Dr appointments

We did not do school today. Instead we went to two appointments for JD.

The first one was a nutritionist appointment. We finally found the correct clinic between the two bases (Ft Bragg and Pope Air Field) and we signed in just in time. The young captain there was trying to be helpful and provide answers to why JD has gained so much weight, but I left there feeling like I was doing all I could do about the situation. On Feb 28 he weighed 127.6 and today he weighed 135.  Of course they were two different scales so maybe there is a discrepancy because 8 pounds in 4 weeks seems excessive with all the walking we did.  JD's height stayed the same.  I could list all the ways I’ve “helped” JD but the list is too extensive. The doctor provided me with substitutions, healthy cooking tips, low-fat cooking methods, food label definitions, and suggested an 1800 calorie intake per day for JD.  She talked with JD about the food pyramid and healthy eating too, but he was engrossed in the Nintendo DS that was missing for weeks and recently found.  I know she tried helping us but felt like it was a wasted appointment.  She even apologized that she could not be of more help.   

The next appointment was with a pediatric endocrinologist. I was hoping he would see from the blood work that something was broken or clogged up. He too was unable to provide any answers to this baffling weight gain situation. The doctor looked at JD’s latest blood panel but found nothing profound. He did run another blood panel on JD. I should have the result by the end of next week. He also talked with JD about looking and feeling better about himself by watching what he eats and exercising more.  He suggested I track everything he eats and having him exercise more.  He asked for us to come back for a followup in three months. 

I guess as a mother I worry about this weight gain affecting JD’s self image. Like he needs another thing to worry about or be teased about. Both doctor’s asked him today if he was bothered by this weigh and he said, “No not really, well maybe a little bit about my stomach.” I was instructed to count calories, have him exercise more, and eat healthy. I’ll start tracking that on the computer tomorrow. I don’t plan to be like a drill sergeant. I want to be there to offer better choices, small portions, and exercise WITH him not just have him exercise his butt off.

After the mentally taxing day at the doctor’s office’s we ended our day at baseball practice from 7-8:30 pm. JD really seems to like his “friends” and the sport so far. We haven’t played baseball since a baseball coach several years ago “yelled” at him and his team mates. Truthfully, the coach was a great coach for the sport, but not our cup of tea. We were in it for the fun of it and this guy ran it like it was the college championship game on the line every game.

Another good day

Today’s devotion was about knowing information like: ABC’s and never reading, passing a driver’s license test and not ever driving, or knowing the cure to a cold and not choosing to take it. Can you imagine not using that information? People do it all the time when they choose between right and wrong. We may know it but we don’t show it. We would tend to do the wrong thing more than right unless we make a conscience decision to do right.

Today in the AWANA book JD completed challenge 6:4 where he learned he can have peace with Christ. He memorized three bibles verses to back up this fact.

The math lesson was easy today. It was about angle sums. It only covered the triangle. When you count the three angles in the interior they will all add up to 180*. They also reviewed the triangle names like: scalene (all different lengths), isosceles (2 angles are equal), equilateral (all angles are 60*), right scalene (contains exactly 1 right (90*) angle), and right isosceles (contains 1 right angle and 2 45* angles.) Too much information huh?

The language arts and social studies lessons were combined today. I typed up four sets questions for both Ireland and Scotland and I left room for the answers. They were questions like: 3 things I liked/disliked about Ireland/Scotland, 3 words they use that we don’t, and 3 differences between the US and Ireland/Scotland. JD only finished the Ireland portion today. The three things he disliked about Ireland were 1.) I didn’t get to take Tater 2.) and Roxy with me 3.) and I got sick in Ireland. (Too funny)

I also cleaned my client’s house for three hours. Man am I whooped. Signing off for now...

A good half day

Back to the grind again. We had a good half day. And I also had the privilege of watching the grandbabies while home schooling so Sarah could go to work. Reason: both of the girls have ringworm, Reuben overslept, and the babysitter can't take them until tomorrow (Thursday.)

I started a “correction log” to show JD what behaviors are not acceptable to me. I also added an obedience portion to it. This way I’m able to “show” JD how many times he let the dogs distract him, how many times I tell him to be quiet (sleeping babies), and how polite and obedient he really can be. (Smile.)  The reason I did this was because it felt like the whole vacation was fussing at JD about this or that.  It was like that was the first time he'd even been taught manners or inappropriate behaviors.  He's a COMPLETELY diffent student than he was a wandering vacationer.   

We did our devotion today. It felt funny picking up from where we left off 13 days ago. Today we learned about fairness. That’s tough when we don’t think something is fair. But who are we to judge? Some things we flat out know are wrong, thus making something unfair. We have all heard of “The Golden Rule” of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That’s comes from the bible in Matthew 7:12. God values justice because He is just. It’s not something God does, it’s something he is - just! Treating people fairly even when they don’t treat us fairly is right - for all people, for all times, and in all places.

In the AWANA book today we completed challenge 6:2 which was to write the child of a missionary to encourage him/her. We found that child (Anna) before we left for Europe and finally wrote to her today. JD did a wonderful job of encouraging Anna. Anna is a four year old girl having a difficult time church hopping on the weekends because her parents are AWANA missionaries. JD told Anna, “Since your parents are missionaries it’s normal for you to move around a lot. But they are doing the right thing. I have moved to four different schools before so I know how hard it is to keep friends. But the good side is that you get to meet new friends. And you are doing the right thing when you are giving the love of God to the other kids. So keep the love of God in your heart and a smile on your face.” (What a good letter.) I combined this lesson with the language arts lesson.

The math lesson was about angle measurements. It was and easy lesson that retaught us 0*, 45*, 90*, 135*, and 180*. The quiz was up for interpretation and JD scored a 90%.

I also went to Walgreens to get my European pictures made into disks for both Lyndell and Greg. Then, I ran off to baseball practice from 5:30 - 7 pm. A very busy day and night. (Whew…relax…breathe.)

No school today

Today was unpack three suitcases day and wash all the nasty clothes inside day. I had eight loads total to wash after our European vacation. I was extremely tempted to take it to the laundry mat for the ease of using multiple washers and dryers but so much more need to be done around the house that I decided to stay here to do all of it. It was tedious work but I finally got it all washed, dryed, folded, and brought to the applicable room.  (I'll worry about putting it all up later.) 

First I ran to the store for detergent and a small bit of shopping for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also mowed and pooper scooped the dog yard and did various other time consuming tasks.

We are all back in the states

Our early morning flight to New Jersey came way too early. We scrambled to eat breakfast at the hotel so we could be at the airport two hours early. We stood and walked around forever, hitting this check point or that customs place. They actually did customs there in Ireland verses the states. Our flight to New Jersey took off about an hour late. I think it had to do with the weather there or a late arrival. I’m not sure but we were glad to finally board so we could nap. Most of us napped on the flight back and we all either watched movies or played games on the screen in front of us.

We landed in New Jersey late because we took off from Ireland late. We parted ways with Greg and went in search of our new gate. That connecting flight from New Jersey to North Carolina was late taking off too. That was a blessing to the three NC Hyder’s and Lyndell because we all feared we would miss that connection. If I’m not mistaken, Greg’s flight was delayed too.

We landed in North Carolina around 6 pm and went to claim our bags. No bags…go figure. We waited for the next Continental flight to arrive as our bags we promised to have been scanned on that flight. They were. Greg’s bags we also missing. Ugh. Better they lost our bags at the end verses the beginning or the middle of the trip.

We parted ways with Lyndell and Jim at around 8:45 pm. The three NC Hyder’s arrived home at around 10:20 pm. Poor Jeff…he has to go to work tomorrow. I on the other hand will be unpacking and doing laundry for days.

But it will be okay. The trip was the “trip of a lifetime” and I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Thank you again Lyndell!

Traveling back to Dublin today

Today we are traveling back to Dublin. The vacation went so fast. We all met downstairs for the usual buffet breakfast. Then, we did some last minute shopping. Lyndell and Greg were looking for those last minute cashmere sales, Jeff was looking for candy and pants (where did all of our clothes go?), and I was looking for souvenirs.

We’re all beat. We all scattered for lunch. The three NC Hyder’s went to Wanna Burger one last time. I just can’t get enough of that spicy chicken sandwich and guacamole. Greg had to have those fish and chips one last time. And Lyndell ate in her room.

The housekeeping staff wants us out of our rooms so they can clean them, but our flight doesn’t leave here until 7:50 pm. We‘re trying to stay in our hotel room for as long as possible so we won‘t be stuck at the airport for hours.

We got to the airport at around 4 pm. Now we play the waiting game. We got off the ground and in the air late as usual. When we landed in Ireland we all just wanted our rooms, showers, and beds. But our rooms are sooo HOT!.

From the east to the west coasts of Scotland

We ate breakfast downstairs at the hotel. Greg must have picked up a sinus bug. He came down late but we still enjoyed our breakfast.

We walked to our bus stop at 8:45 am. We met our bus driver Bill and boarded our tour bus. We headed west towards Loch Lomond and River Clyde. We had a short bus tour of Glasgow to see this industrial giant. It was a mixture of both old and new buildings. (I personally like Edinburgh better because most of the buildings are still old.) We stopped at the Glasgow Cathedral even though they we reconstructing it. It was built before the 13th century. After a short self-guided tour of the cathedral we reboarded the bus to exit the Glasgow. This is where Bill told us about the Duke of Wellington Statue. Apparently the teens in the city put an orange street cone on his head every night only for the police take it down every day. It was there, on his head, as we drove by.

We left Glasgow and headed for the River Clyde. It does heavy building as well as shipbuilding. Our next stop brought us to the bonnie banks of the Loch Lomond. We took a boat cruise of the loch (lake). It’s the biggest expanse of fresh water in Great Britain. It’s also known as the Gateway to the Highlands. There were many old buildings and sights to see from the loch. One in particular was the Cameron House. It was built in the 18th century. They converted it into a hotel. Lots of American stars have stayed there. There we also saw the mountains. They were snow covered and so pretty. (This resembled the Rocky Mountains to me…oh how I miss my Rockies.) The cruise was a cold ride and luckily there was an upper deck outside and a lower deck downstairs. We all started out outside and ended up inside.

Next, we came to a village called Aberfoyle. It was a quaint little village and we stopped there to have lunch. Luckily they also had a shopping barn like store for the shoppers in our group. (Even though I’m not a shopper I am still having a BLAST seeing the sights.) I liked the fact that they had sheep, ponies, and chickens to occupy JD’s time.

On the drive around the lochs we saw lots of sheep and some Scottish bulls. (These were not the famous lochs where the Lochness Monster "Nessie"was spotted.) We were even fortunate enough to see a mom and a baby. The driver was surprised because that usually doesn’t happen until April. We drove a bit further up the mountain and saw Scottish heather covering the landscape. There is jewelry here that they make out of this heather wood. We were told July is when the heather flowers bloom. This was the backdrop for Sir Walter Scott’s Rob Roy and the Lady on the Lake.

On the way down from the mountain we drove through the village of Callander and we passed the Castle Doune. This 14th century castle was used in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Our last stop was Stirling. We visited the Stirling Castle. It was under construction as well. This made for a short walk around. We all were super surprised at the end of the tour because they were having a bagpipe competition. Nothing less than PRICELESS! I certainly don’t know how these people can walk around in kilts when the weather is so “fresh.”

This area was famous because of William Wallace. There was a 200 foot memorial there, but some of us didn’t see it very well.

Our drive back home was short because he had a CD on that played Scottish music and some of us dosed off. This was a great opportunity to get warm again. We got off the bus at our hotel and went out to eat a Wanna Burger again. (That spicy chicken with guacamole rocks!)

The rest of our night included hot baths and a movie in the room. I hope Greg gets to feeling better soon.