There are a lot of disturbing things going on in the world, and I am trying not to let the news freak me out or destroy my inner peace.
The situation in Missouri is scary, although it looks like calm is being restored. The war in Israel is scary. The situation in Iraq, and the death of James Foley horrifies me more than I can say.
Yet calm is being restored at my house. Hallelujah.
We have had a tough summer, for a lot of reasons.
I have had some issues with menopause symptoms, but I am feeling much better now, thanks to Maca Root.
I haven't worked in over a month, but I have a new part-time job as of yesterday, which looks to be interesting and lucrative.
Michael has been restless all summer. He didn't get as many hours as he had hoped down at the pool, as a lifeguard. He's also been tasked with taking care of his car, on his own. I pay for insurance, and he pays for everything else.
Michael has spent a lot of time "hanging out" away from home. I don't think he's done anything he shouldn't have done, but it has been hard to get him to be here very much. He's been restless. Twitchy.
We knew that was because of nervousness about starting school, being a college student. Huge change in his life. Change is tough for him.
Last night he went to the men's team tennis practice at our neighborhood pool. There is no team of guys his age. The guys last night were all in the 30's and older. However, they are all good players.
When he came home, Michael was ebullient. He had played for 2.5 hours straight. He was more relaxed and chatty than I've seen him in ages. He ate a late supper - grilled chicken and some noodles - and then said he wanted more.
I fixed him pilmeni, which is basically Russian ravioli. He ate a big bowl of that.
Mom and Bruce and I have all been trying to tell Michael how different college is from high school, how much more enjoyable it is - all summer. I don't think he believed us, truly, until yesterday, after 3 days of being in classes.
He has a class called College Survival, a special class for kids in the Gateway program. They talked yesterday about critical thinking. When he told me about it, he said "I LOVE that!"
I wanted to cry. I wanted to say of course you're loving that son, you're brilliant!
He is brilliant. He spoke nothing but Russian for the first ten years of his life, and came here and learned English within a year and skipped a grade. English is now his best subject. When he tries in school he makes A's effortlessly.
Other good things - he realizes that these teachers are committed to helping him succeed. Hugely different from high school, where there are too many students and teachers are usually overburdened.
It may not seem to be that big a deal, but Michael has never liked school. Mother and I are both optimistic that he is going to like college. Thanks be to God.
