Wake Me Up When September Ends

Hmm. I guess I didn't sleep through the month of September, nor did I want to. (I might have said yes to the option in July.) But in any case, September is nearly over, and I realized I never got around to my monthly blog post. Today has been a chill day as we've been watching general conference, so I decided to get on here between sessions and do a quick update.

So what's going on with my crew? Well, pretty much the usual when school is in session, with less driving than usual. (B is driving to the high school and I'm carpooling to S's school so I only make one trip a day, if all goes well.) I'm still recovering physically from the bike accident-- my face looks back to normal and the scar isn't too noticeable, but heaven help me if I happen to accidentally touch above my right eye. Twice I accidentally hit myself in the face there and the agony was awful. Terence thinks I might have a hairline orbital fracture. I assume eventually it will heal, whatever it is. Worse, though, is my right hand. The pain is not improving much; now it shoots down my wrist and it is downright torment to hand write anything. (It is far less painful to type, though it still hurts.) I can manage the piano if I wear a brace. But housework is suffering. I can only manage a small amount of scrubbing at any given time, and often I will pay for it with aching the rest of the day. Not that I'm a big scrubber, but I do like a clean bathroom, and tubs and showers must be scrubbed in my house or they don't get clean. And heaven forbid I should have to scrub a pot. (Usually I don't. The kids are assigned the dishes six days a week.)

(As an aside, I also learned something new about my particular injury from a firefighter friend. When you hit your head and your arms stiffen up and freeze, they call it "ringing the bell." Yeah. Good to know. If I ever have it happen again, I know what to call it in slang. But it better NEVER happen again!)

Fortunately, since I can still type I have been working hard to try and finish Sheralie #6. I'm hoping to start #7 for Nanowrimo this year, which means I have one month to finish and then do my quick run through of the whole series to refresh my brain on what needs to be tied up in the last novel. It better be the last novel. This series needs to get out into the world before I die of old age! But having binge-read several series over the last month (umm, I finally caved and got a Kindle Unlimited subscription) I've learned that there is nothing more cruel than leaving people hanging with the next novel in a connected series not coming out for months (or worse, no announced date at all). I won't do that to any of you who happen to read this series. I don't want anyone throwing bricks (or books) through my front window!

The big fun around here is that J is currently working on his mission papers. He has been saving money and planning to serve a mission for the church since he graduated from high school. Luckily I got to turn the medical and dental exams over to Terence because J is still traumatized from his experience with the ruptured appendix back in 2019, and the only person who can get him to cooperate is Terence. (I guess it was really iffy this time around for the blood draw, but Terence finally got him to go through with it.) He has one last hurdle-- the dentist found a cavity that will need to be filled.  (Which means a valium for J and another afternoon at the dentist for Terence as tough love/comforting dad. It is kind of awesome though that J trusts Terence enough to find him helpful enough to get through this stuff. It's an area where I am not enough. We've tried.)  Most likely J will get a service mission call (his doctor recommended it, and we are in agreement), which means he will live at home and serve locally. It's exciting to see what this will be like though because we have no idea what we're all in for. 

As for what's coming up in October? A break from school, college applications for B, job hunting for M, War Thunder for K (he's addicted, he'll get up at 4am on Saturday mornings to play), and S is beside herself with excitement about cooler weather, playing outside, and Halloween. I'm hoping I feel well enough (mmm, yeah, other health problems that shall not be named right this second) so we can get out hiking. Generally October is my favorite weather time of year here in the desert, so bring it on!