20 years. It has been 20 years since I came home from Taiwan. I have so many scrapbook pages and thoughts I could post. Yet what I ended up saying on social media was, "It all comes down to love." It does. Love is what sent me there, love is what kept me going, and love is what brought me home. I will always be grateful for the time I got to experience there and will always love the people I met, even if it has been two decades and somehow I have never made it back to visit. Funny how you can care on the inside but not show it on the outside. Or is that just me?
Exactly two weeks after Danny injured his ankle he got to go to the physical therapist and experience dry needling for the first time. Looks crazy but his ankle is healing much faster than expected and Danny only has to wear his boot for things like PE. No running yet but walking only needs a neoprene sleeve now. Danny was very happy to hear that news and we went straight to the store to buy one. The next day he enjoyed roaming around 29th Street & Pearl Street with his friend Zach while I went shopping at J Crew Factory and Nordstrom Rack to entertain myself until it was time to drive them home. (Just FYI, J Crew changed the sizing of their pants. I’ve been wearing a size 27 but bought size 25. I went home and compared to my old pants and they are the same exact size. For a minute there I thought Pilates was making more of a difference than I had realized!) We are to check diligently to make sure there is no swelling in the ankle and he had a little bit that first day and was instructed to rest for a while. Luckily he had friends like Colin & Eric & Jules & Dylan & Olivia to come to our house and keep him entertained. Lol.
While I was taking D & Z places and getting Natalie to her private softball lesson it was Hubby’s turn to attend Michelle’s dance competition. (This was the first one of the season but since I got to take her to the Monsters Convention last fall he insisted it was his turn.) By all accounts her group did great! I was just grateful Michelle felt well enough to perform. Whatever crud I came down with in Vegas I passed along to her and she missed school Thursday and Friday. And yes, we are getting passive aggressive letters in the mail about attendance this year. It hasn’t been an easy one!
Danny missed school on Thursday as well but seemed to recover much more quickly than we did. By the way, I did go to the doctor on Tuesday and tested negative for Covid, strep, flu and RSV so I didn’t bother taking them in. I did wear a mask around in public but not at home so totally my fault they caught it too. I’m glad Danny felt well enough for his field trip on Friday. The 8th graders got to walk over to the high school and have a pep rally of sorts. Sounds like Danny had a blast and was pretty lucky in participating/winning swag. I feel like he has always been pretty lucky when it comes to be picked out of a crowd. Natalie also got to go on a field trip that Friday to a theater and thought the acting was really good. She had a wonderful experience and also got to bring her friends Mary & Annabell & Madeline home to play. There was much joy in the house, especially when the girls asked for a late over but Hubby and I had dinner reservations and Madeline’s mom came to the rescue saying the party could continue at her house and she would order pizza. Hooray!
As for our dinner reservations, it was terrific. The two of us went to Cork for the first time to celebrate Hubby reaching his goal weight! I am so so proud of him and he also received great news that his cholesterol levels are now back in the normal range! He feels better and looks younger and doesn’t snore as much. Celebration worthy for sure!
The day the clocks sprang forward I watched a cotton candy sunrise as I drove Kate to yet another volleyball tournament. This sport is keeping her busy this school year! 1st set you could tell they weren’t used to their new positions. 2nd set went really well even though it ended 25-27. It was great seeing them smiling as they adjusted to new positions and rotations. I saw there was a learning curve and mistakes naturally came with that but they were able to pull off a win against their second opponent in 3 sets. I could tell they were capable of winning and was proud of them for sticking with it.
After officiating the girls were ready to win again and ended their 1st set 25-22 and won the second one as well. Good news was that C & N could come watch the last two games. Bad news is Kate hurt her shoulder. Kate later told me she heard her shoulder pop when she served the ball. It isn’t as bad as when she dislocated it and I still had Advil in the car from when that happened last year but she couldn’t use her right arm for the rest of the day. I could not believe she kept playing with only her left arm. What a tough kid! It was also wonderful to see how much her teammates supported her as she was hurting. I’m also glad I had someone in the stands to support me as well.
I was a little nervous watching Danny play in his first baseball scrimmage of the season but he hit well and his coach did a great job reminding him he was not allowed to run on his ankle yet. I was pretty relieved he had a good time even with his ankle brace and he seemed relieved to be able to hit well after not having much of a fall season. And of course getting swag from their new sponsor, Plate Crate, made indoor hitting practice more fun that week too.
Hubby continues to win big at Orange Theory Fitness. This time he won second place for his “ Challenge.” To say I’m impressed is an understatement. The only thing he doesn’t seem to excel at is getting me to go with him. I’ll stick to Pilates for now, thanks. What he does sounds way too painful for me. In good news, I did figure out I can often do a couple Pilates classes in a row so I actually do break a sweat once in a while now. Lol. Hey, my knee I injured skiing long ago doesn’t seem to bother me anymore so I’m getting something out of it other than just being able to move about and do things more easily.
The student I work with the most went on spring break early, which led to me being able to take other students to a performance of Shrek, the first middle school musical since Covid canceled the same show three years ago. It was magnificent! It was fun that I live next door to Lord Farquaad and Shrek is a member of our ward. Michelle went in the evening to make sure to support her friends that were involved and she loved it too. There were quite a few of them together watching and she had a good time. The next day Michelle went roller skating with the group of girls she eats lunch with too. What a way to make it until spring break! Danny celebrated at a friend's house & Natalie went to a neighbor's until dinner time and Kate babysat a different neighbor until bedtime. So Hubby, Michelle, Natalie & I watched the first Fast & Furious movie to introduce those two to the franchise. It was like time traveling to the year 2001 when people would risk their lives to steal VCRs and had super dark tans and blonde highlights. Hey, reminded me of when I met my husband! Well, hopefully he wasn't stealing VCRs when I met him. I've never asked. lol
Puzzles! Michelle did most of the work on these but Hubby, Natalie and I helped. That’s 3,100 pieces sitting there!
Once thing that kept us going until spring was kindness. Here is an example of the notes Natalie put on all of our doors one day. I am grateful for coworkers who show appreciation and for days off when I can do things like host a Relief Society luncheon at our house using the great idea my husband had to just order Qdoba catering to be picked up after Pilates class. I feel like I'm drowning sometimes but at other times I feel like I must be one of the luckiest people in the whole world. May spring bring new, wonderful beginnings!
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