurisdiction? I was too rattled to look.
It took quite a while to get to the point when we could go our way again. I won't bore you with a blow by blow. The officer was very friendly and kind. He took care of all the paperwork for us and had us stay in our car. I never spoke with the drivers of the other two cars at all. By the time he told us we could go, Helena's appointment was cancelled and we just headed home.
So. There you go. Now my back and neck are sore and I have had a constant low-grade headache ever since. I went to the doctor today. He didn't seem very interested in seeing me. He said it was just muscle strain and I should just take anti-inflammatory and rest for a week from my exercise routine. He gave me a physical therapist recommendation. It happens to be Bill's physical therapist (from his bike accident) and biking buddy, Russ. So it is good to already know the therapist. Though I am not thrilled to be off my workout routine. Harumph.
Helena is off in St. George with her best friend, experiencing the Red Rock Retreat... Dixie State College's high school senior recruiting program. Since it is where she wants to go to school, we signed her up for it. Her doctor's appointment is rescheduled for when she gets back and we'll see then if she has any side effects from the accident. Yesterday she told me her back was sore, too. She is young and strong, though, so I'm not worried!
As I drove from American Fork to the doctor's office in Orem, I contemplated the pros and cons of side road construction vs. freeway construction. It was only a little after 4:00, so I thought the freeway would be my best choice, because then I wouldn't have flaggers stopping me.
That turned out to be the wrong choice.
There was a long line of cars trying to merge onto the freeway from the on-ramp when a semi drove past in the merging lane. The ramp is short, and the cars on it came to a complete stop, unable to merge due to the semi. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO COME TO A STOP ON THE ON-RAMP! But, of course, I had to stop because the cars in front of me were stopped.
The car behind me didn't stop.
You know how you glance in your rear view mirror as you hit your brakes... to check and see if the car behind you notices you are slowing down? Or is that just me? Well, I glanced in the rear view and thought she was stopping, so I turned my attention forward because I was a bit freaked to be stopped in the first place when suddenly, with a loud metal punching sound, we lurched forward! My sunglasses flew off my head as my head snapped backwards, then my whole body surged forward and my head hit the sun visor above the windshield. I had my whole body weight pressing on the brake pedal, but that didn't stop us from being pushed into the car in front of me.
I said a few choice words and pulled off to the side, along with both the car in front of me and the car behind. I asked Helena if she was alright. I knew her head had done the same pinball maneuver mine had; I had seen it in my peripheral vision. Before the accident, she had been reading a book. The book was now at my feet. I was shaking and disoriented. Just moments before I had tucked my phone under my leg, but now I couldn't remember where it was so I could call 911.
Fortunately, I didn't need to. The moment I found my phone I looked through the rear view mirror and saw lights flashing behind us. A patrol car was already on the scene. He must have been just a few cars behind us on the ramp. I was so glad! Only a few moments later, another patrol car arrived. The first officer talked with the second, then drove away. The second was a highway patrol. I wonder if the first was a city policeman and he turned it over to the highway patrol since it was his jurisdiction? I was too rattled to look.
It took quite a while to get to the point when we could go our way again. I won't bore you with a blow by blow. The officer was very friendly and kind. He took care of all the paperwork for us and had us stay in our car. I never spoke with the drivers of the other two cars at all. By the time he told us we could go, Helena's appointment was cancelled and we just headed home.
My soda was sitting in the cup holder when we were hit. Soda went everywhere, which I only noticed after the fact. I found it interesting that the soda can itself sustained such damage!
The back end of my car. The damage doesn't look all that bad, to me, but Bill and Steven both think the insurance company will 'total' the car. Oh, I hope not! I do not want to deal with finding another car. The appraiser came by my school yesterday and took pictures. We should know by Monday whether it is a repair or replace situation.
There is no way she can ever deny she was the one who hit me. Her license plate number is stamped onto my back bumper!
My front license plate is now all bent out of shape from hitting the car in front of me. The damage on the front is very minor. I was shoved into them, but didn't do much damage at all that I could see... if any really. Probably just some scuffs.
So. There you go. Now my back and neck are sore and I have had a constant low-grade headache ever since. I went to the doctor today. He didn't seem very interested in seeing me. He said it was just muscle strain and I should just take anti-inflammatory and rest for a week from my exercise routine. He gave me a physical therapist recommendation. It happens to be Bill's physical therapist (from his bike accident) and biking buddy, Russ. So it is good to already know the therapist. Though I am not thrilled to be off my workout routine. Harumph.
Helena is off in St. George with her best friend, experiencing the Red Rock Retreat... Dixie State College's high school senior recruiting program. Since it is where she wants to go to school, we signed her up for it. Her doctor's appointment is rescheduled for when she gets back and we'll see then if she has any side effects from the accident. Yesterday she told me her back was sore, too. She is young and strong, though, so I'm not worried!
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