Binkley Buzz

Well, I haven't blogged in almost a week. It is not that we haven't had much going on, it is really more that we haven't had many interesting things going on. We had a great weekend celebrating my granddad's 75th birthday, and then we began our week as usual. Thankfully, it was truly just a normal week. A nice change of pace.

I am still working on balancing my new "part-time job" with getting everything done at home. I never realized that taking three mornings a week to teach preschool would make my schedule so difficult. I am actually to the point now where I am enjoying teaching (especially since I am getting a ton of positive feedback!), but I still struggle to balance how I spend Tuesdays and Thursdays. I almost always need to cram in laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, meetings, working out and cleaning house. It has been quite the challenge. I am sure that in time, I will figure it out.

Zach has officially finished out his first six weeks of school. I am supposed to get his report card today when I pick him up. On the 17th there will be an awards assembly. (Every six weeks an assembly is held to honor students for a variety of things, and since I haven't actually been to one yet, I am not sure what it will entail. ) I think he really likes school. He is not always all that thrilled to get up in the morning, but by the time we are leaving he is excited to be going to school. I am also proud to report that he has been to school without a tardy so far. There have been some mornings where it was a close call, but so far, so good!

Gary has been incredibly busy for the past few months. Did I mention that about a month or two ago he pretty much quit taking new patients? It is absolutely amazing that in one year he already has a full practice! What a blessing! He is still very happy with his job, though the schedule can be incredibly tiring for him. I don't know how he does it sometimes. There are nights when he is on call that I sleep through every one of those pages! This has been, by the way, the best part of the transition between residency and private practice: he can take call from home unless he actually has to see the patient in the hospital. That means more often than not he is at home, albeit tied up to the pager and phone. It is still nice to see his face, even if it is attached to the phone!

And I suppose it wouldn't be fair for me to update you on all of us without discussing our newest family member, our dog Harley. Poor Harley had some adjustment time. When we first got him, he would be incredibly hyper when anyone would go outside, and he would get very upset if he felt like he should be getting attention. The way he would express this was by eating the trim around the door and windows. We were very unhappy that our dog was eating our house! He got really mad during one of the baby showers because he could see all of these people inside, but no one was playing with him, and he took a good chunk out by the window! Gary has worked with him a lot and I have been trying to keep him well exercised and he has begun to see that we will play with him and he has calmed down a lot! He is much better now. Zach is still working on getting used to him and not being afraid, but he is doing much better as well. Harley is really funny because the way our house is set up, it is pretty much a "U" with lots of windows, and he will just follow us from the outside as we walk from room to room in the house. As soon as I get home, he is always at the window to greet me. We have really come to love him, and thankfully, he has come to understand that we do not want him eating our house!

This weekend, Gary's mom is coming for a visit and to watch Zach's soccer game. Some of you have commented on my ticker counting down soccer season. I wanted to say that for the record, I enjoy watching Zach play and practice, but I always look forward to it being over so that I get my weeknights and weekends back. Soccer really limits our schedule and adds a little bit of stress to our lives. However, as long as Zach enjoys it, we will keep on letting him play. He is getting so much better this year, and it has been exciting to see the progress.