way behind with no end in sight...

I always have intentions of sitting down to type, but then life seems to get in the way... Andrew is out in West Virginia training again, and the kids at home have decided to switch rooms around now that the oldest two are in Job Corps. We've been busily boxing things that the older ones won't need immediately, packing up things that the ones here don't want anymore, going through clothes they've forgotten (or denied) they've owned <eyeroll>

I'll get to take apart shelves and beds, put together beds and probably different shelves... all with the hopes that they'll keep their rooms clean once we get them switched. The drawback to all of this is that their rooms have subsequently EXPLODED all over the house! There are boxes stacked in the living room, leaving just pathways to get through This work is all going on around our normal schedule, too... if you can count anything about our schedule as normal, that is. LOL

Trae and Jessica are both doing well in Job Corps. Trae stresses out about things, poor guy... which means it's less fun for him than it is for Jessica. She seems to have adapted immediately, and is really enjoying herself. Now that Trae was able to choose his own dorm, his life might settle down a bit. He's definitely having to study harder than he's ever done before... he's finding out that mom wasn't as mean as he thought she was when assigning school work and pushing him to get it done. Jessica's always breezed through school work, so she works very well in an environment of "go at your own pace." She's breezing along, doing her work, playing games, writing her stories, reading books (and wishing for more - there aren't enough books on the planet to placate her!).

Trae's biggest complaint is the food... while Jessica says, "The food is FINE, mom! Trae's just being a wuss!" Be that as it may, he's always been a bit more of a connoisseur than Jessica, who would be satisfied with peanut butter and jelly or macaroni & cheese on a daily basis. I'm making sure to send Trae some seasoning, in hopes that it will improve his perception of the food if he can add flavor to it. Cross your fingers!

Jessica writes letters home, too... while Trae prefers to just send a text message here & there. I no longer hear from him on a daily basis, which means life must be equalizing for him. The daily phone calls & text messages were generally full of complaints and needs... so I'm going with the "No News is Good News" theory, and not hassling him. I do enjoy Jessica's letters, though. Each one is like a story that she took the time to put on paper, and I absolutely love that about her. Her quirkiness is just so completely fun!

One of her letters mentioned how excited she is to have the option of wearing PRINTED scrubs instead of just plain ones... another letter mentioned the need for a blanket? I'll dig further into that request while she's home for Easter. Her very first letter went on about how "Job Corps is like the world... a melting pot of different people and personalities." How cool is that? LOL

It sounds as though the kids are ready for me to come work on taking apart the shelves in one of the rooms... time to dig out the power tools This will be FUN!!