Busy Week with lots of band

 This week lP had a football game to play trombone in the pep band on Thursday. M had a football game to play at Friday.  Saturday was the marching band competition that the high school puts on.  I volunteered at M's game Friday and at the competition doing concessions.  Today we had a rehearsal for the Christmas orchestra and I got to play baritone next to M.  M also received her patriarchal blessing today.  It was a very busy week.

L has a persistent cough.  I really don't like it.  I don't know what to do about it.

Epiphany on working under pressure

 I have been studying since May for my classes in speech pathology.  Now that I am in the classes I work ahead to avoid ever having to get in a procrastination loop of unproductively.  I have had to work in pressure situations for so long that I possibly thought that I work well under pressure.  The pressure situation is met with all the skill and reservoirs of sleep that I have.  So I have done well in pressure.  But if I can avoid pressure by doing the work early that is so much better.

"Working well under pressure" is often held up as a virtue and people don't prepare appropriately believing that they work better under pressure.  It is important to be able to function under pressure and not give up.  But it is crucial to do everything you can to avoid creating pressure when we could have prevented crisis.

Another week doing good

 This week we participated in the national day of service.  L, B and I raked mulch at the park.  M, lP and P did a youth activity project at another church.  M and I did a self defense class.  lP and I helped out at M's football game with the band.  

G was in St. Augustine visiting friends and church family.  He gave a talk in the deaf branch and got to have a welcome home that was missed in the difficult past 6 months.  I'm so grateful for good people who help my children feel loved.  

Another weeks starts.  Grad school is going so well.  I feel on top of my class work and looking forward to future opportunities.  Speech Therapy suits me.  I like helping and I have a hard time with the comparing that comes from being a music teacher.  You're always performing and that's difficult for me.  I love rehearsals.

Primary is going well.  It is so fun working with the kids and doing activities to engage and challenge them.

Kayaking in a long lake

 

The first hour was cool and lovely.  I read the map wrong and thought we were 2/3 done.  Apparently when you are kayaking with no current it takes 3 hours to go 5.5 miles.

The kids did a good job of not crying.  I’m so proud of them.  It really was beautiful.

Ambitious

 I recently visited with my relief society president and another sister from the ward.  They are each similar in age and life situation to me.  They have school aged children, husbands, and they both work.  They described how women of our age have so much experience running a family and managing so many projects at once.  This is an important asset for the work place.  One described herself as ambitious, knowing that she was capabple and worth more than she is currently paid because of her long time out of the work place.  I think I must also be ambitious.  Whatever I do, I want to be really good at it.  I don't bother being good at everything.  But I do make really good bread, live on a frugal budget, keep a blog, line dry my clothes often and teach singing time really well.  I intend to be an excellent speech therapist.  I am an excellent student.  I don't care to make a lot of money or be famous, but I do want to be excellent at everything I do.

coupons

 I love saving money and being frugal.  Recently I had a few opportunities to use coupons.  I felt really silly for not using them.  But at the same time, I saved more money by not going to the store.  When you find yourself trying to figure out what you can buy to spend $25 to save $5, maybe you don't need that stuff.  But saving money is great and I love it when a coupon helps me save on something I was going to buy anyway.

We haven't been able to pay tithing for a few months and have been giving a generous fast offering.  This week P did get some funds and it feels great to pay tithing.  We have been so blessed through this difficult time.  We had support and funds for everything we needed.

Tomorrow we hope to go kayaking!  The kids don't actually enjoy it but that's OK with me.

School is going well, and there were some people sick

 L threw up on the first day of my classes so we got to experiment real fast on how it would go if I had to leave him home.  Class has been not too challenging and sometimes even fun.  The women in my classes are really fun.  On Friday I had asynchronous class and didn't have to go to campus.  I did have to write a 2-3 page paper though using citations.  

I got to volunteer at the kids schools a lot.  Monday and Wednesday I worked with the beginning tubas.  Tuesday I shelved books at the elementary school.  Thursday I volunteered with the HS band for a football game.  They have middle school kids come and help out.  This is brilliant recruiting.  I was supervising the middle school kids and enjoying the event with all the band moms.

P got sick on Wednesday but felt well enough Friday to be a 2nd staff member to accompany the band to the football game.  He's still recovering.  

I'm really looking forward to going to class this week.  I have a study method figured out for Anatomy and Physiology.  I use the end of chapter quiz to make flash cards.  After I have chewed on these new words and ideas a little I watch the Anaquest chapters and videos.  Finally I read as much of the chapter as I can.  It is a lot to absorb.

It has been hot and dry for a few weeks.  The coming week is forecast to be even hotter.  I watered the lawn today to give the grass a little sustenance to beat the heat.