Week Two, Here We Go

Fillyjonk suggested that my yarn-buying mania was stress induced. I highly suspect that she is right but I think that the AP exams were only the trigger not the underlying cause. This is the first year that these exams have made me quite so edgy and I suspect that the reason is due to One-who-is-gone.

Around here, we measure years in several different ways. The main way, however, is from September to June -- the school year. Two educators and two students in a family will cause this kind of focus. July and August are really just a very long weekend.

At the end of the last school year my mother-in-law fell ill and then passed away. As she had taken care of my kids on a daily (school day) basis since their birth, each school-year "milestone" hurts. The AP exams are a milestone for me since I started coordinating my school's testing upon returning to work after the Female Child's birth -- almost 11 years ago. AP exams meant that I dropped the kids off early and picked them up late and that Mom*was very understanding even though we did not pay her any more for these extra hours. (Hey, $0 plus $0 dollars is a really good rate!) The AP exams also mean that the end of the year is quickly approaching with all of the evening events honoring various groups of students -- all of which Mom used to "work" with good humor.

Yup. The AP exams have triggered a whole mess of stress. I am acknowledging this and will not try to curb my coping mechanisms -- knitting socks incessantly and buying yarn -- until we roll in to July. I also, however, will try not to go overboard on the yarn acquisition.

* The word "Mom" is used in this context to represent my dear-departed-mother-in-law. Usually it is used to represent my Wonderful Mom who is married to Dear Dad. My actual mother is rarely, if ever, mentioned at all in this blog. It gets confusing so I will usually refrain from referring to my mother-in-law as Mom.