It's Wednesday...

We're chugging along with our week. Books have been read aloud and noone is starving. I've been making an effort to get less coffee and sugar and more sleep. More effort is required.

The Girl Child is in fine form this week. We are experiencing the fallout of every emotion known to man. Generally, by the end of the day, she's thoughtful and apologetic. Ah, puberty.

Monday found us at the local sledding hill and outdoor rink with a few other homeschoolers. Good times. The Boy Child dressed in goalie gear and played between the pipes. He didn't do very well considering most of those playing were adults. But, noone minded - even The Boy himself - and everyone had a good time.

Monday night things got crazy. I made three dinners. There was the one for us before The Boy's regular Monday night hockey game. There was the dish and dessert for my extended family's impromptu pot-luck family dinner which I was very clear that I wouldn't be able to attend. But since I'm part of that mixed up dysfunctional conglomeration, I sent food and The Girl Child as a delegate. And, of course, we had to eat a proper dinner after hockey. That evening, Mr. A and I had a long conversation about effectively saying 'no' to my family. Doing so may involve a pre-recorded message on my answering machine and a neon sign on my door.

To celebrate my new-found and, as yet, unpracticed assertiveness, my brothers and I attended a late night hockey game my brother-in-law was playing. Along for the ride was my very pregnant sister-in-law, married to one of the brothers. We're trying many things to goad her into labour. It's not working. Good times were had by all. The coffee and Bailey's helped.

Tuesday saw school work interrupted by one of the aforementioned brothers. This particular brother has been overseas for a year and his four-week visit home is drawing to an end. He'll be taking off for another year abroad at the end of the week. We're happy to interrupt schoolwork for him. We enjoyed a rousing round of G-rated Skattergories and he entertained us with stories of his high school antics (food fights and unsupervised 'gatherings' and such).

Today is Wednesday. We're halfway there, says The Boy Child. I'm not sure what is waiting for us at the end of the week, but apparently it's anticipated. On the docket today is some schoolwork. As well, we're hoping to get a new little person welcomed to the world before a certain uncle has to depart. It's not looking good. There's been some talk of peering in my sister-in-law's windows and scaring the daylights out of her to get labour started but I'm trying to downplay such antics. Things do get a little crazy - yet entertaining - when my brothers get together.