The World Traveller heads out again

After all this time, I should be used to my husband's departures. Alas, it is not so. John flies out Wednesday morning for recruiting trip #2. This time he is away for just over 3 weeks. On the plus side we now can webcam each other. John John loves being able to physically see him, and his surroundings. It makes it a little easier. However we still miss him and not having him part of the daily routine.
Next weekend John John and I are venturing to the in-laws. We shall celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with them. I'm not sure what exactly John John has planned. He usually tries to do his favourite things like car rides and going to the mall with grandma. I am planning on meeting my sister for lunch on Saturday. Kingston-Toronto is just over 2 hours, so we are having lunch at a midway point. It will be nice to visit with her. Canadian Thanksgiving, even after 16 years is still a little painful. My mom had both brain surgeries on this weekend so she is on both of our minds.
Last Wednesday was Open House at John's school. His teacher had put together a little slide show of the kids. It was extremely cute. We also had to tour around the building. It's funny to see how well known John is at school. He's one of those kids where every teacher (and lots of kids) know him. His cuteness factor still remains. Which reminds me of Saturday. We had John's last soccer game, and of course the ice cream truck was there. John has been buying ice cream all summer so we know the owner well (he will purposely stop in front of our house waiting for John to run out!). Anyway, he asked which bar John wanted as he will either get a Sponge Bob or Strawberry Shortcake. He handed it to John and said that it was on the house for being such a loyal customer! I thought that was sweet.

Fall can be a beautiful season

I love the changes that fall brings. I love watching the trees change colour and the season in general. The only thing I don't like is knowing that winter is around the corner and the easy days are over. I love winter for different reasons, but snow storms, icy roads, school closings, and school delays don't tickle my fancy.
Work has been a little slow lately. I've probably had too much time on my hands. I realize now that having too much time is not always a good thing. John's first trip overseas went quickly. He heads out again next week. We have some unfinished business, and knowing that he's leaving again doesn't make me feel like starting.
Sometimes I wish life weren't so complicated. I hope that I can bear through this little bump in my life.

in three years

In three years, my sister has probably seen the most significant changes to her life. She got married seven months after our mom died, and one month later buried our father. Last year she became a mom for the first time. She will never get to have her parents be a part of her journey as a mom. My parents never got to meet miss adorable little Sadie.
My niece Rachel was only 7-months old when her grandfather died. She was born shortly after mom died. She too will never know her grandparents.
John John was only 5 when my dad died. His memories of my parents are rapidly fading. He barely remembers taking rides in the gold car.
Tomorrow it will be three years since dad died. I just wanted to reflect on what has happened in those years. It to me is a "how time has passed" reflection. Life does indeed move on.

one more week of summer vacation

when I was a teacher I thought 10 weeks wasn't enough. Then again, I did work without much of a break. Now that I have a child I can definitely see that 10 weeks is long. I see how he's regressed with his math skills. John still is reading, but definitely not up to par. Transitioning back to school will be an adjustment.
I am blogging downstairs on our new laptop. John ordered it a couple of weeks ago, and it was a bit of a problem at first. We had to have a Dell tech here, and support from Time Warner. Now it is working, and I am enjoying the wireless mode! When John goes overseas in September and October we'll miss this little luxury. It will be nice knowing that he won't have to bother work for a laptop and he can email/chat daily. John John even loves the laptop! I have to fight him to use it.
Work has been quieter than normal. Next week I am working 3 days. Hopefully I'll pick up some new kids at my other job in September/October. I also hope some more evaluations come in soon. Weird not being so busy.
Tomorrow we are heading over to Boston to check out the Kennedy library with my brother and his family. It will be fun. John has been to 3 presidential libraries this summer. At least he's had some educational opportunities!!

where has the summer gone

Nothing like a little rain to start the day. I don't believe we've made it through many consecutive days without a drop or two. Sort of depressing. Now we are in the home stretch of vacation.
John John was away last week visiting his grandparents. He had a fun trip, but was glad to be back home. When I drove up to get him he just came running to the car and gave me the biggest hug. It felt a little quiet around here without him. John and I sort of were at a loss, but enjoyed the time.
Busy week. I am working all 5 days, but not the whole day. Next week will be quieter, and then the following week school starts. Time to enjoy the rest of summer!

time for a couple of days of quiet

the boys are gone! They are going to Scranton to see the Steam engines, Philly and New Jersey. They shall be back on Tuesday, which gives me 48 hours by myself. Woohoo!! I have no major plans even though I should try to accomplish a couple of things. This will give me the mental break to prepare for John's fall travel. He heads out in September for 2 weeks, and then 3 weeks in October. So in the grand scheme of things I deserve this break.

summertime update

Trip, done. Family reunion, done. Our two major events for the summer are over I am happy to say. Our vacation to California was fun. We spent 3 days at DisneyLand. I was surprised to see how much smaller it is than Disney World. John John was able to ride his favourite ride, Autopia, about 8 times. Car man he is. He was a little disappointed that he couldn't drive a car himself. However the lines were never really that bad so he got to go a lot. We also hit many other rides. We got to meet up with friends we made 6 years ago. We had lunch with them on the 4th at the Rainforest Cafe. Then on the Sunday we went to their house for a birthday party. We visited the Reagan Library in Simi Valley before going to their house. On Monday we did all that we could in Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We were able to go to John Tracy to show John the school he attended for 3 weeks in 2002. We definitely crammed in a lot in one day! Our trip was fun, and just a little different than our usual trip to the beach. Last weekend was my family reunion. There were 28 people here on Saturday. It was extremely hot so most of the day was spent in the pool. My niece Sadie wasn't too keen on swimming. She did enjoy throwing in the beach ball, but trying out her ladybug was not in the cards. Everyone enjoyed a relaxing day. It was nice just to visit with no other purpose. I will probably do it again next year. However preparing is always a lot of work! July has also been busy with summer enrichment camps for John John. He went to our local college the first 2 weeks for cooking classes. He really enjoyed that. Last week and this week he's been going to our district's enrichment. He has had fun. August will be a little less structured. Tentatively he's heading up to Grandma and Grandpa's for a few days. It will be a nice break for all! Then before we know it, summer will be over, and it's back to the daily grind. John heads out overseas in less than 7 weeks. Where does the time go??