Weekly Wrap-Up: The One with Cat Surgeries and Early Mornings

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. We started off in spring this week, but are back to winter now. I have lived in the South all my life, so I knew that the cold weather really wasn’t gone…I just wish it had stayed away one more day. I had to take Not Gus to be neutered yesterday. There is a local spay and neuter clinic that does the surgery for about a third of what the vets charge, so we always use them.

They’ve started offering a transport service where, once a month, they do a pick-up at a Lowe’s that is much closer to my house than the clinic, so I decided to take advantage of that. That may have been a mistake. I wound up standing out in the cold – you know, since winter couldn’t wait one more day to do an encore – for over an hour! Y’all, I am a wimp when it comes to cold. It took me most of the day to warm up again.

I guess it could be worse. I could be the cat. Look at him:

tutored

Poor little guy didn’t even know what was in store for him. He didn’t know he was going to the vet to get “tutored.” (Somebody else tell me you’ve seen that Far Side cartoon. It’s one of my favorites.)

Brianna comes back from New York tomorrow night. She has had a wonderful time. I haven’t heard all about her week yet, but I do know that she got to see a Broadway show (Newsies) and got autographs from some of the performers (cute boys). She also sent me some great photos of Central Park.

She’s not sure if they’re going to have time to go see the Statue of Liberty. I so hope they do. I can’t imagine going to New York and not seeing the Statue of Liberty.

I freaked out a bit on Wednesday when I read about the explosion in Manhattan because I knew that they had been or were planning to go to that part of the city. Plus, you know, being a backwoods Southern girl, I have no idea where everything is in New York or how close our group might have been to Manhattan. I texted her right away, though, and she said they weren’t anywhere near there.

Oh, yeah, and that was the morning after the night she texted me at 11:30 at night and told me they were lost in Times Square – not the text you want to get from your child at that time of night. Obviously, they made it safely back to the church where they’re staying, though. I may have a few extra grey hairs that I did not have when she left last week.

In addition to our standing Tuesday play date, I babysat my niece again for a little while on Thursday. Brianna has started going over to my sister’s house for a few hours on Thursday to help out. Since she was out of town, I took her place. I had forgotten how insanely adorable baby coos are. Oh, my word! I was left wondering if it might be possible to die from sweetness.

Meg and Gus

Not Gus is seriously the most laid-back cat I’ve ever met.

I’m trying to think if we’ve done anything particularly exciting in school this week. The most exciting thing on our lesson plans is a microscope lab (we all enjoy them!), but we’ve postponed it until this afternoon since babysitting isn’t conducive to doing microscope labs. I honestly don’t know how you moms of littles do it.

One thing that babysitting my niece has shown me is that I’m too old for juggling little babies. I love having her over, playing with her, and loving on her, but, y’all, babies are a lot of work. I imagine, though, that most of that is because she’s not with us all the time and isn’t part of our daily routine.

I’ve got to say, I love having older kids! I love the baby stage and the sweet coos. The toddler stage is one of my favorites. But older kids? Why do people complain about them? Sure, they can be moody, but so can I.

I had the coolest experience the other day. Josh and Megan had gone off to do their independent work. I was on my laptop when they both wandered back to the table and pulled out their checklists and started working on their remaining work for the day.

I never thought I’d see the day when they would be so independent and willing to take ownership of their own work without me harping on them. I can’t even express what a satisfying experience that was.

Lazy creatures

This is what my lazy creatures do most of the day. See how the cat has her face covered. She does that all the time. So cute!

Oh, and guess what? Even with the time change, I was able to maintain my new wake time of 7:30 or earlier. That was helped along Thursday and today with early-morning cat drop-off and pick-up, but still, I’m rather proud of that fact. And, a little sleepy.

Those are the highlights of my week. I’d love it if you’d pray for Brianna and the rest of the team in New York for safe travels on the way home tomorrow. They’re traveling by bus, so it’s going to be a long day for them.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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21 Comments

  1. It’s so encouraging to hear what you say about having older kids. I enjoy my two more and more as they get older – and I love that there’s so much to look forward to. I’m a cold wimp too – I totally sympathise with your freezing hour waiting – brr! We haven’t had it bad in England this year although we did get a bit soggy. I’m so happy spring has arrived.
    I love the pet pics especially the one of Gus and Megan.
    Praying for Brianna’s safe return from the big city.
    Have a fabulous weekend – thanks so much for hosting.

    1. That was my favorite picture, too. I thought about making it my screen saver. Thank you for your prayers for Brianna.

  2. Praying for Brianna, I’m so pleased she has enjoyed herself.
    I agree, having older children, although harder occasionally, is very rewarding. And I so enjoy all the relationships in our family, between wildly different personalities. It’s never boring!
    Okay Kris, down to business. Since series four arrived early and therefore we finished it last night (yipideedipdidee they kissed!!!), I’m going onto season five tonight. What I want to ask you (and this is a serious question) is what on earth am I going to do next week, when I’m all out of series? You got me into this predicament, so I really do feel it is your responsibility, nay duty, to get me out of it!! What am I going to watch next???

    1. I have been meaning to stop by your blog all week and ask you how you were liking Season 4. I told Brian that other night that it may just be my favorite. Be watching for the episode “Stand Still” (I think that’s the name of it) in Season 5. Brian and I have agreed that that is probably our all-time favorite single episode.

      As far as what to do next, Brian and I have just started watching through them again! Seriously. Can you get Amazon Prime? I signed up for a TV pass on Season 6 to get us caught up. (We can watch it when it’s on now that we’re caught up so I probably need to cancel that.) The TV pass lets you watch all the currently uploaded Season 6 videos, then, you can watch the news ones as they’re added, which is the day after they air for us.

      Oh, and thank you for your prayers for Brianna. She has had a wonderful time and I’m so glad she got the opportunity to go…but I’ll be glad when she’s safely back home.

  3. I love that Far Side cartoon! His stuff was great…..we wrote “Cat Fud” on the grocery list for probably 20 years. Now we write Dog Fud instead. It drives my 6 year old nuts because he’s an obsessive speller.

    I hear you about babies. They are beautiful and they smell delicious, but I kind of prefer kids once they’re old enough to argue. And my baby will be seven this year so he’s pretty independent – we’ve never had 3 kids all old enough to be pretty responsible before and I’m loving it. Obviously you must be too, if your kids are checking their own schoolwork lists – so great!

    I’m delighted to see the cat photos again this week. 🙂

    1. I thought of you when I took those photos. 🙂 That cracks me up about cat fud and dog fud. I love those cartoons. I had a Far Side page-a-day calendar years ago. Some of my favorites are still stuck on the fridge.

  4. I still haven’t adjusted to the time change! Hopefully I can adjust soon.

    So there’s hope I’ll get past the nagging to get to work stage? We’re in-between right now – not ready for total independence but no longer wants me hovering over her for her independent subjects.

    I absolutely agree with you – babies and toddler stage is fun but I am loving the slowly growing independence stage. It’s a trade-off though, because now I have to spend more time studying so I’m prepared to teach/help!

  5. Occasionally I really really miss having a baby. But then I remember that I can go to the grocery store any time I want without having to arrange a sitter. And then I love having older kids. 🙂 But it is fun to keep a baby sometimes- as long as I can send them home.

  6. I love the cat pictures. We have three, but they all came from the rescue group already fixed. Your Not Gus really does look like the sweetest boy.

    1. All our other pets are rescue animals who were already fixed. Not Gus was a stray that showed up. We’re big on the rescues. 🙂 He really is such a sweet boy. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more laid-back cat in my life. He takes everything in stride.

  7. I love that Far Side cartoon. I love all of them actually! I do not like daylight savings time, I do not like it, Sam I am. I’m still trying to get my body readjusted. I get up at 5am daily, and this week, it has been hard.
    I enjoy your blog so much. I often come by to read reviews, and get encouragement and ideas. Still new to this journey but so glad we decided to do it.

  8. I hear you on the weather! I am the same way if I have to be in the cold for more than 2 minutes. Takes me forever to warm up.
    I’m praying for Brianna’s safe trip home. I know she’ll have great stories to tell. My oldest and I did a mission trip to NYC a few summers ago. It was quite the learning experience for this directionally challenged person.
    And I envy you getting to love on your niece so much! I have a nephew about the same age that lives 8 hours away. Ugh! Love that sweetness!
    But you are so right. I wouldn’t trade this getting older stage for anything.
    Have a great weekend.

    1. Thanks for your prayers for Brianna, Tina. They’ve been on the road a couple of hours now. I’ll be glad when she’s safely back home. I’m sorry that you can’t see your nephew more often. After being used to seeing my niece so much, it would kill me for her to be so far away.

  9. Hey lady.
    I just wanted to stop by and say hi. Your posts are always great.
    Poor kitty… though tutoring doesn’t really seem to bother him! lol
    Anywhooo…

    We’ve been boring in school. Will rejoin wrap up soon.
    Blessings,
    Em

  10. Ok Brianna’s trip would be Keilee’s idea of HEAVEN!! I know she had a blast. I am hoping she is home safely by now. And yeah, calling at 11:30 saying you are lost is NOT calm inducing!! I agree with the older kids thing. Yes I miss Keilee being younger but mostly I think I miss the fact that she had YEARS more at home. I LOVE the teenage years, so far! 🙂

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