Beautiful Summer Weather (so far)

The weather this summer has been incredible so far. I always qualify "so far". It's something I learned from my Friday Friends so that I don't jinx anything. :) Some summers start out rainy and cold, others super hot, and often there are lots of bad thunderstorms and tornado warnings. We have been incredibly blessed...so far. It is fascinating to me how much more motivated I am to  get out and do things when the sun is shining and the sky is blue.

I am making a concerted effort to make the most of my summer this year. During the school year, I find myself thinking "Oh, I would totally do (insert fun activity here) if I wasn't working full-time". Then, summer comes and I lose my momentum to get anything done, fun or not fun. So I am making myself say yes to more invitations this summer.

I had the most fun summer Friday yesterday. It started with a great walk with Jean (of course). I did some private speech therapy with a sweetheart of a kid from 9 to 10, then did some housework. At 12:30, I joined Jean and Teri at our friend Pam's country club for some pool time and lunch al fresco (I can hear Wayne and Sallly making fun of that expression now- al fresco. Yes, we ate our lunch outside!). It was such a beautiful day! Blue skies, green grass, white wine, fun times! I left there around 3:30 to meet Sally and Ellie at our house. I had volunteered to babysit Ellie if Matt and Sally wanted to go out on a little date. Jack was out of town, so I had no plans. Sally, Ellie and I went to Burns Field, the same park my kids went to when they were little, then stopped at Kramer's to pick up a few items. Everyone stopped to say hi to Ellie! She is such a charmer. And in a very exciting turn of events, we ran into Lisa Loo, my dear friend and coworker. So fun!!
We left Kramer's in a hurry to pick up Matt from the train. It was so sweet how happy Ellie was to see her dad! Matt and Sally left for their date and I fed Ellie some dinner. She was busy crawling around and exploring, not the least bit tired. I texted Mike and Jean to see if they wanted a quick visit and they did! It was a great way to tire out our little party girl and it was fun to get out. I want to reiterate that the weather was gorgeous!!!!! Ellie and I came back home, I changed her into her pjs and gave her a bottle and that was all she wrote. Matt and Sally came back around 8:30 and we had a glass of champagne together and a quick visit and they took off. In case  you are wondering, yes, Ellie transferred easily to her car seat and then to her crib at home. God bless her!!

girlfriends

my girls at the park

Ellie, meet Lisa

Hi, Daddy!

I love me some summer!

Summertime!

Summer break is finally here!!  I finished up the school year on Friday afternoon around 2pm, then headed over to an end of the year happy hour at the home of Michelle, one of our social workers. It was a beautiful, hot and sunny afternoon and it was heavenly sitting outside with a glass of wine, relaxing with my coworkers. It was the perfect way to end the year and start the summer.

On Saturday we had the wedding of Chas and Julie. The mass was at 5pm with the reception immediately following. That gave us most the day to prepare and relax. We left our house around 1:30pm, checked into the Club and then ubered it up to Wayne and Julie's apartment. They just moved last week and we were all anxious to see the new place and it was awesome! Lots of light and space and a nice location. Sally and Matt met us there (Grandma Mary babysat for Ellie) and it was so great to be together. Even though we are a smallish family, it's still not easy to get us all in one room at the same time very often because of busy schedules.

Julie and Chas!

me and my honey

love these four so much!

The wedding mass was beautiful with incredible music, including bagpipers at the end. The reception was super fun and I danced with my 4 kids and some of the girls for most of the night. I didn't visit with people nearly as much as I was planning on! We loved being a part of Chas and Julie's special day. They are a darling couple. I can't wait to see what God has in store for them. 

Hip Update, week 9, uh make that it almost week 12

Note: I started writing this on May 31 and got sidetracked!

It's been 9 weeks since I got my new hip. I can't believe the difference. Lately I am noticing all sorts of positive changes in range of motion and in function. And I don't have any pain in my left hip!

I finished up physical therapy a week ago, though I am going to go in for a check-in to make sure that all has continued to progress normally. When I went in for PT on May 19th, I could not yet put on my left shoe and sock without Jack's help or the help of adaptive equipment. When I left PT that day, I was able to! That is how amazing PT is. My lead PT, Phillip, is kind of a genius. I have to totally trust him. Sometimes PT is really painful, but it always results in a positive change in my body. I also have had to trust him when he says I can do something. I doubt myself, especially my coordination. Phillip is good at talking me through things. I have been blessed to have him on my team. Phillip has an amazing PT assistant, Karen, who is his perfect counterpoint. Karen is always calm, reassuring and a great conversationalist.  Another note: I had my exit PT appointment on June 13th. All good and all done!

It is now almost 12 weeks with my new hip. I continue to be beyond thrilled with how it turned out. It is still hard to believe how relatively easy the whole process was. A hip replacement sounds much scarier than it was. I have almost forgotten what the pain was like and how limited I had become in some areas. I give God all the glory and thank Him for medical personnel like Brett Levine and his team and Phillip and the nurses in the hospital and Nicki my home health PT. I am also very grateful to my friends and family who took such good care of me.

Another school year is winding down

Two more days left of SY 15-16. Today was the last day with my students. I have two meetings tomorrow and other than that, all I have to do is pack up my classroom and get ready for a move. This year I am not just moving to a different classroom, I am moving to another location (probably a church).
I am sad to leave the school where I have been the past two years. WPS has been wonderful place to work. When I started last year, I did not know anyone. I remember being in my classroom for the first time and getting a visit from one of my "neighbors", Barb, the first grade team leader. She made me feel welcome and she looked out for me all year long. My classroom was in the first grade hall and I ate lunch with the first grade teachers. At first I had to make myself go into the teachers' lunchroom to eat; I considered it part of my job to help us assimilate into the school. Within a few months, I looked forward to seeing my pals, Barb, Ricki, Kate, Meg and Jen at lunch and hated it when I had to miss lunch. Even though this past school year my classroom has been in the second grade/early childhood wing and our lunchtimes overlap only ten minutes, those first grade teachers have continued to be my buddies. Everyone in the school has been super nice to me. I am going to miss them next year.