I took Liz last night to a Step Up clinic in Annapolis with some of the Navy coaches.  It was run by Step Up, but I was somehow not expecting to see Becky.  What a wonderful surprise.

Liz did what she always does and played really well.  It was great to watch Becky interacting with kids.  She is such a great role model, and I am so glad that we were able to catch up for a few minutes.  Below are two pics of Liz and Becky.  One is from 2011 and the other from last night.

Liz is growing up.  Almost as tall as Becky?!  I am really thankful to have the opportunity to expose my daughter to such a wonderful person.

I woke at 5. Luke had a nightmare and startled me awake. Okay we were then up for the day. Eden woke up shortly thereafter and got up Liz and Noah. Everyone up for the first day of school.

Five different schedules today for six kids. Eden was first out the door with me. Noah left shortly after to catch a bus. Luke and Maggie were next to be dropped off. Jack starts Kindergarten today – his grandmother is taking him. And then a friend is driving Liz to high school. Back at SPSG with Eden.

I am excited for the new year and enjoyed the ride to school with Eden. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way in.

Maggie and I stayed up late tonight watching Annie. She didn’t cry. Maybe I did. Just a little. Her favorite part was the end when they tried to tap dance

The kids have been off school for two days due to a snow storm. They go back to school tomorrow

Marcia took Eden this weekend to compete in the NIT for field hockey. It was Jacks birthday yesterday, so she took Jack and Luke as well

i stayed home with Liz, Noah and Maggie. We played Pokémon Go. We got Liz’s iPad fixed. I watched some lacrosse games. We played Tenzi and Parcheesi  I took care of the dogs and dishes and made sure the kids were fed. We watched a MD basketball game where Melo Trimble scored a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Michigan State.  We watched Trolls, Dances with Wolves and The Last Samurai.  A fun weekend.

I miss Marcia.  And I miss the other kids

Liz earned a spot on the Varsity lacrosse squad at Maryvale yesterday.  I am very proud of her.  She worked very hard to prepare herself for the tryouts, and worked very hard in the tryout to prove her talents.

We went out last night as a family and celebrated at Pizzeria Unos.

Maggie and I played another round of Shogun.  Lots of fun.  Maggie beat 4 of my armies.  I beat 4 of her armies.  The battle for feudal Japan ended in forfeit — I could not stay awake.  Great fun with my littlest sweetheart.

 

I brought Shogun from my parents basement. Box had not been touched in well over 20 years probably 25. It was my favorite game though for a while in middle school.

We opened the box. Nearly pristine condition. It reminds me just how well I took care of my things growing up.  I couldn’t remember how to play.

We opened the directions book. 30 pages long!  Holy cow.  Maggie and Liz were patient. It probably took 2 hours to read the rules.  Eventually, we made our first moves. Liz assassinated one of my daimyos and Maggie defeated a bunch of armies to acquire the most land.

I had fun playing a complicated game with the girls. I hope they had as much fun as me. We cleaned up around 1am and called it a night. I slept well

Life is getting more and more chaotic.  It is 3 in the morning.  It has been awhile since I was unable to sleep.  This whole past day though was nothing short of chaotic.

I started in the morning hopeful.  I had a big work meeting lined up that I have been preparing for, in which I was asking for a large sum of money to fund a project that the library was being tasked to.  The meeting went well, although not without some expected hiccups.  Still needs a lot of work to get the project funded though.  I recapped the meeting for my boss and then traveled across the city to my other office in Mt. Washington.

Eating lunch on the way, I tried to catch up with Marcia on the phone but couldn’t get through.  She would later try to meet me for a meeting at Liz’s school.

I got to Mt. Washington, and had a meeting with the guy that replaced me in my previous job.  We got along well, which made me happy.  I am hopeful that this guy can do a good job.  I am of course always skeptical.  But it seemed a sincere meeting, and he took lots of notes.

I ran from that meeting to get to Maryvale.  Walking out the door, I ran into Tom Kenney and told him about my dad.  Okay, now really running late, I had to call Maryvale on the way and let them know I was late.

We met with the President of the school.  She had really good things to say about Liz.  She knew my dad.  I told her about the people coming after us, and how much trouble it is causing our family.  I told her that I declared bankruptcy yesterday.  She brought up very matter-of-factly if we should consider public school for Liz for next year.  She will look into emergency funds for this year for Liz.  And will look to provide a little more for next year.  This is more than I thought we would get from the meeting.

Hurried back to the office.  Had more work to do, and wanted to get some of it accomplished before day’s end.  When I arrived, I learned that one of my colleagues met with a few of my staff and it did not go so well.  I then met with her, and she was rather difficult to deal with.  Really pissed me off.  I went back to my desk and finished up the day, with a few pieces of busy work.  But this distracted me.  I have a big presentation to do tomorrow for a big advisory council for my library, and I am very concerned about it.  I am on the agenda, and I am afraid that the agenda will be controversial.

On the ride home, I talked with one of my employees to learn what happened in the earlier meeting, and he told me that he was very discouraged.  I hung up the phone when walking in the door, and there was a lot of yelling.  It didn’t really stop.  Yelling at the kids about the mess.  Yelling at Noah about the dogs.  Fighting about me and my clothes, and having lost all my suits, as I don’t have one for tomorrow.  After Maggie washed the kids, and Marcia dried them, I read the boys books before bed.  I fell asleep around 10 after reading a few books.

By 10:30, Marcia came in the room and woke me up by throwing her phone at me and telling me to pay a bill, that the internet had been shut off.  Why hadn’t I paid it?  Out of sorts and without my glasses, I struggled to get online as I have about 4 freaking Verizon accounts, and Marcia had no idea what our account number is, since all of the bills have been now put into her email address.  I was cussing and not pleasant to be around.  I eventually got on and paid the entire bill, not knowing the shutoff amount.  Turns out the internet was never shut off, we just needed to restart the router.

Damage down though.  Very tense.  I laid awake mind racing.  Haven’t slept yet.  I don’t want to go to work tomorrow.  I have been working hard lately.  I have new employees and have exciting projects on the horizon.  And it could have all gotten fucked up today by a colleague who was out of control.

My future is not stable.  I do not know how I am going to provide for my family.  How can I sustain it?  There is a lot happening every day.  And it is overwhelming.  I have trouble keeping it simple.  It has to remain simple.  Our life needs to be simplified if we are going to be happy.  And it has to be simple to provide stability for our children.  Which I think is so important.

I have no solace.  It is rarely safe at home.  Lacrosse is a nightmare.  Go online and learn about all the shit going on politically.  And the work environment is becoming hostile.