7 years 1 month 21 days

Day 2608. Yesterday was a really long day. My first alarm went off at 6:15 am, like every day, for Randy to get up and make breakfast, my second alarm at 6:45 am is for myself so I can get up and fill their snack boxes with sandwiches and fruit and the like. Then I lie back down at 7 am and go back to sleep. Randy leaves with Tammy and Emmy just after 7 am to take them to school, while Sammy is on his tablet until he gets back an hour later to take Sammy to school. 

Yesterday morning, my third alarm already went off at 8 am which is a whole lot earlier than usual. It was hard getting up but I had to. I had just put Sammy on the changing table, when Randy returned home at 8:15 am and took over dressing him and then left with him to take him to school. As for me, I sat down to get ready for my 8:30 am student.

At 9:20 am I was done teaching, packed my stuff and left the house. I rode the subway downtown and walked to my dentist's office where I had a 10 am appointment. I never have to wait there, so I was taken into one of the rooms where my young, female dentist was waiting for me. She had to do a deep filling in the very back, and it cost me dearly. It was definitely more expensive than expected.

It wasn't quite 11 am yet, when I left to go back home where I arrived just before 11:30 am. I had a student at that time and asked him to give me 5 minutes, so I started at 11:35 am. I was done at 12:25 pm, then I warmed up food for me and Randy to eat. Randy then left just before 1 pm to go pick up Tammy and Emmy, while I left before 1:30 pm to pick up Sammy. Back home at 2 pm, I made a sandwich for Sammy for later, then lay down and closed my eyes for a few minutes.

Randy and the kids returned home at 2:15 pm, and at 1:30 pm Tammy, Emmy and I left the house together. We rode the subway downtown, then walked to their music school. This time we didn't have our scooters with us.

We started the kids' class a few minutes late. Emmy went first again, and Tammy was excited to draw on the whiteboard. Emmy was doing a great job. After half an hour, it was Tammy's turn. Emmy did some drawing on the board, but that's not his thing. He then did some educational exercises on my phone, then he did physical exercise, asking me to measure how long he could do a handstand for.

After their class ended after 4 pm, we went back home, where we arrived after 4:30 pm. I was glad that my 4:30 student had moved her lesson to 8:15 pm, as exhausted that I was. All I wanted to do was to lie down a little and close my eyes, but I didn't really have time for that. Randy and Sammy had left before our return to go to Sammy's wheelchair class where he always has lots of fun. 

I made the sandwiches for Tammy and Emmy and gave them to them, then I sat down to prepare for my next student and packed up all my stuff. I then had about 10 minutes to be able to lie down and close my eyes - not enough.

At 5:30 pm we left the house together again. We rode two subways, then walked to the premises of their programming club where they arrived perfectly on time for their 6 pm class. I left them there and walked to the nearby McDonald's to teach. This time the McDonald's was full of people and none of the more quiet tables were available. In fact, there was only one available table so I had no choice but to sit there but I kept looking at the tables in the room in the back. Every time a table became available, it was occupied again before I could get there. I finally contented myself with where I was and got my computer out, placed my order, and got ready to teach at 6:15 pm. Thankfully I got my food and drink before I started, and I was glad that my student was not sensitive as some students are. It didn't bother her that there was some noise in the background. By 7:05 pm we were done. I wrapped up everything, turned my computer off, packed up, and placed an order for Tammy and Emmy. Then I grabbed it and walked back to the club.

They only had a few minutes left, so I went straight inside to see what they had done. They had written a program so that the controller attached to the computer steered an object that was moving on the screen. Each kid had created their own graphics for that. I watched them show me what they had done, then they shut down their computers, and we left. They were hungry and started eating their McDonald's food right away, on the way to the subway.

Just after 8 pm we were back home. They got ready for bed right away, while I had to sit down at the computer immediately to teach at 8:15 pm. Both kids then lay down in the bed right next to me to sleep. I finished at 9:05 pm but needed some more time to wrap everything up. Then I took the kids back to their beds and went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. It was quite late before I could finally sit down and eat and relax, and even later before I went back to work, and even later before I went to bed. Way too late.

Friday

And then I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I ended up sleeping about 3 hours before having to get up to fill their snack boxes, then I lay down and slept for another two hours or so before having to get up at 9:15 am. It was tough getting up. I got myself something to eat and sat down at the computer to get ready for my 10 am student. I taught until 11 am, then put a pizza into the oven for Randy to eat. At 11:10 am I started my next student and went until noon. Randy had just left to go pick up Sammy at 12:30. Normally that was too early to leave, but it turned out not to be a typical day. Something was wrong with the subway so they could only use one track across the river, so it took Randy a long time to make it to Sammy's school. They were still back before 1 pm.

At that time I was eating my food and taking a much-needed break. Then I lay down and closed my eyes. Randy left again at 1:45 pm to pick up Tammy and Emmy from school. Every other week they have choir until 2:30 pm on Fridays, so they get picked up later.

At 3 pm I started teaching again, before Randy had returned home with the kids which they did a few minutes later. I taught until 4 pm, then I made the kids' sandwiches. Randy left with Emmy just before 4:30 pm to take him to his 5 pm breakdance class. I then sat down to prepare for my 5 pm student. I taught until 6 pm, then went to the kitchen to cut up the kids' fruit. I also started making my own salad but couldn't finish it. At 6:30 pm I had my last student of the day. Randy and Emmy returned not long after I had started. By 7:20 pm I was done teaching and quite tired. I then went downstairs with Emmy to do piano practice; Tammy had already done it earlier during one of my breaks. Back upstairs, it was bathtub time even though it was later than usual. Then I prayed for them, Emmy still did his reading practice, and they all went to bed. It was already 8:30 pm. I then finished making my salad and sat down to eat, also quite late. I enjoyed my break, then went back to work. Not it's nearly 2 am, and I still have to load the dishwasher before going to bed.