Yes, I know it has been a month. But there has been nothing really to write about so I've just maintained radio silence instead of babbling nonsense for no reason. The weather has prevented much outside fun from going down, so I've not had a lot to report. Hey! I did dishes! Hey! I folded laundry. Hey! I played Bejeweled Blitz on facebook for 10 straight hours. That is kind of what it's been all about lately.
But, because four of you have emailed me in the last couple days wondering what my deal is, here is the update.
Jess is a Senior.
She is done with 11th grade. She received a couple accommodations and got into the National German Honor Society, which is good for her CV looking forward to college. She took the German SAT language test, and thinks she bombed it because she didn't have the vocabulary. I told her to take it again next year if she wanted to. No worries. Jess has been no-maintenance, no worries. And I'm hoping it stays that way. I am working again on her Shakespeare program for 2009. Tour dates for July for "Hamlet" are falling into place. If you're in the greater Boston Area and want to know where, drop me a line. We were supposed to have a party today for her birthday/end of year fun-ness, but the forecast was for rain. It has rained here every day for like a month, so I listened to the forecast and postponed the party to next weekend. Stupid weather. It is now 11pm and no rain has fallen. Grrr. Fingers crossed for next Saturday to behave weatherwise.
And soon, we start looking at colleges. So that should be interesting.
The last couple days were rough simply because he could not WAIT for it to be over....
I thought every day that he would pummel someone, but he didn't. He managed to keep it all together, and did an amazingly good job at the "completion program" held on Thursday.
It rained that day, and they were supposed to have a Field Day outside, but they had a DJ come in and the 6th graders had a dance party, with Geoff dancing like a mad man in the middle of everything. You will notice here that Geoff didn't use his notecard to do his part, because he is a consumate professional. You will also notice he looks ridiculous with a Hawaiian shirt on and a German Youth Soccer scarf on. He loves that scarf, and he wears it as often as he can. I asked him to please not wear it AT the presentation, but he kept it on.
One mom approached me after and said that it made her think of Harry Potter and the school scarves from the first 2 movies. She had such a big smile on her face, that I couldn't feel that he looked like an idiot if he brought that much happy to someone.
I wish I had stayed to watch him dance.
But I did meet the girl that I think he has a crush on, and she is sweet and lovely. And I left the school feeling relieved that elementary school was done. Over. Thank You, God. It should be bittersweet, not a sigh of relief. But I'm looking forward to 7th grade like you would not believe.
Last year Doug went alone with Geoff and they ended up pitching their canoe in some rapids, and it rained like a Mofo and some of the kids were borderline hypothermic.
This year, Doug wanted me to come, and we left Jess alone for the first time at home ever... which worried me somewhat because when I turned 17 my parents left me alone and that was the night of "Tenderize the Night" with Patti and Jenssie and a LOT of beer. Cough. Anyway. I had nothing to worry about from Jess, she went to Boston to see They Might Be Giants (Jealous!) and didn't do anything wrong or bad. Whew.
I really needed to go, because since becoming Troop Chaplain I have not done anything for the Troop.
The Saturday portion of the trip was all canoeing, and we had a blast. I had taken a bunch of online training courses from the BSA for safe water activitis and was feeling great. At the end of the trip, I supervised the Troop in some crazy water swimming action due to some heavy rain and fast currents in the water. I made them all wear PFDs, and they didn't bitch at me. I had a great time with the boys, and I think I'm crazy about all of them.
Camping with the Boy Scouts is fun too, because they do all the work. I didn't have to cook or lift a finger. It was BEAUTIFUL.
Geoff and Michael are classmates, and 3 years ago I never would have imagined them being friends.
Michael is an AMAZING person. Patient, kind, understanding, like no one I've ever met. He and his brother Matt "get" Geoff. They LIKE him. They are tolerant of him, and help him when he needs help. I think I'm in love with them.
Michael and Geoff shared a canoe, and it was a riot because Geoff didn't GET how it worked to use a canoe. Geoff was in back, and whatever side Michael rowed on, Geoff did. Which causes the canoe to kind or go in a circle? ish? Kinda?
After lunch, I told Michael to ride in back, Geoff in front, and Michael would yell out to Geoff what side to row on. It worked out much better.
Most boys would have crapped their pants over dealing with Geoff on this day. Michael was all laid back. It frustrated him, but he didn't lose it. And God Bless Him for that. Always.
They love when Geoff tells stories. They get him going, and he makes up these tales that can't be really outlined here. But Michael and Matt just love it.
As their Troop Chaplain, I had a whole thing prepared for Sunday Morning. But I didn't get to do it. It started raining at about 11pm, and by the time we got up it was a sheer downpour. We made breakfast and broke camp. I couched my sermon, which I wrote especially for the canoe weekend, and will save it for another day.
On Monday, I took my car to the shop. When we were camping, we'd damaged the front bumper at the parking area, so I wanted them to pop it back in. They found that my back brakes were shot to shit, and I needed an oil change and yadda yadda, so they gave me a loaner car. I left the car there and took off in their 2009 Forrester.
It is taller than an Outback.
I went to pick Geoff up at school because he and I both had physicals, and after getting him I went out to the car and WHIPPED open the car door.
Geoff took this photo of me when we got home. I had blood running down my face and arm as we headed back to the house on an unanticipated side trip.
He just finished his First Aid badge for Boy Scouts, so I quizzed him. The gash over my eye was bleeding like a mofo. He told me to apply pressure and cold to it. It would stop bleeding. He prepared a sterile wash for me, and went and got bandages for me, and neosporin.
"It hurts." I told him. "I would like to take something for the pain."
"You can't have aspirin," he told me, "it makes your blood run faster." So he got me some Ibuprofen. I smiled. He passed his First Aid Badge test, and here he was a week later doing actual First Aid on mom's face.
We went to our physicals and my doctor, who has been my doctor since before Doug and I got married, heck... he was the school doctor at my college so I can say he has been my doctor since 1988 really... he laughed at me. yeah. I made my doctor laugh.
It is healing nicely. Thank you.
Nothing else really to tell. Just planning the Shakespeare tour and trying to deal with the weather. That's about it. All of the canoe photos are here, and let it be said that I had a blast, with or without Boy Scouts, and I would like to go back tomorrow if I could.
