Settled

I can finally say I feel settled here, settled in a good way. Yesterday I was late picking Elliot up after school. One of the teachers kindly walked him to the after school program, then called to see if I was ok. There are about 700 students in the school, and she cared enough to call me. That helps me feel I am a part of this community. Small kindnesses like that really matter to me. (Thank you Mrs. Loyd. You are special)

I was late because we got "stuck" at the podiatrist's office. The doc was very friendly and seemed to enjoy Max and Annabelle a lot. Max is unable to walk after some of his sporting events, due to pain in his heels. The doc said it is calcaneal apophysitis, something about swelling at the growth plate in the heels. He gave Max stretching exercises, an antinflammatory medication, and lifts in his shoes. The doctor fell in love with Annabelle, but that is another story.

Clay flies home tonight after being in Brazil and Spain. We'll pick him up at 9:45pm-- a late night for the kids, but of course, they are thrilled. He promised to bring us all goodies. It has been a long week and a half. I think next time I'll gently request that his trip be shorter. It is a lot to navigate all the evening practices. Thankfully, we have had big storms, so most of baseball was cancelled last week. No one wanted to play in the tennis ball-sized hail, I guess.