October

Evidently, October didn't exist.

Obviously, that is not exactly correct. It did exist, and was jam-packed with a million things to do. But, I really have no idea where the time went, but here we are almost a third of the way through November already-how the hell did that happen?!

I read a few blogs and thoroughly enjoy being able to keep up with the lives of others or read about controversial topics, but I seemed to have been barely able to do that in the past month or so. I started this blog as a way to chronicle my life and memories, not really caring how many people read it, or even if anyone reads it. I am sure that memorable things have happened in the past few weeks, but I just couldn't find the energy to write about it. So if there is anyone out there reading this, I am sorry that I have not updated since September!

In case you were interested, Megan recovered from her UTI-only after needing to go back for a second prescription of hard-core antibiotics (don't get me started on how inept the CVS by my house is). Sarah's soccer season just finished (they tied for 3rd place) and Winter Swimming started 2 weeks ago. Sarah also took classes to be able to receive her first communion and was thrilled to finally be able to partake last Sunday. Emma is now 18 months old and we still can only understand about 30% of what she is saying. The commitment to being on the Elementary School PTA has not been as bad as I thought it would, but it does often conflict with Sarah's choir practice. Pat tells me that I have Sarah in too many activities. I just want her to be able to enjoy her time with her friends. I haven't forced her to do any of these things. As soon as things begin to be a chore for her, we will revisit the situation. I just want her to be able to build a good friend base and keep active. I can't do the "after school play-date" that so many work/stay at home moms in our neighborhood do, so I have to keep her in activities where she sees her friends this way.

In conversation with an upset and stressed out student this afternoon, it became clear that she wasn't spending enough time on herself. She was internalizing her parents marital issues, her mom's battles with her younger sister, and her brother's early education (she was taking it upon herself to teach him his letters and to convince her sister to apply to the middle school magnet program). She has taken on fixing everyone's problems without caring for herself. She is now distracted, grades are suffering and she is crying a lot. Among other things we talked about, I suggested that she find time for herself, she needs to realize that she cannot solve some of the issues in the lives of those around her and focus on what she can do. She needs to find time to recharge her batteries, so to speak, and de-stress and she may find that things get easier.

Obviously, this is good advice for everyone, but definitely for me. It is near impossible to get "me time", but I need to find it. Also, I really enjoyed writing about our experiences as a family here on the blog, and I think I need to begin to do that more often. I won't promise daily, but I am definitely going to make more of an effort.