Last Day of School

Another school year over. Wow. No longer do I have a first grader, a sixth grader and a freshman. They are all older and smarter.

I had a good laugh at Brennen's signed year book. One entry said "I hope you don't get swine flu when you move to New Mexico."

Hard to believe that next school year I will only have one child home with me. I still remember well the days of three children home with me . . . and I did survive it.

House for Sale

I know of a GREAT house for sale in Brigham City. It is in a fabulous location--a quiet street just 3 houses down from a park. Great backyard with sand box, playhouse, and swingset, as well as a garden area, 2 peach trees, an apricot tree, apple tree, grapes, raspberries and a few strawberries. Six bedrooms, three bathrooms and THREE living areas--a living room and family room upstairs and a big family room downstairs.

Check out this link and call today for a showing!

http://www.lindajensen.info/Homes/lots.htm#Fenton

Letting Go

I am mourning the loss of my therapist (or counselor--I never quite know what to call her). Not that she's gone, but I really am not going to see her again. Really. I have said that so many times before. But this time it is real. She isn't working this summer, and I am moving. I know she is due to have twins in July. I am very excited for her. I figured she would probably stop working in sometime in May, so last week when I called to make an appointment, I really wasn't surprised to learn that she wasn't working again until fall. But it was a hard fact to digest. I actually felt like crying. Because I really have to let go this time. Not like all the times before when I told myself that "this is the last appointment" and then went back.

I have only seen her four times in the last year, I think two months ago was the last time. I don't really need counseling anymore, but every once in a while I just want to talk to her. Talk things over. Sometimes about specific challenges and how to handle them, but sometimes just to "check in." It seems strange that I will never see her again. This person who helped me so much and showed me how to pull myself out of the hole of depression I was in. Who gave me encouragement and cheered me on as I progressed. Who helped me discover myself again. Who helped me learn to face my feelings instead of burying them. The person I finally opened up to and told thoughts and feelings to that no one else knew I had--sometimes that I didn't know I had. I learned so much from her--like about my thought patterns and how to change them, how to develop coping skills, how to be my own best friend, how to communicate better with my husband and others, how to be less passive, how to take care of myself and get my own needs met so I can take care of everyone else (this had to be pounded into my head over and over). It is just so hard to let go.

I called for an appointment last week because I just feel that lately I have been in a rut. I don't know if I need to adjust my medication or adjust me. I never know if the depression is getting me or if it's just me. I am not doing the things that I know I need to do to feel better. Simple things that just don't get done. The apathy that goes hand in hand with depression.

I need to use all that I learned in counseling and pull myself out of the rut -- put a book on my ipod; start journaling again; finish my quilt I started; open my scriptures; have fun with my kids while they are home this summer; exercise so I can keep up with my sister whom I challenged to run a 5K with me; do my work and take time to play. See, not so hard, really.

Dustin turns 15!

I can't believe my oldest 'baby' is 15 years old. Aside from acting like a teenager now and then, he is a great kid. Happy Birthday, Dustin.

An Unusual Phone Call from School

On Wednesday afternoon Andy called me from school.

"Mom?" Then there was sobbing. "I have something stuck in my ear."

When I got to school his teacher said she couldn't see anything but he said it hurt so she let him call me. He wouldn't let me touch his ear because it hurt so I couldn't really look, but he finally told me, after some coaxing, that he put a rock in his ear.  (Actually first he said "It could be a rock").

So we went to the doctor's office. After trying two different kinds of tweezers and two different size probes, the doctor finally decided to irrigate to see if the water would swish it out. He said if that didn't work then he would have to send us to an ear/nose/throat doctor. Luckily the water worked and out came the rock.

Andy kept the rock for a souvenior, or as Grandma Kathy said, a "souv-in-ear". As far as we know there are no other rocks in his head, though sometimes we wonder. (just kidding)

Tips for the Toothfairy

You would think by the third child and a dozen or so lost teeth, I would be an expert Toothfairy. Yet here are a few more lessons I learned from my latest experience.

When your kid comes home from school very excited because he lost his tooth, make sure to get the tooth from him and put it in a safe place so that at bedtime you don't have to look for the tooth. You don't want your child to be distraught because he can't find his tooth to put under the pillow for the Toothfairy. And it makes bedtime much harder when you are searching for a tooth. (fyi we found it on the back porch).

It is probably a good idea to also put the tooth in an envelope or ziplock bag before the child puts it under his pillow. That way it will be easier for the Toothfairy to find. Not only that, but when the child wakes up at 4:00 a.m. and discovers that not only has the Toothfairy not come but his tooth is missing, it will be easier you to find when you are half asleep looking under and around beds for a teeny tiny tooth.

Yet an even better idea is to make sure the Toothfairy comes before 4:00 a.m. thus avoiding the need for an early morning tooth search.