It’s been maybe the longest stretch I’ve ever gone without posting on this blog, mostly because getting back into the swing of things after Christmas “vacation” has been really, really hard. The kids actually readjusted back to SoCal life really easily and have been remarkably well-behaved. I’m struggling because I’m behind on cleaning (despite a highly successful family cleaning day last weekend), behind on cooking, behind on grocery shopping, behind on lesson planning, behind on schoolwork with the kids, behind on downloading and editing all the pictures from Christmas, and most importantly, behind on getting ready for fostering. Derek had his final training session yesterday, and if I really had my act together, we both would have gotten our first aid/cpr refresher class out of the way (I did mine yesterday, he has to do it later), gotten our medical releases signed off (mine was on pause until after my MRI; that good news (merely a sprained MCL and inflamed pieces of cartilage floating under my knee cap–no surgery needed) means I’m good to go, but Derek still needs to go get his TB test and physical), and our house childproofed to LA County standards (the standards we find acceptable after ten years of parenting are way lax). Oh, and we still need to buy another dresser for the foster child bedroom since regulations require one. So instead of being ready to get our home study this week and start fostering shortly thereafter, we are still a ways away from that goal. Derek has no time (besides the classes/appointments he has to attend), so it’s all on me. Also, we’re still fighting with AAA about our auto insurance and UCLA and Anthem about our hospital bills. (That’s also my job, and you know how well I do with paperwork and bureaucracy.) We have some extra community group responsibilities (meeting for coffee with each member of the CG we lead is more complicated than for most local groups because our members live and work up to an hour away from us), I’m trying to interview and meet new student babysitters to add to our rotation, and did I mention that our van broke down last weekend and spent two days in the shop?
Anyway, that’s why I haven’t been taking pictures or blogging much. I will hopefully be catching back up with things since I know I don’t remember anything that happened to us unless I blog it.=)
So here’s something less depressing! We spent three and a half hours at the park after CBS on Thursday since Susie and Tommy had a make-up art class at 3:15, and it just made sense to stay in Westlake Village for the day. Fortunately, Carmell and her kids stayed with us the whole time. It had rained all day the day before and that morning, so the kids were COVERED with mud splashes by the time we left. Carmell and I kept telling each other, “We’re cool moms! We’re okay with mud! It’s good for kids to get dirty! Wild and free!” I don’t think we really convinced anyone, let alone ourselves, though. Note Selah and Tommy’s rather sheepish looks. Yes, her shoes were so dirty she had to take them off, and his shoes were originally white.
