January is a busy time

I have heard January call the boring month because the Christmas holidays are over, there are no major holidays, and the only major events are the college bowl at the beginning of the month and the professional playoffs. There used to be the Super Bowl but that has been moved to February and then there is the weather. It will be cold and snowy, at least here in Iowa. Yes, we will get a warm period in January that is coupled with fog the cold and snow always return a few days later. Today it is snowing again. I am tired of dealing with snow.

However for us January is a very busy month. This is because several activities get into full swing. Classes are back in session with a new term starting so it is new classes and schedules. So this means that we have to figure out new study patterns and schedules for everyone taking classes.

Speech team goes into the last minute frenzy of finishing up things before contests that are toward the end of the month. Then is the contests themselves. District is always in January and is held across the state at various sites. Then there is state Speech competition sometimes it falls at the end of Jan. and sometimes it is at the beginning of February. This year it will be at the beginning of February, there is one set of competitions for the east side of the state and one for the west side of the state. Depending on how well teams do at state they maybe recommended to All-State Speech which is in February.

Then there is Robotics. This is the biggest a thing on the schedule because at the beginning of the month this year's game is announced and the build season begins. For the next six weeks the teams have to design and build their robot with everyone shipping on the same day. In order to get this done our teams meets everyday except Wednesday and Sunday, there is one Sunday they will meet, usually in the evening. This means that Jeffery has to be efficient with his time to get all his schoolwork done, his regular activities, Speech team and Robotics all in. It is not unusual for Jeffery to have to make decisions on what event he will go to. During January Jeffery seldom goes to Scouts not because he doesn't enjoy it but because he is involved in things that move it down on his priorities.

This year we added more to the schedule because Randy is started working on his Master's in System Engineering so he is also taking classes in addition to work, which he is working overtime, Scouts, Robotics and other activities.

Trying to keep every thing straight and people on time to where they need to be at times can be challenging.

For supposedly being a quiet time of the year we seem to be very busy.