Anticipation

I love the word "anticipation". Most of the fun stuff in life is full of it. Every year, the anticipation for Gracie's birthday gets her all twisted up for weeks before the big day, and it always ends with a bit of sadness to see the excitement disappear. Holidays are the same way for all of my kids, especially NC. He gets so excited about the holidays and parties, in general, and will not stop talking about how much fun it's going to be. Then it comes and goes and he's kinda bummed that it's over. He gets that from me.

That's how each of my week's end, with Friday even feels different because of the anticipation of the upcoming weekend. A time to let loose and unwind. I get so excited about the idea of the weekend, but then it comes and goes.  I'm a mom now, and that means the weekends are full of driving and cramming as much in to two days as possible.

And now we are back at Monday. BLAH! I hate Mondays. But today is special. Today, with much  anticipation, I got the call from my doctor. I have a severe Vitamin D deficiency, and will be taking 50,000 IU's weekly for a few months, plus 1,000 daily, to get myself caught back up. I also have cholesterol all out of whack. I need to increase my exercise to fix the cholesterol, which is going to be tough since I'm working out 5 days a week now. But maybe because I've been dragging myself around I'm not getting the greatest workouts in. I'm just dog tired all the time. But maybe this will fix me? This and giving up dairy? One can only hope.

NC at about 5 years old - isn't he cute?

Chris & I also have a conference with NC's guidance counselor today, another moment of anticipation. He's such a bright boy but does not have organizational skills to stay on top of his classwork, so we're meeting to see how we can help him. We're looking forward to finding a new ADHD doctor for him and will meet with him very soon. Until then, the teenage bug has bit him hard and he's really struggling to do what is expected of him. When I look at him, I see the tiny little toe-head boy shown here who could make me laugh instantly, with not a care or worry in the world and the most beautiful smile. How I miss those carefree days with him! It's good to see him happy at school, though, and I only have to remind myself of last year's struggle where he was extremely unhappy and down on himself. Moving him to Bishop Shanahan was a good decision. At least now he smiles every day - he's just not quite where we know he should be. And we want him there for his sake, not ours. He's got so much potential. My teenager does not see education as a way to figure out who he is or what he might want to be - he sees it as a chore. I'm searching for a mission trip for him for the summer, where maybe he can get a glimpse of how others live and realize how good he has it. Not so he can feel badly, but rather so he can feel blessed. When you feel blessed, you embrace your blessings. That's what I want for him.