The kids don’t start school here until September 7th. They’ve had an extended summer vacay. I just wish we had the money to make it a fun one. But, they are adjusting okay. Jake is in football, and that keeps him pretty busy. Yesterday, I met a woman from Korea at Jake’s school. They just moved from Korea in July. She has a very nice son that will also be a freshman at Corvallis High. I can’t wait for Jake to meet him. They also live in our apartment complex. There’s another boy Jake will meet here in a few days. He will also be a freshman at Corvallis. I am glad and grateful for this because Jake is the one I am most worried about. He’s never been one to get on out there and make friends. He was always a fringe boy, slowly and meticulously merging in. I should be more grateful about that. It will help keep him out of trouble.
I’ve been thinking about writing a novel. Don’t know what about. Don’t know why. I just have a couple lines to start it with. Never know, maybe it will just turn into another story, or poem. I wonder if we fictionalize our lives, what kind of movie it would be. Mine, I think, would be one that has more truth in fiction than reality. But, that’s the point, right?
I’m busy with our friends’ kids, picking up and dropping off, doing their chores and cooking the evening meals. I like this. This keeps me busy and mind busy so that I’m not thinking about what I can do, what I can do. I think the biggest challenge of this new life is not having to put important things off because I work. I’m spending lots of time with my own kids (I think Jake’s having trouble with that as well), heck, I’m even crocheting again. It’s amazing how much work I really did do at my last job. Now, I think, “How did I ever do all that?” and the home, and the husband, and the kids, and the spare jobs. It’s put a huge perspective on things.
Dad had surgery on the heart yesterday. They put in a new pumper thingy with a couple extra wires. He says he feels much better already. He’s such a big man that he needed an industrial sized pumper or something. Next week, he’s going to see the Yankees in Minnesota. He wants to come out to watch Jake play football. Mom wants to come for about three weeks in December. I think she’d love it here, and I think Dad would love the weather here. Extreme is not in this weather’s vocabulary. And that changes everything.
Nebraska is full of extremes, and I think the weather plays a big part in it. Extreme heat, cold, snow, storms, rain, ice, etc. If you’re not always working against the extreme, you chill out. The people here are anti-extreme. Very laid back and soft spoken. They have a strange way of showing caution and protection, and to be my age with a 14 year old is not very common. So naturally, there is more protection. I look forward to pacing back a bit. Finish up the crocheting. I’m making hats and scarves that match Jake’s team colors for football. I can do this and write and job hunt and read and edit and submit and cook and pick up/drop off kids and still be in bed by 10 pm. It’s a new life now. Now if only I can get the fleas off the cats and finish repairing bikes. Challenge.
