Answer: Where have you BEAN?
So, where the heck have we been since the beginning of September? Well, right here, just doing the day-to-day Sorenson Stuff.
The kids are rocking 5th and 3rd grades. Jack made the honor roll, and both kids are being considered for the gifted program. Now, if they could just stop chatting with their friends while the teacher is talking (what? my kids? No, couldn't be) and correcting the teachers (what? my kids? No, you must be mistaken), then we'd be golden.
Jack is doing cub scouts and guitar (because the chicks dig it, or so I tell him in order to convince him to practice his guitar). Ellie is doing girl scouts and will be starting cheerleading. And they're both taking French. And so far at least, I've managed to remember to pick them up from their various activities, but I make no promises for the future.
We celebrated Jack's birthday during this time, too. Luckily, our Jack is low-maintenance in his birthday wishes, so we took him to Technopolis (a technology-focused hands-on museum) and the Comic Cafe. I anticipate that Ellie's wishes will be a bit more extensive, but we have until February to brace ourselves for the impact.
Jared got the official word that he's getting deployed to Afghanistan, so he's been in back-to-back training exercises to, as he put it, "remind me that I'm a soldier." He'll head off to Germany for some more training, then it's off to the desert for 9 months. And in the meantime, our house is filled to the brim with "soldier stuff" as he tries to pack up for 9 months of being gone. I, for my part, am trying to get him to do every "honey do" item I can possibly think of before he leaves. Otherwise, we might not have a changed lightbulb for the next 9 months.
And the dogs? Well, they're still messy. And sheddy (that's a word now, didn't you know? so sayeth Lydia). And drooly. And, well, kind of annoying. But we love them, so we'll stick with them. But that doesn't keep us from occasionally asking "remind me again what the life expectancy of a basset hound is?"
And me? Still here, still working, still trying to keep track of everyone else, still vacuuming up dog hair, still trying to learn French (and yes, the Belgians still cringe when I speak), still eating chocolate, and still missing chocolate-peanut butter (when will these Europeans learn?).
And that's it - that's where we've bean. Or been, if you want to spell correctly. Which I do.
Sometimes being a "real soldier" is tough, as Jared learned in his pre-deployment-how-to-properly-roll-a-vehicle training
Ellie's been enjoying girl scouts, including a tea party they hosted for the new girls
Hello, Darling
Just hanging. And shedding. And smelling. And then shedding some more.
Gotta as many chores out of him as I can before he leaves!
Congrats, Mr. Honor Roll!
