I have to be a better journaler. I've been looking back at my LJ for some stuff, and it's pretty complete until it isn't.
So where are things? Things are basically good...
Peter is in 3rd grade and it's going well so far. His teacher is brand-new to his school and she is very nice, it seems. Very positive and upbeat. He is so happy to be with someone like this, and it shows. He's reading -- READING -- with interest (he's been able to read since he was three. He's seen no real reason to until now.) They just finished "The Kite Fighters," which he loved. His homework comes home with comments about how amazing his reading comprehension and written answers are. I am a little WTFing about this. This is my kid? I mean, yeah -- this is what my kid should look like, if talent is genetic. But he ain't never done it before. He was always more of a math guy. My only concerns have to do with social relationships -- there is a lot of inappropriate rough play going on at recess, if P is being accurate in his reportage. He's been held down and tickled several times (NOT OKAY with me. P is ticklish as I am and we're in that place where tickling=torture) and today came home with a scratch on his arm. He says there was a big 3rd grade Come to Jesus today with the two teachers speaking about behavior, so that's something. We have conferences this week, so we'll see if the teacher is on the same page as I am with this.
P's still doing karate. He will test for brown belt (!) on Saturday. I am so proud of him. So proud. He's worked for literally years for this. He also competed in his school's national championships this year -- he won two 2nd places at the regional meet and qualified for states. He lost in defensive techniques but won 3rd in sparring at the state event. This weekend was the national event. He sparred against four other kids, all much older (his division is green belt through brown belt, ages 8-12, and he is 8. Most of the other kids are 11-12.) It was a hard event -- the kids were all very good and much bigger than P -- but he ended up in 3rd place. He got his clock cleaned by the kids who placed 1st and 2nd, but so what? Again -- very proud. I'm proud he won anything at all, and I'm more proud that he gets out there and does it. He works through nerves and fear and does it. He focuses and thinks on his feet. That is so much better than winning, IMO.
He is growing like a weed -- he grew six inches between his 7th bday and his 8th bday. The net result was too-short pants, feet the same size as mine, and a summer of physical therapy. He was really spastic last spring -- moreso than usual. We went to the orthopod to get a Rx for new orthotics in June and it turns out the kid had no range of motion in his legs. That explains all the pain he was having...so, we did a summer of 7am PT (yippee) and he improved his ROM and his stamina. We are likely into this for a few years, though, until his last growth spurt is over.
Me? Well....I applied for a job about a month ago, as the director of a local nonprofit. It sounded great and I was the frontrunner for the job after two rounds of interviews. But when it came down to the nitty-gritty...they couldn't pay me enough. By "not enough," I mean take-home of under $8k a year for evenings, weekends, and the joy of keeping all of the organization files and supplies (think taxidermied animals) in my house. (It wasn't full-time; it was 20ish hours a week, more in crunch times. But they couldn't pay more than their cap, so if I had to work more time, I had to work it for free.) So I had to withdraw from consideration. I was sad, but I also had major misgivings about the job -- it's a 25-year-old organization that has never made any money. I asked what the BOD's goals were and they said "to break even." Ugh. Also, they wanted me to carry directors' insurance on myself in case of lawsuit. That would've eaten any remaining money I might've made from the job. Oh -- and there was one guy on the BOD who flat-out creeped me out. That was a downside too. I felt guilty walking away from it, but I'm not taking a job to lose money. I'm sad about it; I was hoping it would be start of a new path in life. But alas, no.
I am still freelancing. It's slooooow. The fucking Internet has eaten my profession alive because any jackass with a copy of Word can say he's a writer and most of them will work for nothing. Hence my desire for a new path.
I am --AGAIN -- on the PTA executive board. It's a great group this year and I am happy about it. I am not happy about being book fair co-chair. Last year was supposed to be my last year leading the BF. This year two new women -- Joanne and Carol -- stepped up to lead. Then Carol's husband came home in June and announced they were moving to New Jersey and Carol left. Joanne begged me to help her, and I liked Joanne, so I said yes. Now...nine days before the book fair? I'm not likin' Joanne so much. We have major work/learning style issues -- she is VERY VERY linear. First this, next this, then #3. I am quite linear but I am also a big-picture person. The result is that I am asking big picture questions and Joanne is getting pissed at me because "we aren't at that step yet." The result of that being that Joanne is making decisions too early and fucking stuff up and having to go back and change stuff. And she thinks Google Calendar is "too hard to use" and she "doesn't understand Word." So I am finding her challenging to work with, but it's 2.5 more weeks and then it's over.
DH is fine. His leg healed okay. It was sore for a long time, but somewhere over the summer the soreness mostly subsided. He is okay now until he stands on it for several hours, and then it starts up again -- he stood from 9am-1pm Saturday at the karate tourney and then in the evening at a party. By 7:30 his ankle was purple and hurting. So he's not fully there yet. He's been sick for six weeks now, with his autumnal sinus-infection-that-becomes-a-cough-and-lasts-all-winter. We had the annual chest x-ray (clear, thank god) but he is STILL COUGHING. It's a drag for everyone.
His work is okay. Slow. Very slow. I know he's worried about it, but he tries not to show it.
Family? Eh. We took Nephew Timothy to the Bahamas with us in July, for Lego Fantasy Camp at the Atlantis. My attempts to be the Coolest Aunt Ever failed, apparently, because I am also an aunt who insists on kindness and no whining. It was a tough week with the kid, and I am pretty sure he hates us now, since his thrice-weekly phones calls have stopped altogether since we came back. SILFH has stopped communicating as well. Oof. I dunno if Peter has noticed, but I suspect he has. Makes me sad. (That said, Lego Fantasy Camp was *awesome*) My family is status quo; my PsIL are status quo. BIL finished his PhD (computer science) in the spring and cannot get a job to save his life.
I want to gut my kitchen, but I can't do that right now.
And that's enough for now, because I have to go use Word for Joanne. *ahem*