Apologies

My apologies, for not having posted in the blog for so long... On the Tuesday after I posted for the last time, my father went into the hospital because of a gallbladder attack. As of then, he continues to be in the hospital with complications for this. On top of that, mold was discovered at my school and a decision was made to close doors the day before it was to open. I have had to spend long hours there at meetings with teachers, parents and the community. My school also lost an ESL teacher, and I have been working furiously to find a replacement so the girls will get a bit more help. I have not found anyone yet with certification to hire and I am now trying to find a substitute that would meet the qualifications. This is on top of the work that we continue to do with the girls in their transition with us. To add to this, it is getting colder now and we are slowly changing wardrobes so we are in the middle of many clothing containers, which the girls still have to go through to see what they will keep and we are redoing their closet. Are we stressed? The help my parents and my sister were giving us at the time my dad went into the hospital has stopped, so we have had to rely more on Alex's mom and sister. Needless to say Alex and I look a bit more ragged and tired lately. Without this help, I don't know what we would have done.

Alex wanted to get a quick get away to Crab Lake, and for me it became a bit more stressful to do this, given my above mentioned situations. I felt guilty that I did not go to my school to help out and I felt guilty that I did not see my dad. The girls did not understand that when it's cold at Crab Lake there is no swimming, even though I had explained that. On Sunday they went swimming for a bit. Sucena only stayed 10 minutes and the others a little bit more. They said they were not cold, I did not believe them. I was so grateful to Kim, owner of Alpine Lodge, who invited us on a walk on Monday (we were supposed to go on Sunday but we had a situation between the girls that needed to be solved). It was great for me because I had not exercised in weeks and talking to another adult, besides Alex, was great. The girls complained about the walk (about 2 miles) I told them to get used to it. We plan to do more in the fall.

This weekend is Milena's first soccer game on the same day as my dad's birthday. I'm not sure yet what I will do (probably drive to Milwaukee in the morning and go to the hospital until game time, besides visiting him on Saturday if I can figure out how to arrange this) about it.

My mom 'lives' in ICU at St. Joseph in Milwaukee. My two sisters and brother have been at the hospital taking turns being there. With all the crap going on around here, I have not been able to make it there since last weekend. It stinks!

On the positive side, Yesica and Sucena have started school at West Middleton and like it. Lucky for me, a friend of mine is ESL teacher there and she is doing wonders with them. The bad part is that since my request for having the girls at a closer school to mine was denied, the morning and afternoon drive is between 35 and 40 minutes. Needless to say I don't plan to be involved in the PTA. The school is great, I just wish I lived closer. Maica is also helping transport the girls in the morning, and this helps us too. I am dropping them off in Waunakee and then she takes them in so I can go to work. This is a HUGE help. Once the older girls start school this arrangement will give Alex a chance to get to work earlier and be available in the afternoon for coming home early or pick up. We hope with this arrangement he might be able to get a full time job so we can move to the other side of town. Sucena lost a tooth the day before classes started. She looks cute and talks funny. I have pictures I will have to post later.

Due to my high stress levels, I am not able to sleep much and this has its advantages, like updating the blog, doing extra work, reading.. The truth is that I love to do this blog and I am grateful to the people that still read it. It is a way for me to express the ups and downs of this time in our lives. I love when people post comments and give us ideas on things that are happening in their lives, or parenting advice. Please feel free to comment: Just follow "Post a comment" at the end of the entry, and I will see it.

Well... almost time to 'get up'. MM