Early Morning Progress

I woke up early yesterday morning, courtesy of Timmy, and settled in for a long morning. He had been on a nice schedule of waking up at 6, but the past few days he has returned to being my little early bird. While I find waking up at 4:30 painful, he seems to relish the quiet time in the morning. We curl up on the couch and he happily watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Paw Patrol until I have consumed enough coffee to function. 

Yesterday he seemed especially content to cuddle up on the couch, allowing me a welcome opportunity to work on my computer. While he giggled at Mickey Mouse, I was shuffling papers and working on my project. By the time everybody else started to roll out of bed, I had logged nearly five hours and my overwhelming project was nearly complete.

I felt a huge sense of relief knowing that I am almost done so I logged off and spent the afternoon playing with Timmy. We went to his favorite playground where he spent hours running around, jumping and playing. I love watching him having so much fun and being happy! With the pressure of my deadline lessening, I was able to enjoy the moment without worrying about what I should be doing.  I guess I should thank my little alarm clock for his nudge to get me working so early.

This weekend I am going to finalize my project before submitting it on Monday, but the stress I was feeling has lifted. I now feel that it is manageable and that I will meet my deadline without an issue. Once everything is done (hopefully by tonight) I am going to log off the computer for the remainder of the weekend.  This is our last official weekend of the Summer of Awesome 2017, and I plan to make the most of it. Adventures galore await!

Winding Down

I have been fully engrossed in a project for work, leaving little time for fun over the past few days. Thank goodness Scott is home to take the reigns with Hamlet. While I've had my nose stuck in my computer Scott has been chasing Timmy around the house, visiting parks and trying to keep the chaos and destruction to a minimum.  I've made a lot of headway with the project, to the point where I feel like I can relax a little, so hopefully our Summer of Awesome can resume over the weekend. 

It is hard to fathom that this is Scott's last full week of summer vacation. It saddens me to know that our summer vacation is coming to a close. Next week he has to work three days, and then returns to the normal Monday through Friday schedule. The days have passed so quickly!

Last school year was a horrible experience for Scott. I witnessed him becoming frustrated, despondent and exhausted as he tried to follow the directives of a handful of new and overzealous administrators. The fact that 70% of his department resigned at the close of the last school year is an indication that he was not the only teacher experiencing issues! Fear tactics eventually wear employees down until they finally decide to seek greener pastures.

We received news a few weeks ago that the administrators have been transferred. I'm optimistic that the school culture will return to one conducive for learning and teaching. After seeing how last year broke him down I am hoping that this school year will be better. 

Not Ready Yet

During the past few weeks Robby's taekwondo classes have taken the back seat to our summer adventures. When we have been home he has attended class, but his participation has been sporadic at best. Sticking to a class schedule during the Summer of Awesome just felt counter intuitive to our relaxed c'est la vie mentality. When I received the email announcing a belt test this week, I worried that we might run into an issue. With all of the missed classes, I doubted that Robby would be adequately prepared for his exam.

Yesterday, on the way to class, I told Robby about the belt testing email. Without prompting, he agreed that he wasn't ready to test and asked if he could skip testing. I was thrilled that I didn't need to prod him into realizing that he wasn't ready. I worried that he might want to test just because everybody else was going to participate.

I wasn't sure of the protocol around skipping a belt best so I encouraged him to speak with his instructors before making a final decision. After class Robby approached his instructor (I could tell that he was nervous) and politely explained that he wasn't ready to test. At first the instructor tried to encourage him to take the test anyway, but Robby explained that he doesn't know his form and that his testing performance would not reflect his best efforts. (I had to smile because my budding debater used the school philosophy to support his position.)

After laying out his case, the instructor agreed that Robby should wait to test. I'm proud of him for coming to the realization on his own and for taking the initiative to explain his rationale to the instructor. He could have taken the test and flubbed his way through it, but the belt would have been awarded based upon time instead of skill and merit. Robby wasn't looking for the easy way and advocated for himself beautifully.

Catch Up

I have a few projects looming, so much of yesterday was spent on the computer. Thankfully Timmy seemed content for a day of quiet, although Scott did take him to a bounce house in the afternoon. We have come to accept that Timmy becomes destructive if he does not expend enough energy throughout the day. The bounce house trip was our attempt at helping him run down his batteries in the hopes of having a peaceful evening.  (Penned up energy often equates to mischief and destruction in the early evening.) 

I'm pleased to report that our plan worked and that our little Hamlet was delightful and happy until bedtime. Mr. Bill, who we haven't seen much this summer, came over to visit in the evening. Timmy enjoyed entertaining him while Robby regaled him with stories about the turtles hatching and his Florida adventure. It wasn't until we saw him did I realize how much we have missed him!  We have been busy traveling, and he tends to hibernate during the heat of the day so our paths just haven't crossed much.

I'm going to make a point to visit him more frequently because I got the sense that he has been lonely. I hate the thought of him mulling around his house all day without other human interaction. I need to remember to be a better friend and neighbor especially when I become busy.

After working through the morning and early afternoon, my mind was fried. I logged back onto my computer after Timmy went to bed but I struggled to focus. I'm hoping to be more productive today because I didn't finish as much as I would have liked yesterday.

Conference Wrap-Up

I had a great time at conference. I thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting and making new friends. Even though this was my eighth conference, I'm always amazed at the sense of acceptance and empowerment that I feel when I'm around such a large gathering of amputees. For a few days every year, it is refreshing to be in the majority!

Even though I had a wonderful few days away, it is nice to be home. The boys smothered me with hugs and kisses as soon as we were reunited. Timmy immediately began to squeal with joy and sung the tune to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with glee. A true reflection to his excitement, Robby even stayed off the cell phone during the drive home. Scott, frazzled and tired, looked more relieved than happy when we were reunited.

Unlike most of the summer, this week we have no plans. We're staying home and relaxing. Our Summer of Awesome is starting to wind down (those back to school commercials are constant reminders that September is only a few weeks away), and while we don't have any grandiose plans, I'm sure we will squeeze in some local adventures. (Hopefully the rain will stop so we can return to the pool.)

The weather is dreary and wet today and I'm planning on using the afternoon finishing up laundry and working on some looming projects. Hopefully Timmy will be content with some cartoons and his trains. After the excitement of the past few weeks, I think we could all use some downtime!