Much better and a dedicated teen

Every now and then I just need to have a good meltdown...I feel much better now. I looked around and realized I have a really good life. Jude's situation can be challenging, but he is so worth it. Plus, we are very lucky that he doesn't require a trach or many other things he could possibly have. I have a GREAT job, Mike is working, Emily is thriving, and we are well. We are living very comfortably. Mike and I even have the luxury of meeting once or twice a week for lunch. It's our "us" time and our lunch meetings keep a closeness in our relationship.

So why the change of heart? Who knows. However it could be that I actually got some sleep last night! Jude was still awake due to the new Artane regiment, but the cat..........the cat was introduced to the new storm door! He didn't like it and couldn't scratch it. Mike's dog Spot didn't like it much either. I LOVE to walk during warm weather and generally walk 3 miles within 20 minutes on a spring/summer night. So I take our naughty, but cute Jack Rusell terrier Spot on my lenghty trek. Well I was getting his leash and he spied the new storm door. Right when Mike yelled "He is going to...................". Houdini (AKA Spot) tried to escape and ran smack dab into the storm door at full speed. All we heard was BANG and then ARRRRRRRRRRR and then .......... the terrorist hit the ground. I felt so bad for him, but I have to admit.........we were also laughing. Spot shook it off and came over wagging his tail to go for a walk. I walked him towards the storm door and he whimpered and let out a low growl. Once out the door he was dragging me behind the leash as usual. I am pretty convinced he will never try to escape again. The crazy thing is I think the animals have kept me up just as much as Jude. I could have had another newborn vs all these crazy animals. lol!

So Emily is wanting to try out for her upcoming high schools drill team. She is attending a drill camp to prepare her for her try outs. She started the camp today and text me from her class that she was in over her head. We all know that Emily is an amazing child, but she does have a tendency to try to back out of things when they get difficult. So I stuck to my guns and I assured her she can do this. She has to learn a full 1.30 minute dance routine with kicks, jumps, lunges, and full ballet moves within ohhhhhh 24 hours. If you saw the recorded routine you would say "no way". However Emily has vast experience doing this because of her dance/pageant upbringing. She is upstairs as I type rehearsing. I think it's good for her to remember that not everything comes easy and that most things require dedicated hard work. Tonight she asked me to research what it takes to become an infectious disease specialist. Once we researched the entire outline she said "that looks hard... do you think I can do it". I said "OF COURSE! but you need to follow in your cousin Jesse's footsteps. If this is what you truly want and dream of then you need to put boys and distractions aside and concentrate on it. It will mean lots of sacrifice and dedication". She sighed and laughed and said "Mom it's like 10 years of school". I said "Well Em you will be 18 when you graduate right?". She said "yes". I replied "Well you will be 28 at some point anyway so why not be 28 with a doctrate?". She said "good point mom".