blahs

I have had several really demanding days lately, and have been kind of up and down. Our region has had a spate of deaths and injuries involving vehicles- we've heard about 3 or 4 hit-and-runs just in the past couple of days. My husband lost 3 former students this week, and of course, the little boy with cancer passed away last week.

We're trying to regroup as a family this weekend, but man is it busy. Peter had a class all day today, so he missed Andy's first Tae Kwon Do meet. Peter would have loved to be there- they're taking these classes together, and he would have been able to compete as well.

I sure felt like a good mom, shepherding Rose around and trying to pick Andy out of the crowd of white suits. It helped that he was the only youth white belt that stands 5'10". He did well, and had a great day. His school lives up to that martial arts reputation of character building- he has had to write papers on creativity, school pride, loyalty and dependability. He is really a good person, smart, charming and kind-hearted, but he is, after all, a twelve year old boy. He has his moments. (hours) So, it's always nice to be around him when he still has that Tae Kwon Do aura.

I guess for families who grew up with sports, the echoing, enormous high school gym, the heat, the noise, and the unrelieved and unrewarded waiting around wouldn't be such a strain. I could feel myself getting a little stressed. Then I realized that 1) I hadn't eaten, 2)Rose was having a fine time, but would surely need to decompress soon, and 3) Andy was completely prepared for me to have to leave early. In fact, he's the one who warned me that it would be too stimulating for Rose. (and me...) So we just packed up and came home. Andy got a ride home with another student's family.

Tomorrow, we're going to a fund-raising walk for Polycystic Kidney Disease. Two members of my book club have this disease and have had kidney transplants. I have been bopping around the internet and trying to learn about it. It is surprisingly common, but I guess it's just not a disease that gets a lot of press. I've been a lame fund-raiser, but we'll be there tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a beautiful day and a feel-good event.

And we could do with a feel-good event on a beautiful day. Hope yours is beautiful as well.