Rest

I wrote my previous post on a Thursday evening with no intention of taking a ten day break.  It happened so suddenly that I never made an announcement.  I simply slipped away from my blog for a time. 

The day before that post, I got a running injury. More accurately, there was a muscle injury in my leg that I couldn't ignore any longer. For several weeks, I had been working on increasing my speed and had strained a muscle in my leg.   I've had sore muscles before, but this time it got worse and worse until I had pain when walking.  After a bit of Google research, I diagnosed myself with a common sprinting injury.  The best way to heal it?  Rest.  I knew I needed to stop running until it the pain was gone. After eleven day of rest, I can feel improvement and I'm hoping to return to running in another week. 

For two weeks, we had a busy social calendar with events and obligations that took us out of the house more than usual. I suddenly felt the need to rest, not just in my physical life (running), but in my mental life (blogging).  

I used my brain power instead to work on our coming school year.  I attended a small book fair with a friend on the weekend, did a bit of school book ordering after that, and spent many minutes in the car and at home organizing our coming year in my thoughts.  I've been feeling a tug to make a change to our homeschool days.  I'm not planning a major change, but I want to freshen things up a little.  I will have four students this year ranging from kindergarten through 6th grade, plus our little pre-schooler.  I see-saw between excitement and terror. I have yet to sketch a plan onto paper, but my mind has been whirling with the possibilities. 

While I rested physically and semi-mentally, our days were still full:

• Gavin, my oldest child, but also my fiercest homebody, attended a 1-day 4-H camp by his own choice and declared it, "The best day!"
• Owen made a chocolate cake that we snacked on all weekend, and Maddie and Owen made 4th of July cupcakes that took us through the rest of the week.  I love that my children are finding their places in the kitchen!
• A tornado warning was issued for our area and, though it never touched ground, the cloud went directly over our town.  The kids and I spent 20 minutes in a bedroom closet until the danger passed. It was hot, cramped, and occurred at dinner time.  Quite the adventure!
• We ate dinner as a family four days in a row, an unexpected treat during the spring/summer months of Brian's long working hours. 
• Even though Brian worked on the 4th, we attended a fireworks show together that evening as a family.  Five-sevenths of us loved it.  Our two youngest members held their ears, closed their eyes, and whimpered for the full thirty minutes.  
•  Everyone in our family finished at least one book! 

I plan to be back...and present... at my little blog spot this week, but if I disappear again, you know where I am.