Thanksgiving and the weekend were nice. We had Thanksgiving at D.'s house. We went to visit Pop, then went shopping. On Saturday we did some cleaning and Sunday we helped fix the garage door at Mom and Dad's. I went to see Dr. S. It was an interesting appointment. He turned an entire incident around so I could see it from the other side's point of view. He also said that my motivation is probably just lagging from boredom and did not change any of my medication. DS. has a cold and was miserable yesterday with it. He took a good long nap which cured some of it. Then we forgot the no games rule and he played for three hours. OOPS! I have to write to his teachers and see how he is doing. I will probably write today. I am almost afraid to see how things are going after an ok report card. More later.

I should have stayed home today. I am so drowsy, it's not funny. DS has a showcase tonight and I want to be awake for that. He has an assignment that is due tomorrow that he hasn't finished yet. I am really angry with him for being in this situation because I encouraged him earlier this week to get ahead on it, which of course he didn't do.
I have been reading great things about a book called Flotsam, by David Wiesner. I am betting that it is this year's Caldecott winner. Probably not a difficult choice to make, since everybody who has reviewed it has given it rave reviews.
I have to be careful about working out when listening to a book. Tuesday, I was listening to Maximum Ride and the main characters were being chased. At the same time I was working on a machine for my arms and apparently got caught up in the moment and didn't pay attention to the fact that the weight was far more than I usually work out. I can really feel it on my arms today.
It's raining again today (fourth day in a row with cloudy skies.) Maybe we will get some sunshine to finish putting the shed together and fix the garage door. The garage itself needs cleaning but I think that will have to wait for another weekend. bye now.

I read an incredible book on Friday. It was called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It was not the most well written book I have ever read and it was written for a younger audience, but it will haunt you for days after reading it. BH has a cold and is really tired. He has been doing to many weekend things and needs to take a break. I'm pretty tired too. I will be asking Dr. S. about my meds because I think they may be too much for me. I feel like a slug all the time and don't really want to do anything, even read. I'll be seeing him this week and can ask about it. DS has new medication to take and see if it works better.
Bedtime.

Mostly different guys except one. We had a great time, but a long drive home!

Here are the guys.

This past week went by pretty quickly. DS was all caught up with work. I am going to speak to Dr. S about my lack of motivation. I am not even up to reading or knitting which is unusual. I don't feel too depressed so I am wondering if it is one of my meds. I'll have to wait until next week to find out.
We really are into fall because it has been in the twenties during the overnight and only up to the forties during the day. Nice crisp days as long as your dressed right. We finished the leaves and BH mowed so all we have left is to clean the shed and get it ready for winter (and fix the garage door, which currently is only available manually.)
Back to work.

Made a fool of myself last night telling about a dream I had last year. I just couldn't keep it to myself. Oh well, I didn't tell the whole thing so part of it is still mine alone. I don't know if everyone keeps secrets to themselves, but I know I do. They are little things, but things I relish to hold onto for me alone.

This weekend was great. We got most everything cleaned up and put away and we could finally relax. I donated blood for the first time. Then I just seemed to let everything go and I could feel my body let go of the tension that has been there for a while. I've also kind of given in to work. The right opportunity will come by at the right time. DS was very busy this weekend with homework in every class and a couple of papers to right. He worked really hard all weekend and I am proud of his work. BH also seemed to relax even though we worked all day cleaning, laundry, cat litter, etc. Now we will start getting into the Christmas rush, but I'm not freaked out about that yet. J even called me last night, which is always surprising. Gotta to go cause I'm at work.

This week has been a long one. One of our former students committed suicide this week. He graduated last year. In many ways, it is almost like it didn't happen since there is almost nothing being said about it. I don't know if this is because he graduated last year or because he committed suicide. The administration has given us a list of students to watch out for who were his friends. His family has kept quiet about it, though they are having a wake and funeral for him, both of which the public is invited to. (I know that is not proper English.) Hopefully I can get my own thoughts and feelings straightened out quickly.

DS is being stubborn about finishing his school work and wants to see M. tonight for 1 1/2 hours. I have decided I will leave him there by himself so he may talk to her more than he shares with me. Something I don't like but will give in to anyway. I am jealous of the fact that he will share with her, but not me, but I am glad he will share with someone.

We had a good weekend, the weather was fantastic until Sunday when it rained, but that seemed almost fitting for the occasion. Even though I knew some of the people in the Colonial Army, it was still intimidating to be in between two lines of people knowing that your side was surrendering. DS seemed to have a good time, so I think it was good that we brought him, even though he now has work to make up.

The weather outside is great today, at least it looks great-it is cold out there. I think this may actually be the killing frost for my roses. They have withstood the weather so far because they are close to the house, but if not today, then definitely by the end of the weekend.

I am very frustrated. Things seem to be going rapidly downhill for DS Everyday brings a new problem with school. In addition to grade problems, he has been mistakenly given cut slips when he wasn't cutting. I just feel like I don't know where to go. I have a call into his school with his teachers, the assistant principal and his caseworker, with no response from any of them. I also have a call into M to talk to her.

He seems to be fine, but something is wrong, I just don't know what and I don't know what to do for him. He has plenty of time for homework, even with the extra school day. Is he overwhelmed, is he rebelling either actively or passively, what's up. Anyone who ever tells me that being a parent is easy is not doing it right!

We'll be going away for a couple of days this week and it should be fun. I just hope the weather is good. I am also worried about P. He has been going flat out for several weeks and I am concerned he will get sick after all this. I am going to try and drive as much as possible so he can rest while we are traveling. I wore my clothes yesterday. They were pretty comfortable, though they will take some getting used to, especially the bra part. The stays do work well, but it's not quite the same. It's a bit stiffer because of the way it is made with boning. Time to get out of here.

I always seem to post about the weather. I think part of it is a New Englander's obsession with the changing weather. An hour ago we had a downpour with strong winds. Now the sun is out. I'll try harder not to comment on the weather.

Spent most of today actually working. I had lots of little things to do, including the newsletter (as it may be), reading VOYA, sending out emails to listservs, etc. Now I just have to wait for replies. I know I will be overwhelmed at the responses. There is a speaker I believe would be good for our school and I put out feelers to see if she is good. I also looked into joining one of the audio book review committees. To be on the committee you have to attend the conferences and of course they are not all on the East Coast so I have to discuss this with Peter. I've hardly ever gone to conferences, but they are expensive.

Today has been a bit exciting so far. Someone smelled gas and we had to evacuate. However, most of us thought it was just a drill. We were only outside for a few minutes and the temperature outside was as warm as it was inside-still haven't got those heat settings right. I am totally disgusted with our kitchen, it is so dirty, I don't want anyone to see it. I have started cleaning it by cleaning part of the stove. Over the next week or so I hope to get it all clean, including cupboards and the refrigerator.

A couple of schools have been put on lockdown recently, one because a student had a loaded gun and was planning on murdering 3 other students. Scary stuff that kids can get those guns and then plan on killing someone with them. I don't like to think about it, but I know that we have students here that have weapons on them and we just don't know it.

Back to better thoughts, it is a glorious fall day with lots of sunshine and blue skies with a touch of autumn breezes. Too bad I won't have time to enjoy it today. I have an appointment and then I have to go shopping. I only own three pairs of work pants and three shirts to use. I have been swapping them around, but now it is time to get something else, even if I don't really like the other choices out there.

Yesterday and today were wonderful days. It was sunny and you could feel the wind was an autumn breeze. I mowed part of the lawn, but was stopped by a heavy pile of leaves that need to be raked before I finished mowing. I really hate raking leavesm but it has to be done.

I started attending a bible group called Mark on Mondays where will be study the Gospel of Mark. It went fairly well last night. It was a whole different group of people than I usually meet with, which was nice. And I did participate in the discussion.