As long as I'm here...
I might as well make a real post.
Here's a quick run-down of all that's been going on:
• Middle Daughter (MD) decided to audition for the metropolitan area honor band (she plays the flute). She made the band (w00t!!), so we had three Saturdays spent with auditions, rehearsals and last Sunday was the concert. She did great!
• MD also entered her school's Veterans Day writing contest -- and won (w0000t!!!!), so she was asked to read an excerpt from her entry (a series of letters from a daughter to her father who was fighting overseas). Since she claims to hate the way people present when they read (mumbling, you see nothing but the top of their head, talking way too fast and in a monotone), she decided to speak extemporaneously, pulling a few themes from her entry, to some 150 people in the audience. We were blown away -- not least of which because she surprised us with her presentation. We knew she was supposed to play in the select piccolo ensemble (and we were plenty proud over that), but had no idea she was going to speak.
• I had been facilitating a class on overcoming depression at church, which wound up this last Tuesday night. The book we were using wasn't exactly to my taste, so I have committed to finding different materials. Whether that means finding something already created, augmenting the book we've been using or (*gulp*) creating something myself is unclear at this point, but I have from now until next fall to come up with something.
• Eldest Daughter is considering getting her driver's license (she turned 16 this past August and still hasn't made any moves to get her learner's permit, so I don't think this is exactly a high priority. For which much thanks!), getting involved in student government and/or one of the clubs at her school, and/or volunteering somewhere locally to do... something. Like the driving, I don't get the feeling that any of these are burning issues for her, but at least she's thinking of doing something more than sitting in her room and reading or watching sports on t.v.
• Youngest Daughter is one week into three weeks of after-school rehearsals for her first middle school band concert. She plays the flute (just like MD) and is very excited about getting to play. She got braces on her teeth last month, so it's been tricky for her, trying to get the higher notes out with a mouth full of metal, but she's getting there.
• I got to go to Montreal for a business trip. A beautiful city, but -- unfortunately -- we were only there long enough to actually do business. I would love to go back to play tourist.
So that's part of what's been keeping me busy. But now that Christmas is coming, I won't have anything else keeping me busy, right? *snort*
ETA: Lest this entry contain too much happiness and light to seem real, both Eldest and Middle Daughters are refusing to speak to me and have shut themselves away in their bedrooms because of a decision Leading Man and I made that was -- to put it mildly -- unpopular. Eldest has been angry with me since birth, so that's nothing new. This has never been the case with Middle, however, so I am pretty distraught. The decision was the right one, so we're not going to change it, but boy does this part of being the parents stink.
Here's a quick run-down of all that's been going on:
• Middle Daughter (MD) decided to audition for the metropolitan area honor band (she plays the flute). She made the band (w00t!!), so we had three Saturdays spent with auditions, rehearsals and last Sunday was the concert. She did great!
• MD also entered her school's Veterans Day writing contest -- and won (w0000t!!!!), so she was asked to read an excerpt from her entry (a series of letters from a daughter to her father who was fighting overseas). Since she claims to hate the way people present when they read (mumbling, you see nothing but the top of their head, talking way too fast and in a monotone), she decided to speak extemporaneously, pulling a few themes from her entry, to some 150 people in the audience. We were blown away -- not least of which because she surprised us with her presentation. We knew she was supposed to play in the select piccolo ensemble (and we were plenty proud over that), but had no idea she was going to speak.
• I had been facilitating a class on overcoming depression at church, which wound up this last Tuesday night. The book we were using wasn't exactly to my taste, so I have committed to finding different materials. Whether that means finding something already created, augmenting the book we've been using or (*gulp*) creating something myself is unclear at this point, but I have from now until next fall to come up with something.
• Eldest Daughter is considering getting her driver's license (she turned 16 this past August and still hasn't made any moves to get her learner's permit, so I don't think this is exactly a high priority. For which much thanks!), getting involved in student government and/or one of the clubs at her school, and/or volunteering somewhere locally to do... something. Like the driving, I don't get the feeling that any of these are burning issues for her, but at least she's thinking of doing something more than sitting in her room and reading or watching sports on t.v.
• Youngest Daughter is one week into three weeks of after-school rehearsals for her first middle school band concert. She plays the flute (just like MD) and is very excited about getting to play. She got braces on her teeth last month, so it's been tricky for her, trying to get the higher notes out with a mouth full of metal, but she's getting there.
• I got to go to Montreal for a business trip. A beautiful city, but -- unfortunately -- we were only there long enough to actually do business. I would love to go back to play tourist.
So that's part of what's been keeping me busy. But now that Christmas is coming, I won't have anything else keeping me busy, right? *snort*
ETA: Lest this entry contain too much happiness and light to seem real, both Eldest and Middle Daughters are refusing to speak to me and have shut themselves away in their bedrooms because of a decision Leading Man and I made that was -- to put it mildly -- unpopular. Eldest has been angry with me since birth, so that's nothing new. This has never been the case with Middle, however, so I am pretty distraught. The decision was the right one, so we're not going to change it, but boy does this part of being the parents stink.