Welcome Back

Life has been a bit too crazy for the past five months. I spend so much time on the computer with my new job that I really have no desire to be on here more in order to compose a blog post. I thought I would just resort to pictures, but I don't even want to take the time to get them uploaded and I really haven't taken many anyway.

What is so busy? CC mostly! Five days before we were to start our CC classes last August I was asked to tutor Tegan's class. Of course I said YES, as this is the class I had my eye on ever since we began CC in 2008. I was thrilled, but over committed, because I did not want to drop my Essentials tutor position as well. Strangely, I have grown to love tutoring English grammar and writing :). I still love it all, it just requires TIME, and lots of it.

Every Thursday I tutor nine, 12-15 year olds. We start our day with our writing seminar in which we alternate weeks reading a Newberry award novel, and then write a paper about an aspect of it. It is great discussion followed with some wonderful and insightful papers. Our next seminar is Latin and this is where much of my time goes each week. I'm only one or two steps ahead of the students, but it's something I'm thoroughly enjoying. Some days my brain literally hurts from trying to understand it all. The third seminar I tutor is Rhetoric. I think this is my favorite part of the day. Each week the students read chapters out of the books "Don't Check your Brain at the Door" and "It Couldn't Just Happen." We then spend an hour discussing these chapters and other student questions in class. Watching their brains process and discuss is incredible. I try to keep my mouth shut as much as possible (sometimes this involves literally biting my tongue) as this is their time to wrestle with their own ideas and beliefs. Our fourth seminar is Geography. The students and I are, not only, memorizing every country and capital around the globe this year, but also memorizing how to draw it all, free hand. It's quite an accomplishment, and something that looked quite daunting at the beginning of the year, but is more doable with each passing week. Once I memorized the names and locations of 45 rivers around the U.S. and all the islands in the Caribbean and their capitals, everything else has seemed much easier. I am certain I've felt my brain actually grow this year. It has taken four years of work to get to this point of being able to memorize, but it truly gets easier the more I do it. The boys and I are also memorizing a 280 point timeline this year. Of course, they have no problem, but they must sit through all the practice to help me :). I'm getting it bit by bit, but I must practice every day!

After my first four seminars in Challenge A I turn my class over to another tutor for the science and math portions, so that I can tutor my afternoon Essentials class - English grammar and writing with 9-12 year olds. This is my third year doing this and I continue to learn so much. All that makes for, not only, a long Thursday, but also a long week with the emails and prep that need to get done.

Since I am so in love with CC and all that it offers our family I decided that tutoring those two classes just wasn't enough. When a re-organization was announced in early December I jumped on the opportunity to apply for a larger position that would help spread CC around the state. I spent December in a few interviews and then figuring out how I might get to training in VA. January 2nd found me flying back to VA for a week of Support Mgr training (this required the most expensive airline ticket I have ever purchased). While I was there I was offered the Area Manager position (oversee the Support Mgrs in Colorado). I jumped at that as I really have a heart to see CC grow throughout the state and not just in a smaller area within the state. This position has proved to be a bit more all consuming than expected, only because I do not have any SM's on board with me yet. The re-organization has taken the position of 33 State Mgrs across the nation and divided the work among approximately 400 Support Mgrs (this shows how over-worked those State Mgrs were). However, I now find myself in the State Mgrs position without any Sm's hired and it's rather frustrating. Every night we throw up a prayer that SM's will step up the following day. I'm still waiting for that.

I did have an amazing time at the training. My vision for CC grew to a whole new level and I am loving watching it grow across the nation - about 40% every year for the past four years.

Another, seemingly all consuming (at times) task, is Tegan's speech and debate club. He began this in the fall, along with participation in the theater group as well. It has been wonderful for him, but a huge time commitment on our part. Had I known before we started what was going to be asked of me I don't think I would have signed him up. Some things are better not to know. He thoroughly enjoyed his theater participation and is completely in his element with speech and debate. Pictures and videos will be forthcoming. What he loves most about this group is "I'm surrounded by people like me, who are okay making fools of themselves in front of others and who like to argue." As much as I try to encourage him to save his arguing for Fridays when he's at club he doesn't always submit to this, much to my and his brothers' dismay. The folks that run the club are wonderful. We are so blessed to have these other adults, whom Tegan trusts and respects, in his life.

Added to the above, we experienced "our" first broken bone. Sadly, to the boys, but thankfully, for us, it was "only" a pinky. Who knew a pinky could be so troublesome. For this to be our first broken bone in a total of 33 boy years is pretty amazing. Riley broke his pinky in a basketball game on a Saturday. Of course we all thought is was just jammed and encouraged him to play the next game. Then we encouraged him to loosen it up and keep moving it while in church on Sunday. On Monday, it looked horrible, so off to Urgent Care we went. The x-ray showed a very obvious break and they sent us off to the Children's Hospital, to get it set (or so I thought). Due to the type of break and the slight twist on the top half of his pinky they decided surgery would be best - I had no idea that this would even be a consideration. After eight hours of driving, waiting, and Dr's offices on a Monday, we had surgery scheduled for the following Friday - right in the middle of Tegan's debate tournament down in Colorado Springs. We juggled our plans and on Friday I drove back from COS to pick up Riley and Conner at the house. We met my dad at the hospital and he and Cherie took Conner out for a fun day. Riley and I walked into the hospital to find he was not on the surgery schedule (later found to be a communication break down between the surgeon's nurse and his scheduling department). Needless to say, I was irate. My little guy had been in pain all week, nervous with anticipation over the surgery, and had been so good about not eating anything all day (his surgery was supposed to be scheduled for 2:15pm, so he was already starving). They decided they could fit him in, but he didn't get into surgery until after 3:30pm. It took all of 20 minutes to get a pin in his pinky to hold it in place and then put a cast on him. However, the expected two hour recovery time after his surgery turned into 3.5. He had a tough time coming out of the anesthesia. He couldn't talk for about 30 minutes, but he did smile a few times. He told us later he was trying to let us know he was okay because he could tell we were worried about him. He could hear us talking, but couldn't say anything back. He was also very mad. He didn't like how he felt and he hated the numbing block in his arm. We eventually got him out of there and to Chili's at about 8pm, where he proceeded to eat a very large hamburger and was much happier :). I drove back to COS to the debate tournament, but on the way there I decided I needed to be at home (the tournament was set to last until 9pm Saturday) - Riley was hurting and Conner wouldn't eat dinner because his stomach felt bad. I got down there, picked up Tegan, did the fastest clean up of the condo, ever, then turned around and headed for home. We were in bed at midnight after a very long day. A few days of pain passed for Riley and he's doing fine now. At first, he could feel the pin moving in his finger every time his cast was tapped, but it's on the mend now and he can't feel it anymore. He'll get his cast off around March 12th.