March 12, 2009 7:51 AM
Morning chatter
I have my coffee. Do you have yours? Yes, I must confess I have not succeeded in giving up coffee this year. In fact, my 2009 Diet to lose the 30 pounds that would help me reach my 2006 goal of losing 100 pounds (After losing 90, I gained back 20 before drawing the line) has not been anything to brag about. Nor to make excuses for. The fact is that I have only lost 5 pounds so far, which is pretty pitiful.
But I am back on board this morning - with the Fat Flush Fast Track - planning to wean myself off coffee gradually so as not to die of caffeine withdrawal headache :). In the meantime, 116 women are now on the MommyLife Diet Group (contact me to join) and a couple of brave hearts have lost over 30 pounds each!!!!! This is exciting and inspiring to me!
It is Spring Break but we are without our college kids as Ben and Sophia are on tour with their Concert Choir. They will be home at 2am tomorrow morning. I am so excited about seeing them. This has been Sophia's first year at college and I have missed her so much, but am confident she was in the perfect place at the perfect time. With her two brothers at Liberty also (they graduate this year), she has made lots of friends and had many opportunities for people to discover her considerable talents - which she tends to be very modest about. Zach was home for the weekend but left for the beach Monday morning. Yes, with the current state of affairs at home, it was a disappointing choice - but that's part of parenthood.
When people ask about Tripp, I feel like I'm reporting on the stock market - and wish I had a graph to show his ups and downs. Following the second knee replacement 2/10, he was doing great for a few weeks, but then got attacked by some sort of infection (not identified as MRSA) that required daily trips to the doctor and talk of another operation to drain and clean the wound. Thank God, Dr. K. decided to make that the last resort and they increased the array of antibiotics and upped the dosage (Tripp has a port through which he gives them to himself intravenously - a process that takes a couple hours total each day). For a few days, it continued to go downhill, but this weekend turned a corner and prospects are looking much brighter for his knee, though the massive doses of drugs are taking a toll on Tripp physically. He is exhausted and has had some conflicted moments, but Tripp is not the kind of person who would ever give in to depression. I thank God for that each day.
The Downzers (see Why I call them the Downzers) continue to be very active. All have very good situations at school. They are in a show - Jack and the Magic Rocketship - through Very Special Arts at Franklin Park. They also have Special Olympics basketball Wednesday night and Saturday morning. We have some good friends nearby whose son is also in these activities, and they have really helped us with transportation. Things like this have made it possible for us to get through Tripp's recovery without my falling apart :) Jonny also is in Special Olympic power-lifting. It is hard to believe he will be 17 at the end of this month, and I will celebrate a birthday that changed my life forever.
Maddy has a sweetheart. He is someone she's known sinnce sixth grade and has been in several plays with: Dorothy/scarecrow in Wizard of Oz, Golde/Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Johanna/Anthony in Sweeney Todd. Yes, this is a little young for a Curtis kid to be in a relationship and yes, it goes against all the homeschool/courtship protocol. Actually, there are a couple of requests in my Inbox for me to open up that whole can of worms discuss teen dating/courtship, and I plan to do so soon. I will say that this is an exceptional young man who came and asked Tripp for permission to spend time with Maddy. They don't go out on dates, but spend time with each others' families. But you can look forward to a thorough discussion of ideals meeting reality and we'll all have a chance to put in our two cents soon - maybe tomorrow.
Last weekend Maddy competed at the VANATS competition (Virginia National Association of Teachers of Singing) at Shenandoah University. It is a really prestigious event with serious singers ranging from freshman in high school to post graduate. She came in first in her division for Musical Theater and third for Classical. Am I a proud mother? You betcha. Ben had sung the day before in the college division and placed second. Very proud of him too. But what is wonderful is how our home is filled with music from these children who love to sing. With Matt home in the morning before he leaves for work, it is like having a concert in the background as I type.
Today Maddy is auditioning with a bluegrass band for the LVHS talent show - bluegrass is new territory for her, but her sweetie is in the band, and the inspiration for expanding her repertoire.
It's continued to be a busy week as I shared Tuesday with a homeschool group on Montessori at home (next session 3/24), took Jonny and Justin to doctors' appointments yesterday, and have an appointment to meet some ladies from the archdiocese of Washington this morning. My Inbox is building up again - I had it down to 67 (from a high of 350 during Tripp's worst days), but it has crept up to 154. Which is only to say that if I haven't answered your email yet, I will eventually - and if it is something urgent, please feel free to resend it with URGENT in the subject line so I get to it first as I have more time to answer.
I will be gone the first week of April to teach/critique/support new writers at the Mount Hermon Writers' Conference. This is the best Christian writers conference in the country. It is where I got my start, where I perfected my craft, where I made the connections to get my work published, where I continue to be nurtured and inspired as a writer, and where I am able to give back to the writing community. They still have space available, so it is not too late to sign up. And air fares right now are dirt cheap - in fact, I am very sorry I bought my ticket last fall when prices were much higher (though as a staff member, it's not my money at stake).
Please know that I am available to speak to your group - from practical Montessori at Home to encouraging/inspirational/re-energizing pep talks. Though my original calling was to improve the lives of children, over the years it has shifted to improving the lives of children by unburdening, empowering and equipping mothers. I am always thinking of and praying for you.
On my way out. Tripp is dropping me off while he goes to the doctor, then we will go to Costco to stock up for the extra kids this weekend - always a happy time. Then home to get on with the writing/blogging business of the day. In between loads of laundry - Thank God for washing machines! - Did you take the poll? Birth control or washing machine?
Posted in Family, My life | Permalink
Comments
Barbara, I so enjoyed reading about your family news. Congratulations on all of your children's accomplishments! I was thinking about Tripp and wondering if he was on a good quality vitamin supplement. I started on these Melalueca vitamin packs and they are helping me a lot. My son had a recent surgery and also was on antibiotics because he had thrush he couldn't couldn't get rid of. The Melalueca rep told me that his immune system was very depleted due to the antibiotics and stress of college/working, and the 2 surguries in 2 years. The vitamins have a probiotic, calcium, vitamins and minerals and also a cellwise pill for building cells. They are helping him very much. Just wanted to pass that on. The thrush is almost gone. Julie K.
Posted by: Julie K. | March 12, 2009 10:34 AM
I'll be interested to read about the teen dating issues--I met and started dating my husband when I was 16 and he was 17, so I have some strong opinions on the subject!
Posted by: Elizabeth B. | March 12, 2009 2:15 PM
