Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Change is Constant - an Update on Life with the M's

Where to begin and where to end? Once again life twists and turns and puts us where we didn't expect to be. This time last year, I was home schooling Melissa and Michael with every intention of doing so for years to come. I was dealing with gall bladder attacks and had not yet even contemplating returning to school myself. This year I'm in school, the kids are in school, and other than a twin-inflicted cold, my health is the best it has been in a number of years: physically and mentally - I would say that until I started getting better, I didn't know how bad off I was for so long.

The big news here is that we are buying a condo! The subjects are removed; the deposit paid and it is closing the end of February. The chain of events that have transpired over the past year seem to be leading somewhere; somewhere there is a reason for all of this: kids in school, me in school, buying a condo, having a mortgage. Every time I think I know where life is going to put me; things change, the road turns, and I end up somewhere else. There is a bit of stomach turning terror at going into so much debt: I think I've lost 5 pounds just in the process so far.


Megan and Maribeth two years ago - December 19, 2004

Melissa, Michael, and Maddy had their 1st report cards and parent teacher conferences of the year. Maddy and Melissa are both completely on track for their age and grade levels. In short, they're doing well and their teachers love having them in their classrooms. Michael is advanced in everything and is in advanced spelling, reading, and math. He also is helping other 1st graders as well as being sent in to read to the Kindergarten class. Michael is also "extremely popular" at school. Given that he grew up with all girls, that kind of surprised me. I guess that was wasted worry on whether or not he would get along ok with other boys.

I finished up my first semester back to school in almost a decade with a 4.0 GPA. I got A's in both my English and Political Science classes. I 'm thrilled with that and also enjoying the time off between semesters. I have proved that my brain is not dead or turned to mush. I'm also loving seeing the kids. Having both them and me going to school has improved our family dynamics amazingly. We all have things to talk about and when we have a break from school we appreciate spending time with each other, instead of just getting on each other's nerves. Of course maybe the thousands of dollars Allan and I dropped into personal and marriage counselling this year may be helping with some of that as well.

There is more. There has been so much more, I just can't remember it all. 2006 has been an interesting year that ranged from wonderful times to some of the most stressful things we have been through; things we almost didn't make it through. At the end of all the twists and turns 2006 threw at us, we are not where we thought we would be. It will be interesting to see what happens next year in 2007. I'm getting the chills now because when I went to type 2007, I typed 1997 and then again. 1997 was a year for me of very hard change and transitions. I hope that is not a sign of things to come...