Poor Caleb! Hope he feels better.
The weekend flew by. Beautiful weather. We've been lucky with these temps.
On my tablet. Keyboard horrible to use. More tomorrow.

Night.
Jenny

how exciting to have all your chicks home Jenny! Enjoy. Our weather is still quite good. It's supposed to be changing - but how can I complain when it is mid-November and I am still wearing capri's and a sweatshirt. Good luck today.

we had choir last night instead of the normal Wednesday - and it was good I thought - I don't know if it just because it was a day earlier just didn't feel as worn out for it - Caleb seems better - yesterday I was informed he was going hunting with Bernie this weekend - but I just got a text for a sleepover - we'll see what he chooses. Zach and I have been butting heads and attitudes the last few days. He has let his Bio grade slip dangerously close to a "C" and we went at. I gave him the stink eye and the "you gave me your word you wouldn't have zeros this quarter and keep it at a high B" - he gave me the "you're being unreasonable and why isn't a B good enough" - feh - I hate fighting with him. He's so smart - and I just want him to use his gifts - including his brain - and he is the one who chose the advanced class - grrrrrr - I am NOT going to miss this part of parenting

I wish it was Friday! I'm tired. Long day yesterday and today. My teacher observation went fine. The little girl did much better than I thought she would considering she hadn't seen me in 4-5 weeks. She likes to control situations and does so with her behavior. She will be 3 in February. My whole week is toddlers and preschoolers with interesting personalities. Some days are so fun and others are a challenge. All the kids are usually in the same mood so I can have a day with challenges or a day that is fun. My supervisors parting comment was "you did a good job". I meet with her Monday for a post observation meeting.

The 40's hit today. Evening temps are much cooler, 20's and 30's. I'm wearing my wool coat to work now. It is suppose to get to be close to 60. We will have to finish up outside for sure.

David and Chantrelle have so much energy! Puts me to shame! They are in the kitchen making pumpkin pies from scratch for Saturday's Thanksgiving meal. I've never made a pumpkin pie from scratch. Chantrelle is using pie pumpkins for the filling.

I am in a crabby mood so don't have the energy to write too much. Thursdays are tough at work and today was particularly annoying. Russ and I went and picked up our free range turkey tonight and then got a bite to eat. Just got home and I'm ready to fall asleep and it's not even 8pm.

Marla-hang in there with Zach. I can guarantee you are in the hard years right now but it will get better in a few years. I don't miss the teen years at all! I'm so glad my boys have grown up and are done with public school. They came out the other side just fine and I'm very proud of who they are. They also admit where they screwed up and have regrets. Kids just have to figure it out the hard way sometimes.

Well have a nice evening. I'm going to read and fall asleep.

Jenny

.....and on another interesting self perspective note - the next day Zach apologized for being a 'bech' of course my jaw dropped b/c that's now how I have ever talked to him and he's like, "what? that what I was acting like." So a good night following the bad - and then another unpleasant night last night. "I'm watching this show." No, the tv's going off. Meh

Shirley you are getting very organized. I wish you could help me sort closets, boxes, etc. One of those tasks I can't stand to do. Isaac is so big! Glad you were able to spend some time with him. I hope your last sailing dinner was fun!

Marla- I use to cry a lot when the boys were middle school and high school teens! Many times I felt like I was the worst mother ever. We all survived those times but it was a challenge during those years. Nice that Zach apologized. Hormones in boys at that age are raging too. He doesn't want to act like he does at times but it's hard to stop. Good sign that he knew he was not acting appropriately

Today is beautiful, sunny, blue skies and high 50's to 60. I sat in the hot tub this morning for a bit and it felt so good. Nice and relaxing to look out on the pond behind our house as I soaked in a warm tub

David and Chantrelle are packing up and finishing laundry. They will go to David's Dad's house today to visit, stay the night, and ride to the airport with him tomorrow morning. He flies to Boston for work and they will use his car during the day until they need to be at airport at 2pm for check in. They start their journey to Australia tomorrow. With all that is going on in the world I'm nervous about their travels. They will be in Brisbane for a month and then on to New Zealand. They return here February 3rd.

Rory just left to go back to school. We loaded him up with food. I made him manicotti and froze it. We sent him with a roast for his crockpot, the manicotti, leftover Thanksgiving dinner, and a piece of pumpkin pie.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was yesterday. Russ cooked enough to feed a small army. We divvied up leftovers between the kids, which made them happy. It was a nice afternoon and evening yesterday. We relaxed and chatted about all sorts of topics. It's interesting to see their opinions on things as young men and women. You will love this stage, Marla! L is heading into it with Colin and Shirley you have been in it for awhile with your daughters.

Well I should offer to help carry stuff out to the van for David and Chantrelle. They have so much stuff! I can't wait to clean my house and get organized (especially clean out fridge), but I will miss having David home. He's been her for over 2 months due to his broken collar bone and surgery. His sling comes off this week and the doctor said he is doing fine. Time will tell what his mobility will be.

Have a wonderful day!
Jenny

Well, my senior played his last high school game Friday night. I had a senior parent meeting tonight. We order invitations and cap/gown tomorrow night and the first basketball game of the season on Tuesday night. Too busy to cry over it!! Honestly, I am so relieved we survived 4 years of difficult playing with a broken hand. Whew!!

I'm a bit overwhelmed with my ball planning. Costumes are getting wrapped up and pictures will be taken the Friday after Thanksgiving. So much left to do and time just keeps marching on.

I haven't been for a run since my spill and I kind of miss it. I'll have to dust off the kettle bell or something. I'm very pleased with my weight and even more happy that I haven't let it creep up. It's a battle though! I do have saggy, saggy skin. Will exercise firm it up or is it too late?

Jenny, so glad you had your family together. I will pray for David and their travels. Scary times indeed.

What a beautiful baby, Shirley. He's getting so big.

Oh, Marla. I have a daughter that gives me a run for my money. Neither of us seen to do anything right for the other. My skin crawls when I open my mouth and my mother comes out. Lots and lots of tears from both of us. This too shall pass.

Ang, sounds like you are a smart and strong woman. Being friends is far better than being in a wrong relationship.

Sunday night chores are calling. Have a great week!

Brrrrrr! Temps in the 30's today with snow falling but not sticking! Northern MN got snow. Not ready for this! Very windy out too, 30mph and gusting.

Busy evenings this week. I've spent two evenings on conference calls for my state association committee. We just wrapped up with call #2 for the week. We are picking the presenters and figuring out the schedule of where everyone presents. Only 3 of us checked in on line so it made it easier to figure out without too many opinions stalling the process.

I actually wore my down jacket and gloves today. Good thing since one of my families was outside playing when I arrived and we stood out in the yard for awhile breaking up ice in the planters and flying a kite. The boys love to explore and hit things with sticks.

My turbo trainer arrived in a huge box! Haven't opened it yet and not sure why the box is so huge except the floor mat is with it. I'll check it out this weekend when time to put together.

Well I need some time to relax and then go to bed. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. I have my post observation meeting with my supervisor tomorrow regarding my evaluation.

Night!
Jenny

My post observation meeting went fine. My supervisor wanted to cancel since it was close to her lunch time, I think, saying that I didn't need a followup meeting since I did so well. I made her meet with me to get feedback and hear what she observed. Whatever...

TGIF ladies! So glad. I'm going home to sit in the hot tub on this cold day. It will be invigorating!

Have a nice evening.

Jenny

We went out for dinner last night to a Latino restaurant with friends. They want to try more ethnic foods. We enjoyed the evening. We ate their special guacamole they make at your table. I also had a chicken mole with rice and charro beans.

I used my turbo trainer this morning. I did 20 minutes on gears 5 and 6 (low). Dripping sweat! I will work up to 30-45 minutes using interval speeds fast to slow, etc.

Shirley- I need to look up meditation vs. TM. We have a meditation center that offers beginner classes just a few blocks from us.

Cold, 20's, today. Off to let dogs run at dog park.

Jenny

Marla, wtg with the treadmill. Your whole family is using it? Riding my bike inside will help get strength back in my legs. I'll add in hand weights for upper body.

Shirley is meditation class expensive? When I retire and have hours in my day I will check it out.

The news is full of so many awful things happening in the world. ISIS is scary. Why can't everyone respect each other'so differences?

5:30, showered and in my jammies under a fuzzy blanket. Cold! So itchy too!

Have fun in MI Shirley. I need to make a list for ChristMas shopping.

More tomorrow.
Jenny

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family time.

Jenny

Ok , so I read a lot of the posts I missed and I thought I'd answer some of your questions about Eiko and I .
I'll start with my injuries . but first let me put a disclaimer on here that for some reason I couldn't stop typing and the whole story is here ok?

My knees were injured somewhat but it's bone bruising and deep tissue bruising . Believe it or not they still hurt .
I broke a vertebrae in my back and now have an unstable back that had caused a bulging disk . my arm was full of glass but that in itself was not that bad in comparison .

Eiko had such bad fractures to her face that she had to have facial reconstructive surgery and was on a ventilator for two days ,she broke all the bones in her face . She was asleep in the back seat with her seat belt on thank goodness . she was laying down with her head in the middle on a pillow and the middle console was pushed back into her .

the vehicle folded around me and I felt cushioned in the impact it literally folded around me .

Anyhow I feel good about telling you guys so I hope you are ready to hear about it ...I thought I would not talk about it and just answer questions but nope it wants to come out .

SO we were having a great time off together and John had bought me roses when I got home he only did that once before and that was the Monday after we met .
He had a birthday party planned for me when I got home actually two parties on the same day ( he was laying it on a bit thick hahaha)

great week followed by 4 days at the cabin with Jazmine his daughter and the grandbaby Jayse . Only one full day alone but it was good . We discussed the argument and he laughed out loud when I told him I was afraid he was going to leave me . He said he loved me so much and can't imagine why I even entertained that idea in the first place. any how great times were had all the way up until the accident
The day of the accident I knew he planned on leaving at 10 am ... I woke up and brought Patrick to the airport to do some work on the slope and then when I got back home at ten John asked me if I was packed and he smiled his cute smile because he knew me ,no I was not . and I ran upstairs to pack and then we left ,put air in the camper tire and were off . we had a few conversations in the last 45 minutes that were so dang what the heck is the word that I'm looking for it's like what was going to happen was in every conversation we were having .... I told him about my coworkers husband ( who is also his client ) I told him that she just told me her husband was dying and had maybe 3 months to live and he said he knew that . I then said at least she gets to say goodbye and he said yes, but she's going to be saying goodbye for three months -every day she's going to wake up wondering if it's going to be today . and then he said he didn't think that's how he wanted to go. He wanted to go quickly - done . and 20 minutes later we wrecked .
But 5 minutes before the wreck he told me that we were going to have an amazing weekend in Seward - look at all the sunshine we were bringing with us I was looking at it all and enjoying the beautiful day ....
when he said (in a low voice that I don't think I ever heard come out of his mouth ) Oh God.... I looked forward to try to see the danger and I looked just in time to see the bus hitting the back of a camper from behind going North ( we were going south )

and then the unthinkable happened ...the bus just came in our lane coming toward us , John turned the wheel to the right and all I saw at that moment was the railing from a bridge that we were about to hit and them BOOM the bus hit us .Can you believe it ? A tour bus hit us !

I couldn't open the door ...John wasn't waking up ...and Eiko was crying or whimpering quietly in the back seat ....I couldn't understand how to undo my seat belt .Then some man opened my door and pulled me out I layed down on the ground ,dizzy , he then went back for Eiko and layed her down and I started screaming for him to get my husband . Eiko was making a gurgling noise and I asked her if she could breath and she said she was having trouble but she was talking funny so I schooched to here as good as I could and sat her up from behind her - my chest was hurting because I have costo chondritis sp ( the ribs are pulling away from the sternum) from the accident - anyhow I sit her up bracing her from behind and then everyone shows up - nurse EMT's all sorts of people helping and they couldn't get John out of the truck for so long ... it was so long and they would let me near him ... I think that's why they put me in the ambulance when they did - they didn't want to tell me in front of everyone and that's when I found out my back was hurt - I didn't know until they put me on the stretcher .
Then I got to the hospital and at about 11 pm I got to see Eiko after her surgery on her stomach - he intestines were kind of jumbled around and they straightened them out . She was on a ventilator and I fainted ... hahaha I'm a nurse and I fainted .

anyhow .thus began my life without John - I didn't know who I was anymore
I didn't know how to pay the bills anymore
I didn't want to sleep alone
I didn't know what to do
But he had left me a list of to do items of course

and he had talked to me about this so many times and I loved his smile when he did because he knew I was uncomfortable talking about it .He helped me through it , and still is.
I'll be ok ,I'll just be stronger because he's not here to be strong for me . He used to tell me that ... We had a good marriage despite our only real argument because he did something stupid hahaha

I missed you guys so much and the feelings I feel when I write to you all are so healing for me.

Amy