Days go by

Trying to journal every day is not easy for me. It always seems like it will take longer than it does, though. So I don’t do it because I think I don’t have time. But I do. Even if it’s just 5 minutes worth. So much is going on in our lives right now, I want to remember it all.

Weds
We ran at the track with the Jonathans. I ran. William didn’t. I’m going to have him start running though. A man and his 11-yr old daughter and 12-yr old son came and ran a mile as we were finishing up and we ended up talking to him for a long time. He was very talkative, and had a lot of good things to say about pushing your kids. (He’s in favor.) He also pointed me to the AAU website to compare William’s mile times with other kids. They don’t actually run a mile, they run the 1500, and not until they are 8. And they do that in 5:30. So, he’s not the fastest kid in the nation. But he’s still pretty stinking fast.

Thurs
Soccer clinic and soccer practice. That’s pretty much all I seem to get done on Thursdays. I did run early in the morning though. The running is going great. Nothing hurts. I’m doing crazy weekly mileage, for me at least. Approaching 30 miles a week, and it’s only going to increase when I start the marathon training program. It was so hot at soccer this afternoon though. It was actually pretty miserable sitting there in the grass in my long pants and navy blue shirt. I felt like I was boiling. I’ll remember to wear shorts next week.

Oh yeah. And William turned eight. I think I better start writing his ninth birthday post, complete with a picture from each year, right now. That’s the only way it’ll get posted on his actual birthday.

Today
We started off the morning with park play day. I’m rejoining the Hometeam Play Group. They are nice, and I need to do it. Especially since the park days are going to be every other week. That’s more feasible for me that committing to every single Friday.

Crystal and I are going to let beauty school students cut our hair for free today. Hope that goes well. I’m finally going to muster up the courage to get layers all over. Hope that goes well too. Couldn’t go much worse than my current hair situation which involves a lot of shedding and no real growth. I think all the running is a stress on my body, but if my hair is the only part of my body that is going to protest, I’m ok with that. I always wanted to shave my head anyway. I do need to make a conscious effort to eat more vegetables. I’ll add that to my list of about a million things I need to make a conscious effort to improve.

Testing…1 2 3

We’re doing the CAT5 around here this week.  The first day today seemed to go fairly well, but man…homeschoolers do not understand the concept of being quiet.  Or maybe it’s just that Crystal and I both have onlies, who don’t ever do group school.  They are quiet in church, but silence during testing was just beyond them both.  I ended up having to separate them.  William finished his test in the hallway on a TV tray.

Then there was swimming.

And I hate Age of Empires.  It’s got me in it’s evil grasp again.  I need to just take it out of the computer and hide it back in the closet again or I’m never going to have another productive day.

Crystal and I ran together this evening.  I think it was more fun for me than it was for her.  Stupid me, I ate a banana before we left, so of course I had to stop twice to…hmm…eliminate.  Once in a port-a-john at a construction site, where I did Sheryl Crow proud and made do with 1 square (that’s all that was left) and then another time in a church where the nice people were all dressed up and about to start a service or something, yet still let me come stinking and sweating into their daycare to use the bathroom and WASH!  MY!  HANDS!  I was actually more excited about washing my hands than using the toilet b/c I felt so gross after the port-a-john.

Then we got home and I tried an ice bath.  Except without ice b/c I wasn’t that brave.  But I filled the tub up with just cold and crawled in and read a bit of A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt.  I like a lot of her books and that’s one of my favorites.  I read The Runner a couple months ago–it always makes me feel like running.

Which I did this evening.  With Crystal.

This post seems to have come full circle.  Either that or my brain is already asleep.

Okay…so now…this is really victory!

I have found William’s niche. I have found a sport where every one hops, and spins, and flops down and rolls around and skips and jumps in the middle of walking.

Gymnastics.

When William was 4, he ran into the living room and vaulted, and did a somersault over the back of the couch. So I enrolled him in gymnastics at the Y. It was ginormous pain in the rear. He complained every week that he didn’t want to go. His big hang-up? Mean kids? He hated the trampoline? The teacher laughed at him? No, none of those. Those I might have listened to. He didn’t like taking off his shoes. It was dirty. Bare feet were dirty and foot was a dirty word. OCD anyone?

I eventually gave up on it. It just didn’t seem worth the money to torture him like that. He loved it when he was out there but every single week was a battle, and I lost my temper with him more than once out of frustration and embarrassment over his behaviour. It wasn’t worth it.

But today, we tried again. A free trial class at a nearby gym. He was in an all-boys class, and he is a natural. He paid attention. He focused. He listened and applied what the coach said. He improved in less than an hour! He figured stuff out, and get this–he said it was fun. I know! Stop the presses! He actually liked it! He wanted me to enroll him!! That is a first. That is a real victory!

I’ll take pictures next week.

Victory! Or at least closer.

William and Jarek didn’t lose soccer today. They didn’t exactly win either, but hey! A tie (or draw for the football snobs) is such an improvement over the shelackings they received in every. single. game. in the basketball season, that it’s a small victory in itself!

Jarek is an offensive monster. William described him as “steaming” down the field, and I must say it was an apt description. He just kept on plugging, and kicking and running. He probably took 8 shots, like 4 times as many as anyone on either team. Unfortunately, he didn’t make any of them. But that won’t last. If he keeps working like he did today, he’s going to be a monster goal soccer. And William is fast! If he can just ever grasp the idea of positioning and angles, which he did much better with today, and get to where he actually connects with the ball when he kicks, he’s going to be a very very good defensive player. It’s crazy to watch him improve with every single attempt at a skill. I’m so glad I’m making him leave his comfort zone, because there are so many things he can be good at if he can just gain some confidence.

Their coach is just right. Just what a coach of 2-3 grade kids should be. Having a good coach is such a blessing! William loves him, and he seems to “get” William. I automatically have a soft spot for anyone that gets William ’cause I understand that he’s a different little kid. I actually wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he’s on the Aspergers spectrum. I’m sure that if he were in public school he would be diagnosed with something because he just has so much energy and so little self-control. His filter between his brain and his mouth is definitely faulty, if it exists at all, and he can’t seem to just walk. He skips and jumps as he’s running down the soccer field, he spins around while the coach is giving instructions, and accidents seem to be magnetically attracted to him.

For example, the coach was having the players warm up before subbing in. And he ended up just crashing into Jarek and cutting/bruising his knee. In basketball, he got a bloody nose more than one game. The ball hit him in the face and the head, he tripped over it. He’s like a one-man blooper reel. But I love him! He’s such a really cool kid and such hustler. It’s awesome to see how accepting and loyal and loving and enthusiastic he is. Sometimes people don’t see past the awkwardness, or they can’t get past his reserved nature to see what a sweet kid he is. So I have a very warm place in my heart for people who take the time to work with him and just accept him as he is. And I love watching him grow and have more and more success, in more and more areas. Every new skill he learns is a victory to me!

Books read in March

With William:
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (finished 3/26)

William:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (finished 3/5)
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (audiobook) (finished 3/26)
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol (audiobook) (finished 3/28 )
Great Illustrated Classics: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (finished 3/28 )