Spring has made another appearance here, since last night. Shawn and I now have the kids' school/headstart/baseball schedules firmly engraved in our heads. We don't even need to look at our cheat sheets, or my bullet journal to figure out where we're supposed to be when. As Sawyer says, we've "Got it!" Kade and Ashlyn have the misfortune of having a former teacher running their ship this week, so the "I don't have homework," or "I forgot my homework at school," doesn't work. School is close by, and it's easy for us to go back and get it. And we now have the ritual of getting it done (or pau, as I like to say) before ball practice, and on non-ball days, before TV or anything else. With homework out of the way, we can have some pretty enjoyable evenings here. As my Hawaii friends already know, "Pau" means "finished" in Hawaiian/Pidgin. "Pau hana" means the end of the work day, and time to relax and have fun with family and friends. While Ash and Kade are practicing baseball, Sawyer likes to take me on really wonderful beach adventures. He now can spot trollers, or "salmon catchers," because he knows that Shawn and I normally would be out there with our troller. We had a good walk along the beach and through the woods, where we found all kinds of interesting bugs, mushrooms, plants, and lots of rocks. Since everyone got their homework done, and because these are awesome kids, we decided to go to Papa's Pizza for dinner. (That's also code for "Tonie wanted a break from cooking dinner.") Then we went back to the Anderson home. Because it was so nice out, we had a hard time going back inside, even though we were getting close to bedtime-ish. So we enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the yard. I didn't let Shawn go home until Sawyer was pau with the axe and hammer. The young man is very adept at cutting wood. He also now knows how to test spaghetti for "al dente" doneness. After building us an evening fire, it's "pau hana" time for Shawn, and he goes back to our house for the night. I summon Shawn by phone in the mornings, so that he can help me get the kids going. Each night I'm having a harder time watching him go home, even though it's only a couple of blocks away. I guess all this makes me appreciate Shawn more, which is a good thing, after 33 years of marriage (36 years of togetherness).
I know nothing about raising chickens.I know even less about baseball. And last night, Kade asked me, "How can you not tell the difference between girls' bikinis and boy's underwear??!!" when he found some of his sister's underwear mixed up with his in his drawer. I dunno. The butt sizes looked approximately the same to me, and I'm wearing a really old pair of glasses while I wait for my new prescription. I told him that I've never had kids, so I really don't know the difference. And when I was a teacher, I wasn't spending my time checking out kids' underwear. As for chickens, Kade and Ash are pretty good chicken-wranglers. Shawn knows a thing or two about baseball, and the parent volunteers who coach and run the practices really amaze me. Because I'm finally caught up with house chores, I now have the luxury of getting a couple of hours during the day, while the kids are in school, when I can visit my own house. I can now get a few things done at my own home, and even have a little quiet time to reflect on all this. Then I can get ready to pump myself up for the afternoon and evening activities with a double-espresso. I used to only drink tea. But now that I'm once again following a "school schedule," with kids, I'm almost at the same level of sleep deprivation as when I was teaching full-time. I wish I were a little better at taking naps. Lifelong learning: gotta love it. I just looked in the mirror briefly this morning, and I noticed that my hair has gotten a bit grayer this week.
1 Comment
Lizzy
5/10/2019 10:26:56 am
Love the updates:) good thing you look great with your silvery hair🖤❣🖤 Thank you for standing in for us. Much love
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Tonie OgimachiA few things I'm passionate about: CategoriesArchives
February 2020
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