A good book...

In my last post I mentioned I had a bit of time during swimming lessons to read. Well, I finished a good book titled "The Soloist" which someone had written about in their blog. It was a very moving (true) story about a musical genius who ends up on Los Angeles' Skid Row because of schizophrenia. The book is written by Steve Lopez, a journalist who initially is looking for a good story for his column. He ends up more involved that he could have ever imagined. The book does not have the happy ending that you would wish for, but it gives much insight on the plight of those who are mentally ill. I highly recommend it - a word of caution, however, it does contain some cursing and foul language - the setting is Skid Row so that doesn't come as a total shock...

Lazy days of summer...

I'm rethinking that title because I don't feel like summer has been that terribly lazy. Our younger kids, however, would probably agree with it. They've been waking up a bit late...yes, even "A"! I don't have that luxury with an infant in the house. I've been trying to coax our 4 month foster baby "K" into sleeping through the night but she's just not getting the hint. I'm getting too old to be awoken more than once - and it's hard not to be grumpy in the morning. Our oldest is taking a Nurse's Aid course at a local nursing home & will be employed there for the summer as well as part-time during school when she successfully completes it. "J" was not able to find any steady summer employment but has been pleasantly surprised at the number of calls she's getting - from mowing lawns, weeding gardens, cleaning houses and babysitting she is keeping quite busy. There's just enough spare time to feel like she's having some time off as well as helping us around the house. The youngest two are in the middle of swimming lessons at the private pool of Mrs. "B". We've taken lessons from her for years and she's still an amazing teacher. I'm guessing she's close to 60 years old but does not seem to be slowing down. I get an hour and a half of reading a book & sitting in the sun - now that's just a little bit lazy!

Hannah at Horse Camp

Last week Hannah attended a Horse Camp at Kelly Ridge Farms. She had so much fun with her horse "Fred". Her horse was the largest horse & a little spirited but she did great! The week flew by and each time I came to pick her up she would thank me for allowing her to go. She went each morning and the final morning (Friday) they all put on a one hour show to display what they learned through the camp. The instructor/owner was a no nonsense kind of lady but was amazing at getting the class to accomplish and learn a lot. The entire class was made up of young girls - not sure if that's typical but I guess it does show that many are like Hannah and have a love & admiration for horses.