Busy Summer Already

After Sidney returned from Mo Ranch we had 24 hours to wash all her clothes and re-pack her to go to Blueprint Ministries.  Blueprint Ministries is a non-profit organization in San Antonio that works to keep people in their homes by making repairs.  Without these repairs the houses are at risk for being condemned or deemed to unsafe to live in.  The people served are often the elderly or disabled.

Making Lunch

The middle school kids from Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church in Katy come over for a week each summer to volunteer at Blueprint.  Sidney was old enough this year to participate.  Sometimes the kids are drywalling but usually they are roofing.  There were enough kids from Grand Lakes to have three teams to work on three houses.  Sidney was on a roofing team.  Her team removed the shingles and sheathing from the roof and then replaced both.  The house they were working on belonged to a 91 year old woman.  Sidney is not so great with nails yet (we will need to work on that) but she apparently enjoyed demolition.

Each team member also serves the rest of the team by being part of the "Body of Christ".  Sidney was the stomach and helped make the lunches for each day.  They also do bible studies and chores at the building where they stay for the week.

I am super proud of her.  She worked hard and with a willing heart.  It was hot and difficult work.  And it was new and outside of her box.  She came home very happy and very tired but ready to go again next year.

As most of you know she is also creative.  I sent her to Blueprint with some things she would need.  Hammer, safety glasses, gloves, and dust masks.  She brought most of the dust masks home and for some reason they aren't in the garage....  The other day one came down from upstairs over the railing as a parachute for a Polly Pockets doll.  It was really funny.  And a good idea.

Our tomatoes are growing faster than Sidney and the squirrel can eat them.  The squirrel certainly puts up a good fight on trying to get to the tomatoes first.  He seems to like green ones as much as red ones.  Sidney does not like the squirrel right now.....

Stormy has been back to the vet for more blood work.  Nothing has changed and she still doesn't seem sick.  The vet recommended just watching her and doing routine blood work.  She has been deemed normally abnormal... As if anything in our life is "normal".

I have had two recent mom fails (or at least two that I can remember).  The first was bug camp.  I got her all ready to go to bug camp a few weeks ago, the week after Blueprint.  Took her to work before the crack of dawn, drove over to the park and had her sun blocked and bug sprayed.  For the life of me I could not find the camp.  I went to both sides of the park.  After calling the instructor, I discovered that camp wasn't in June but in July.  To my credit the email the instructor sent me said June.

My other fail is even better.  I am tucking Sidney in to bed and I notice she has a smoke detector in her room.  I am certain I never noticed it before.  Which means I have never changed the batteries.  I am one of the odd must change the batteries annually people so I was horrified.  There are smoke detectors in every bed room, every hall way, the living rooms, the garage.... really I must have 12 smoke detectors.

Sidney had a swim meet between Blueprint and Florida.  It was blissfully close to the house.  At our new home pool.  We could leave 15 minutes before she had to be there.  It was busy and a big meet.  She hasn't been in the water much because of traveling and other activities but she still did OK.

Turtle Tracks

We went to Florida for the 4th of July.  We spent a week in St. Pete Beach with some of Kirk's family.  We stayed at his cousin's house with his cousin and her husband, her daughter and her boyfriend, and Kirk's mom.  A few other family members payed a visit but stayed at a condo near by.  It was really great downtime for me.  I didn't drive or have to worry about food.  I could just unwind and relax.  I think I read three or four books.  I haven't read a book in forever.  I also spent a lot of time sitting outside on the back porch watching the world go by.  It was really great.

Kirk's family don't sleep at the same times that Sidney and I do.  Sidney and I are early birds no matter what we try.  They are night owls.  So Sidney and I would go to the beach or I would go run in the mornings.  Then she would eat cereal or yogurt and I would make a grilled cheese every morning for breakfast.  Yes weird.  They didn't have a toaster so that was the next best thing (actually better).

We chilled out our first day there.  We went out to eat on the beach at one of the many restaurants that has fresh grouper.  Sidney played in the ocean and sand I enjoyed my fish.  We hung out at the house afterwards and saw the friendly iguana.  He came to get some salad.

The next day I had a nice run on the beach in the morning and I had buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese.  It was so yummy.  We went to the beach in the evening and there were lots of little sharks and fish swimming around us.  Nothing over two feet long.  This was also the first of many days where we saw dolphins in the bay.

I convinced Sidney to go with me for a walk the next morning.  We played in the water a bit but mostly walked and talked.  We spotted some people digging on the beach near the grass and they looked official so we were curious.  We went over to talk to them and they were looking for a turtle nest.  They showed us the tracks the female made the night before coming in from the ocean and going back out.  They dug to confirm the location of the nest and then put markings around it to protect it.  They will check on it regularly until the eggs hatch.  They make sure all the little turtles make it at least as far as the water.  The female lays 100 eggs and will lay several times each year near the spot where she hatched.  1 in 1000 baby turtles will reach maturity.

We also went to the Florida state aquarium.  It was a pretty nice aquarium.  We met 6 young nuns there.  That felt a bit odd.  We went back to the beach in the evening with Kirk's niece's boyfriend.  He entertained Sidney for a while and was completely worn out.  We found a super cool fish skull.  Fish skulls are very interesting compared to a mammal skull.  Many more holes and cavities and a much smaller brain cavity.  It stunck to high heaven so it went back into the water.

We went to the Sunken Gardens as well.  It is a botanical garden in an area where a lake sunk.  It isn't terribly deep but it was very nice and a relaxing stroll.

Sidney and I enjoyed watching the pelicans and other birds hunt in the bay as well as watching the dolphins.  We also saw many fish off the dock including a number of pipe fish.  Some were only about 2 inches long.

Floating and swimming off the dock

We went to a pool for part of one afternoon.  Sidney swam in the pool a while but ended up back in the ocean.  She went searching for sea shells off the beach in the water.  She would dive down several feet and look for shells.  She likes to be under water.

Kirk's cousin bought a lot of fireworks.  The guys were lighting them for well over an hour.  They were very impressive (and a little scary).  They had a party with a number of friends and it was fun.  We had only one more day there after that.  Right before the party I got charged with changing the sprayer on the kitchen sink.  We discovered it was leaking water under the sink and I am the smallest adult....

We really had a nice time.  We ate good food, caught up with family and relaxed.  It is nice to be home and it wasn't so bad to come back after relaxing so thoroughly.  I felt like I could actually cope with reality again.

Sidney had another swim meet this weekend.  She swam 7 events and did pretty well in all of them.  She had some good improvements in some strokes and broke even in others.  I am anxious to see how she does once she has been in the water reliably.

This afternoon I found this toad on the back porch in one of the pots.  this may not seem like a big deal but the porch is 15 feet above the ground.  Either a pet brought him up, a bird brought him up or he decided to hop up the stairs.  I just hope he finds his way back to somewhere safe.  I am happy to have him eating bugs but worried about where he has chosen to settle.

Sidney and I are preparing for Peru.  We leave in a few weeks.  I am gathering things to keep us warm and fed and well.  We are excited to go back and see our friends there.

Kirk and his care giver, Mary Anne, moved to Boerne a couple of weeks ago.  They are in a newer house that is a bit smaller and better played out.  They also went to Boerne several times each week so hopefully this will be a good move for all of them.

Finally School's Out

We finally made it to the end of school.  Just like that 6th grade has come and gone.  Sidney came out with 5 As and a B.  Not bad for another challenging year.  I am very proud of her.




We did find a new swim team.  It isn't the same and there isn't the closeness.  But it is close to home.  10 minutes or less.  It is a nice pool, one of the pools that belongs to the school district.  We are now with the Alamo Area Aquatic Association.  Sidney is a group back from where she wanted to be but she has some technique issues to work out.  She practices Monday through Thursday with Friday and the weekend off unless there is a meet.  It is a little strange to have our weekends back....


It has continued to rain a lot up until the beginning of this past week.  We like the rain but were ready for some sun.  I forgot what a sunset looked like.  Of course now it will be hot and won't rain again.

Sidney went to the State Music Festival in San Marcos for piano.  It was a long day but she got a superior rating.  She got a bit nervous and made a few mistakes but it was a really good experience for her.

Work has been it's usual set of challenges.  EPA just published a new rule that applies to us and the record keeping and reporting requirements are onerous.  My team and I will be busy figuring out how to comply.  Job security.

Sidney and I have been down on the golf course a few times.  It has been closing early enough for an hour or more of daylight every once in a while.  So we go down and explore more than just in the trees near the house.  It is a pretty course.  Last time there was a lot of water on the course along with a bunch of turkeys.  We also saw frogs and turtles in the ponds.

We went to Houston over Memorial Day to visit friends.  I drove through the worst rain storm for over two hours.  I was exhausted when we got there.  But we got to eat some crab Saturday evening and go to church on Sunday in Katy.  We also went with our friends to the new water park in Katy called Typhoon Texas.  It opened up the Saturday of Memorial Day.  It was super busy but our friends got a cabana and we could relax in the shade when we needed a break.  The kids all had a great time.  They have some pretty crazy slides.

Stormy seems to be doing OK.  Her blood work has not improved.  She has a few more days of antibiotic and then we will get anther set of tests.  She still acts fine but Sidney and I are still worried.

Kirk has had a few ups and downs.  He seems OK now but the bumps are still really hard.  His caretaker is buying a house in Boerne and looking forward to a move.  She is of course taking Kirk with her.  It isn't any farther than visiting him where he is and will be a more peaceful life for all of them.

Sidney just got back from camp.  She went to Mo Ranch again this year.  It's a great camp.  Two of her friends went also.  She is tired and bug bit, but happy.  We are doing all her laundry today to get her turned around and headed into San Antonio to meet up with the kids from Katy.  They come to San Antonio every year to work for Blue Print Ministries.  Blue Print helps people stay in their homes by doing basic repair and construction work.  The kids will be roofing.  It will be an interesting experience for Sidney.

I am not sure how I missed this last year but on the way to camp is Stonehenge II.  It is a not exact replica of Stonehenge that started by accident.  There is also a Moai replica like from Easter Island.  It was pretty funny.

I got out on my bike on the green way this week.  My first day didn't work out to well.  My tire was ruined before I started so I got a new one Tuesday.  I enjoyed both my rides this week.  I saw deer on both rides and a snake on one.  At the end of the second one I also saw mom and dad ducks and their adorable, black and yellow, tiny ducklings.  They were cute!  A family of ten and made my day.  Right before that I did my usual bike behavior and fell over.... I have a couple of lovely bruises.  I didn't forget to unclip, I just lost my balance to the clipped side.  Some guy watched it all happen and then walked right by..... Oh well.

Some Tough Days

The last two weeks have been tough from the beginning to the end.  Monday week before last was the only OK day.  After that was down hill really fast.  Tuesday morning started with an email from Sidney's swim coach notifying us that the team was dissolved.  We started swimming just over a year ago, about the same time we knew Kirk would not get better and not come home.  Coach is a former marine and a strong leader.  He helped to fill a male role model void left by the loss of her dad.  And now he too is gone from our lives.  Sidney was heart broken.  To her coach had very nearly died.  She loved him and respected him beyond measure and this was another loss in her life.  We both cried for a good long time.  I think even a week later we are still mourning the loss of the Sharks.

Wednesday was not any better for me.  I have been fighting tendinitis in my left hip for several months.  I tried to wait it out but it got the better of me.  I can't sit for any length of time, am in pain when I run and wake up frequently in pain.  So I tried a cortisone shot.  The shot was ultrasound guided through the gluteus and into the tendon from the hamstring to pelvis.  It hurt like the devil.  I had a hard time even walking after the shot.  And based upon how I feel now, I don't think it helped.  I still can't sit and have all the same pain.  And to add insult to injury I have pulled my left tricep and have shin splints.  

After my shot on Wednesday I didn't feel very well.  I was in the field on Thursday and by then I was really miserable. Headache, nauseated, weak, confused.  I took my blood pressure when I got home and it was high. Not as high as before but still higher than it should be.  I made an appointment with the doctor for Friday.

Thursday brought sadness to my side of the family. My half sister, Dorina, lost her husband, Ralf, to cancer. He has been fighting for many years but finally lost his battle.  They live in Germany and the distance is difficult.  I want to be there and I know my dad does too but it's just too far and hard.  I so wish I could be there to love her in person.

Sidney was in a singing contest where she sang a solo and ensemble for a judge at school on Thursday.  It is the culmination of the year in choir.  She sang "The Song that Nature Sings" for her solo and "All Night, All Day" with three other classmates for her ensemble.  She got a superior, the highest rating, for both performances.  That at least made Thursday a little better. 

I went to the doctor Friday and the doctor said he thought I had a migraine.  He gave me some migraine medicine and I took that.  I did feel better Saturday but no where near my normal self.  I still don't feel like I am back to normal but the headache is under control.  I go back to the doctor Monday. 

Mother's Day was more or less another day.  I read in church and then we were planning to go to Fiesta Texas.  The weather was a bit too cold and wet so I just went over to some friends for a while.  Sidney was a touch sassy in the afternoon.  I guess she forgot it was my day.....

We started tryouts for new swim teams on Tuesday.  We started with the Wave which meets at UTSA.  The tryout was fine but the pool is only so so.  Wednesday we tried Alamo Area Aquatic Association at the Northside Aquatic Complex.  It's a really nice pool.  Both pools are less than 10 minutes from home.  Sidney liked the AAAA coach right away.  The last team we tried was Lifetime.  After the practice we knew that wasn't the team for us.  And after deliberations and discussions we settled on AAAA.  I am really proud of Sidney for being open minded and mature about the change. It wasn't what we wanted to do and it wasn't easy.  AAAA is a really big team and we have always competed against them.  But we think it is the best team to get her ready for high school which is what we need.  She'll practice Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 7.  I had to move piano but we'll sort the new schedule.  It also seems several other former sharks are moving to AAAA at various pools.

Friday afternoon was fun. Several of us at work volunteered for 2 hours at a place called Pets Alive. It is a shelter in town that is trying to get San Antonio to be a no kill city.  They have succeeded with cats but aren't there yet with dogs.  We spent the two hours taking the dogs for walks.  They aren't the easiest dogs to walk. I am actually sore from holding onto my dogs.  It was interesting that most of the dogs are dark colored and male. They are also large.  They have had some dogs for a year or more trying to find them a home.  They need volunteers to walk dogs, play with them and socialize them. All of those things make them more adoptable.  I think Sidney and I will commit to a day a month now that we aren't swimming on Saturdays for a while.  

Sidney spent most of Saturday singing in something called Together we Sing.  Kids from all of the middle schools in Northside ISD, over a dozen schools, participate in a Disney themed performance.  They learn the songs ahead of time and learn the choreography on Saturday.  I spent all day taking her to and from.  160 miles with all of the round trips.  Love my car but seriously.  They performed in the evening for a packed house and it was surprisingly fun and impressive.  There must have been a thousand 6th through 8th graders there. They did a really nice job. 

In the middle of running her back and forth I took the dog to the vet for some follow up blood work after her annual visit in April.  She had some abnormal blood work on her annual visit.  I didn't realize how bad her blood work was.  She isn't acting sick but all of her white blood cell values and her platelets are really low.  The vet thinks she might have acquired a tick borne disease, possibly before we got her.  I have never seen a tick on her and she has been treated since we got her.  But she spent her early life on the street.  We are getting a set of tests to see if it is a tick borne disease and we started a month of antibiotics.  I am not going to lie that I am worried.  She came to us just two days before Kirk's accident and we need her.... 

I am typing most of this while sitting at a swim meet on Sunday.  We were able to still get in the meet as unattached.  Sidney warmed up with her new coach, Coach Bahr.  I can tell she has been out of the water a while.  Times aren't great and form isn't either.  She hasn't swam in three weeks. But the experience is valuable and she gets to see some of the former sharks.  And it appears she is already in love with her new coach.  I have one of the most sociable children on earth. 

Sidney has a singing recital on Monday, and we start with the new team hopefully on Tuesday if everything gets processed.  Next Saturday we will be in San Marcos for another piano competition.  Because she got a superior during her competition here she can go to this State level competition.  It will be a good experience. 

Busy

Coming out of River Walk Day 1

Has anyone tried to grow a Venus fly trap from seed? It is harder than keeping a fish or parakeet.  First you have to read the directions....otherwise it will be a fail (and it still might be).  Step one, put the two tiny little seeds (think flea size) in their bag into ice water for 24 hours.  Step two, put the tiny little seeds into the refrigerator for three weeks.  Step three, soak peat moss in water and mix with sand.  Step four, put mix into tiny little pot and and put seeds into mix (no directions on how deep to put them in the dirt).  Step five, put the whole thing into a Ziploc bag and put it in a sunny place.  Wait six more weeks and maybe you will get a baby fly trap.  Maybe not.... We are two weeks into the wait.  It will take two more years of loving care (the right light, water, food and other care) for have a mature fly trap.... Really

Barbed Wire Day 1

We have had a ridiculous amount of rain.  Not as much as our Houston friends who have really gotten wet.  Unfortunately parts of San Antonio have been hit by serious hail.  The biggest we had at the house was marble size.  Many friends in San Antonio had much larger, up to softball size.  A lot of damaged cars, roofs and windows around.  All of the big insurance companies have set up large claim centers in the parking lots of stores and parks to manage all of the claims.  Supposedly the most costly hail storm in San Antonio ever.  All of our pool cars at work received some level of damage.  Entire lots of new cars were damaged... It has been bad.  Sidney's pool was closed for a few days because of holes in the sky lights.

Dunk Wall Day 1 - NOT HAPPY

A funny though.  In the middle of one of the storms we saw "fan bird".  There was a small song bird on the ceiling fan blade outside on the porch.  The fan was turning and so was bird.  He was going backwards but apparently was content.  He hung out there for at least five minutes.  It was pretty funny.






I suffered through my 40th birthday.  I really didn't intend to have a bad day but it wasn't a very nice day.  Not because of my friends of course.  They all loved me through it.  But stress, stuff at work, and fatigue all contributed to a rather blah day.  But Sidney got me the BEST GIFT EVER... The rainbow ball.  Several months ago there was a small rainbow colored ball on the other side of the neighborhood in a yard.  It was there several days and one day it disappeared.  Every day that I walked Stormy, I would see the ball and comment to Sidney how much I loved it.  Sidney bought be one for my birthday.  It's a bigger one, the size of a beach ball and I love it.  We have been playing with it a lot.  One day we played with it in front and she overshot me on a throw.  Down the street it went, and I mean really down the street.  We live on a generous hill and it rolled 10 houses down to the bottom.  With me chasing after it.  I gave up after two or three houses and walked.  It was hopeless.  It was funny.

Background - trying to figure out how to get out of this

So my mid-life crisis was two Spartan Races, in two days.  The first race was 8.5 miles with 29 obstacles and called the Super.  The second race was 5.5 miles with 24 obstacles and called the Sprint.  I have never done one before.  The course was beautiful, in the hill country northwest of Austin.  It was also challenging with some good running spots and some tougher hiking spots.  The list of obstacles that I can remember, in no particular order were, Over-Under-Through, hurdles (6 feet off the ground), a variety of walls with heights from 5 feet to 15 feet, two varieties of monkey bars (made of the biggest bars with widest gaps ever), barbed wire crawl, several net and A-frame climbs, atlas carry (carry a big rock), sandbag carry, bucket of rocks carry (really hard), mud pits, muddy water pits, culverts, tire flip, javelin, inverted wall, slip wall, rope climb, bridge, hoist, drag a sled of rocks, dunk wall, and fire jump.  And I am forgetting at least two or three.

Love from Sidney on Day 1

A beautiful area

I also had a few lovely fails.  The first was on the monkey bars.  I love monkey bars so I was excited. Until I saw these.  The bars were 2 inch pipe and the gaps between the bars were much wider than my wingspan.  I couldn't keep a grip and I couldn't swing far enough to not fall off.  And when I did fall off, I backpedalled into the hay bales used to get on the bars and proceeded to do a perfect (OK not really) back somersault.  The other two fails were your basic falls on the trail.  Skinned up my knees and elbows.  The skinned up knees didn't help when it was time to crawl.




Easiest - Barbed wire and culverts (really, I am small).  Tire flip and some of the smaller walls as well as all the A-frames and nets were pretty easy.  The Atlas carry and sandbag carry were pretty easy too.  The javelin should be easy but it has nearly the highest fail rate.  You have to get the javelin into the hay bale and it has to stay.  The mud and water weren't fun, but they were doable.

2/3 of the Trifecta

Hardest - Dunk wall as far as fear factor.  It was all I could do to talk myself under that wall in the muddy water.  All of you, including your head, have to go under.  Terrifying for me.  Physically the bucket carry and hoist were the hardest.  The fire jump is also more nerve wracking than I expected.  Mostly because of the big muddy water feature you jump into.  But it's the last obstacle... So the reward, the finisher's medal, is at the end.



The two races were one of the harder things I have done.  They weren't terribly long like riding the bike for hours for the MS150 but they were whole body and mind challenging.  I have never been as sore before, even with all the crazy things I have done.

I signed up for the third race in the series, the Beast, which will be October 29.  The Beast is 14+ miles with 35 obstacles and will be near Dallas.  I figure I am 2/3 of the way to the Trifecta by number of races.  I have 2/3 of the three piece medal set you can get in a year.  I am half way by distance as the two races combined were 14 miles.  I am way over half way on obstacles.  I did 53 obstacles in the two races.  Two races in two days was tough....Fortunately the second day I had my friend to help push me along.  I also didn't crash on the second day and I made it over several more obstacles without help.  And my friend and I both made the Javelin.  We couldn't believe it.  No one around us made it.  I skipped for a little while I was so excited.  I tried a different strategy on the barbed wire.   I tried rolling.  That was fine except I got so dizzy I couldn't stop and almost crashed into a pole.  Then I had to get un-dizzy.

Sidney did the 1 mile kids race.  She had a blast.  They had mud, logs, walls, A-frames, ramps, cargo net, crawl under a net, and they carried a big metal pole.  She is excited to try another one when we go to Dallas.

On day 1, for the Super, I was 34th of 201 40-45 year old females, 265 of 1697 females overall, and 1524 of 5535 people overall.  On day 2, for the Sprint, I was 61st of 221 40-45 year old females, 515 of 1951 females, and 1727 of 4600 overall.  I went into this worried I was going to die, or be last.

River Walk Day 2

Sidney volunteered to bring pond water to school for the pond water lab.  We like to go onto the golf course via jumping over our back fence, climbing down the stone wall, and getting through the trees. I am not sure if that is trespassing or not.... anyway there is a pond down the fairway that she likes to go to.  So we went down and got a liter of pond water, silt and three tadpoles (and a few snails).  I caught the tadpoles for her and I got the A+ mommy award that day.  The tadpoles are hanging out in science class in an aquarium the teacher has so they can grow into little frogs.  It was actually a lot of fun.

We had a minor cat problem.  I let her out one evening and kind of forgot about her... I remembered right before we went to bed.  She had escaped and was in the front of the neighbors house.  Through much stress, chasing, bribing, growling, hissing and scratching she was finally caught and brought back home.  She is only supposed to be on the back porch but her bird TV shut off when the sun went down so she escaped to find trouble.  And she had already eaten dinner so she wasn't food motivated. I was pretty terrified for a while and feel terrible guilty.

Dunk wall day 2

We had another round of hail last Monday.  We were on our way to piano when it started.  I got under an overpass and waited.  Glad I did.  When we got to the piano studio, there was really big hail on the ground.  Golf ball size and slightly bigger.  I saw several cars with broken windows.  I would have been pretty upset to have my new car damaged.  I am not sure yet if we have made it through hail season.  I sure watch the weather like a hawk.

The last note... We have a rat.  I don't mean a real rat (like the one in our attic) but a squirrel who for now is named Rat.  Said squirrel has taken many of Sidney's tomatoes and now is proceeding to eat into my storage box on the back patio.  The bird food is in there but it is in another container too.  He didn't try this last year. Rat.

Proud Mom, Bad Squirrel

Sidney swam in her first long course meet this weekend.  She swam two events Saturday and three today.  The meet was at the pool where we swim which is a really nice pool with a 50 meter pool (it's actually about 75 meters long).  The meet was hosted by the biggest swim club in San Antonio, the Alamo Area Aquatic Association.  They didn't bother to inform us of the meet but we found out anyway and got in.  We are but a tiny team.  AAAA had 300 kids a at the meet, we had 24.  But Sidney had the best phrase, #getoutofmyhouse.  Getting into the meet was much harder than it should have been and due to a comedy or errors yesterday, we arrived at 6 for a 6:30 am warm up.  But we didn't swim until almost 2 pm.  And we swam with the 13 and older kids rather than the 12 and under kids.  Somehow the meet organizer put all but three of our 12 and under kids with the 13 and overs in the afternoon.  We didn't know until we got there.  It was such a long day.....

Saturday Events

Sidney swam 100 back and 50 fly Saturday.  She cut 45 seconds off the 100 back and 10 off the 50 fly.  Today brought more of the same with big gains in the 50 and 100 free and 50 back.  And she got her B time in the 50 back.  I have never seen her swim so hard.  Hence the proud mom.  The whole team did really great today.  Another on of the best parts was watching the bigs (that is what we call the 13 and ups) walk beside Clark, the smallest team member and youngest at age 6, during his 100 freestyles.  All of them were walking beside him cheering him on.  It made his parents and the sappier mom's like me cry.  I will also admit I cried when Sidney got her B time.  She has worked really hard and wanted it badly.  And I am sad that her daddy isn't there with us to see and understand what and who his daughter is becoming.  These big accomplishments make me miss his presence for her....

Coach and Motivational Speech

On a lighter note, for me anyway, the bad squirrel.  We came home yesterday and there were the small remains of a green tomato on the porch.  I planted two tomato plants for Sidney in a trough on the porch.  There were 4 large green ones and 10 little ones.  Half are gone.  Evidence points to bad squirrel.  I put net around the plants today.  We will see if that helps.







The neighbors brought over some strawberries this afternoon from the strawberry festival south of San Antonio.  They are nearly as good as Norway's strawberries.  The best we have had in a long time.  We might at ourselves sick.

We are looking forward to sleeping to normal time tomorrow.  It's bad when you have to go back to work to recover from the weekend.

I am making plans for Sidney's summer.  So far there is a week at Mo Ranch and a week with the junior high kids from Katy.  There is also a 3 day bug camp, a week of synchronized swimming lessons, and a week of fencing.  We will be in Florida for a week and Peru for a week.  She will be a busy bee...

A Scare

We had a scare last week from Kirk.  Mary Anne and the residents had gone out to dinner.  Kirk collapsed on the way into the house and Mary Anne thought he was having a stroke.  She supported him as he went to the ground and they got him to the couch.  He almost did it again when the ambulance came but they got him over to the ER.  They did a handful of tests and accidentally discovered the problem.  When he stood up, his blood pressure dropped.

Dinosaur Tracks

That is at least something we can deal with and after several hours of observation he was discharged.  The doctors will see if they can adjust his blood pressure medications to control the lows a little better.  He also still needs a few adjustments on his mood medications.  He was humming along pretty good and then had a small set back.  This time was more just a repetitive behavior and he couldn't be re-directed but it wasn't as upsetting.















He has made Sidney a few things (with Mary Anne's help).  He made her a necklace some time ago and she wore it constantly until now it needs to be re-strung.  He made the small bracelet that is pictured below.  These are small things she cherishes as it is all she has of her dad on a daily basis.








We had a nice three day Easter weekend.  We went on a hike on Friday morning to the Dinosaur tracks at Government canyon.  Government Canyon is maybe 20 minutes from the house and has 40 great miles of hiking year round with an additional 20 miles on protected land in the winter months.  We got to the tracks but they were full of water an algae.  We did see amazing wild flowers and all the bees and butterflies that go with them.  It is about 5 miles round trip to the tracks but we added on about 3 miles by coming back a different way.  We also happened upon this beautiful moss covered tree and these raccoon tracks.  We were happily exhausted and hungry when we were done.

Cool Spider web

We met a friend for lunch and went to the store and then relaxed at home the rest of Friday.  Saturday brought the usual swimming and a run for me.  We stopped to visit Kirk and stopped to get mulch on the way home.  I had an appointment to get the windows cleaned on the house and that was a worthy investment.  They look so nice and make me very happy.  I made a nice dinner and we had another quiet evening.

Coon Tracks

Sunday was Easter of course and we went to church after a nice breakfast of waffles.  Then we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas which is about 10 minutes away.  We met friends and friends of friends over there and had a wonderful first visit.  I got us season passes in case anyone wants to "make" us go again.....

Sidney isn't a roller coaster fan but I am determined to work her through at least trying a new one each time (I am not a fan either but....)  Her favorite rides involve getting wet.  This usually goes badly for the adults as I spent the afternoon drip drying.  She is in the front row on the ride pictured, second from the right.  The friends are in the row with her and one is in the row behind.






We had another nice dinner and some quiet time again before kicking into this week.  It is a busy week with normal stuff plus the dentist and a choir event.

I'll will continue to try to keep up with this better.

Delinquent

That word describes me about the blog.  I am very sorry I haven't been keeping it up.  And now I have to do some catching up.

I made an attempt to get a sore left hip in working order.  I have been limping around for a while and have gotten to a point where I can't sit and sometimes can't run.  That's the end of the point I can handle before I needed to find out what was going on.  Fortunately it is nothing serious.  Unfortunately there is not much I can do to relieve what is going on.  There is some tendentious in the tendon that connects the hamstring to the bone.  You sit on that tendon and of course it is a major leg mover.  I am back to taking an anti-inflammatory again and I am thinking about trying the cortisone shot for some relief.  It is pretty tolerable most of the time but has its moments.

I picked up some large potted plants from a friend.  They are two palms and sit on the back porch now.  She couldn't move them when she went to Houston.  The pots are maybe 20 inches in diameter. They look lovely on my porch.  It was comedy to get them though.  I stopped in the work truck on my way back from the field.  They barely fit in the back where the back seat would be (they only fit because I have my seat so far up....)  I got them to the office thinking I could take them home in my car.  Wrong.  They were much too tall.  They sat in my office for a week before a friend helped me get them home in his truck.  A week or so later I also stopped and got a big metal trough from the same friend.  That is also on the porch and has some herbs and two tomato plants in it.  I am excited to see how they do.

Sidney had a well child check up in mid-February.   Besides being a frustrating experience because the staff was rude and we didn't see the doctor until an hour and a half past our scheduled time, Sidney is well but skinny.  She is the 30th percentile on height but the 3rd percentile on weight.  I really do feed her.  Everything I can that is high fat.

A little poster Sidney made for me

After the appointment we headed for Houston for the Valentines Day weekend.  We stayed in town with old Texas City Refinery friends.  Sidney and I went over to see Cirque du Soleil at the Toyota Center.  The show we saw was called Taruk and it was based upon Avatar.  The show was more dramatic than the other shows we have seen and less acrobatic.  The story was about a boy and his adopted brother and their quest to save the Tree of Life on Pandora.  The Tree of Life is a major part of their culture and connects all the tribes.  Along the way they also meet a girl who helps them collect the five sacred items.  Ultimately to save the Tree someone must ride the great Taruk (leonoptryx).  We had not seen Avatar so we didn't understand everything we saw until we watched Avatar at home the next weekend.  Then we really got it and the stories are similar but different and were in different time periods.  The movie is beautiful and so was the Cirque.  We also got to go to our old Katy church and see our friends from there.  It was a pleasant weekend where I did not have to be responsible.

Kirk has been in and out of the hospital a few more times.  Still issues with behavior because of medication changes.  We are trying to work it out and at least there is less stress for Sidney and I because we know he is being taken care of and that the VA knows what he needs.   Between the episodes though he does seem content.  Based on some of his behaviors we are going to back off on the day program to maybe once or twice per week.  We think he is getting over tired and over stimulated.

Work has been work.  I am still adjusting to all the changes late last year and the first few months of the year are hard on my team.  We have a lot of regulatory reports due before the end of the quarter and there were visits by VPs of the company and performance reviews.  February was really tough.  I have a new team member though and she has relieved so much of the pressure I was under by trying to do my job and two others.  I have also been able to get out to our field locations a bit more with both her help and with Sidney continuing to become more mature.

Sidney has picked her classes for 7th grade.  She will take three Pre-AP courses, a life sciences class and something called AVID.  The life sciences class is about all the things you need to know to run a house and have an adult life.  AVID is a college preparatory course that will be a significant amount of work but hopefully develop all the skills needed to get into and succeed in college.  She will be a busy girl next year and we are still working on strategies to help her manage her time.

I made this little owl nightlight for Sidney.  There was a function for the ladies of the church to paint pottery and go to dinner.  It was very nice and Sidney loved the little owl.

This past week was spring break.  In past years we have traveled but this year we decided to stay home.  Sidney took a class through the Ag Extension office for four days.  They learned about plants, germs, a variety of animals and animal husbandry.  She had a great time and I only worked half days. I dropped her off at 8:45 and worked from 9 until 2:15.  I picked her up after that and we did some stuff around the house or took care of other business.  I refinished most of the outdoor furniture, made great meals every night, got some more fish for the fist tank and just generally had time... Sidney didn't have swimming and had only a small amount of homework so we were able to relax on the porch every night.  We also got the pets in for their annual checkups.  Man is that expensive.  I also fixed another sprinkler though it was a comedy of errors.  Flying sprinkler parts, squirting mud and only a little digging.  But I did it.  And we are going into the next week not stressed out (until Monday...)

Before Teak Oil (right) and after

We have started to make summer and later plans.  Sidney will go to camp the first week of summer and a couple of her friends are going also.  She will help with the kids coming from Katy to San Antonio to work for Blue Print Ministries the second week.  We will go to Florida for July 4th and to Peru in early August.  I am on call for Christmas so we won't be going anywhere then but we did book a cruise to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving.  We will be going with the friends we stayed with in Houston a few weeks ago.  And we said yes to an invitation from another friend to join her for a cruise to Antarctica in December 2017.  I can't believe it we are going to get my last continent and Sidney's 6th.  She will miss a good bit of school but I think this will be worth it.

Spring Break Camp

Sidney and I are still trying to learn to live our life around the new dad.  We still deeply grieve the loss of the old one and worry about this new one.  The grief is maybe a little less raw now and we are learning we can take care of ourselves.  Sidney and I try to support each other and understand when one of us really hurts.  Sidney talks a bit more about it now although she doesn't talk much still.  I'll take what I can get.  I also know she is getting help from the school counselor.  We are also trying to live our lives.  It never seems fair that we are still doing things and living our lives and his has stopped.  The only condolence is that he doesn't know.  Somehow we have to learn to live this new life and to be loving, faithful, patient and thankful.

I always miss something on the blog. I need to start keeping better notes.