New Year's Eve!

This picture was taken on Christmas Day. It is a little warped because of the lens but Kevin messed with it so it is pretty good.

I remember when I was very young, when I was going to Michigan Tech. as an undergraduate student, that I would come home for Christmas break and just want to sleep all the time.  I worked very hard during the semester and was just worn out when I got back.

I feel a little like that this 'break' from school.  I have been extra tired.  I have been taking naps almost every day.  Of course, we had three birthdays and Christmas in the last 2 weeks so I haven't had a ton of downtime. But definitely, not teaching is relaxing.

It has been a good break so far, but I am annoyed at how tired I am!

However...

We have much to be thankful for.  Happy New Year's Eve!

 

Christmas Week

  Last week was very busy and quite difficult for a variety of reasons.  Partly it is my famous personality. I don't like being away from home much.

Partly it was we had a lot going on.  I had so many medical appointments and the like.  Ugh.  I even ADDED a quick trip to the eye doctor as my glasses weren't working as well as they should. Turns out that in 6 months, my vision has deteriorated in both eyes. Not a lot (0.25 in some random eye unit) but still, I will be happier with new glasses, which are covered under warranty. So that's cool.

Optometrist asked about my blood sugars because high bg's can cause problems with vision, but A1c of 5.9 should not tie into diabetes related issues with vision.

This week is blissful in that I don't have to go anywhere particular until Sunday church.

I did go to Sam's Club early this morning.  It was vaguely heroic because I had to roust myself out of bed, swallow down tea and breakfast, and rush off. BUT it was great because I am a "plus" member and the store was largely empty.  ALSO, and this is a BIG deal, my cart was fantastic.  Sam's seems to have a real gift for providing creaky, cranky carts with wheels that are wobbly.  This one rolled so smoothly that it was noticeable. I kept thinking, wow, this is a great cart!

We have three birthdays and Christmas in the next 2 weeks. Whee!  Kevin informed me this morning that we were short 4 presents.  True confessions here; I have a tendency to dump the "present buying" job on Kevin. But I found 3 presents online and ordered them, and Kevin figured out the fourth present, so we are good.  Or we are good so long as Amazon comes through.

My new book, Longbourn's Son, is thus far very popular. It is likely a good time to release a book. Lots of people are off work and reading books for fun, and other people are buying gifts for others.  

We responsibly took our kittens in to get fixed this week.  Usually we have worked with a place that provides cheap spays and neuters for stray cats.  These two are indeed rescues so we called them enthusiastically, only to be informed that the earliest we could get them in was February!

Um, no.  By that time, they would be able to have babies together which totally would NOT be Ok.  So we went through a local veterinarian which was expensive but it was done quickly and the cats bounced back very well.  It is nice to know that is taken care of!

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We also paid for a month of ESPN so we can watch college football bowl games. That is actually quite fun!  The University of Michigan made the final four and while they may well fall before the might of Georgia, at least they made it a long way this year.

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Isaac and Joseph are on break from college which is nice for them. I think Isaac, in particular, was pretty worn out by the end of the semester. It was his first semester with a full load. He did well and I am proud of him. 

Joseph took one class and did well.  Next semester, he will take two classes.

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It is easy this time of year to forget "the reason for the season".  Life is very busy for us, especially with three kid birthdays, and sometimes I forget that Jesus is the center of it all.  

More than 2000 years ago, God came to earth in the form of a baby.  He grew up, He preached, taught, and healed, and then He died on a cross as a sacrifice for my sins.

In the day to day, I forget sometimes how amazing that is, that God Himself was willing to pay the sacrifice for my sins.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Rose is a person, not a project

 Ok, I know that is totally OBVIOUS.  Rose is indeed a person, not a project!

But...

I really love finishing projects.  I get a dopamine hit from finishing up some big task.

Since Rose is the youngest Kendig child, I have seen the "end of an era" in a number of areas.  Last time we used diapers.  Last time we used pull-ups.  Last time we used sippy cups. There was one fine day many years ago when Kevin swept through the house like a tornado and took all the sippy cups and threw them away because he was SICK of them. Rose was not pleased but she adjusted to normal cups.

So anyway, Rose is learning to read.  I have 8 kids who are fluent readers now and one lone holdout.

My darling youngest is 7 and a half years old. She is making good progress with reading but she still isn't fluent. We are working on it and she is making progress but she isn't a good reader yet.

I have an internal struggle between realizing she is going to get it in time, and just wanting it done. This week, I realized part of my anxiety is that when she is fluent, I will be DONE teaching reading!

So I just want it done. But Rose is a person, not a project. She is smart, funny, stubborn, and not too eager to learn to read.  

I need to take my time and keep toiling away and trust that in time, she will become a fluent reader.  Indeed, I know she will; I have a lot of experience teaching reading and am 99.9% sure there aren't any issues with dyslexia or vision issues. She just has to learn and would rather be running around outside or making up cute little games.

The pic at the top has Rose in handcuffs because she wanted handcuffs, and I have been bribing her to read.  So that is why she is in handcuffs.