I've spent the last week being a single parent, and as usual, I emerge with all the more respect and awe for anyone that has to do this on a regular basis. Plus a healthy dose of thankfulness that I can choose to do this or not, sometimes.

There were also a few things that happened along the way...

( Like accidentally abandoning Jet, cutting a finger on one of my chef's knives, and having to deal with a recalcitrant waterheater. But it all turns out to the good. )

I've been having a mildly unusual time of getting taken care of by a lot of people. A good number of them are from our church, and the biggest flood of that was on Sunday, where everyone offered us a hug, condolences, and a few moments of thoughtful conversations. It was amazing how much support we got on that day.

And I'll never forget Strider's words, he said that his experience was nearly the opposite of what John's was when his father passed away; but that on hearing John's story he could find the world a gentler place because he now knew that such a passing was possible.

We've had two meals already delivered to our door, and a third offer that will be in a day or two. When I was first asked if we wanted a meal, my first inclination was that they didn't have to bother, or that I was okay with cooking, but really it was a way for them to let us know they cared. So I said, yes, and I've been comforted and I think it comforted them as well. Remembering the times we've brought meals to people, it was a good thing for us as well as them.

( And sometimes I have to remember that, yes, I am exhausted and a little fragile as well, and at others, I don't... )

My hands have been a real mess this past week. It's been a combination of things, but I've really broken out the dictation software and found that I can make it do what I really wanted to do.

It also helps to change the workload. I've been doing far too many of the Facebook games, and it's really the mouse work that's been messing up the tendons on the backs of my wrists. It didn't help that I was also working on the CaféPress store, chatting in text rather than audio, playing Bejeweled Blitz, and writing the odd 3000 words in one day with Allie.

( So I've been taking a little time off. )

It's been kind of cool and kind of scary, but I've been doing science experiments with and for Jet's classroom once a week. John's been doing them once a week as well, on Fridays, and I get Mondays. The teacher is very strong in the liberal arts, but asked for some help with the science part of the program from us because she knows us.

( So I get to stand up in front of the class and play Mrs. Science! )

It's finally fall again, the summer heat has broken, the zucchini and tomatoes are slowing down, the pool is closing in a week, the tree leaves are starting to show a hint of turning about the edges, the nights are getting into the 40's, and the hot tub actually feels good again.

Yesterday, the boys and I went to dim sum together, and, afterward, I spent the time to make meat and vegetable buns/bao from a recipe in a book Mom gave me, and it turned out so well, with my additions, that Jet actually liked them. A lot. Enough that he wants to make them again.

The funny thing, though, was the moment of deja vu when I was wrapping the bao with deft, quick motions of long practice, and Jet picked one up for the first time and I remembered being a kid and thinking I'd *never* be able to make them as beautifully as my mother had. And here I was wrapping them using my left hand to feed the folds into my right hand, and the whole making a perfect little swirl about the center steam hole. It was useful to tell Jet about that feeling and memory as he got the courage up to wrap quite a few of the things. It made dinner prep faster, and he started learning how to fold them. Someday he might show someone else how to do it, too.

Immortality through food. *laughs* My mom's technique in my hands, now, and I'm passing them down to Jet.

( School, science, knitting, fires, and a few more paintings. )

... and managed to be very lucky today in dropping in on an eye exam for Jet today, and finding that they could give him half off his new glasses because we'd bought his glasses from him last year, on August 15th! *laughs* So we were lucky and he got a very nice new pair of glasses for his new prescription.

We saw Ponyo and it was sweet and very Miyazaki. *laughs* I now REALLY want to see it with the Japanese voices instead of the American ones.

From David's house, we did a mad rush of visits for the last few days, and then flew home far too early in the day on Thursday. Today we're still trying to catch up on everything we need to catch up on, and not the least of those is sleep...

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Jet was up at 5:30. He didn't say that it was from excitement at school, but... one wonders.

One of his friends threw up at 5 a.m. so I'm thankful all Jet did was wake up and it wasn't like he's at all anxious.

There were actual crowds at the bus stop this morning. I guess a few kindergarteners were going for their first time and a few other kids that didn't normally ride the bus, but since all the kids in our neighborhood are going to the new school that's a mile further than the old one, I guess they all decided that the bus would be a good idea or something.

( Newbie parents and riders, hmph. But our day was good. )

I am grateful for my birthday presents and for a really cool kid.

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It's been surprisingly untraumatic.

Jet got up in plenty of time to get into his clothes, get some breakfast into him, and then rattle around the house while John and I put his lunch together and ate our breakfast. Then the three of us walked to the bus stop together, and he met up with Tristan. There the boys stood around for a while listening to us talk, but then they ran off to climb a tree.

At least this time Jet waved and said good-bye to me as he got onto the bus. *laughter*

He waved out the window as Tristan made faces, and then they turned to each other to talk and off then went.

On the walk to the bus stop I did say that I was nervous a bit about the whole thing, and Jet said that he was, too. But John talked about why he should be okay with the milk at lunch, and I know I felt that John had missed the whole point, but it was okay.

We'll pick him up after school at the bus stop, too.

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Last week was really fun and really, really busy. We would run off to dinner at about 5, get to the church before 6, get Jet off with his class, and then Tonya, John, and I would set up the classroom and then run three sets of at least two experiments every single evening.

I'll admit that this was the first time I'd ever heard of a science portion to a Vacation Bible School curriculum. And I think all of us really wanted to pull it off and fascinate the kids and make it work so that the parents would be good with us having something like that again. I think it might have worked, as at least five sets of parents said that their kids were happily doing experiments at home to show them and really wanted to come each day in order to do the surprise experiment of the day. *grin*

I think the best one was the "growing your own 'coral reef'", which we did explain wasn't a *real* coral reef, it was a bunch of chemicals, water, and salt that would let salt crystals grow out of a charcoal (we could have used sponge or concrete... weird) base, which would absorb the mix and then wick it up to the "coral". The results were pretty spectacular.

( Here's a small picture of one of them. )