The end of Summer draws near

It's hard to believe that summer break ends this week. John finishes daycamp on Friday. He's enjoyed it and it's been a different activity for him. Today they went to Pine Lake Beach again, and John was very excited to go. He had the day planned out! John is going to buy his SpongeBob ice cream, and then with the rest of the money play in the game room. He was excited to go swimming at the beach too, but it seems ice cream and game room have high priority.
We made a last minute decision to go to Ottawa for Jamie Jr.'s 6th birthday. Still not sure if we are going to leave Friday night or Saturday morning. The party is at 3 on Saturday. In some ways it would make more sense to go up Sat, and come home Sunday. We shall see. We do owe Jamie and Sandra because they came down for both of my parent's funerals.
I have Friday off work as I don't have any visits to make or evaluations to do. Nice to have some time to myself. We all have Monday off for Labour Day, and then John starts school on Wednesday. Not sure what we'll do on the Tuesday yet. We shall need some activity.
I'm a little meloncholy this week. I guess it's understandable.

One year ago today....

One year ago today was the last time I saw my father. It is so hard somedays still to believe that he is gone. This was the last "first year" difficult time to get through. For the most part I'm over the everyday sadness I felt in the beginning. This week was tough because it was the week dad had his stroke. We all spent the week at the hospital hoping for a miracle, but it never happened. I remember on the Friday morning we spoke with the doctor in charge of dad and he was amazed that dad had made it that far. We thought that dad had turned a corner and may make some sort of recovery. John and I went out to lunch just to get out of the hospital for a bit. When we came back we found out that dad's internal organs were shutting down, and he was slipping away. Just remembering those last few hours are hard. Watching dad die was an extremely difficult thing to do, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Being there so he wasn't alone was exactly what he always wanted. We broke many hospital rules that week as we never left his side. I miss you dad.

Gee look at the cat food on the kitchen floor

Yes, that would be dh's comment, and then do nothing about it. I guess when I'm in a PMS mood everything irritates me. It annoys me when he says "we need to vaccuum", and walks away. I love my husband, I really really do. He's wonderful with John, and very generous with his time. However he can be lax with tidying up and doing housework.
I'm up in our computer room listening to John John and his friend Alex fight. They usually get along really well. Guess we are all in moods today.
Yesterday was the Mason's picnic. It was a nice afternoon. We forgot the bathing suits, so John John borrowed one. It was a little on the big side, but it was okay. John John loves the water. He goes to camp tomorrow. I hope he has fun. It will be nice to not have to rush home to relieve the babysitter. It will also be nice to not have to get him till 4:30.
Tomorrow marks 1 year of dad's final week. One year ago today (Sunday) was the last time I had a conversation with him. I can't really consider his saying "yes" a final response.

Monday is over

Did I ever mention I am terrible at coming up with witty titles? I truly suck at being original. Today was back to work day. I checked in at the office, and to let Jody know I'm ready for more evals if need be. Those evals are always good extra cash. She was telling me about all the crap going on in the office, and if possible to stay away till things are better. Nice. Oh well, in all honesty I don't get in to the office that often. This week is another not much time to dawdle anyway.
It was nice seeing my kids. I think that's what I love about my job. Working with little ones can be so fun and I get lots of hugs and kisses! I lost one kid while I was on vacation, but to me it's not a huge loss. She was a strange one. I will miss some of the kids that will go on to preschool soon.
Not much else to report. Tomorrow I shall light a candle in memory of my dad. It's the Jewish anniversary, and the actual date is August 26. I might just light another candle then. I am finally feeling like I'm not going to burst into tears every time I think of dad. It's still a lonely feeling.

back to reality

Tomorrow I return to work. I shouldn't complain because I had a nice vacation. Sometimes I wish we didn't need the extra income, but unfortunately we do. I'm proud to say that we are doing well financially and finally able to save money. I also know that the money I inherited helps, but I still wish my father were here.
John John has a break from activity this week. Next week he goes to the YMCA day camp for the last 2 weeks of summer. He'll probably have a fun time. They go swimming, play in the gym, do arts and crafts and field trips. Then on the Wednesday after Labour Day he begins first grade. John's a little nervous about doing homework, but it should be fine. Just have to get him on track to do it every day after school. Oh the battles we shall face!
Hubby is feeling better after a little summer cold. I behaved and didn't bother him as I was sick twice this year. I had the flu in February and strep in March. I hope this year is better and I don't get sick. Fingers crossed.
In just less than a month hubby leaves for India. September and October shall be busy with him gone. At least John John is easier to handle now that he's older.

I should be cleaning

But, I'm taking a break! There is nothing I hate more than cleaning. Oh well. Here's a cute picture of John at his favourite place, motorworld. The other ones we took of him didn't turn out.

the return from vacation

It felt so good to sleep in my own bed last night. We had a really nice vacation to Washington D.C. and Virginia Beach. This trip we stayed right on the beach. Last time we went to Virginia Beach was in 2001, and we stayed about 10 miles out. John is obviously older, and loved our vacation. He liked the ocean, but he's more of a pool boy. The pool at the hotel was nice with water falls and a little slide. John liked going back and forth from the ocean to the pool. He liked digging and making sand castles, and swimming under the water falls. However, his most favourite part of the trip was "Motorworld". I read about it before we went, and knew that this was his kind of place. We were smart to go there towards the end of our trip. As I predicted, his eyes just lit up as soon as we got to the park. John loved racing around in the kid sized cars, and doing a couple of race courses with daddy.
We were pretty good at keeping to our budgeted amount on spending. There was a fridge in our room so we bought a loaf of bread and cold cuts. We took a break from the sun each day at midday and had lunch in our room. I also didn't buy too much.
All in all it was a nice trip, and nice to get away together as a family. Now we are saving for Disney World. That should be fun!

in the midst of the heatwave

It is so nice to have our pool up and running. This is quite the heat wave. We didn't go swimming till after 3 today as the sun was just too brutal. We are quickly approaching our trip to Virginia Beach. We are all looking forward to this vacation. John John has been really good for a week. His swimming continues to improve. He can now swim into the deep end, and is doing a nice doggy paddle. It's so cute to see his little head poking up as he swims along. He is fearless!
I am keeping an even keel as we approach the one year mark of dad's death. I know the week of the 21st will be hard. I do think I'm over the daily sadness. I do feel sad, and still find it hard to believe, but I haven't been feeling my daily dose of wanting to cry. I miss being able to talk to my parents.