I turned 52 yesterday. On one hand, it’s just a number that at this point only matters to the social security office, but on the other hand, it’s over half a century and I fear things I remember from my childhood might already be showing up in museums. Kory’s worried I might actually join The Red Hat Society (where does he come up with this stuff?) I’ve now lived the life of two 26 year olds, which is a somewhat daunting thought, but cause for celebration nonetheless.
Kory and Kaleb normally bring me breakfast in bed on my birthday, but that didn’t happen this year. On my last day of being 51 I drove cousin Ingeborg up to Vancouver, BC for the day and on my way home I was informed we were out of bread, eggs and juice and if I wanted breakfast in bed, I’d have to fetch the ingredients myself. It seemed like a bit much at the time so I opted to go out for breakfast at Calico Cupboard in nearby LaConner instead. Kory and I also went out to the Oyster Bar restaurant on Chuckanaut Drive for a wonderful dinner last night. It was decedent and I honestly felt like I deserved it. Then we spent the night at a Bed and Breakfast on Samish Island and that was wonderful, too (see photo of me actually sitting down for a change.) I so needed some quiet time. Honestly, I’ve been near the breaking point. Earlier this week I couldn’t talk to anyone without either crying or screaming, so I knew I was in trouble. But my batteries got recharged within a 24 hour period of not having to do anything for anyone else, so for that, I’m thankful. I got to leave the house and my to-do list and instead, watch dozens of seals bobbing up and down in the water in front of the B&B, see bald eagles and blue herons coming and going and hear the sound of the rain on a tin roof in the middle of the night. It was God’s creation at its best. This morning we walked on the beach and collected a few colorful rocks as the sun came back and warmed up the day. I’m now ready for another week, year, decade, or 26 more years, whatever God has in store.
The big news this week is that Kory is getting well enough to drive a little. He drove himself to the Retired Men’s Bible study and to the chiropractor, which took a big load off me, so I’m thankful for that. He says he just has a little discomfort every now and then and his ability to stand up or sit down continues to grow longer before he feels any fatigue. He’s been watching about two movies a day so he’s still logging in some horizontal hours, but I’m thankful he’s more able bodied than disabled and full recovery is in sight. Hallelujah!
Kaleb started doing more school work this week, but I had to take on the bulk of his teaching because Kory was having troubles taking instructions from me (for some reason!) on what to do with him. We still haven’t settled into a groove with school as there were several out of the ordinary events this week that kept things from running smoothly, but the good news is, he loves his science course from Johns Hopkins University. He is already 20% of the way done with that three month program and has a score of 95% after taking four exams. Another sample question from one of his tests: Water has a boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius. Acetic acid has a boiling point of 117.9 degrees Celsius. Both substances are colorless liquids. How could you use this information to determine which of the two unknown substances is acetic acid? And his answer: Heat each substance to 100 degrees Celsius and check for gas being formed. How he knows this stuff is beyond me as I’m sure this has to be high school chemistry. I can’t imagine they teach this in 5th grade anywhere? It’s so impressive to see his brain at work, but I like it best when it’s focused on academics and not on trying to out-smart me. He also started a Web design class with Johns Hopkins and he’s well on his way to making his first web page. It seems overwhelmingly difficult to me but he swears it all makes sense to him. Now if I could just harness that enthusiasm and energy and direct it to his Algebra course, I’d have no worries. He’s SO not motivated to do Algebra as he’s yet to understand “why” he has to do it. (I remember wondering the same thing when I was in 9th grade.)
I had a long talk with Kaleb this week about my expectations and frustrations with schooling him. I told him he was free to go to public school and I’d insist he go if he continued to give me flack about certain subjects. I explained that I try to do the best for him in everything, but I expect him to give me his best in return. I told him I was totally stressed out with having to school him everyday and with Kory being laid up right now and I pleaded for mercy and kindness from him. He understood what I was saying (maybe because I was crying at the time) and he changed his attitude about it all, did all his chores without being asked, did his best in school all week and even did extra things for me without complaining. I was ever so thankful. He really is a good boy.
I sure hope the worst is behind us as this re-entry into America life has been a little rough, to say the least. At one point this week I screamed at Kaleb just because he kept asking me to look at a rock and guess what the shape looked like. I couldn’t see anything other than a rock and he kept insisting I keep guessing. It was more than I could take. On the upside, some friends invited us over for dinner one night, other friends from Montana surprised us with a visit, Kaleb had some adorable school pictures taken, and I had enough time to return phone calls and chat with friends. It’s now been a month since we’ve been home, and in only seven more months we are heading back to Norway for a vacation. Kaleb even commented today, “It’s all just so normal now, you know?” He too, liked living in the fairy tale.
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