They have really good food if you like seafood. I have kids in my class that find the word "juicy" more disturbing than "moist" so that seems an unfortunate name.

Morning, Happy Friday. It's been a heck of a week but most things are resolved to somewhat satisfactory conclusions. dd had a 6 month follow-up with her eye doctor because he was concerned about her optic nerve (thought it was thin) and that her eyesight got worse somewhat rapidly. She had her follow-up Monday and he referred her to a specialist and she had that appointment Thursday. So three days of worrying about optic nerve atrophy and all that could bring. Turns out there's nothing to worry about. She has a slight anomaly but the doctor thinks it's likely she was born with it. The "rapid" change in vision could just be due to growth or tired eyes or just about anything. One of my teacher's quit over a disagreement we had over how to handle something. Her child had an issue with another child in class - not in her class. She wanted me to give her the parent's phone number to call the parent but as a teacher, she should not be talking to other parents as a parent. But she also never reported the issue to me or the other teacher or said anything about it and things supposedly happened months ago. (this is a child that I am 100% sure she does not like, as well). I wanted to make sure all out discussions were recorded so wanted to talk in person or we had some text discussion, but didn't want to talk on the phone. She quit over that (supposedly, I'm sure there was more). Without her own children, we are able to merge the students left in her class with the students left in the other teacher's class so can finish the year easily enough. Then my mother was evidently taken to the hospital the other night, not admitted but needs follow up for digestive issues. I'm her emergency contact but she didn't want me bothered "so late at night" (10pm) so never told me. She told my brother who lives 3,000 miles away and he told me because he thought I should know. Tonight we're taking dd out for her (30th!!!) birthday to Legal Seafood.

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I don't but did until I married ex and he got bent out of shape. I now realize I can do what I want but the habit isn't there. I am going to forward the article to dh. He used to constantly roll his eyes when the kids (16 and 18) buy stuffies. They are both into them and have many, some from when they were younger but quite a few bought more recently. I tell him to keep quiet and they are allowed to like whatever it is they like. He has gotten better, although the $50 huge (body pillow size) stuffed axolotl I bought for dd over the weekend did cause a slight eye roll. But she has anxiety and I'm trying to encourage her to speak up when she wants something. In addition to the axolotl, dd has a slightly smaller (only about 24") weighted axolotl, and a 24" lobster she got in Maine that all live on her bed, named Macaroni (lobster), Cheese (weighted axolotl) and Loaf (new axolotl). I don't sleep with any stuffies but I have a teddy bear I was given when I was 9 and in the hospital. At work I have 3 axolotls (one a gift from a student), a turtle with babies one of my employees knit for me, a stuffed chromodoris (sea slug), three peas in a pod (gift from dd), a bat that has snap bracelet wings, and a penguin, a frog, and hedgehog that were "hand-me-downs" from the kids. So, none in/on my bed but I definitely like stuffies.

Dd had a great time at her homeschool prom. She met up with a friend she met at my classes and she really enjoyed it. She stayed the whole time (we had a room at the venue so she could have left if she felt overwhelmed), came back exhausted but happy. I'm so glad. She has really bad social anxiety but really wanted to give it a try. The friend is a wonderful girl but was also meeting up other friends at prom so you never know how that goes (easy for someone to be left out). The beds were hard as rocks so none of us slept well. We're grabbing breakfast, going to an aquarium that's here, and then heading home.

We had a bald eagle in our backyard. It was hanging out for over an hour, evidently sharing some tasty treat with the neighborhood turkey vultures. Our usual cardinals, sparrows, etc don't seem like they minded him being around. You can see him in the background of the cardinal picture.

Baby Shark. I don't know why I know this.

It sounds to me like your bigger issue is kids showing up sick. I would add to the policy that if your kid shows up and is showing any signs of illness - "including x, y, or z" - you will cancel the lesson immediately and a makeup will not be offered. Maybe start off with something about it being very important to not send kids to their lesson sick. Maybe offer a zoom lesson if they are unsure or the kid isn't too sick, but that when in doubt, they should stay home. If lessons are cancelled at least x hours prior to the lesson, a makeup class can be scheduled.

Dd has homeschool prom this weekend. This is big for her because she has social anxiety but she's wants to try new things. 4H camp ended up going very badly so I'm really hoping she gets a win with this. She has friends from class that she will be meeting up with there, and we got a room for the night in the hotel the prom is being held since it's about 2 hours away and goes until 10pm. This way she can also take a break in the room if she needs it or just come up if she's had enough. Before asking to go, she had made sure we could pick her up if she wanted to leave. It's down the shore so dh may set up a fishing trip Saturday or Sunday and dd and I can go to the boardwalk or a local aquarium, if the weather cooperates.

Morning. I'm having a nice relaxing morning for a change. Monday I left myself a mess so had to go in to work early to clean it up. Tuesdays are always crazy because dh has to drop me off so ds can have the car for school. But today I can relax. I've started doing yoga in the morning again. I've also been eating very carefully after having stomach cramps and pains for a couple weeks. Ranging from mild but annoying to extremely painful. Evidently I have to accept that there are certain things I just can't eat anymore. On the bright side, I've lost another 5 pounds, which means I'm down 15 pounds from where I started late last year. Hopefully I can keep it up. ETA: A booya! I didn't think it was even close to the booya so I didn't think to check.

I've been busy all week. No classes except Tuesday but I've been pulling everything off shelves, deep cleaning behind, spraying for ants and putting down traps. I basically had to undo things that hadn't moved in months (some was newish). I finished the majority of our organized supplies on shelves in the main classroom and in our storage closet, scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom and hallway. Today I finish cleaning the main classroom (the "classroom" side rather than the storage side), straighten up my room, and if time, the junior room. Hopefully this will take care of the ants.

Definitely a thing around here but NJ drivers aren't exactly known for their patience. Not quite as bad as NYC drivers but we're in that metro area so there is a resemblance. If I truly wasn't paying attention and someone honks, I'll go. But if I was about to go and someone honks, I'll stop again to make sure there isn't something I need to be aware of, like someone running the red light. I generally will stop, look in my rear view, look around, and then go.

That is super cool. Youngest dd LOVES LOVES LOVES touch tanks. It's like her happy place. I run a homeschool science center and it would be neat to do a miniature science museum at the science center (I don't have anything as cool as a touch tank, just classes, a turtle, a scorpion, and cockroaches).

I could not eat that. I love seafood but not when its still wriggling. Interesting idea. My son (18) is diagnosed ASD and is very definitely sensory avoidant. Picky eater partially due to super tasting, very sensitive to certain sounds (particular fan-like sounds), bright lights, will not touch things that are gooey, sticky or messy without gloves on. Washes his hands very frequently. He always had a few foods he would eat that were better nutritionally - pasta sauce made with veggies and pureed very smooth, peanut butter, chicken taquitos. When younger, we also had him drink Pediasure. As he's gotten older, he's been willing to try more things. I think partially because he's a bit of a hypochondriac and wants to eat what he needs to be healthy. But he's always been very healthy and good growth. My younger daughter (16) on the other hand is very definitely sensory seeking. She's diagnosed ADHD and anxiety, but of course there's a lot of overlap with ASD. She's the one who jumps in every puddle she sees (still), stims by jumping and running back and forth in her room (hitting the walls) or rocking back and forth, and eats just about everything. She loves seafood, and very spicy food.