1. Yesterday I kept a friend's 4 year-old daughter so she could attend a class for State Department spouses. My little friend Anna and I had a great day, but wow, was I tired by the end of it. I forgot how much energy you need to keep a little one engaged and stimulated. We went to Barnes and Noble, two different parks, the farmer's market, the grocery store and the storage unit facility. We made lunch, checked the mailbox, and watched tv. That is a lot crammed into one day.
2. Mac and I survived the week without Jimmy with just one major bedtime meltdown. That's considered one for the W column.
3. The diet is not working. I have weighed EXACTLY the same every morning - down to the tenth of a pound - for the last three mornings. Maybe the scale is broken? I assume that is not the case so now I've ordered a book called The New ABS Diet for Women because I really need someone to tell me what to eat everyday. Clearly what I'm doing is not working. The book should be here in 2 days and then, I intend to hit the ground running, following this thing to a T. Supposedly in 6 weeks, I'm going to be a new and skinnier person. Right. In the meantime, I'm going to cheat and eat good food. Starting with chicken wings and french fries tonight. I.cannot.wait.
4. Mac had his first science test. He made an 85. I would have preferred an A - and we're going to change our study habits from this point on to try and make As - but we're going to put this in the W column too. Mac obviously has taken tests but at least for the last 3 years, with the exception of a weekly spelling test, we are parents never knew when the tests were going to be given. There was no studying at home, no reviewing the books, no last-minute panicking. Fast forward to this past weekend, and we realized that perhaps Mac wasn't well-prepared for this science test. We helped him study the chapter, we quizzed him, we re-read some bits, but I've got to tell you, when I dropped him off at school on Monday morning, I didn't have great hope for a positive outcome. So an 85 was a great start, he's learned how the tests will be formatted, and he got a little confidence boost.
Mac made A's on two other tests in the last week. One was on grammar (and which I knew about), but the other test I have no idea about, and Mac couldn't remember yesterday what subject the test was in. How can you not remember what you had a test in? Considering this kid has mine and Jimmy's DNA, it should be genetically impossible for him to forget that sort of information.
But today is the day that has my stomach in the pits. He finds out his math test results. All the 5th grade parents got an email the other day that said the grade average was 81%. 81% for the AVERAGE? Naturally, in DEFCON 1 mode, I am assuming that Mac is one of the students that dragged the average down. Ooh, my stomach hurts just thinking about it. How do you pull up a failing grade? And he's good in math and did so well on the homework, so there's just no excuse unless he rushed through the whole thing. Oh, and the email said the teacher deducted points "for being imprecise with their answers (ex., failing to declare units) or not explaining their thinking. At this level and above, math is mostly about problem solving, which requires precision and elaboration." We are in serious trouble. Mac is the antithesis of precision and elaboration. Say a prayer for his score not being like a 24.
5. The countdown for moving is on. I am so super-excited. October 7 is just around the corner. All the pieces are falling into place - we've got one moving company coming October 7 with Bogota stuff and another moving company coming October 8 with stuff that we had in SC. The other storage stuff will be dealt with after the move when I have time to think about it. AND Jimmy just told me that his trip to Guatemala has been cancelled for that week, so my mom and I will have an extra set of hands at least at night.
6. I really hope the government doesn't shut down next week. If Jimmy doesn't have a job, then we're going to be hard-pressed to afford this fancy apartment building. It's really scary to even think about.
On that really happy, light note, I'll close for now. Happy Weekend to you. I hope the weather is as beautiful for you as it's supposed to be for us in the DC area!
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