Sunday, November 2, 2014

Well.... I HOPE I'm back......

It's been over a year since I last wrote here. What a crazy year, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. The quickest run down I can give you is this: last Thanksgiving we took the kids and my 83 year old dad to Disney World. When my mom past away, she left me some money and it seemed like the right thing to do. When my brother and I were kids, my parents took us all over the place. My mom wanted us to experience different places and cultures, so I thought it was a nice tribute to her. Otherwise, we just couldn't pack up 5 kiddos and hop on a plane on one salary. So off we went and hopefully made memories to last a lifetime. And the cherry on the top? I could eat everywhere! Celiac disease, no problem! It was great.




In January, I bit the bullet and went back to work. I am now a homebound English teacher. Basically, I go to the homes of high school kids that are too sick to go to school. It was a HUGE adjustment in the house, one I'm not sure we've conquered yet. We're lucky, Billy works for himself and just moved his practice into the house, but it's still so hard for me. I miss my kids. I know, they're all in school now, but I feel unavailable and it still smarts. But, there are so many positives. Health insurance is no longer purely out of pocket, we have more money to put away in college funds for the kids and honestly, we're probably making the kids more independent. Billy now does laundry and the grocery run (although not as well as I did, of course!). I do most of the high school/middle school shuttling. So I do spend time alone with the older kiddos. And I will survive....

The summer comes and I have gall bladder surgery.. (It's always something...) Surgery wasn't bad, my first at 42, so I figure I shouldn't complain. I'm still having trouble with some foods, but what else is new.

School started back up and I now have 2 high school freshman. God help me. A beautiful 8th grader, and gasp.... 2 kindergarteners.... Where has a time gone?? But they are loving school, so I have to be at peace with that. In 2 weeks, they turn 6. It feels like the social worker dropped them off 6 months ago,  not 6 years. We have been so incredibly lucky to have been given these beautiful kids. Yes, life is good, even the bad parts....