General Update

So. Skillet was Thursday night in Albany, NY. We loaded up two cars with Katie and her friends, and Ed, Becky, and I. Allison got to have a sleep over at her friend's house. We were at the concert by 5:00 in order to get our VIP wristbands which entitled us to a free Skillet CD! And a meet and greet time with the band! After standing out in the cold for what seemed like forever! - we made our way in. The band was very sweet and genuine. They each (John, Korey, Jen, and Ben) shook hands, high fived, and signed LOTS of autographs. It was super fun! Katie was able to give free tickets to a few of her friends including a girl from school whose family couldn't afford the ticket. This girl was probably the biggest Skillet fan of all the girls (except Katie!) and she was BESIDE HERSELF over being there! She didn't know about the VIP seating or the meet and greet and she about flipped when we told her!! That was the best part for me. This is a girl who you'd look at and make some snappy judgments about her based on her appearance. I'm glad I didn't do that because this girl was about as sweet as they come. She wrote Ed and I a thank you note for bringing her to the show and everything. I really enjoyed getting to know her. Becky and I hung out together and Ed stayed in the background but close by Katie and her friends. And every now and then Becky and I would join them all. There's ALOT of standing and Becky and I opted for some comfy seats in the back of the auditorium and a bowl of ice cream for some of the show :) It was a GREAT time but a super late night! Becky and I rolled into bed around 12:30 a.m. and Ed and Katie were about an hour behind us after dropping kids off and stuff. We all got up and went to school the next morning - ugh! This morning we all slept in until about 9:00! That's pretty late for us.

We've decided to cancel our curbside trash pickup and instead make the weekly trip to the local transfer station. Trash pick up is us VERY expensive and our guys don't recycle anything! I've seen my neighbors put out their separated recyclable items along with regular trash and I've watched the trash guys dump everything together onto the truck. Why bother separating! So anyway in the name of being more environmentally responsible and saving a few bucks we've taking care of our own trash. Since I started separating trash I've noticed how much LESS trash bags we're filling up. We used to fill at least one bag a day for a total of at least 7 bags a week for pick up. Since Tuesday of this week (it's now Saturday) we've only barely filled ONE bag!!! That's less than one full bag in four full days! Talk about a difference! Ed is on his way to the transfer station to get a sticker for the car and bring our first load of trash. I'm so proud of us!!

Allison has been having meltdowns like she hasn't had in quite awhile. Not sure how to handle them. She gives me bits and pieces of what might be bothering her but I haven't quite put it all together yet. Yesterday was tough because I had to be at work and she was very upset. I didn't like that at all. Thankfully I was able to check on her and others let me know that she was fine. What a hard thing. Some of her troubles may have to do with things at school I think, and some may have to do with a certain friend she has. My radar is up and I'll be keeping my eye on things. Along with some regular dialogue with Allison about her day and goings on in her class hopefully I can figure this out. Not sure if it's time to involve the teacher yet. Maybe. The friend isn't in her class but is someone she plays with. I may have to keep that friendship reigned in a little bit until this is figured out. Perhaps that's why I like to know my kids' friends. It really does clue me in about my children, and who they are and what's going on outside our home.

Katie continues to do well at cross country. She shaved a full two minutes off her 5K time at this last meet. It was at a repeat location so there was a direct comparison to the last time she raced there. She looks good and strong when she's running and I love to watch her!! This last meet Becky, Allison, and I only stayed for the girls race. We usually stay for the whole thing but it was COLD! I'm determined to be at EVERY meet Katie runs in - that's my goal. Even if I don't stay for the whole thing I'll be there to see my girl run. I'm going to have to get me a really WARM PARKA for when she skis cross country!!!

X-Country

Katie ran in her first ever cross-country meet yesterday. I almost didn't go. Katie said she didn't really want me to go - nerves I think. Then we decided that I would go because she didn't want to ride the bus back to school and risk missing her youth group meeting last night. I admit that I wasn't sure AT ALL what to expect. I got there and just followed the crowd heading up the hill , hoping that they were heading to the race and not some other sporting event happening at the school. We topped the hill as the starting gun fired and the girls were off. I had no idea where to be to see the race. Fortunately I found a couple of friends with kids on the team, and they clued me in. Thank goodness. I wasn't expecting to know anyone there! I saw my girl finish the first lap (there were three for a total of 5K) and cheered her on. It was actually very cool. I was proud then. But not as proud as I was when she was making that final climb up a steep incline to the finish line. She came up the hill coughing. I was clapping and urging her on. She looked at me and said, "I think I'm going to throw up." UGH. I felt bad for her. The only thing I could do to help her is encourage her to keep going! The finish line was in sight and she was just about there. "Keep going! Don't stop!" I yelled. My friend Donna looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, that poor thing!" We both turned our heads just in time to see Katie sprinting to the finish line, determined to beat the girl in front of her. I don't know where she got that last burst of energy! I went and found her after the race and gave her a Powerade. She was all smiles and feeling good about her achievement! That's my girl... I'll have to Facebook her exact time and finish position after she gets home from school. She didn't get that info before we left the meet. Next week is a home meet. While I was apprehensive about yesterday's meet - not knowing what to expect - I'm downright excited about next week's!

Becky and Allison start piano lessons today. This will be the first time for Allison! She's very excited. The fact that she is so young means that most of her practice time will be with me helping her. It's a pretty big commitment on my part and one that I hope I'm ready for. Becky practices all on her own with very little help from me. She's becoming quite a good pianist! Katie doesn't take lessons anymore but she'll sit and the piano and play sometimes. She has a knack for teaching herself to play a song that she's heard on the radio or somewhere. Becky hasn't shown whether she can do that or not yet. She seems more comfortable reading the music. It'll be interesting to see how Allison does...

Inspired

I just finished watching the President's speech to school children (I recorded it while I was at work). I have to say that I found it inspiring. If you haven't seen it, click here to read a transcript of the speech. The speech - to me - seemed to encourage students to take accountability for their education. President Obama pointed out that even adversity in the lives of our youth is no excuse for them to turn their backs on school or to be disrespectful to teachers and other authority figures. I liked that. He even gave examples of students from various parts of our country who have overcome great odds to achieve their educational goals. The speech was given at a High School in Arlington, VA. After he was done speaking, President Obama went down to the crowd and shook hands with staff and students from the school. I watched as students expressed their excitement over meeting the president with big smiles and kind words for him. The respect they showed was commendable. I liked that too. I know there was a lot of hub bub about the whole speech and I honestly don't know why. Cspan also showed former presidents Reagan and Bush addressing school children and I plan to watch those speeches later. I'm interested to see what challenge those presidents presented to ME and my classmates. Anyway, I was inspired this afternoon as I watched our president speak to the youth of America and I just wanted you to know.

So. Tired.

Wiped Out. Day three of school and I am wiped out. Katie seemed spent this morning but has perked up a bit now. Becky is so even keeled it's hard to tell. And Allison was down right grumpy when she got off the bus. Even as I type this I desperately want to lay down and take a NAP! And I'm only working half days!! Must be that getting up early stuff! It stinks! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and we get a long weekend to rest up.

The first day of school was sort of anti climatic. Everyone got up and out the door without any fuss. It was as if we'd just been on a little break from school and now we just picked up where we left off. I don't know what I expected. This year was so much easier because I didn't have the anxiety of sending my baby off into the big bad world without me for the WHOLE DAY. We're used to that by now. And Katie is just so cool about the whole going to the big high school thing that I wasn't the least bit worried for her. Then of course, Becky has this awesome teacher this year and all her best friends are in her class so no need for worry there either. Hmmm....nice.

I saw one of my little Down Syndrome friends in the hall yesterday. I was walking along, minding my own business when I heard, "It's Mrs. Cook!! Hi Mrs. Cook!" I looked around for the person belonging to the sweet voice HOLLERING my name. I spotted my little friend and went over to give her a hug and do a bit of catching up since we hadn't seen each other all summer. She was really too cute! Stuff like that makes my day.

My tomato plants finally lost the battle against the plight that has destroyed so many tomato plants this year. I have green toms sitting on the vine, but the bottom of the plant is yellowed and pretty much dead. Oh well, I don't really like gardening. There, I said it. I don't like bugs. Bugs live in gardens, I don't like bugs, doesn't seem like a good hobby for me. I do however LOVE tomatoes - I'll need to figure something else out...

That's all. I'm tired now. And my children expect me to feed them dinner. Not sure what I'll do about that.