And BOOM.  It’s February.  One week in even.  How?  Just how?

Probably because January was a blink.

And so today I’ll take our almost 13-year-old daughter and some friends to St. Augustine for the day, because here in Florida we are blessed with high 60s for our winter February.  And I’ll most certainly be wearing fuzzy boots, jeans and a jacket, because I AM a Floridian and have the thinnest blood ever and 60 and below.  Just cold.  My poor Hubs would love nothing more than to whisk us up to New Hampshire to live (his boyhood stomping grounds) and I have had to tell him we will have a split marriage:  him in NH with my visits periodically….mostly during the summer, but the fall for foliage and the winter for a snow fix.  But not too snowy.  Since we’ve not hit the Lotto nor found the money tree, it’s looking like FLA is home-sweet-home.  Which is fine by me.

Other daily happenings, since this blog seems more diary than blog lately, but it is what it is….

Our 15 yo has joined track and we have had a RE-convening on planning and organizing time.  With the realities of “real deal” practices kicking in with sore and tired bodies to follow, homework, permission slips and general planning for the day ahead have all kind of become muddled.  These are the things of life though, and we have to go through it to figure out what works, what doesn’t and what we can do better to improve, right?  Painful lessons for our 15 yo, and mom and dad, but necessary.

Our 17 yo has given his notice at his first job to enter the world of pizza delivery and shop. The owner also has an auto repair shop and with this jeep enthusiast we are hoping this pays off in repair deals as well as continued learning in how to repair one’s vehicle, etc, etc.  With 18 just around the corner, more opportunities will abound, but for now it appears he wants to sow his employment oats and try a few new things.  We can guide and counsel and in the end sit back and hope for the best with life’s lessons learned with close proximity to the nest.  We have great kids but it’s always a helpful reminder to myself (and Hubby) that their reasoning skills won’t be better formed until those frontal neurons actually connect.  Somewhere around 25.  Until then, we just do our best to not bang our heads against the wall as we navigate teen conversation and debate “skills”.  #goodtimes

Our 11 yo is our little athlete and also learning the art of homework, extra help with math, and working on reading comprehension.  Her flute is coming along and she joined us for spin class the other night, to which she replied half way through…..”this is hard.  I don’t know how you guys do this!”.  She managed to mosey through until the end, however, I don’t think she’ll be back anytime soon!

And little miss 13 yo.  Still finding her way. Returning to running and managing the hormones of middle school girl drama.  Interesting to find her friends and to be a friend.  Some of  her friends hang with just one other girl and then call only when the other is unavailable.  Others suffering from depression and intense therapy.  Definitely a learning experience because as an adult you can see that some of these girls are trying to fill the hole of broken marriages.  It’s a challenge in being a good friend during these times and as a parent a challenge to guide and love through the roadblocks and to encourage without fully getting sucked into the drama.  But then, that is life:  ups and downs and learning to be there for one another, as friends and family.  Realizing we are all human and fall short and to take the good with the bad.

As for the Hubby and I, we are status quo with managing work and family life.

God is good.  All the time.