Changes

When it's time to change, then it’s time to change
Don't fight the tide, come along for the ride, don't you see
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange
who you are into what you're gonna be.
Sha na na na, na na na na na, sha na na na na
Sha na na na, na na na na na, sha na na na na

(That’s lyrics to a Brady Bunch song, if you didn’t know!  ha)

Monday September 14 brought changes galore for our family.  Drew started his new job as a Hospice chaplain.  Of course, he’s also serving part-time as the pastor at Cherry St. UMC, so now he’s working two jobs.  One full time job out of the house is different in and of itself because he always had a full time job but his office was at our house and he had all the flexibility he wanted.  This afforded us the luxury of him picking the kids up after school, getting their homework done and fixing dinner.  Man, I had it made!  With the advent of the new job, things all shifted.  I’m now picking the kids up every day.  They have started an afterschool program two days a week, two days a week they will come with me to the office after school and one day a week I’ll finish my work day from home.  I’m fortunate to have a flexible, understanding boss.

We tried this new schedule out but actually it wasn’t a normal week.  I had a meeting with Lindy’s teacher after school on Monday so we just came straight home after that.  Tuesday was their first day at afterschool.  Lindy loved it and Will thought it was okay.  My dear, sweet boy told me that at one point he had a lump in his throat because he was a little homesick.  They have gotten to go home with a parent everyday after school so this is a new experience for him.  Wednesday was an early release day so I had to take a half day off to keep them.  I took them to play putt putt and arcade games so we were able to do something fun.  Thursday was afterschool again and Friday was working from home for my last hour.   I’m now responsible for getting homework done and supper cooked – oh how the tides have changed.  It’ll definitely take some getting used to.  We made it through week one so we’re off to a good start.  I won’t lie and say it was easy and I wasn’t tired but we made it. 

Friday we got home and got our things packed up and headed over to meet Drew at the Bryants’ house.  We headed off with the kids and dog, with the Bryants following behind us.  We stopped in Statesville and my sweet, dear, saintly parents took our kids, the Bryants’ kids, and our dog and headed to their house for the night.  We hopped in with the Bryants and fled like the wind to Asheville for a little getaway.  We went up to see one of our favorite singers, Pokey LaFarge, in concert.  He put on a great show, as usual.  We stayed up later than I’ve stayed up in a long time but it was a fun night.  We spent the night at Katie’s parents’ mountain house at Lake Junaluska.  This is where we normally stay every year at annual conference.  Except this year the kids and I didn’t get to go.  So at least I can say I made it up there once this year and it was nice to go in the fall for a change.  We slept in and hung out on the porch enjoying the fall morning before getting ready and heading out to Asheville.  We checked out downtown Ashville for the afternoon, ate an early dinner and headed back to my parents’.

My parents babysat all the kids for the night for us.  THANK YOU!!  My kids loved having the Bryants there to play with.  Sadie loved having Aiden there to play with.  Win win for everyone.  (I guess maybe not my parents! ha!)  They did get to swim for awhile Saturday, even though the water was much colder.  We got there around 6:30pm and got everything and everyone loaded up and headed home. 

Lindy had been complaining about her right ear hurting all week when I put her hearing aids in.  I figured there must be a little cut or something but I couldn’t see one.  She took her hearing aid out at school and told her teacher it hurt on Friday.  I decided to just leave it out all weekend to see if we could let the air get to it and help it heal.  Friday night my parents said she was up a couple times saying it hurt and they said she just didn’t act like she felt great.  Her cheeks were red when we picked her up and when we got home she had a fever.  I gave her Tylenol and she slept fine last night but woke up and immediately started talking about her ear again.  She was mopey and crying this morning so Lindy and I stayed home from church.  I called and got her an appointment at 2pm.  She had a fever again this morning and she got another dose of Tylenol.  We got to the doctor at 2pm and he said she had swimmer’s ear.  He said that’s what they call it when there is an ear canal infection.  He said it probably started out as a little cut but then it got infected.  She got ear drops and an antibiotic and we’ll hopefully get it cleared up soon.  We’ll have to see how it feels tomorrow to decide if she wears her hearing aid to school.  She needs to but I don’t know how much it will hurt.

That, my friends, gets me caught up on the blog.  Yippee yay yay!  I want to thank my faithful follower, Martha, for all the support.  She knew I’d get caught up and she was right!!  It’s much easier to do it each week than to have to catch up, so hopefully I’ll be back on track.  I’ll try at least!

Drew on his first day of hospice work. I should have made a sign for him to hold that said, “My first day of hospice work”  ha ha!

Putt Putt on the early release day

Putt putt  & yoga

Pokey LaFarge!

Our tired pup.  He is always exhausted after playing with Sadie!