School break week...

This week is school break week in (most of) our area... B has really been looking forward to it, too. It's a good reminder to me that, as stressful as I find his growth & changes to have been that past few weeks, he's feeling it, too! Although we don't have major activities planned for this week, there is something to do every day (including Saturday & Sunday) & I find I'm guarding the left-over time as best I can, since I don't want this week to slip away in busyness. There are some fun projects B & I can do together, if we can find the time. I would like to get our seedlings started, for one. Before B was born I was a mad gardener (considering the postage-stamp size of our back-yard) & started pretty much everything from tomatoes to flowers from seed. Since B came along we've struggled to find the time to keep the perennial gardens (mostly herbs) from getting too horrible, plus tending to a few tomato plants (purchased at a local nursery) every year because we love them so. Last year I decided to try self-watering planters on the back deck to grow the tomatoes, & it turned out to be just the time-saving solution we were looking for. We planted the weekend after Memorial Day & were eating cherry tomatoes by mid-July! Plus the plants grew taller than C (who is 6'3"!!). Unfortunately, the Roma tomato plants were just not very good, which made me decide to do the seedling thing again. B was very into herb-gardening the summer before last, so I think he'll enjoy helping me get the seedling started kits together (they're like little greenhouses)- assuming I can find all the pieces... either way, that'll be a good project for us, & get everything started on time.

Today my best friend Roo came from Buffalo for a day-trip. I had requested it for a birthday present, & since her birthday was last Friday, it worked out well. Roo & I have been friends for 23 years, which means she pre-dates C in my life. We met while we were on staff at a UU summer camp in the Adirondacks back in the early 80's & have been good friends through all of the life-stages & -changes ever since. Roo's main claim to fame is not only being there when I first declared my intention to become a Jedi, but having egged me on by appending "J.I.T" (Jedi in Training) to my name on the letters she'd send :) She's a school teacher (specialising in deaf education) & it would appear that her district is the only one for many miles around that does not have this whole week off- she just had today & it was cool that she wanted to spend it with us. We went out for Chinese lunch & then made fudge, which she'd never done before (although she went to cooking school before deciding to teach, & is the best dessert-maker I know). B was very occupied with his "contraptions" computer game but decided to grace us with his presence when it came time to lick the pan... We all played Clue & then B tried to teach Roo to play Go- & she was a very good sport about it!! Through it all ran a thread of catching-up on new stuff & recalling shared memories. B showed her his spybots while I made dinner & when C came home from work they were roaring them around upstairs, to much hilarity. B had a tough time with OCD thoughts during dinner, hardly ate anything at all, & eventually had to leave the room because the thoughts were so upsetting to him. Although we only see Roo 3 or 4 times a year, I was struck by how unembarrassed I felt by his behaviour with her there... I rarely feel as though I need to explain him to her & it's a great comfort. B was in great spirits for most of Roo's visit & even asked her when she was coming back quite early in her visit, so I know she knows he's glad to have her around too. I'm feeling sad now that's she's left- she has a 1 1/2 hour drive ahead of her plus school tomorrow so she couldn't stay late. I sent some fudge with her, of course :) I'm so lucky to have such an enduring friend!

Tomorrow should be fairly laid-back, although we have to get up early because Daryl is coming to clean the house. I plan to take a quick trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics right when they're open (& least busy) because I can't finish making B's boxers until I buy more elastic (I've made 5 pairs already, but need to make 3 more). Hopefully he'll weather the trip alright... Maybe we'll stop at the asian food store on the way home to see if they have any new candy :) Then we're free until we leave for a visit to Dr. M later in the afternoon. C & I are already making notes to each other this evening about things to bring up with him...

C & I see Dr. M Wednesday afternoon, & since B is off school, Cherie, B's consultant teacher, is going to sit with him. She's been to our house many times, since we sat on a school committee that met weekly (usually at our house) last summer, but she's never kid-sat for B before. I think he'll have a blast. I lent her the first of Diane Duane's "Young Wizard" books, So You Want to be a Wizard to read during the break, so B & I are looking forward to checking-in with her to see how she's enjoying it. My ulterior motive in lending her the book was for Cherie to understand "Timeheart", which is something B has been talking & clearly thinking a lot about lately. B's been using the image of Rusagi (one of his bionicle creations) in Timeheart as an OCD diversion, so I'm thinking that it'll come in handy for Cherie to understand it, too, although I'm psyched to share the book with her, as well. It's our favourite series!

Thursday we are taking Tomoko, our Japanese teacher, out to lunch at our fave Japanese restaurant, since her clinical rotation right now is in a school & school's out this week. We may go to a school friend's house later in the afternoon, but the friend's mom was wonderfully understanding about my desire to keep things from getting too busy this week, so we're playing it by ear.

Dad's taking Friday off work (he usually takes at least one break day off). We are also having a friend from church who's daughter is in C's preschool Sunday school class over to lunch (daughter too), so B will get the chance to play with a younger child. He had a role in a church play over the holidays that required him to interact with this child & he seemed to bond with her, which is nice since younger kids usually make B very twitchy (we think it's because they're so unpredictable). I'm really looking forward to spending more time with them. They're a newer family at church & we really seem to be forming a bond.

Saturday we have a Japanese lesson in the morning, then off to another school friend's for the afternoon. Sunday, church & Sunday school...

Looking back on today, I'm really glad that we have a structured yet fairly relaxed week. B needs space just to be, these days. It'll be nice to find time to do some things together, rather than running from activity to activity. It'll also be nice, although not essential, to get some sewing done when he wants to play a computer game or watch a video (both being activities that he's been cool on for a bit, but seems to be getting back into...). Hopefully, we'll both find this week a refreshing break from our usual routine. It's weird, but it always seems to me that the time after the winter break is just a short slide into summer- with all of the changes that will bring. It will be nice just to live in the present for a while!!