What's on my Mind: Grace. How to guide teenage boys with authority and love from a mother's perspective.
Thankful for: Rob having more time to deal with projects around the house due to his unemployment. One deer in the freezer, hoping for another. 4 new tires on my van.
Creative Endeavors: Putting together the marking materials for LCCC's December concert. I think it turned out pretty awesome. Now I'm working with the typesetter on the program. Lots of work but always worthwhile in the end.
My Latest Project: I am TRYING to do National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again but it is not going very well. My word count is not where it should be but I'm not giving up yet.
My 3 Sons: The cross country season has come to a close. It was a rough go for a moment with Fox, he and the coach got into over some things at one point and he actually quit the team in haste and frustration. After a cooling down period they made ammends, Fox had a week of suspension but then came back and finished with the team with a fabulous new personal record of 20:19. Our Senior girl and Fox's CC buddy made it to State Competition this year at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI so just about the entire team made the trek to cheer her on. Now Fox is shifting into Model U.N. mode and is also participating in off season sessions twice a week after school. Congrats also, he was inducted into the National Honor Society this month.
Benjamin's S.T.E.M. class is working on a robotics unit and will be going to Hartland in a couple weeks for a competition. I am planning to go along and help as a team manager as well as just being there to support the middle school science teacher in this endeavor.
Ethan was awarded "Rookie of the Year" for middle school which I totally wasn't expecting. Coach also gave all the ms kids an engraved medal for their amazing efforts. Now Ethan is working on his piece for Forensics. The kids stay after school as a group on Mondays then come in for individual practice one other day. He is working on a group of Jack Pruletsky poems about wizards. Their first tournament will be in a couple weeks in Hartland also.
The First Born: Working like a dog but loving her two new work families. She is also going to be helping with the local forensic tournaments as a judge.
Employment News: Nothing to report. Although Rob has been fielding many calls nothing concrete has developed and it looks like he may be returning to his self-employed status as traveling CNC tech. My feelings are mixed about this but I'm trying to stay positive.
Hoping to Improve: My running schedule. Right now I'm only getting out twice a week, once on my own for a brisk 2-mile then on Saturdays with the small group I run with. Did 4.4 with them last week, need to add another loop before the New Year's Resolution race since I've set a goal to run the 8K this year.
Food for Thought: Enjoying the final spoils of the garden, finishing the lettuce that I planted late, and harvesting the herbs (thyme, rosemary, cilantro, and parsley). Put together a few bottles of herb vinegar to use during the winter. Got the big garden rototilled, moved the carpet that was preparing a new area, turned that over and extended the plot once more. Hoping to double my yield next year.
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