I turned 48 on 1/2. A depressing birthday as I get nearer to 50. Nathan bought me a big stuffed animal sloth so that was nice.
Nathan's last day of Winter Break was on 1/3 so he and I went to the Desert Museum. We also drove through Saguaro National Park on the way home so I stopped to take some sunset pictures.
Paul had a great check up at the doctor. On 1/11 we got the results of his recent blood test and his A1C was 6.3! Now gaining weight back while maintaining his blood sugar seems to be his main challenge.
I went back to Saguaro National Park to photograph the sunset on 1/22.
1/23 it was snowing in Tucson! I first went to Saguaro National Park, but didn't see a lot of snow there. So then I decided to go to Catalina State Park. There was quite a bit of water flowing in the wash so I decided not to cross. I did the nature trail which I had never done before.
Nathan was the victim of bullying at school on 1/25! I guess they were playing soccer at recess and Nathan accidentally kicked the ball out of the school grounds. About half of his class, around 10 boys, ganged up on him and threatened to beat him up. The main bully was Jace, who takes boxing. Nathan said the rest of them just don't want to stand up to Jace so they join his group. Nathan went to the Dean. Those boys all got detentions and their parents had to meet with the Dean. Nathan was afraid they would retaliate because they called him a snitch and he got them in trouble. Several of those boys were even on his volleyball team who he had previously considered friends.
On 2/2, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. Not much was blooming there. So then I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens. The butterfly exhibit was great and there were lots of orchids blooming. They also had daffodils and other flowers blooming in the gardens.
On Valentine's Day it snowed again! I went to Sabino Canyon. I still didn't see a lot of snow there, but I enjoyed it. Near the visitor center I saw their Cristate Saguaro which I don't think I had ever seen there before. When I went to pick Nathan up from school, he wasn't coming out. He finally came out 20 minutes late and he had been crying. He said he was talking to the vice principal because there was another bullying incident. I was so mad that I went to the office and asked to speak with someone in admin like the principal. I looked up and the principal was right there. She asked if he had just talked to Mr. Roddy, the vice principal. I said yes, but now I wanted to talk to someone. She said since he talked to Mr. Roddy that he should be the one to handle the situation. I said that Nathan said Mr Roddy was going in a meeting, though. She just walked away and let the staff handled it! I was so upset. They confirmed Mr Roddy was in a meeting and said he would call me in 10-15 minutes. We talked on the phone. He said he wanted to talk to Nathan some more the next day to get more details about what happened. Nathan said a boy gave him a paper full of ink. He did it just to be mean. Nathan didn't want to get ink all over him and he was afraid to get up to throw it away because he thought he would get in trouble. I guess he passed it along to another boy who got upset and went to the vice principal. Mr Roddy, the vice principal didn't think Nathan intended any harm to the boy and that it was a minor misunderstanding. So Nathan and the vice principal talked about it for awhile. I guess this boy was upset because HE just had his nails done! Nathan told Mr Roddy about how they are always being mean to him, though. He wanted to switch classes, but ultimately that didn't happen. Mr. Roddy came and talked to the class the next day and basically scolded them for their behavior. Nathan seemed satisfied with that so I decided to let it go for now. Surprisingly, Nathan still wanted to try out for the co-ed soccer team even though many in his class would be trying out, too.
Paul and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on 2/17. He had bought me flowers and some lab created emerald earrings on Ebay for about $120. He researched the significance of the 20th anniversary and saw that the emerald was the symbol so that is why he wanted to buy me emerald jewelry. We didn't actually do anything on our anniversary, though. He worked and I had to take Nathan to school. He didn't even plan dinner out or anything.
On 2/20 I went to Picacho Peak State Park to check out the poppies. They were looking amazing! Then after school I took Nathan to his soccer tryout. A couple of his friends were trying out as well, like Killian who spent his birthday with him.
We were supposed to go to San Diego for Rodeo Days 2/23-2/27. Unfortunately, it was forecasted to rain and snow and be cold there the whole time so we cancelled our trip. We are going to try again for Spring Break. However, Lisa is coming to visit the latter part of that week so we can only go to San Diego for a few days.
I decided to go back to Picacho Peak State Park on 2/24. The poppies were still amazing and I saw a big patch of purple flowers in one area, too. We also found out that day that Nathan made the soccer team! Unfortunately, his friends like Killian did not make the team. Nathan was still happy to make the team. I am going to have to take him to all of his practices and games so it's going to be busy the next couple of months.
We also just found out that Nathan has been accepted into Legacy for next year! So we completed the registration and now they just have to approve that. Legacy is closer, is supposed to be a good school, but it is also a tough school with more homework than he is used to this year.
