Day 6

We had a rocky start to our time without Dad, but thanks to my mom things definitely improved this weekend.

I tell you what, I got nothing done last week. Nothing. Katherine had a doctor's appointment which took all morning because her doctor is nearly an hour away, and of course Ian left Monday afternoon so I didn't do "stuff" that I would normally do on a Monday. Tuesday I managed to hit 3 stores for all the groceries and such I needed for these 2 weeks. Wednesday I volunteered in Jonathon's classroom then checked on Nicholas who had complained about a stomachache for a couple days only to find him in art class bright pink and sweaty even though they were in a chilly room. I warned the nurse and walked home. Twenty minutes later I got the call and returned to the school to him up. The rest of the day was spent at Saunders MS helping out with Positive Referral Day, Nicholas had to tag along. Wednesday night was a Retreat meeting for Katherine (couldn't find the meeting, learned today it was in a different room, she'll know for next time), and an Altar Server meeting for the boys.
So, Thursday rolled around and Nicholas still had a stomachache. After several days I figured it was time to get checked out, especially with the nausea, though he was notably lacking any fever or vomiting. The doc couldn't find anything wrong, tested him for strep which came out negative, and said for him to eat a bland diet and just take it easy. That afternoon Katherine had her second flute lesson which ended up starting early and running late because they were having fun learning some Celtic music, a quick stop at home to change before schlepping Katherine back to school for the Pre-State-Assessment-Band-Concert. She needed to be their early so I took the other kids to Dairy Queen for dinner before returning to the school again. The Wind Ensemble was good, the visiting 8th grade band was terrible (I'm familiar enough with Middle School bands to know that yes, it was "close your eyes and think it's a 6th grade band" bad), and the Symphonic Band (Katherine's group) was good. It made for a late school night though as we customarily get Wendy's frosties after performances.
Friday, finally. But wait. A three-hour High School delay meant Katherine was home all morning. The delay was for parent-teacher conferences. I've mentioned the In Touch conferences before. Last time we talked to the Biology teacher, this time we were with the Language Arts and History teachers. See, Thursday night Ian forwarded an email he received saying Katherine was starting the quarter off with 5 solid zeroes in LA. An assignment I asked over and over about had not been completed. Actually, let me clarify. The assignment itself was done and turned in, but for the IB World Programme to allow her to have a grade for it she needed to submit the same paper to an on-line program. She insisted she didn't need to. So at the conference her teacher stated that without a doubt she absolutely had to. That night she did. Her teacher also said she needed to do some poetry assignments because she'd missed the last class by going to the clinic and falling asleep. That's a separate issue and one I addressed with the school nurse. Katherine is no longer permitted to sleep in the clinic and should be there no longer than 10 minutes at a time. On to History then where she's also pulling an F two weeks into the quarter. There have been two quizzes so far and she's taken neither. The first she missed due to the doctor's appointment. Did she go to his class the next afternoon to take it? No. So next class period rolls around with another quiz, which she also didn't take because by missing the previous class she also missed the material for quiz #2. By talking to her teacher she now has a day and time to take everything she's missed and hopefully that F will disappear.
That's how I like to spend my Friday mornings, how about you?
You'd think that the tickets for the My Chemical Romance concert in May would be the right incentive to avoid all this. She has to get all As and Bs to go to the concert, or her sister goes in her place. Seriously.
We followed conferences up with a trip to Petsmart to get the cats a new toy, then McDonalds for a really unhealthy breakfast before dropping her back to school for a single period of French and an all-important pep rally.
Remind me... why do I send my kids to school?
Back at home I finally took down the outdoor Christmas lights. How bad is that? Not that bad, we still see lit Christmas trees inside homes throughout our neighborhood. I also cleaned up the flower beds. My crocuses are blooming in the grass, the tulips and daffodils are coming up.
Then, my mom to the rescue. Since my dad is out of town and Ian is out of town, Mom came down to hang out with us for a couple days. The weather had taken a turn for the better so she took me out to lunch at Panera where we sat outside and soaked up the 70 degree weather with our breadbowls. Spring, you are such a tease. But we love you and miss you and wish you would stay.
See, we even washed the cars that afternoon, see how much we like you Spring?
So much so that on Saturday, even when the temps dipped just a bit to around 58-60F, we took the kids to Leesylvania State Park for a little adventure hike, then a romp along the beach. We still romp.



More photos can of course be seen in our Winter 2010-2011 Flickr set. You know why? Because my awesome husband got me a new little Canon to carry everywhere with me. I broke the last one. And I'm so happy to get great photos on the fly again. I didn't take a picture of the leech Jonathon picked up, you can thank me for that. But I should really take a photo of my Valentine's Day roses before they all start to wilt.
After the park and dealing with the wicked winds with the smell of smoke in the air, we did church and decided on Red Lobster for dinner. My mom was taking us out, which is just how awesome she is. On the way we passed a brush fire. No joke, the land behind our Border's and the new Alehouse was on fire. The trees were on fire too. There were fires across Maryland and many spots throughout Northern Virginia including in the parks, behind our KMart and within the grounds of the Woodbridge NoVA. The grasses are so dry and the winds so strong that broken branches were knocking power lines and starting blazes making a mess of traffic and closing businesses. Red Lobster had an hour+ wait, so that was no good either. We tried Macaroni Grill (an hour wait) and considered Olive Garden before ending at one of our favorite places, the Silver Diner.
This morning the boys had RE. After lunch at home came the basketball games. Nicholas already had a game on Friday, so another one today at 1 p.m., followed by Jonathon with a game at 3 p.m., followed again by Katherine with a Retreat meeting at 5 p.m. My mom dropped Katherine off at church on her way home allowing me one fewer car drives, while Rebecca went for a walk and the boys played on the xBox.
I sat quietly.
Because the one thing I haven't had, since Tuesday for a couple hours between getting groceries and Katherine returning home from school, is quiet. I thrive on quiet and it's been sorely lacking since Ian left. Tomorrow is a holiday so all the kids are home still, but I can sleep in until I feel like getting up, and that is something I haven't done in nearly a month.
I'm so excited to say Goodnight.

Day 1

Ian left for India yesterday afternoon. We left to the airport at 2:30 and I was home at 4:45 so it went smoothly on my end. His, not so much. His flight left nearly 2 hours late, missed the connecting flight in Newark (direct to Delhi), and is currently waiting in London to catch an Air India flight to Delhi, arriving at 3:30 a.m. and heading to meetings that morning. I feel for him. Traveling to India is a pain on a good day.

The rest of us are going to muddle along these 2 weeks.
When I left you last I was just pulling out of the flu. Little did I know that afternoon would start a two week craziness of trying to delouse the kids, myself and the house. It took me longer to really get over the flu thanks to jumping straight into hours and hours of laundry, spraying the house, nit-picking, and all the other gross stuff that comes with finding living creatures on your scalp. I don't wish that on anyone. Rebecca escaped unscathed thanks to being particular about everything. She keeps her brushes separate, her clothing separate, everything. Katherine was no doubt our source as she regularly comes home wearing other people's items. Warnings beforehand clearly didn't sink in, and even this nasty experience hasn't really set in... she's since come home wearing someone else's hat and jacket. I don't get it, I really don't. The boys were easy to treat, they have nice short hair now. Very short. I don't know that I'll ever feel secure that we're truly clear, so I'll continue checking heads, changing pillowcases, washing hoodies. I guess I should count my lucky stars that it's taken us 15 years to have lice.
Katherine turned 15 on the 5th. She started a fitness training class at the rec center that morning, celebrated with my mom that afternoon (Katherine and my mom share a birthday), and went to a Caps/Kings hockey game with Ian on the 12th. One of her big birthday gifts from my parents is weekly flute lessons at the local Music&Arts for the next four months. She figured out that the teacher is the mom of the girl who sits next to her band class.
All in all the past couple weeks have been filled with mundane household activities, basketball games, and parenting. I did take Nicholas to a Youth Orchestras of Prince William concert. It's something I'd like for him to do next year with cello in the Preparatory group, and perhaps even Katherine as with the Wind Ensemble group or an orchestra. She's never played with an orchestra, it would be good experience. Even better, all the rehearsals and most of the performances are at Gar-Field HS. Score.
So here we go. Day 1 of solo-parenting. Doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, getting groceries. Looking ahead to Jonathon's basketball practice tonight and RE for the girls, volunteering for 4 1/2 hours in schools tomorrow, flute lesson on Thursday followed by a band concert Thursday night, and next week full with more of the same but tossing in a few doctor's appointments just to mix it up. Fun times, fun times.
My sweetheart left on Valentine's Day and I returned home to find roses with chocolate and bubbles waiting for me at the door. I didn't expect anything, but gifts aside I really am loved. And I miss him.

Good Riddance, January '11

That's probably too harsh really. January was a pretty good month overall. It's just that it ended with a bit of a whimper. Last week a piddly snowstorm of less than 6 inches had the kids out of school for 3 days.

It wasn't just the snow that did it... the ice, the power outages, it all played together.
Last week was mid-term exam week at the high schools. Those have been rescheduled for this week. All that reviewing and preparing out the window after 5 days at home. Katherine jumps right into French and History mid-terms and is home by lunch time. Each exam day is a half-day. And (*cue sarcasm here*) even better, Thursday is a teacher in-service to pull together report cards. All the kids are home again on Thursday.
So last Tuesday I picked Katherine up at 10:30 a.m. after mid-term #1 because she wasn't feeling well. Wed-Fri no school. Weekend. Mon-Wed are half days. Thurs no school. Friday school. Another weekend.
What complicates all this is that last weekend Ian came down with the flu. He was out of commission Sun-Thurs. I got it Tuesday and was useless Tues-Fri. When I say useless, I mean useless. I didn't even get up to feed my children a meal. Thank goodness they can forage for themselves and that on Tuesday when I'd picked up Katherine we went to Costco and bought a bunch of sick foods... crackers, apples, canned soups, apple juice, iced tea, bread for sandwiches. I saw it coming. I prepared.
Here it is the start of a new week, and tomorrow starts a new month. I have a massive pile of laundry to catch up on. I have a To Do list a mile long, all that stuff that piled up last week I simply couldn't get to. I still have my cough, headaches and earache, but even without them how much can I get done between 9 a.m. when the boys head to school and noon when Katherine returns, and some storefronts don't open until 10? I'm still only running about 75%, basic tasks take me longer because sometimes I forget midway what I was doing in the first place. I do eventually remember, but it would go smoother if I didn't stop and consider why I was in the basement in the first place. Was it to do the next load of laundry or did I just need a new roll of paper towels for the kitchen? After coming back upstairs I realize it was neither, I needed hand sanitizer. Back to the basement again repeating over and over what I'm going for.
Some of my errands/to-dos are time sensitive. Katherine's birthday is Saturday. Enough said.
January started off well. Katherine participated in All-County Band. We received the CD and listened to it twice yesterday. She wants it burned to her iPod.
I've received roughly 600 prints for scrapping. Should I get these all done, I will be caught up from mid-2009 to the end of 2010. Then I just need to do Togo and India. Easy. Right. Provided it doesn't take me a year to do the photos I just got.
By far the most time-consuming activity this past month is the boys' basketball league. Both boys are playing thanks to my folks who registered them. They play on different days but unlike swimming with its 3-hour practice times 5 days a week and 6-7 hour weekly meets, the 1-hour basketball games a few times a week are easy. When Ian goes he manages the clock or the score card. When I go I manage the mandatory play sheet. Nicholas's teams won their first 2 games and have lost the next 3. They have a good amount of talent but the coach doesn't play the ones who aren't "stars" nearly enough (in the last game Nicholas played 3 of the 8 periods, the minimum required by the league, while other kids played 7. It's hard to get better when you have 9 minutes of play time in a week). Jonathon is in the Novice league so they restart everything at half-time. Basically, they play 2 games in one hour and no one is really declared winner or loser. Weird system.
Katherine is preparing to be a teen leader at the Confirmation retreat in March. She has weekly meetings for 2 months to review rules, design skits, write talks, etc. The day she came back from her retreat last February she said she wanted to be a teen leader, it made that much of an impact on her. This year is Rebecca's turn to go as a Confirmation candidate. She'll go in April. I didn't want either of the girls to feel the other was watching them.
The only other big thing on the horizon (besides Katherine's birthday, did I mention that?) is Ian's trip to India and Sri Lanka. He was tasked a few weeks ago to accompany, oh somebody, and now has a 2-week trip scheduled mid-February. We'll miss him. I can't think of anything to have him bring back.
Katherine received her PSAT scores. I guess this early year is to get the kids accustomed to the format? Her scores are compared to sophomores taking the PSAT. She was average for reading, a little above average for math and quite a bit above average for "writing" (there's no essay so I'm not sure what "writing" actually refers to... I should probably look through the test booklet). She always does well on standardized testing. The PSAT though... college really is around the corner. There's even a binder floating around the house labeled "Katherine-College" for test scores, report cards, her high school resume', college information/applications and whatever else comes down the pike. It's hard to believe we'll graduate both our girls at our next post in Amman.
I think I've caught up. The boys are off to school and the clock is ticking to Katherine's return. I have to get at least a couple items checked off my list this morning between coughing up a lung and getting that next load of laundry done.
Bring on February.
Actually, hold that thought... I remember last February all too well.
Can we just skip to March?

Holidays all week long.

This past year has, like every other year, had its up and downs though looking back there were far more ups than I realized in the moment. Jonathon celebrated his First Communion, Katherine was Confirmed, Rebecca became our second teen and Nicholas finally came out of his shell. Though there were difficulties, especially over the summer, we've come through with flying colors and look forward to an awesome 2011. This year wrapped up with Christmas celebrated Chez Nous with my parents and grandmother. My grandmother, aka Babcia, gets a post all her own. For now, here are the highlights from Christmas 2010.


Aside from food, music takes part in most of our holidays. This December, Katherine performed in her band concert. She's third chair flute which isn't too shabby for a Freshman. Oh, here's a funny/odd story... Katherine is performing with the All County 9th Grade Honors Band at the beginning of January. The funny/odd part is she didn't audition back in November, apparently her band director nominated her anyway. Like I said, not too shabby for a Freshman.
Rebecca was supposed to have her choir concert the same week, but troubles with the music teacher led to the concert being canceled, which she was quite sore about. We were sore too, her great-grandmother and great-aunt were in town. Thankfully, she participated with me and grandma in the Messiah Methodist Church's yearly Christmas Messiah performance. By far the youngest of the group, she had a great time learning the music and stretching those vocal chords.

A week later it was time to get a tree and decorate the house.


There are so many ornaments from just the kids (you do the math, 4 kids x 10+ years = no room for my ornaments) the tree was decked out in no time and ready for presents. We don't do Santa, never have, so presents appear under the tree in little piles until the base is completely covered. Every year we promise not to do that and every year we fail miserably. My parents don't help the "problem" either.

The tree all set, the only thing missing before the big day was cookies. My mom and I decided last year we'd do it the easiest way possible... she prepared some dough (candy cane and sugar) and I prepared some dough (espresso crinkles, molasses, a bucket of prepared chocolate chip) and in one afternoon we get together and roll and cut and decorate and bake all at once. With all the kids participating it goes really fast, the slowest portion was the baking. Rebecca also made cupcakes to share with the other December birthdays in her class at school on Monday. The house smelled awesome.


And before we knew it, Christmas Day arrived. Presents, tree, cookies, parties, who cares? Family counts.

We are blessed to have each other.
Presents are still nice though.

There were some big ticket items this year. Ian and I did a night out at the Monaco Hotel across from the Verizon Center for a Caps/Penguins game on the 23rd, but also Nicholas will head to a Redskins game with Ian and grandpa, Grandpa got a Kindle for his travels, I was so happy to get a new vacuum, a lovely watch for Katherine, and a Soda Stream for the whole family. We had seen the Soda Stream this summer at a specialty shop and pondered the idea, but left it at that. Now we get to try it out. Anyone know if non-combustable CO2 canisters are safe to send through overseas mail?
[Let me interject for a minute a thumbs-up for the Monaco Hotel. It's pet-friendly, beautifully situated downtown across from the National Portrait Gallery and down the block from the Spy Museum and Museum of Crime and Punishment, and inside has a completely eclectic design style. Originally the first General Post Office, the rooms are high-ceilinged and corridors are odd and sometimes circuitous. If you don't bring a pet, the hotel can provide a goldfish to your room. And if you're in town for a Wizards or Capitals game, they have a package with their season box tickets. There were complimentary sodas and chips, the bed was comfortable and the staff was plain wonderful. We also got 2 complimentary mixed drinks (though we forgot to trade them in). A fantastic spot to spend a night away.]
A very special gift... the boys now have something living in their room. Something which will require a new home in 18 months, perhaps to another temporary FS family?

That would be Ovi, the gerbil. He didn't like getting picked up and moved to his new home so he bit Ian pretty hard. Ian currently has a grudge against the critter so if it doesn't want to end up as a cat snack it had better be nice.
Several items under the tree were group gifts for the all the kids. For the most part they were video games including Fable III and Just Dance 2.

Oh yeah, we'll have fun with that one.
Before my parents left, we finished our celebration with music. Nicholas and I on the cello, Katherine on the flute and my dad on the piano, we played "Silent Night." Next year, we'll get the rest of the family to sing or we'll be forced to pull out the recorders to get everyone involved. No one wants that, right?
There are additional photos at our flickr site, so pop over there if you wish. For us, we enjoyed our first day of Christmas at church (PSA: Everyone knows the 12 days of Christmas are the days AFTER Christmas, right? Twelve days reaches Epiphany on January 6th. All the days before Christmas are part of Advent), a tasty lunch out at Smokey Bones, and an afternoon at home enjoying our gifts. If you're looking for me, I'm the one wrapped in my new fuzzy robe and Tru Blood blanket, drinking warm apple cider and avoiding any housework. I'm actually looking forward to a little housework tomorrow, to break out my new vacuum. If nothing else, 2011 will have clean floors Chez Hopper thanks to my dad.

Rocking the start of December and the end of the year.

Rebecca turned 13 on the 2nd and this year she celebrated in style, a Washington Capitals hockey game with her dad with a Mike Green jersey to show for it, and "South Pacific" at the Kennedy Center Opera House with her grandparents and great-grandmother. She rode to the show in style.

Totally not kidding.
Off to Caps/Thrashers on 4 December 2010.

After participating in the Christmas Messiah at Messiah Methodist, Becca had dinner out at Foxfire on 5 December 2010, with family, grandparents, great-grandmother and great-aunt.

Then the big finale, a night out with grandparents and great-grandmother for high class Italian, then "South Pacific" at the Kennedy Center Opera House. All via limo.




She is still glowing and floating on cloud 9 after her magical night out. It's a birthday she won't soon forget.

Happy Turkey Thanksgiving Day

We hope you had a happy and comfortable and stuffed Thanksgiving.



Check out our flickr Turkey Day.

Assignments are in....

*drum roll please*

We're moving to Philadelphia!!

Wait.... huh?

Give me a....

Give me a....

Give me a....

Give me a....

Give me a....

Give me a....

Give me a....