I spent all morning and part of the afternoon outside grading science journals. It made this monthly task oh so much nicer. And I drank some decaf coffee.
10-21-16
It was a cold morning, and one of my students brought her tiger outfit so I put it on to stay warm. It was like being a 2 year old in a onesie!
10-20-16
Today I worked at a local middle school with every single class from 5th - 8th grade on our Solar ArtBots. Each class had 30 minutes to build a working bot.
They did it!
10-16-16
I'm working on a baby blanket for a former student who is pregnant with a boy. I hope I finish in time. I'm only getting about 2 rows a day...
Sakura sent me this picture of herself and Jes when she went to Denver to visit. My sister and my daughter.....
10-15-16
Went for a walk without sunglasses on purpose just to get as much sun in my eyes as possible. Great walk/run with lots of stamina.
The porch is cute, hu? Much better. I'm shopping for an outdoor rug or runner and plan to re-finish the teak chairs/table.
10-13-16
Bought some house numbers to do something with, and this funky find.
Then picked up my pottery from the studio. It was so much fun being back there.
Dan and I went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Now, that was a treat.
10-8-16
LACA and I were on a walk and noticed that the water in the museum pond is SO low, that a log or something is exposed and the geese are climbing up on it.
The bunnies need a bath.
10-4-16
More photos from the park on my walks. Fall is in the air-- it finally felt like fall today.
10-3-16
Photo taken by JES while they were on a hike in Colorado.
I have to pretend he is still here-- to pretend he is in his room on his computer, or pretend he is at his apartment-- just to not realize the intense reality that he is far far away, and will be going farther, to Oregon, for a job.
How did my great great grandparents Joshua Magidson and Naomi Jachad, of Osveya Belarus deal with their only daughter Ester Gittel (Gussie) getting on a boat for America when she was 18, never to be seen again? Then a son left... then another... then two more went to Latvia, and another to Russia... then the wars?
Perspective. Keep it in perspective, Chrissy.
10-2-16
I have lost 20 pounds this year.
Whether that's due to:
1. walking
2. my TSH being basically zero for most of the year
3. the epilepsy drug
or
4. my diet,
I do not know.
10-1-16
I go for a walk every Saturday morning with my friend from high school, LACA. She loves capturing inspiring moments with her camera too.... and it's always good for me to listen to her stories and her wisdom. She is a gentle soul.
9-30-16
Last day of the month. My wish and prayer for this fall-winter season is good health. I will be using my light box to keep the blues away, walking in the mornings for exercise and doses of nature, and mostly staying on my diet to avoid bad foods, especially sugar. Face pain is always there, but manageable. I'm busy with work and thinking of projects to do. One is to redecorate the side porch. Photos below. Suggestions?
9-25-16
One little cotton seed made it this year, producing one little cotton flower and one little cotton boll.
Little survivor of the drought.
9-21-16
My mom cut down two trees in her back yard. We are not happy.
We love trees.
I put sticks all around this baby ginkgo to tell the men not to destroy it. They did anyway.
9-19-16
This is growing in my small little anchialine shrimp tank. I don't know what it is and must look at a sample under the microscope.
9-17-16
Update on the bathroom renovation.
Dan has framed in the shower and hooked up a lot of plumbing.
Dan has framed in the shower and hooked up a lot of plumbing.
Below is the wall where the sink will be.
9-16-16
Today I spent 10 hours at a research conference on campus. I spoke at two small meetings and presented this poster in the afternoon. I heard many speeches, and got to meet people I wouldn't ordinarily meet. The point I'm trying to make is that I spent TEN hours doing something active and social and I felt AOK.
9-6-16
They made it out of the wilderness! Squirt just sent me a little text message--- they are fine.
9-5-16
Today was better. I decided to lose myself in something, and finished a project I'd been working on for months. No, not the one in the picture, but I did finish that one also. I finished a book I'd written (it's only 63 pages) about finding my relatives this year. I published it as a magazine through blurb.com and also as an e-book.
I also worked on getting ready for school this week-- and made a chicken curry soup with sweet potatoes.
It's funny, I finished the 30 day cleanse diet but I like the food so much, I just keep eating it. Good stuff. Good for you.
I'm ok.
I'm ok.
9-4-16
Today I cried when I found his bedspread in the dryer. I thought he had taken it with him and I'd be left looking for a mis-matched comforter. But he left it here-- the same one he's had since he was a teen. It's beat up with some holes and buttons missing, but it's his. This is the wrought iron bed he's slept in (not the mattress exactly) since he was 2 years old. A bed that belonged to my great great grandfather back on the island in the bay. I'm glad it still has my son's energy.
Meanwhile he and Jes and Dan are hiking Mount of the Holy Cross. I'm not terrified. No, I'm not. Not at all. I'm sure they know exactly what they are doing.
they are really really far away
Today I finally cleaned up my home office.
Started knitting a new project, and blocked one I finished yesterday.
Watched a sappy movie on Netflix.
Talked to my old friend KBB back in C'ville and my cousin Nancy up in Massachusetts. Cried both times. I think it actually helped.
Tomorrow I will go for a walk,
Plan my lesson for Tuesday,
and I don't know what else.
9-3-16
Today has hit me hard.
I noticed that he left his key behind. Cried.
I looked in his room. Cried.
His shampoo and all toiletries are gone from the bathroom. Cried.
I told a friend that waking up and not having him home was sad. Cried.
I'm writing this. Crying.
I need to repeat this mantra: He has not left me. He has just grown up. This is supposed to happen. This is what parenting feels like. This is normal. If I didn't feel sad, that would be abnormal.
I Google "Empty Nest Syndrome" and find page after page of descriptions and advice for coping with the LAST ONE TO LEAVE THE NEST.
This is why it's so hard. He is the last one.
And he's my son.
And I worry.
Squirt, please be well. Please find friends. Please find joy in the mountains. Please find your passion in life. Please drive safely. Please be careful while biking. Wear your helmet. Please see a doctor if you are sick (you have health insurance only until February). Get your teeth cleaned every six months. Please don't fall off a mountain. Please come home for Christmas.
And please call your mother regularly. She misses you and loves you more than anything. Know that. Know that to be the ultimate truth.
"Sons are the anchors of a mother's life." ~Sophocles
Feeling tossed about in the waves about now.
The gate. Children must pass through the gate.
But the gate is never locked-
and home is always waiting with a loving embrace.
9-2-16
A year of weight.
Look at my weight loss since January 2016 when I dedicated myself to walking.
Got my cholesterol checked today-- it has gone from 249 to 210.
That was the bright spot today.
Department meeting was peppered with shocks throughout.
Pulled muscle or something in back has me alternating ice and heat, and I cannot sit for long, and driving is hard.
9-1-16
Squirt liked to keep his cup here. Our shopping list is above it. He left today and left his cup behind.
I cried like a baby and hugged and kissed him and told him to be happy and call me if he's sad and keep in touch and I hugged him again real hard and cried again. He left. Dan went with him-- they are driving to Colorado. They are going backpacking with Jes for the weekend, then Dan is helping Squirt move into his new apartment, then flying home. We will be by ourselves. In 30 years we have never had the house to ourselves. Even when Squirt was off at his first college experience in 2009, we had Frisbee.
Quiet.
Sad.
I miss my son.
I remember the night when he was about 18 months old-- he could walk, but was just starting to talk well.
Middle of the night he calls out. I go to him and hug him.
Tissue, he said.
Tissue? You want a tissue?
No, TISSue.
I pick him up.
He kisses me.
TISS you.
My son.
Yes, yes, he was a momma's boy... but that boy was so loved by his momma.
8-31-16
Four years ago, I sent Squirt a text message from this restaurant encouraging him to apply to Auburn and move with us here. He did. He graduated. Last night, we took him to dinner at the same restaurant for our send-off. He leaves tomorrow for Colorado. It doesn't feel real.
8-30-16
Taught tonight after a 12 hour day that contained some significant scary pain. But I survived and class went really well. The topics were 5E and inquiry, and we did checks lab, energy ball, and relative density lab.
8-28-16
Sunday. I felt good today. Walked this morning-- then went to the store, shopped, then cooked, and took a curry dish to a pool party potluck with some female friends.
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