Happy Days
This afternoon I was wandering around my house like a lost puppy. We've been in a whirlwind of activity this week and I had the strangest reaction to it.
For one thing, Deisha is now officially one. A year ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and found myself looking down a long dark tunnel with no sign of light anywhere near the end and a baby screaming in my ear day and night. It seemed-- dismal, to say the least. Now here we are a year later, a full school year past, and we all managed to survive. She's made a home for herself in the boys' closet, has started walking, and is mimicking phrases like a pro. She was the feistiest one in the nursery from day one of her life in the hospital, and she has become the feistiest child in the house to boot. Tonight while we were sitting in the parking lot while the kids ran track, she made it clear that if anyone attempted to take something out of her hand, she would launch a blood-curdling scream shrill enough to wake the dead and long enough to resound for a three-mile radius. My children can attest to this- the ones that were a quarter of a mile away running on the track. It's like overnight my baby became a toddler.
We also participated in California state testing this week, which is an event in and of itself. For my little home schooled children, a week in a classroom full of other children is the greatest week on the calendar. (More on that later...) Monday morning, we get up early and headed out the door at 8:15 to be in town by 9 for the first day of testing. The girls got their clothes out and set their alarms so that they would be fresh and ready. The boys were chattering excitedly all the way there. We pull into the parking lot to find only two other cars and a couple of parents glancing around watching for teachers. Luckily, someone had the teacher's number in their phone and got the message that the testing would start Tuesday morning. Like a responsible, frustrated parent, I drove straight home and sent a stern e-mail to my teacher to let her know that this was unprofessional and I would need to know exactly what was going on for the rest of the week. She sent me a hearty apology right away with an attachment of the email she had sent the week before. Wow... I felt really dumb. Later in the afternoon, she sent me a second sincere apology and along with the second attachment of the email she had sent three days before. OOPS! I guess I didn't exactly read every word of that one either... gotta love it when you lay down the law and it's your own mistake. I tucked my tail and responded with my own apology. The rest of the week went off without a hitch, but by Thursday, my kids were tired, and crabby, and crying about the silliest things. It was a lot of drama.
Besides the birthday and the testing, it was correctional worker's week. Last year, I had delivered a baby Monday, and Tuesday night climbed out of the car, newborn in tow, and walked into the training center to partake in the free food. It was such a relief to be able to tell my mom that she wouldn't have to cook all week, the bureau was treating us all every night! But that was all it amounted to for me, free food, no clean up.
This year, I found myself wandering up there around three or four o'clock even though we never eat dinner before 5:30. There was something about being in that kind of a social setting, children running around, people laughing; there was no pressure to be anything by myself. I had lots of time to visit, and watch people, and meet people. It was reassuring to me, for some reason.
I've thought about this a lot today, being the first day of nothing extra on the agenda since last Sunday. I found myself wishing that it would go just a few more days. It's not that I don't talk to people , because I spend a lot of time talking on the phone on the weekends and through the week I have some neighbors that I run into here and there. It has become, however, extremely rare to be around that many people socializing these days. I didn't realize it, but I miss it terribly. My life has always been crowded with people until now. (I say that sort of tongue-in-cheek, considering our housing situation!!) Out here in Timbuktu when it comes to doing anything social, it's the Suttons hanging with the Suttons. I wouldn't say that's a bad thing, it's really a blessing when you are forced to take stock of what you've got; especially when your bag is as full as mine. But I miss the chemistry that happens when you start mixing people up. It's something that God must enjoy very much. Life at His house is going to be really gratifying, I'm sure.
For one thing, Deisha is now officially one. A year ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and found myself looking down a long dark tunnel with no sign of light anywhere near the end and a baby screaming in my ear day and night. It seemed-- dismal, to say the least. Now here we are a year later, a full school year past, and we all managed to survive. She's made a home for herself in the boys' closet, has started walking, and is mimicking phrases like a pro. She was the feistiest one in the nursery from day one of her life in the hospital, and she has become the feistiest child in the house to boot. Tonight while we were sitting in the parking lot while the kids ran track, she made it clear that if anyone attempted to take something out of her hand, she would launch a blood-curdling scream shrill enough to wake the dead and long enough to resound for a three-mile radius. My children can attest to this- the ones that were a quarter of a mile away running on the track. It's like overnight my baby became a toddler.
We also participated in California state testing this week, which is an event in and of itself. For my little home schooled children, a week in a classroom full of other children is the greatest week on the calendar. (More on that later...) Monday morning, we get up early and headed out the door at 8:15 to be in town by 9 for the first day of testing. The girls got their clothes out and set their alarms so that they would be fresh and ready. The boys were chattering excitedly all the way there. We pull into the parking lot to find only two other cars and a couple of parents glancing around watching for teachers. Luckily, someone had the teacher's number in their phone and got the message that the testing would start Tuesday morning. Like a responsible, frustrated parent, I drove straight home and sent a stern e-mail to my teacher to let her know that this was unprofessional and I would need to know exactly what was going on for the rest of the week. She sent me a hearty apology right away with an attachment of the email she had sent the week before. Wow... I felt really dumb. Later in the afternoon, she sent me a second sincere apology and along with the second attachment of the email she had sent three days before. OOPS! I guess I didn't exactly read every word of that one either... gotta love it when you lay down the law and it's your own mistake. I tucked my tail and responded with my own apology. The rest of the week went off without a hitch, but by Thursday, my kids were tired, and crabby, and crying about the silliest things. It was a lot of drama.
Besides the birthday and the testing, it was correctional worker's week. Last year, I had delivered a baby Monday, and Tuesday night climbed out of the car, newborn in tow, and walked into the training center to partake in the free food. It was such a relief to be able to tell my mom that she wouldn't have to cook all week, the bureau was treating us all every night! But that was all it amounted to for me, free food, no clean up.
This year, I found myself wandering up there around three or four o'clock even though we never eat dinner before 5:30. There was something about being in that kind of a social setting, children running around, people laughing; there was no pressure to be anything by myself. I had lots of time to visit, and watch people, and meet people. It was reassuring to me, for some reason.
I've thought about this a lot today, being the first day of nothing extra on the agenda since last Sunday. I found myself wishing that it would go just a few more days. It's not that I don't talk to people , because I spend a lot of time talking on the phone on the weekends and through the week I have some neighbors that I run into here and there. It has become, however, extremely rare to be around that many people socializing these days. I didn't realize it, but I miss it terribly. My life has always been crowded with people until now. (I say that sort of tongue-in-cheek, considering our housing situation!!) Out here in Timbuktu when it comes to doing anything social, it's the Suttons hanging with the Suttons. I wouldn't say that's a bad thing, it's really a blessing when you are forced to take stock of what you've got; especially when your bag is as full as mine. But I miss the chemistry that happens when you start mixing people up. It's something that God must enjoy very much. Life at His house is going to be really gratifying, I'm sure.
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