Last days of summer....

School shoes - check

Socks special ordered for the big kid - check  (fun socks in men's 13 - 16)

School supplies - check (only for the one that got a list before school starts)

New backpack - check (only for the one that is really really rough on backpacks)

Uniform shirts ordered - check

Khaki shorts and pants purchase... jeans for both of them this year too - check

Mentally ready to get back into the swing of things?    *** UNCHECK ***   nope.

I start back at work tomorrow.  

I did not get as much accomplished as hoped this summer.  Hurting my shoulder really put a damper on that.  But it did require me to sit more (while heating up and cooling down my arm)... and it made me NOT tackle any real big projects.   So.... maybe that considered "taking more care of myself?"  

Here are a few things that we did this week:

1 - we closed out a baseball season.  A chapter, really.  I offered to host a team party because I have not done anything for the team in the past couple of years while working / taking teaching classes / etc.  We had an ice cream social.   It was a nice time to get the boys together one last time.  (Literally - it is the last time, for people are moving on to other teams.)

Most of the boys were there.  A couple were traveling and could not attend.   One of the coaches arrived after the ceremony because of work. 

There was a quick ceremony in the drizzling rain.  (The scoreboard was set to the final score of the tournament-winning game.)

The boys got their trophies.  They came together again to enjoy each other's company.  To play wall-ball.  To chase each other around the field.  To suck in helium from balloons.  To pile a bowl of ice cream a mile-high with junky toppings.  To hear from their coaches one more time.   (and - of course - we found another frog!)

And just like that - this chapter in their baseball careers is done.

Mercer - at age 13 - will start playing for the group of Spikes kids who are 14/15/16... on the 16u team.  This will be quite a bit different for him.  He has been one of the stronger players on his 13u team... he has played "up" with this group of Spikes kids before when they needed an extra player here or there, so he says he'll be comfortable.  Several of these kids also tried out for the JV team (in 8th grade last year) and play for the high school.  This is a goal of his, so I hope that it will give him the experience and confidence to go for it next spring with the time arises.

Mercer attended a camp at the end of this week.  One of his other teammates was there as well at the 14u camp.  Some of his teammates that are a little younger went to the camp the previous day for the 13u camp.  

Some of his former teammates will play for the 13u team at the camp that Mercer attended this past week.  Another teammate is playing for a travel team nearby.  There may be others that are doing different things we don't know about yet.  

Sort of sad, but in time, all things change as the kids get older.

2 - we helped out with our church's VBS.  I kind of had to... it was about creation care and greening God's earth. (There were several other people from our "green team" helping out too.)   I helped with making wildflower seed bombs and composting at an activity station where we cycled through 4 different groups of kids of elementary-school ages.  Mercer helped with games.  On the last day - there was a water slide.  (He said that the little kids loved him and kept picking on him / rough-housing with him.)  He loved the attention.  

On the 3rd day, I got to walk around with a younger group, so I got to see him in action (and I also caught this rare sighting of him without a shirt.... he is developing abs!  ha.  He said he forgot his swim shirt.) 

Also, on the last day, Isabella said she wanted to stay with me, so she hung out with the kindergarteners that day.  Isabella did not want to go with her group -- with the norm.  The daughter of a friend, Mandy, was attending.  Her young pre-school daughter also did not want to go with the norm.   She and Isabella made a fine pair.  ha!

(I couldn't get photos when I was leading the activities... only when I was helping with the little kids group that 3rd day.)  

The highlight of Isabella's week, however, was going to another butterfly exhibit this summer. We went back to the one at the Chattahoochee Nature Center.  (We went last summer during covid.)  

This is the same place I worked at one summer 7 years ago.)  I spent A LOT of time there yesterday and talked with the butterfly docent, Erin, reminding me of this summer whim.

Our neighbor, "Uncle Orie" gifted us again this year with 3 tickets to CNC.  Instead of taking Mercer this year, however, we took a friend.... the sibling of one of M's baseball teammates.  This girl plays ball there too - just like Isabella.   She's a little older and is also OK with getting dirty!  

CNC lets you hold these "sugar sticks" filled with nectar (orange gatorade) and interact with the butterflies more. 

 

They also had a bio-buggy there... the naturalist gave the girls a net and encouraged them to dig into the muck in the edge of the pond to see what water specimen they could find.    

I need to look to see how old she needs to be to work or volunteer there.  This would be her jam!

There was another little girl (pink dress, below) that was as crazy about butterflies as Isabella... or even more so - honestly!

She was there when we got there.  Isabella and her friend left to check out some other parts of the park (Isabella reluctantly).... when we returned, the little girl was still there.  We drove Isabella's friend home and went back - since we had the pass for the rest of the day.  

The little girl was STILL there! ha!  Her dad said they go every weekend and open the butterfly exhibit / close it down each time.  (We were there 'til closing... then Isabella and the little girl played inside the discovery center 'til that part of the park closed 1/2 an hour later!

The highlight of my week (I guess ??!!) - was getting this bathroom renovation under way!  

"Before" (well, 99% before. 1% work had commenced before the photos were taken)

The demo started a week ago Friday when Todd was out of town.  I had to pick out plumbing fixtures and accessories.  He and I picked out lighting. We're working on paint colors now.  (We had previously picked out the vanity / sink and tile.)  It is so much work to research / shop... that THIS is why I'm grateful the work began before going back to work.  

There was a leak that had gone undetected for quite some time in the wall between the bathroom and the long room behind the kitchen.  We're thinking now that leak was the cause of the damaged heart of pine floor in that room.  We replaced the roof and repaired exterior siding last year trying to find where the water was coming from.  At the end of May, we found this "misty" leak... very miniscule leak, but over a long period of time.  Eventually, the bathroom cabinet started to pull away from the wall that we asked a plumber to investigate.  They found a solder joint that had popped.

There was extensive damage to the studs on either side of the leak and complete rot to the floor joists adjacent to that wall.  They had to be torn out and re-built which caused a little bit of delay.  The original estimate was 2 1/2 weeks to renovate. 

(The light at the bottom of this photo is the crawl space below!) 

That would put us wrapping up during the 1st week of school... when we're in a routine -- an early early routine -- for our whole family.  I don't see that happening.  Stay tuned for progress pics.  In the meantime, here's where we're at (including construction staging in our bedroom).  

One of the last things that we need to work on during the renovation:  adding pictures and information to the "time capsule" that was buried in the wall when we were renovating the two bathrooms in 2000.  

Inside the original time capsule was a (long) letter to "future homeowner" and some coins that were issued that year.  Not too exciting.  I want to add articles, photos and information about the kids.

There have been major milestones in politics in the past 21 years.  There certainly should be something about covid.  An update about technology needs to be added. (It was funny reading about tech in 2000)  

Of course, we'll add more information about our family.  There was also a little snippet about the price of items such as gas and stamps.  This will be fun, but a bit crammed as we need to get it in there before the wall is closed back up. 

I have not reported on Covid in awhile.  The John Hopkins map shows not only cases and death rates, but also vaccinations.  3.8 billion people have been vaccinated.  Almost 200 million cases of covid have been documented.  Just over 4 million people have passed from this disease as of late July. 

There have been 34+ million cases documented in the US (with 610,000+ deaths).  There have been 31+ million cases documented in India (with 420,000+ deaths).  

1st diagram:  India had the big spike this year - late spring.  It looks like it's much more under control now.  (The hit close to 400,000 cases per day back in April.)  Obviously their population is huge.  

2nd diagram:  The US had the major spike around the holidays late in 2019... but unfortunately, it has started moving upward again this month...  perhaps this is because of a more deadly strain out:  the Delta variant.  Hospitals are nearing capacity again in some areas.  But - reports show that 99% of the people who are hospitalized at this point are not being hospitalized or pass for this horrible disease.  The vast majority of people with this are unvaccinated.

This is stunning proof of the effectiveness of the vaccine.  (Sadly - kids under 12 years old are not able to get the vaccine yet... as school is starting.)  Praying that our little stays safe!!

Remembering Rory

Todd's nephew Rory, Jr. had struggled for quite some time with mental illness as well as drug addiction.  Two weeks ago, he succumbed to both.  He overdosed in his room at home after coming home from a fishing trip.  Tonia said that he had been the happiest he has been in close to 20 years.  He had begun working on a new ship - a scallop fisher - and told his mom about how happy he was.  

He was 29 years old.  (He and I share birthdays.  He would have been 30 in December.)

Although I grieve for his parents and siblings, I have the heaviest heart for Todd's sister, Tonia. No one should lose a child, of course, but she has struggled with him for more than a decade. I am sure that she has feared his passing this way over and over and over again.  Her worries are over, but I am certain her pain continues.

His given name is Rodger.  In his obituary, it talks about how he allowed Tonia share his story... how he wanted others to benefit from his struggles.  Tonia turned to volunteering for mental health advocacy.  She fought to help people understand that drug addition is a disease.

Here is her profile from where she now works.  Her volunteerism has expanded into now, her life's work:

Tonia Groves Ahern and her family felt helpless, full of fear and isolated for years due to her son’s opiate addiction. While researching treatment options for her son, she became actively involved with Parent To Parent, an organization founded in 1997 by four mothers, three having lost their son’s to overdoses. In 2011, she became involved in working to change legislation to support prevention, evidence based treatment practices, recovery support programs and family support. Tonia joined parents across New Jersey to testify for the 911 bill, also known as the Overdose Prevention Act, which was signed into law May of 2013. She testifies regularly to support bills related to substance use disorders in New Jersey and is a team leader for the National Council for Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD-NJ). She participates in two county Opiate Task Forces and is the current Chairperson for the NJ Department of Addiction Service’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee. Tonia is certified Recovery Coach through Full Recovery and recently became a National Parent Coach for the Partnership for Drug Free Kids. She is currently working on changing probation policies through the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) from the Center For Motivation and Change. Through her son’s substance use disorder she has found her own passion to help others and change the world.

Words from memorial comments that were especially touching: I hope that everyone finds peace in the fact that Rodger left a mark on this world that most people can only hope for. He dreamed big, loved furiously, and fought for his life harder than most. This tragedy will not be in vain, his struggles have saved more lives than any of us can count.

 

A week after his passing, there was a service in his memory.  Todd flew up for the weekend.  He, his siblings and cousins all came to support the family. These photos were shared from the reception and also from informal gathering at their home. 

There was a friend of Rory's who spoke at the service shared his experiences.  We watched the service from the website.  It nice to get a glimpse into his life - the antics that he and his friends were into.  

The stories did sound like he did live big.  

He loved the sea.  At a future date, his ashes will be laid to rest in the ocean off the bows of the boat that he felt at peace on.