Exhausted!

Last Thursday was our last day of "school." To me the counting of days is rather arbitrary. We listen to audiobooks almost if not every day of the year. On Friday the kids participated in a three-hour program about soil at Ricketts Glen State Park; so obviously I'm still trying to provide the kids with educational experiences even if we're officially on summer break. Saturday morning Nadia and I planned to spend multiple hours shopping at yard sales as she needs summer clothes, but the almost non-stop rain we had on Friday and Saturday thwarted those plans along with my plan to mow the lawn. Our youth pastor and his family came over for dinner at our home that evening. His wife grew up in Thailand, and it was interesting to learn more about her experiences. 

The Stars on Ice show had two other performances in Pennsylvania which were actually closer to our home than Pittsburgh, but those shows were at 7:30pm, and since I'm not a night owl, I chose the 4:00 show in Pittsburgh. If I had known that Nadia's drama rehearsal schedule would be so demanding this week, I wouldn't have made the choice I did. On Sunday morning we left our house around 7:15am. Our first stop was the Carnegie Science Center which is right next to the Steelers' stadium. Unfortunately, because there was a flood warning for the Ohio River that day, the submarine was closed. We are 0-3 in touring that submarine! Our time in the science museum included a planetarium show and a program about liquid nitrogen. The last time we were there we had seen the electricity program that featured a Tesla coil. Our only cost (aside from gas to get there) was parking. I had planned to use gift cards at a TGIF near the Penguins' stadium, but it turned out the restaurant has permanently closed. We rolled with the punches and shared a large pizza instead. Eating a pizza is faster than eating at TGIF so we had some time so spare and considered visiting another site in the city, but in the end, we opted to arrive at the ice show earlier. The show was outstanding; our two favorites were Nathan Chen and Jason Brown. For 10+ years I've had this experience where I well up with happy tears when I'm experiencing something special with my kids. That hadn't happened for about 3 years, but in the past, it's happened when I took the kids to the circus, Disney on Ice, a Broadway musical, etc. Even though I find it a bit embarrassing to shed happy tears at random moments, I'm truly grateful for the privilege to create memories with my three kids. Oliver gave me a Mother's Day card on Saturday, Ian gave me one on Sunday morning, and Nadia made me one during the drive to Pittsburgh. I also received a card from my dad and Margie. Since we had a very early "dinner" at 2:15pm, we stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen on the drive home. We got home around 10pm and were so very thrilled to receive a very good report from our neighbor about Milo's behavior at their home in our absence. We tried to give them $20, but they declined any payment, which was very kind of them. Hopefully this means he will be a little angel while we're on vacation for the last two weeks of May. 

Monday morning the kids and I were out the door a little before 8:30 for drama. I was planning to sign Nadia up for drama at the co-op next spring as well as sign Nadia and Ian both up for art at the co-op next spring, but this tech week schedule has been BRUTAL. As of now I'm thinking I'll sign them up for chorus and possibly art at the Christian school instead. What made the schedule particularly repulsive to me was the fact that they were expecting the four of us to spend 48 hours at the church this week. I have never been asked to stay at any of Nadia's drama rehearsals over the last nine years that she's been involved in theatre. Ian helped out as a member of the stage crew. Oliver helped some and played some. I was working in the kitchen for many of those hours as three of us were responsible for cooking dinner for eighty people four nights in a row plus providing snacks for the cast all the hours they were there. I pushed myself too much on Monday as I was up at 6am cooking our dinner, started mowing the lawn around 4:15pm after we got home from drama, finished mowing and weed whacked after dinner, and then cooked sloppy joe meat to bring to the co-op on Tuesday. 

On Tuesday morning I was not in good shape physically or emotionally. I chipped a tooth the day before Easter, and the earliest I could be seen by the dentist was May 10. At the time I thought my 2pm appointment would mean Nadia was only leaving a little early from drama, but they lengthened the rehearsal that day to 11 hours long. Although I don't enjoy having my mouth numb for 3 hours, I was thankful that the dentist appointment gave us an excuse to leave much earlier that day. Lately the only places we've had to wear masks have been medical facilities. I was pleased to see that masks are now optional at the dentist for the first time in two years. 

I have been careful NOT to push myself at home the last three days, although I have still taken Milo for a 30-60 minute walk each day. This morning we had our homeschool evaluation from 9-10am. Thankfully our evaluator came to our home. Paul didn't get home from work until 9:15pm on Monday. I asked him to come home a bit earlier on Wednesday for Milo's sake as the kids and I didn't get home from co-op until 9:30pm that night. Paul and Pop Pop plan to attend Nadia's show this evening. Oliver and I left around 6:30pm to come home since Paul could take Nadia and Ian home. The Schrecks, Oliver, and I plan to attend the show tomorrow night. There was a cast/crew party this evening that was supposed to last until midnight (seriously are these people all energizer bunnies?), but our kids aren't participating due to the time of day the party is being held and the fact we will have another long day tomorrow. Our evaluator took literally more than 1,000 pictures during a dress rehearsal yesterday, so I didn't bring my good camera to the co-op yet. I probably will bring my camera tomorrow, but since she was allowed to move in very close to the actors, I hope she got some great shots.

Part of what has made the week challenging for me is the number of hours I have spent on my feet every day. The pain level has gone up dramatically over the last four days, but maybe this is a blessing in disguise if it will help me to be better prepared for our upcoming vacation? I'm learning to just deal with the pain as I refuse to be a couch potato any longer. On Saturday I had two things on the agenda - a program about snakes and a couple I've known for 26 years (they're in their 80's) are coming up for dinner at our house. I think we're going to skip the snake program as this week has been very draining for me. On Sunday we're planning to go to church and then to Knoebels. Monday I'll be getting ready for our vacation: mowing the lawn, getting a haircut, getting the oil changed and the tires rotated on the van, and packing. And Tuesday will be the first day of our vacation. The primary election is on Tuesday, so I mailed in an absentee ballot today. Sometimes I feel like it's challenging to know whom to vote for in a primary election. I rarely have that conundrum during a general election.

Today marks exactly one year since Paul's mom passed away. I was given one thing of hers following her passing - a yellow tablecloth. I have that tablecloth on our dining room table now, and I think of her every time I look at the table. I'm grateful that she's no longer in any pain, but we miss her very much! Unfortunately, Oliver doesn't have any memories of my mom because he was only three when she passed away. Thankfully, all three of my kids have memories of Paul's mom.