Chapter 32

Another overcast day. Flurries in the air, but not as windy as usual. The kids greeted me with birthday hugs this morning. Chris made scrumptious biscuts and gravey with fried eggs. Our house is bustling with the excitement of moving. Chris has picked up the truck and have friends on the way to help load. Meanwhile, I am trying to remember where I put everything. I am losing things much faster these days. It could be old age, I suppose.

I am always sad to see the end of anything. The end of a season. The end of a fun trip. The end of a good carton of ice cream! And now the end of our time here in Montana. We have a few things to finish up and will be here for about two and a half more weeks. But in the same way, I like to see the lilacs bloom after the winter or returning to my own bed after a trip or finding a new kind of ice cream--I am opening a new chapter of my life. Again. I do like a bit of adventure, but I would like some sort of map to see which way to go. Which path to take. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Things are a little up in the air. We are kind of having a traveling summer. Yeah--to playing with cousins all summer and hugs from all the grandparents!! I am hoping that a more permanent living arrangement will be found soon and don't forget--My computer will be packed up and shipped out. So no pics for a while and posts when I can borrow a computer.

Ink smears, as thoughts sometimes do. ~Emme Woodhull-Bäche

There have been some struggles with my leaving during the middle of the season. At times I really do feel like pulling my hair out, don't really know why. Then I read this...

It is foolish to tear one's hair out in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.


I laughed out loud in agreement!

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh!" he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of

I don't know where to start. So many feelings. Sad to leave. Happy to leave.

Monday, I get home at bedtime, like usual and have a fabulous conversation with Zoey.

Zoey: How was training today Mommy?

Jara: It was good. (a little surprized she asked me)

Zoey: How is the baskaball team?

Jara: (still really shocked about the questions) Well, they didn't make it to state this year. But I bet they will be really good by the time you get to play.

So I guess my three year old both knows what I do for a living and cares how my day was.

Today Isaac had another speech appointment. When I went to pick him up, I talked with his teacher for a while. He has read two books and his spelling is AMAZING. She couldn't believe how fast he went through his spelling works! His speech is still slowing him down some with actual reading cuz he can't say all the words, but his spelling--fabulous. So we went to his appointment and his therapist just thinks he is great. She does not worry about him at all, she even referred to him as brilliant today. He only has one appointment left. Yes after all the work it took to get him in--we are leaving early. But at least he is doing well.

And then my other children. I observed a shoulder surgery today of one of my athletes. It was good to observe, but he is going to have a longer recovery than he expected. After the parents told me how I had been helpful, supportive and approachable I had to tell them I am leaving. Then as my athlete awoke, he asked if I would do his therapy. I so totally feel like I am just ditching a bunch of kids who have come to trust me. ( Which isn't always easy to do with high schoolers) Sorry, see ya, gotta go now. I worked in Gillette for 5 years and I don't think I had as many parents coming up to me just to say hi. I know I have to (and I want to )put my kids first, but I forsee many more tears before I leave these kids behind.

Some beautiful Sun Shine!

Here is a picture of --well, a girl who needs a face wash. We made icecream cone cupcakes with sprinkles. We had fun with it being a nice day and all, but she got much of it on her face.

It really was a nice weekend. I even poked my head outside of the house. I sat out at tennis for a bit on Saturday and then came home and watched the kids play in the mud.

Isaac is taking swim lessons through his school every Friday afternoon.

A couple of weeks ago we got more snow. It was beautiful. The picture on the left is my back yard. The picture on the right is somewhere at Big Mountain. The kids were a little sick that weekend, but Chris watched them while I went snow boarding. The snow was fabulous!! Powder everywhere. It was white out conditions most of the day, but I enjoyed it. I wish I had my camera with me while I was snowboarding as this I think was taken from the parking lot.

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child. ~Frank A. Clark

Other than the packing. I am ready to leave now. I think. I am definitely feeling much better.

Last night during bath time Isaac says to me "We are not invertebrates, but earth worms are because they don't have bones."

This morning in the car. About 5 minutes into our ride Isaac asks "Is Santa real?" That one was a toughy. It's not even close to that time of year for crying out loud, so it kinda caught me off guard. I kinda just answered back with a bunch of questions until Zoey said that Santa came to her class and had presents. I think that proves it. If Zoey has seen Santa--then he is real. So about 15 minutes into the same ride Zoey says " Let's go to Disney Land." Which I think is a fabulous idea! So we get to daycare and I say "We are at Disney Land!" Zoey who totally is not using her imagination says "I think this is daycare Mommy." "Don't you see the Castle?" "Mom this is daycare." Whatever, I tried.

While I do intend on getting Zoey into a good preschool-- I will be so happy to not have to drop her off everyday at daycare anymore. Only 4 and a half more weeks!!!

Update

After a day or two of taking things in and chatting with many of my friends-- I have calmed down. Some. I am starting to focus more on why we are moving on and less about how to get there. Or what everyone is thinking or what would they do without me. The biggest thing for me is that I thought I would be able to close out the school year, slow to working just 20 hours a week during the summer (while taking in some of the valley that I didn't get the chance to last year) and then move. But instead I am going from working at least 60 hours a week to not having a job at all and while that is VERY cool, it kinda feels like hitting a wall at high speeds. Meg, I was using the stair stepper when talking to you yesterday. I seriously just couldn't slow down.

We do not have a lot of specifics set yet, like my last day of work or when we will be leaving the valley. But I do know that we will be packing up and Chris will get everything to storage in Gillette April 26. Isaac would have graduation and his play on the last day of school, I really don't know that we will be here for that. But I would really like to be. I foresee us being in MN before the end of May.

Leapin' Lizards!!!!!

Holy Schnikies!! Can I just tell you I am pretty much still freaking out. For those that have not heard, Chris and I (well and the kids) are moving to Gillette. The plan was to have all of us out there by Julyish. Well. Our house sold in two days. Yup like the number 2. So, I just got back from telling my boss, somewhat randomly that I will not be able to finish out my job with him. Possibly not even the school year and that we are leaving the valley. I was planning on a little closure, but I suppose one should really be carefull for what they wish for. I wanted to work less and not have the house on the market for a super long time. I just didn't figure, at all, what so ever that I was going to get that today! So hopefully Minnesota will welcome us for a while- while I relax and remain homeless for (hopefully) a short period of time. We are closing at the end of the month and have to be out of the house by the middle of May. Mostly, that's all the news I have for now.

Who's Taking Care of Your Kids?

We have just past National Athletic Trainers' Month (the fabulous month of March). I waited to post on this with hopes of putting some pictures up with the post. No such luck. This year our theme is "Who is taking care of your kids?" While not every school yet has their own certified athletic trainer, many are finding ways to bring them into the schools to make sure your children are staying healthy and performing safely. Hey, I even worked at two Junior Highs. That is great! Anyway, Montana has passed legislation to license their athletic trainers! This really helps boost our profession, not only giving it even stronger credibility, but also will allow us to bill insurance companies for our services when working in a clinical setting.

This year I started my job as Glacier High School's very first Certified Head Athletic Trainer. It is very exciting to be part of a new begining, creating new traditions and not following so much in others footsteps. I have to say I am working with a super bunch of kids who are willing to learn how to take care of their bodies so that they can stay competitive. I am working on creating a stong student athletic trainer program. It is going a bit slow, but the few I have got are hard workers and are learning more than they realized they would. So stay active, be active with your kids, and teach them how to be kind to their bodies so it lasts a while.

For other interesting facts and information please visit http://www.active-spirit.com/

Take care of your body. It is the only place you have to live.--Jim Rohn