In my last blog post, Will had just
turned 13 and we had an awesome trip to NYC.
That seems like forever ago! The
trip I’m planning now is to the British Isles to celebrate Bonnie’s graduation
from high school and me finishing grad school.
I started in January 2016, and it has pretty much consumed my life. I am so glad the end is in sight! In late 2015, I started picking up a few
shifts a month at our tiny local hospital. They have a few uncomplicated medical patients at any given time, but most of the patients are in sub-acute rehab. Working there seemed like a vacation. It was so laid back. ICU was gearing up for a huge construction project, and I felt like
moving to the small hospital full-time would be wise, so I officially
transferred in February 2016. I worked
for a year there on night shift. I
started my clinical rotations in January 2017, and I swapped to day shift. The program has grown and we are always full, so it is much busier than it used to be. I have worked three days a week, had clinical two
days a week, and had class one or two days a week.
When I say I’ve been busy, it’s no exaggeration! I am now off school for a whole month, and it
feels so good!
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| 6 out of 7 semesters complete!!! Lori has been my constant companion. It is like a three-legged race. When I am weak, she is strong, and vice-versa. |
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| An early December snowfall - 2017 |
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| We have pet therapy at my little hospital. This is Indy. I love his Friday visits! |
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| 20th anniversary trip to Clearwater Beach. Matt and I saw the green flash at sunset! |
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| kayaking through the mangroves in Marathon |
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| This is how we tourist. |
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| Eclipse fun! |
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| Sweetwater, Tennesee - August 21, 2017. Taken 20 minutes before the total eclipse of the sun. |
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| Coopy |
Bonnie is now 17 years old. She attends the local tech school through a program called Move On When Ready, so she gets college credit for her classes. She has been accepted to her two top choice colleges and will more than likely be attending the University of North Georgia next fall. She has worked part-time for a year and a half at an awesome little bakery. She borrowed money from us to buy a used Toyota Prius and has paid it off. She is a busy girl with good friends and varied interests, and she makes me so proud. At the moment, my heart hurts for her because she broke up with her boyfriend yesterday. She didn’t tell me why, but I trust that she knows what is right for her. Bonnie also had her first independent travel experience last summer when she flew to San Fransisco at visit her cousin.
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| Flying solo - August 2016 |
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| at the bakery |
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| University of North Georgia college tour |
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| Accepted to the University of Alabama in Huntsville |
Will turned 15 years old in
September. He drives us around every
chance he gets. He is attending the same
school as Bonnie. There is a great
little group of kids there, and most of them were previously homeschooled. He got his braces off in September. He loves playing video games. Not a whole lot else going on with him. He's always up for anything, but perfectly happy doing nothing. I always figured that he is content with
life, which keeps him from adventuring, and that’s okay. Not everyone has wonderlust.
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| 15th birthday |
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| Dad took him for his learner's permit |
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| Driving the family home from church |
Luke is 14. He is still doing “school at home” with Matt,
enrolled in the Georgia Cyber Academy. He
is the polar opposite of Will in that he is always cooking something up. He sets personal goals and challenges himself
daily. Last year for Halloween, he was
Rambo and drew on some fake abs. This
year he was determined to have “real” abs and dressed as a fawn to show them
off. He lifts weights, does pull-ups, and boxes on the punching bag daily. He is anxiously awaiting his
growth spurt. He is a lot like Bonnie in
that he is always coming up with money-making schemes and planning for the
future. He is also like Bonnie in that
with the go-getter mindset comes issues with anxiety. They have both seen mental health professionals
in the last year or two, and it has been one of the best investments we could
have made. If kids are physically ill,
you take them to a doctor. If they are
struggling in school, you get them a tutor.
There is no shame, in my opinion, in enlisting the help of a trained
professional to help them if they are dealing with anxiety or depression. I would much rather them learn coping skills
now than to self-medicate later in life. They are both doing great.
Rosemary is in fifth grade at the local public elementary school. She loves it. She has a ton of friends. She has been taking gymnastics for over a year. She is not as enthusiastic about it as she once was, but she’s hanging in there. She loves hanging out online with her buddies doing Snapchat and Muscially. We have dual monitors at the computer in the study, and she will be watching a show on Netflix on one, playing a video game on the other, and have her iPod open chatting with a friend. It stresses me out just to watch it. I’ve been busy, but this year I have made a point to carve out some special time with my girl by reading to her at bedtime. We have read Heidi, Finding Serendipity, and now we’re reading Little Women.
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| Halloween 2014 |
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| Working hard or hardly working? |
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| Halloween 2017 - check out those abs! |
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| my kayaking buddy |
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| His14th birthday dinner. The Ultimeatum! |
Rosemary is in fifth grade at the local public elementary school. She loves it. She has a ton of friends. She has been taking gymnastics for over a year. She is not as enthusiastic about it as she once was, but she’s hanging in there. She loves hanging out online with her buddies doing Snapchat and Muscially. We have dual monitors at the computer in the study, and she will be watching a show on Netflix on one, playing a video game on the other, and have her iPod open chatting with a friend. It stresses me out just to watch it. I’ve been busy, but this year I have made a point to carve out some special time with my girl by reading to her at bedtime. We have read Heidi, Finding Serendipity, and now we’re reading Little Women.
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| Student of the Month! |
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| Fun 10th birthday party |
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| Me and my mini-me - SGI 2017 |
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| 2017 first day of school |
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| Grandpa made her a balance beam |
It's funny to think about, but Bonnie reminds me so much of me personality-wise even though she looks like Matt's mother's side of the family. Rosemary looks like me, but she is much more outgoing than I ever was. Will reminds me a lot of my brother Ben, and that makes me love him so much. Luke is a lot like Matt's brother Jonathan. He is full of grit and determination and has a booming voice. I love to see how much they've grown and matured. When they were babies, I loved them, and I couldn't imagine what in the world I would do with kids this age. I didn't think I'd be able to connect with them. But it is such an easy transition when you take things day-by-day. They are my greatest accomplishment. At this point, unless Luke is in a pester-some mood, they get along with each other really well. Life is not perfect, but that is the way I'm going to remember it.
Matt has been keeping himself busy
managing everything for the kids. He is
their go-to parent. It occasionally
hurts my feelings, but I’m grateful. He
brings in some income with a bookstore on Amazon. He also does a lot to keep me de-stressed as
well. We are very happy these days. We are looking forward to when I
finish school and start a full-time job.
It will be his turn to do something for himself. He deserves it. He is considering the culinary arts program
at the local technical college. He
enjoys it and is really good at it. One
little dream we are mulling over involves moving to the beach, me working as an
NP, and him opening a restaurant that serves seafood where everything on the
menu is not deep fried. I am ready for
the move, but Bonnie is more determined than ever to keep us here. She will be three hours north of us at
school, and if we move down south, she will feel like she doesn’t have a home
to come home to. I would think that was
silly and manipulative except that my parents sold my childhood home when I was
in college, and it really did make me feel lost. They didn’t even move to a different
town. They moved into a rental house
while they were building a house, but there wasn’t even room to store my
stuff. So I am trying to be considerate
of her feelings. I want her to have a
smooth transition to college. We’ll
see. I have no clue what I’ll be doing a
year from now. It seems like that might
make me afraid, but it doesn’t. I am
excited about the wide-open possibilities before me.
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| SGI 2017 |
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| Toasting Bonnie's acceptance to UAH with Drumsticks |
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| Christmas 2017 |
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| Christmas 2017 |
