Hi, happy Thursday! I hope it's an easy and pleasant one for you.
Here we're having a notably rainy day, with times of clearing. K3's whole soccer league had soccer practice cancelled yesterday, so as to not damage the heavily-soggy fields.
I went to a National Merit Scholar breakfast at 7:00 this morning - K1 was honored, along with other recipients. We were told there are around 16,000 other such students in the U.S.A. who have scored well enough on their PSATs (fall of junior year) to get this distinction. It's a pretty special distinction that the kids are told to note in their college applications, yet there are quite a few other bright students around the country that get this.
My spouse was nice enough to let me go to the awards breakfast, since K2 needed to be driven to school halfway through the breakfast, and K3 needed driving to school by the end of the breakfast. We don't have school buses in this town. At the breakfast, I felt a little socially awkward just cooling my heels with the other students and their parents, but I enjoyed listening to the guidance counselors encouraging the kids, asking each kid his specific story. Also, the guidance counselors gave good reminders of when the kids should be doing what - Wow, everything must be completed so early! The dates seem excessively early, but yet this is reality (so wake up and smell the cat food).
I seem to have a significant cold, for how my throat hurts today and the difficulty I'm having with blocked nasal passages. I took one Sudafed and now I'm kind of ... flying - but my nasal passages are open. (I first felt this Sudafed flying feeling at age 10, when a pediatrician recommended/prescribed Sudafed for me. I used to get very swollen tonsils each August like clockwork, as an older child, leading to tonsillectomy at 13.) This cold must be what was making me so bone-weary and sleepy, since the past weekend. Anyway, now that I'm this far along in the developing of the symptoms, I'll probably be feeling a lot better by Saturday. I managed to do 4 workouts between Monday and Thursday anyway, and I met my previous requirements of myself (currently 45 minutes cardio, 45 - 60 minutes weights, because somehow this always adds up to 2 hours when I'm done wandering around and showering, and 2 hours is what I feel I have time for.
On Saturday K3 is performing at St. Mary's fair. I hope it's not still raining; we've had this rain since Monday. We have been going to that Catholic church's autumn fair nearly every year since we've been in CA - this year K3 is performing in it. :-) She is doing Tae Kwon Do demonstrations with a group at Studio Kicks. We only have to show up half an hour before the fair starts - so being in the St. Mary's fair will not be as significant of a time commitment as when one of the kids has marched in the December children's holiday parade; for that one, they all have to line up hours before start time, to be stationed in their right waiting spot, etc.
I had a big cry yesterday - the regular theme - though at least it had been quite a few days. Am trying to pull myself up by my bootstraps now, but the skin under my eyes feels baggy, heavy and tired. A little reminder of my indulgence in crying yesterday. That's okay; it's only for a day (unless I start crying again, which I'm trying fairly hard not to do. I don't want to look sad and old, for others to have to look at).
I really want to see my all my loved ones again - ask them how things turned out for them when they were dying, and shortly thereafter, and what is it like to be in a different form, and can they help me, the newbie (assuming we're all dead when we meet again)? And can we have a few laughs while we're doing so, and some reminiscences, before going on to the next learning experience?
Anyway, these are some of the things in my mind these days.
I hope you and your whole family are well. I think of you all, a lot, and wish you all my best.
