Taking flight.

 Today was the first day of school, and in our house it was a big day...first day of junior high! Oh my, the stress this day has been causing. My daughter had the misfortune to inherit her mother's way of dealing with change: stressing about it. And she had been stressing about everything related to junior high.
 I'd been doing my best to reassure her that everything would be fine; high school wouldn't be as bad as she thought, that she would be fine. It wasn't working very well, and I was doing my best not to stress right along with her. I knew it wouldn't help her if she thought I was worried too.
I decided to take the day off work for her first day, just in case she needed me. I'd been doing the very same thing since she started kindergarten. The only difference would be that this year, I wouldn't be personally escorting her to school. (She matter of factly informed me a while ago that I had to do this, until she went to grade 7!)  Well, imagine the displeasure of both mother and daughter when we found out school wasn't opening until a day later than expected, and Mom isn't able to get another day off! She begged me to call in sick, but I couldn't do it with a clear conscience. I was peeved, but thought it was actually kind of fitting to the event. She would have to get herself ready and set off on the school bus by herself, as her Dad & I would already be gone to work before it was time for her to leave. She was embarking on a major milestone in her preteen life, with new responsibilities. Her first one would be making sure she didn't miss that bus. She didn't.
   I thought about her throughout the day, wondering and worrying about how her day was going. Half an hour before quitting time, she called me. "So, how was your day?" I asked. Pause. Then finally "It was AWESOME!" 
  So the hours of fretting and stressing were all for naught. Thank goodness. She can't wait for school tomorrow; it's the most excited I've seen her get about school since kindergarten!
  I think we're going to be just fine.

Vacation time!

The running joke for the past while is that we would encounter "monsoon type rains" when I started my long anticipated summer vacation. Of course, living in Newfoundland, monsoon rains are not an actual occurance. However, rain, drizzle and general dampness is quite common. Unfortunately, for some reason, during our short-lived summers I tend to choose the weeks that end up being rained out. Doesn't matter if I take time off in June, July or August. It just seems to be my "bad luck". Hence the "monsoon" rain prediction. I figured that if I expected it to rain during my time off, I wouldn't feel too let down.

Imagine my surprise on the first morning of my vacation, when I awoke to a beautiful, sunny day! Surely, I must be imagining things. But, hey, who am I to complain? The second morning looked a little iffy, but lo and behold, turned out beautiful also. Well, by morning three, I was starting to wonder if the gods were just playing some sort of mind game with me. Never mind that it's the end of August, when we normally feel the hint of autumn's chill in the air, but we're getting temperatures in the mid to high 20's. Surely they jest! But alas, by late afternoon, the clouds had started to move in. It is raining as I write this. I guess a three day run is better than none.

As much as I love being proven right, this was one time I would have been happy to have been proven wrong.