Good morning! Margaret, I laughed at "Emperor Governor Polis." Ds3 and friends are now in the habit of calling before they go to any gym or court to ask if they are open. dh is home today... I thought I would do a few quick internet things before I logged on here- but forgot the changeover in online banking today- so that took a little while. coffee/paper- done bill stuff- done Club tennis is paid for the winter few more internet things finish quilt blocks and start to sew together ds3- school, gym, faraway hitting group plant some bulbs this afternoon in the areas where the snow has melted probably some other things- depends on dh's day Have a great day!

The sun will be out today- hopefully enough snow will melt to plant some bulbs tomorrow. dh went in to the office- he has calls all day long. It is still dark outside-ready for the time change. coffee/paper laundry- started (sheets and towels today) upstairs cleaning- while dh is gone grocery store ds3- school, gym, hit with a friend tonight quilt blocks read other jen things Have a great day!

Ran my errands- except for the grocery store. Probably will do that Thursday. Did laundry- including hand wash sweaters Talked to my mom. Sigh. made some quilt blocks texted with ds2 about picking him up in 3 weeks Finally got the ikea nightstands. It took a ridiculously long time to get here over 3 weeks. Put them together- took about 20 minutes total. ds3 is off for the dysfunctional hitting group. He only attends when he has no other options. Next up: a couple more blocks watch World Series

Good morning! Still cold, but it should be sunny and warm up some later. Errands today. coffee/paper laundry- started grocery/library/drop off return call mom- last call was impossible- bracing myself quilt a little clean bedroom general pick up ds3- school, gym, local hitting group (needs check) watch world series tonight Have a great day!

Good morning! We are in single digits and ended up getting about 8-10 inches of snow. Things are pretty shut down for the day. ds3 got up early and then realized that he can't go to the gym until after noon, so he worked on a few things and I think is heading for a nap. Dh is working from home. I am trying to stay warm and get a few things done. coffee- the paper (if it is there at all) is buried. electronic chores- renew tags for one car laundry quilt, crochet read- plan for library on Wednesday. I am supposed to get bulbs today- probably plant them Wednesday or when the snow has mostly melted. Not sure what else will pop up today Have a great day!

Good morning! We have a couple of inches of smow on the ground and more to come today. It is also really cold! Ds3 lost last night, so his tournament is done. Honestly, I was not looking forward to the drive today anyway. I am glad we got new tires yesterday! That's dh- always just in time. Today- not much. Some baking, some quilting, some football. That's about it. Have a great day!

ds3 plays tennis. He is playing Open at an adult Clay court tournament this weekend. He really likes the adult tournaments- there are lots of good players and he gets to play new people all the time.

Good morning! ds3 won last night (I got the play by play as we drove home)- so he plays again today. dh is headed out to get tires and I am going to work outside- if it ever warms up. The weather forecast has been very unreliable... now we are supposed to get 8 inches of snow on Sunday. I very much doubt it. coffee/paper- still drinking coffee change water in fish tank update some lists, calendar, etc start cutting squares for the last quilt project that is actually planned (obviously not the last one I will do!) probably some general cleaning- must dust- this has been on the list for days actually check the tracking of a few packages (and write them down this time!) bake a little figure out dinner (since I will be here- while dh is planning to wait for ds3) crochet? football? world series? Have a great day!

Good morning! ds3 got invited to the top practice group in the state yesterday (really good for him) but it is an hour away in good traffic (one way) and pretty expensive. He is going to arrange to pay as he goes- once a week when the weather is fine. He drove it yesterday and though dh and I were a little concerned (terrible traffic), he managed fine and plans to go every Thursday. So... all those mixed feelings. We may need to get another car-though we were really hoping to manage with only one for the next two years. He has the first game of an adult tournament today (long drive so we are taking him)- no spectators- so dh and I will grab some dinner when he plays. No consolation matches- win or go home. Very likely- this is the only match. Dh is working from home today- so I have rearranged some things. coffee/paper- still drinking coffee finish extra pillow if it warms up- dig some things out of the garage read/ other jen things crochet a little- starting new project school with ds3- warming up with friend/ then we head to tournament wait around/drive home Have a great day!

Good morning! It is chilly and not supposed to get much warmer today. ds3 got up early and did some work and I just checked on him and he is back in bed 😂 So the gray morning has claimed its first victim! I don't have big things on the list today- just the weight of small things. coffee/paper some more pinwheel blocks look over some patterns make some copies of things from a library book (personal use and all) do some general clean-up- bedroom, living room some electronic chores- get delivery dates for a few things on the calendar clean oven (steam cycle running now)- re-doing it- not as powerful as I thought text a little with dd2- new restrictions are beyond the pale of reason- so hard to keep spirits up- read library books pick up drycleaning? dust bedroom start a couple new projects- maybe start Christmas wrapping? I have several gifts ready to go watch football tonight- I don't care how awful it is- Have a great day!

Dentist done- good report- checkup in 3 months Cleaned the bathrooms ordered some fabric chatted with ds3 about school and life next up: read a little, a load of towels, make a few more pinwheel squares and iron a couple of blouses

Good morning! dh left for the office, so I will get some cleaning chores done and do some things in the kitchen. But first, a dentist appointment. coffee/paper dentist maybe pick up bagels for ds3 (shop right by dentist) ds3- school, gym, club tennis clean bathrooms dust jen things figure out dinner not sure what else Have a great day!

2 loads of laundry done dough for cinnamon rolls in bread machine little sewing put in new printer cartridge (no idea why that is a chore-but I am so slow at getting it done) chatted with ds3 and took chicken out from freezer (step one- still don't know what I am doing with it)

Went to the grocery store and dropped off ballot emptied dishwasher and took out the recycling ds3 moved his schedule around due to tournament this week (no spectators- so sad), so he is napping instead of going to the gym and has a private this afternoon before practice Having another cup of coffee- it's before noon! Next up: read a little probably general clean-up bake? dh did end up going to the office

My kids are all over the map, in terms of learning disabilities, academic success, and athletic talent. We always talked about the things you can control. You can't control your genetics and you can't control the circumstances you were born into. You can control your attitude towards those things and you can control your responses. You can control how hard you work and what priorities you have. Hard work is always going to be part of success. But you get to define success. It is always easier to use an athletic example. Talent is never dispersed fairly. For example, in my family- the two girls swim (swam) competitively. The oldest is the most talented, learning to swim came as easily as breathing. She worked extremely hard, like most girls who swim distance, and grew to 5'11. That was lucky and not in her control. Those inches made the difference for her in times and recruiting. The younger sister worked much harder to learn to swim- she worked to get rid of problems in her stroke. She stayed absolutely tiny until she was 15. She is a full five inches shorter than her sister. She had an injury that was a genetic bone malformation. She had to learn to define her own success. And she did- decided what times would be successful, what conference would mean success for her, what physical goals she could strive for and achieve. She is successful- but compared to her sister's achievements- she looks lesser. But she is not and she doesn't feel that way. She feels successful. It is easy to look at people who are successful (as the world defines it or as you have decided to define it) and think that it was luck, or easy, or fate. When you really look beneath the surface, you see a lot of work that was hidden and made them ready to meet opportunity when it comes. Hard, smart work matters because it makes you better- even if nobody sees it. Success is the world is dependent on so many things- school success is dependent on one or two things. They are not the same and it is better to look toward life outside school and find success outside of getting grades or gold stars.