Today has been cold and rainy. What a strange winter this has been! For the most part, it's been much warmer than normal, hot and muggy like summer. But then along comes a cold front and we're back to winter for a day or two.

Mama came late last night and borrowed our couch to crash. She had brought donuts, and the kids, especially the little girls were thrilled to see her when they came down this morning. She didn't stay long this morning, but we did get a little time to talk over coffee and donuts.
I went running with Brian today, five miles. I'm going to start doing that again. I've become such a lazy runner! I'm not fit to be called a runner anymore. But I do walk, walk like crazy. So there's that.

I had an Area of Study meeting to attend at ACC this afternoon. It was informative and it helped me warm the cold feet I had last night. I'm excited about starting summer school! Margaret might start also, so we could be in the same class. How fun would that be!

Margaret decided to join track, even though it's already three weeks into the season. She went to Coach Sully yesterday and asked if she could, and he was thrilled to have her back. I'm so happy for her! I know she'll love being with her friends and competing one last season. She's such a jewel of a girl! I'm so glad she won't be leaving home right away. I think Samuel (as well as the rest of us) would be half dead with sorrow if she did. She got Samuel a job at the restaurant she works at, Napa Flats. He's a bus boy, and she's a server. Once she turns 18 next month she'll be able to wait tables. I'm so proud of her and what a hard worker she's been from such a young age! She has never shied away from hard work. She began babysitting when she was eleven, and has done that and nannying off and on since. She's worked at two different restaurants, and has also done art commissions. I'm so impressed with her maturity, even if she's my daughter.

Samuel has grown up quite a bit this year. He's blossomed socially and has scads of friends. He's no longer the shy, awkward child he was when he was in elementary and middle school. He even has a girlfriend. At least I think that's what they call each other. She's a doll, too, with long blonde hair. He's had a thing for silky blonde hair since first grade when he'd talk about the girl that sat near him with the "golden hair".  And of course she's a runner, too. We've taken to calling him Sam when we talk to him, when we remember it. That's what all his friends call him. Speaking of his friends, he had about eight or ten of them show up at our house on his birthday when we were having a family birthday for him and Olive. They snuck in the back door, aided and abetted by Margaret, and popped out singing Happy Birthday at just the right time. I think it meant a lot to him. He's enjoying his job and the opportunity to meet new people. He's always been a hard worker, and has already received good reviews from his employer. Sam's running career is coming along. He has high hopes of getting a running scholarship. He is one of the top 800m runners in the district as well as one of the top milers. He had been trainer with a personal running coach for a few months, but we had to drop that as it was getting too expensive. The same coach, an elite level runner that competes all over the world, also coaches several of Sam's Vandegrift buddies, and comes to the track meets to cheer them on. At the last meet he offered to continue to give Sam instruction free of charge, a $125/value. How nice!

As I mentioned in my last post, William is also running track. He runs the sprint distances, and does well. He wants to do well, but he's definitely not as committed to it as his older brother is. It's strange to think of William at the high school next year, even though he'd already be there if we hadn't held him back three and half years ago. I suppose all parents get a little shock to their systems when their child heads off to high school. I hope he does well. He seems to have a lot of friends. He's not the same kid who wouldn't speak at all when he was in elementary. He seems comfortable talking to young and old now. This year of middle school has gone well for him, but the previous two were rough. He's a sweet boy, and I think I often misjudge him. He came home last week upset because some "rich boys" on the 4x100 relay team he's on were bullying him. It's not like him to complain about that kind of thing because, for one, he's a little older than most boys in his grade, and two, because he usually takes it on his chin and deals. But for some reason this really bothered him. If I think too long about the hurts and fears my kids face each day I get a little weepy. I hope and pray it turns them to Jesus.

John is John. He goes to school every day on time and comes home at the same time every day. He gets his snack and then spends the rest of the afternoon and evening until dinner reading in his bed. He never deviates from this. He's pleasant and talkative, but a loner. He's a handsome boy, thin and tall for his age, probably 5 ft. 5 inches, with dark hair that he likes to wear a little long. He has dark blue eyes and the longest, darkest lashes you've ever seen. And yet he's an outcast. He has no friends in school, at least none that I'm aware of, and his only real friend outside of school is his cousin, Tommy. He's intelligent, and though he tested into the gifted program at the middle school, he's always barely passing his classes. I think he'll be a successful architect or some kinds of designer when he grows up. He has such an interest in it. It's just hard to see him friendless. It doesn't seem to bother him, just me.

I won't go on to talk about Hazel and Olive at this time. They're dear little angels and I want them to stay that way forever.

One more week of school left until spring break. We're doing a staycation. It'll be nice to have my babes home with me. Brian intends to take all or some of the week off, and we have several fun things planned.

I'm trying to read 52 books this year. I'm on book 11, which puts me a week ahead of schedule. I'm rereading the L.M. Montgomery Emily series. Well, I'm actually not reading it, but listening to it. I've discovered audio books and oh the joy! I can now combine two of my loves: walking and reading into one! I've made my way through some good ones and not so good ones. Sometimes the reader really ruins it for me. But oh, how happy I am to have discovered that I cam listen. I have to move, and it's hard for me to sit and read for long periods of time. But if I can walk and enjoy God's beautiful creation while making my way through books, well, that's pretty much the guiltiest of all guilty pleasures for me. Yesterday Brian worked from home, and in the afternoon I got out to walk five miles. I decided to take the trails instead of the sidewalk. How pleasant it was to walk along those well worn paths with the wildflowers just starting to make their presence known on either side, while listening to someone read to me from a beautifully written book!

Sam is at work tonight, and William is upstairs socializing with the friends that live in his phone, but the rest our watching a John Wayne movie with Brian in the den. It's nice to have almost all my people home tonight.

I'm off to climb under the covers and catch up on my Bible study lesson.