August 2011

Wow! What an incredible month August has been. So many incredible events going on. Darein started back to school on August 11th as a Sophomore in High School. She is definitely growing up. She got a really cute older looking hair cut that looks adorable on her. She is excited about the new year. She is taking: World History, Algebra 1B, Web Design, Ag Science 2, English 2, Study Skills and Biology 1. She likes all of her classes so far and is really glad that she doesn't have P.E. this year. She has two teachers that have kids in the same grade and a teacher who is my parent's pastor's wife. It is so nice to have such a strong support system for her at school since her brother has moved off to college and will not be able to look after her this year. She is doing well medically so far. We went and got her a MRI of her brain to check on the adenoma on her pituitary gland as well as some hormone level labs and still need to do a 24 hour urine specimen to turn in. I did call to see about getting the results of the MRI and was told as far as the nurse could tell, nothing looks any different which I take that to mean that it is still there but not any larger or smaller which is a good sign for now. Darein will go back to St. Louis in October and get another xray of her back and she will be evaluated to see if the back brace is helping or not. If nothing has changed then we will get the all clear to start her on braces on her teeth. She is looking forward to applying for the Venture program in September which is a volunteer program at the zoo. She is hoping to work there some. I have also joined a support group mostly for autistic children but also for other children with disabilities and it is a great resource of information as well as networking with other parents. They also have many activities for the kids to participate in each month. I also found out that one of my cousins is on the board of a charity called Champion Athletes. Darein needs to get a physical and then she can participate in these activities. It is totally free and would be a great program for her to be involved in and so we are anxious to start that process as well. She was wanting to take up golf so this will give her a chance to try it out without the financial commitment of buying clubs, etc. They also do activities like bowling, basketball, etc. She is looking forward to checking it out but we have to be careful that she doesn't get too busy between the above activities as well as church activities and keeping up with her school work so we will have to work to find a good balance for her. It will be kind of nice to have her to ourselves and be able to find a schedule that works for her without having to work around her brother's schedule. We will miss him but we are always very busy with baseball with him so it will be good to focus on Darein's interests a little bit.
Speaking of my son, Damein has headed off to Mizzou to study Chemical Engineering with a possible minor in Business Management. He has turned into such an incredible kid and I am so very proud of him!!! He has been accepted into the fraternity Delta Sigma Phi and as far as I can tell so far it will be a great asset to his educational development. He has to maintain a 3.0 GPA to stay in the house. If he maintains a 3.5 GPA each semester he will receive a $500 scholarship each semester. There is a house chef as well as a house mom who cook and clean and care for the boys. They have a sound proof study room and must study 13 hours a week with an upper classman as part of their freshmen initiation. They also must be a designated driver 3 times a year. They are one of the only fraternities on campus that make their members become CPR w/AED and Community First Aid certified and they participate in philanthropy projects such as American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Caring for Columbia, Meals on Wheels, Special Olympics, The Wardrobe, The Shelter, Mid-Missouri Mental Health and March of Dimes. Damein's schedule consists of: Philosophy, Pre-Calculus, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Business Management. He does not have a job yet but hoping he will find one on campus soon though it is most important that he figure out how to balance school, fraternity activities, social life as well as extra-curricular engineering activities and a job. He has a girlfriend here at home and so hoping that he keeps things prioritized appropriately.
In the midst of all of this...I am serving on the Family Reunion Committee, celebrating my 20th anniversary with Shane, just turned 38 and Shane will turn 40 and I am already starting my mid-life crisis. Hard when one of your kids moves out and is getting ready to start the rest of his life without you. I feel happy for him and excited for him while also feeling sad that he's gone and feel bad that I am continuing life and the new opportunities that will present themselves now that he is gone so that I can do more with my daughter. It's just a redirected focus and realizing that you are almost half way through your life and looking at things and realizing how much you have let your life be decided by circumstances that were out of your control as well as the consequences of bad decisions. So now, I have to figure out how to take the good from the past 40 years and quit letting the garbage from the past rule the next 40 years. It's a lot of change all at once and so we will see how I meet these new challenges and move forward but I am hoping for the best and expecting to be able to move forward with a vengeance by the time I reach 40. I still have 2 years left before then and by that point, Darein will be a senior and I will be used to Damein being in college so hopefully I will be in a better place then than I am now :) Hard to believe all the changes that Darein will encounter over the next 3 years both physically and emotionally. I hope it will be a positive change as we move through this phase and help to make her an even stronger person than she is now.