Fever

There's a 5-day fever making the rounds in our neighborhood. It finally came to our house :) Well, I don't know how long it will stay yet, since Matthew just barely came down with a fever this morning, and his fever seems to be much hotter than the ones we've been hearing about. Maybe this is something entirely different? Don't know yet.

Anyway, my plans for today came to a screeching halt once I saw "103.0" on the thermometer. Matthew stayed home from preschool and James was forced to go alone. Both boys were miserable about it. Instead of hitting the gym, I popped in a DVD for my semi-conscious boy and enjoyed some European chocolate from our very generous house guests. It was a bit of a pity party, I confess.

When Matthew got hot enough to start panting and his hands were too shaky to drink, it scared me a bit and I gave him ibuprofen. Just 30 minutes later he was sitting up and asking for food and water. By the time James came home, Matthew's temperature measured normal and he was acting fine. They're currently in quiet time together laughing their heads off (it's probably something naughty). Modern medicine is a miracle. I don't take that for granted.

So, now, I'm assessing my project load and getting caught up.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Triathlon
Training, researching and gathering equipment (road bike, biking shoes, running shoes), organizing a group to participate with me.

Sola Gratia  Farm
Waiting for the growing season to begin, preparing to attend a seminar on Illinois food sale law, waiting for the director to get back to me about how best I can help.

Battle of the Books
Gotta read a couple more books and write quiz questions for the kids at Yankee Ridge. Note to self: don't sign up for this next year.

Alice
Upcoming open house for a local private middle school for girls, Alice undecided about her desires and needs, me uncomfortable talking to her about it too much because I can tell she will choose whatever she thinks will make ME happiest. I go back and forth on it, honestly, seeing fantastic benefits and serious disadvantages to each middle school (public vs. private). I struggle with the unfair reality that our income gives us more choices.

Her personal schedule is ramping up significantly. That's a little stressful for me.

Robert
He wants to build a better relationship with me right now. I love it. I wish I had more to give him. I wish I could read Harry Potter to him 30 minutes a night without having to do something similar again, again, and again for the other three kids. It's exhausting being equal. It's exhausting deciding what's fair all the time.

He is turning eight in a couple months and I want him to make a personal, spiritual decision on his own whether or not to be baptized. I ask him about it in private and he always shyly smiles and shrugs, "Of course I'm going to do it, why are you asking me this?" And then there's the issue of Cub Scouts once he's eight. Am I ready for his personal schedule to get a lot busier?

Then there's piano lessons. He's happy again, sort of. He's happy as he sees himself getting better at it, but it's not something he's happy to work on. Does that make sense?

James and Matthew
These guys are a lot of work for me, but there aren't any big concerns or projects I'm working on with them right now. Just Matthew's fever.

Relationships
So many relationships to maintain. Some waxing, some waning. So, so, so much time and energy spent on this.

Calling
I teach a class in church every month on varying topics. It's only stressful the two weeks right before I teach. And the day of. I almost barf every time.

Upcoming talk in church
I've been asked to prepare a 10 minute talk/sermon for our church services in a couple weeks. The bishopric has asked me to speak on reaching out to people...something I am terrifically insecure about. I guess it's an opportunity to study the gospel and make some changes in my life :) or suddenly come down with a fever of 103. Giving a sermon is very different from my usual teaching routine. I don't like to lecture. I'm not an expert on anything. I prefer to ask genuine, heartfelt questions about applying the gospel in our lives and then learn from the other people in the room. A sermon doesn't include questions to the audience. No feedback. No chalk board to record comments and punctuate the thought process. Just my notes and a microphone. Erk.

Now I'm out of quiet time. I'll have to return to this later.