A Grasshopper Update, Of Sorts

* Tap tap tap * Anyone still here?

We are.  We're all still alive.  Just getting through winter here, in the PNW.

I'm not big on introspection, so this will be brief.  The boys are growing up. Not so many cute/funny stories, and less desire to be the subject of a blog post.  I get that.  Healthy and normal. So the blog seemed like it was getting to be a lot of me-ME-ME! And what's the fun of that? But I realize how much I use this as a point of reference for our LIVES. (When did Tate have his appendix out? Check the blog. Do I have any photos of so-and-so's baby quilt? Check the blog.  etc.) So I'm giving it another try...

How about a family update?  Nothing embarrassing for the boybarians...

Wyatt - graduated (AA) December 2016, worked for a while at a small hydro-electric plant near Mt. Baker, then when that job ended he was kind of at loose ends. You can guess how popular that situation was from a parental perspective. (Ahem.) Meanwhile, he likes working on cars and seems to have a knack for it...

so we suggested and he got interested in a one-year auto-tech program. While he was going through the steps to enroll, Kerry heard from a friend looking for a "shop boy who could grow with the (HVAC) company". It took a little convincing (because testosterone says that working on cars is cooler than working on furnaces) but he agreed to give it a try for a year. If it isn't a great fit, the tech school will still be there, and he'll have made some money. And he likes it. And he's doing well :D

Tate - the overachiever, still taking 19 or 20 credits a quarter and getting straight A's at the tech college.  Featured in the quarterly college magazine :D This quarter, on top of his program classes, he decided to take pre-calc... for fun.

He's got finals next week, then one more quarter until graduation.  Woo-hoo!

Gunnar - plugging away at his sophomore year at high school / home school, playing in the school orchestra and looking forward to tour in SoCal over spring break (Disneyland!), and planning to go to community college for Running Start this fall.

My. Baby. In. College.

Just letting that sink in for a minute.

And, by the way, sporting a new haircut AND braces.  Love that metal grill.

Kerry - staying very happily busy with work, and enjoying Niko, the office cat.

You may look at, but not touch, his little bear.

Me - this is the story of why I haven't been blogging...

     

     * October - my gall bladder tried to kill me

      * November - I got to have surgery

     * November/December - recover from surgery, host Thanksgiving, celebrate Christmas, and....

     * December/January/February - become the somewhat reluctant volunteer "care manager" for elderly neighbor/cousins dealing with health issues related to aging.  They are the sweetest couple, but he's getting frail and forgetful, and she's deaf and older than he is.  It's been a rodeo... EMTs, ambulance rides, hospital visits, "care center" stays (ie nursing home for rehab), lining up all kinds of in-home help and therapies, adapting the home environment, etc.  What an education.

     * January - oh!  And in the middle of all that... Jury Duty.  I could just about write a book about that.  Ugh.  The details of the stalking case were hard to dwell on, but the worst part of the whole thing... well, let me just say there should be an I.Q. test for jurors.  We had one... one that drove us all to the Cliffs of Insanity.

So there you have it.  There's more, but those are the Big Things.

No promises, but I hope to be back in this space more regularly :D

In the meantime, Niko is watching...

Doesn't he look completely malevolent?