Some Miscellaneous Thoughts on How Life Goes On . .

I feel relatively healthy today. That's news, because I think there hasn't been a day since we left New Jersey that I haven't been dealing with illness of some sort at some level. And off and on for the month or two before we left, too. Nothing serious, but annoying nonetheless.

Early on, I assumed I had picked up germs on the airplanes flying out here for visits. Then, I attributed it to general stress. Then allergies seemed to be the culprit -- and I'm still not ruling out that theory. Leslie and I both seem to be sneezing and rubbing our itchy eyes on the same days.

Eventually, I deemed it to be some type of post-stress syndrome. Kind of like how I always used to be sick over the Christmas holidays after pushing myself so hard at the end of school. I feel better today, but this is getting old . . .

Beyond that, the Kandts continue to adjust. The girls have had new friends over for playdates. I'm getting some housekeeping routines down. Keith hasn't been traveling much (though he leaves Monday for a couple nights). And we enjoy some kind of Blue Bunny ice cream after dinner most nights.

We're basically done unpacking the boxes of stuff to be put away. Now we're going through the boxes of stuff to sell/store/give away/trash. This may take us months . .

Homeschooling continues. I seem to have lost my knack for scheduling our day -- I always seem to plan way too much to accomplish, or not enough. Today we made a model of a volcano. One of those obligatory things . . it was very simple and basic because I hate doing that stuff. If there was one subject I would give up to someone else to teach, it would be science. Not that I don't find it interesting, but it's one of those subjects that almost has to be hands-on, and for some reason, my experiments never work. At least today's only required the reliable vinegar and baking soda reaction.

Eastin went out for a basketball league Tuesday night. Actually, it wasn't a tryout--it was an "evaluation", because everyone makes a team. She's never played before. When she asked me over the weekend if she could play goalie on her team, I decided her father, the athlete, needed to handle this one. He filled her in on the basics, and she apparently knocked his socks off at the evaluation. For someone who's never played, she did amazingly well! Considering she ranks in the 95th percentile of height for girls her age, basketball may very well be her thing.

So, anyway, life goes on, even in Iowa. But it does seem to go slower here. Maybe that's because I haven't crammed our lives full of activities yet. Or maybe that's because it's Iowa.