I love the passing of time

I have been remiss on updating here and on posting on message boards lately. Just too much going on, too much work to do at home and at work. And, a kind of feeling of ennui still persisting in bursts throughout the days. (Don’t get me wrong — much, much happiness, too - just kind of scattered, disorganized, unfocused)

So, here are a bunch of little updates in case anyone’s wondering… I may expand on each of these some time in the future & add pics if I ever remember to upload them to the internet.

We bought a pop-up camper last Friday. It’s a ‘95 Starcraft. We took it out camping at a local forest preserve on Saturday night (after a marathon ‘backing up’ practice session at a local empty parking lot). The electrical hookup at the campground was out, so we weren’t able to try that out. And, we forgot to mess with the propane before it got dark & I was afraid to try it after dark, so we didn’t have heat, either (it was a cold night). Shelby had an accident while he was sleeping, too - so the camper has officially been christened, now

Allison & Jim went to counseling on Friday. Allison was in with the counselor alone for most of the time. He called Jim in at the end & told him, again, that he’s only going to let us know if we need to be worried about Allison’s safety, otherwise it’s going to be just between the two of them. Jim said “Everything’s OK, then?” Counselor said “Everything’s not OK, but she’s doing as good as someone in her situation could be doing”.

Allison dyed her hair purple on Sunday. It was actually ‘Plum’. And, it’s a temporary dye (comes 0ut in 8-10 washings). I think she wanted it to be bolder. It turned out beautiful, though - subtle shades of magenta that shine brighter when she’s in the sun.

Allison is bored. I keep thinking I’ve got to find something to give her purpose over the summer. Then, I think, maybe I should let her find it herself. She & Natalie (friend from old school) are IM’ing, making vague plans. I keep telling her to find a part-time job or look at classes & things she might want to do. She said she’d like to learn to play the bass guitar. I may look into that for the summer.

Annie had her first swimming lesson of the year, yesterday.

I asked her about it when I got home from work. Asked her how she did, did she try everything the teacher asked, was she brave? (I’ve bribed her with a promise of a pet hamster if she tries her best to do everything the teacher asks. Have given her some suggestions and some ‘magic’ to help her to be ‘BraveGirl’ when she’s faced with something she’s scared to try, but that she knows will be safe)

She said… “I’ll let you know when we start the learning part. Right now, we’re just playing”

:D She doesn’t know that, at her age & stage, the ‘playing’ is actually learning.

This is a good thing.

BTW - DH said she did pretty good — much better than last year. Didn’t leave her group or leave the water at all! I’m thinking she’ll be a strong swimmer by the end of *next year’s* swimming lessons. But, wouldn’t be too surprised to be pleasantly surprised by the end of this year’s swimming season.

Shelby is trying everything the teacher asks him to do, too. (His bribe is one of those submersible diver things that he keeps seeing commercials for. But, he’s got to be able to swim strong before he can use it)