Life, a world congress, and a trampoline

Today the boys are hanging around at home. It is the day that the CAJ seniors do the presentation of a very large assignment (actually a collection of assignments) they've been working on all year. 

Senior comprehensives, a year-long culminating event that is fully integrated into senior classes (Bible, English, social studies), requires seniors to select an issue, analyze it, apply a Biblical perspective to it, and generate an action plan for it that is personal, Biblical, and viable.

It is so important that they've given the rest of the students the day off today so that the all teachers can be involved in grading the presentations. Middle and high schoolers have to attend a couple of presentations too, preparation for when they themselves are seniors.

Needless to say, there'll be some nervous, then very relieved seniors today!

Life in our house over the next couple of weeks
I've had a taste of what next week, after school finishes, is going to hold, though: me trying to plough through work on the computer with frequent interruptions from boys. I wish I could work at night when they're in bed. It's not that I can't, but I don't produce good work at that time. Neither is it healthy as I have trouble getting to sleep when I do work late.

But that's the way it will be. The boys finish school next Tuesday at noon. The next 24 hrs will be a bit of a write-off as our eldest has his official friends-birthday party sleepover. Not sure how many 14-16 year olds are going to come, but our house will be hopping (thankfully they're not all boys, though only boys will sleep over).

Our middle son will probably have a couple of friends over in the days following that. This is one way of them saying goodbye to their good buddies.

So, though I have still a couple of weeks of work in various projects before I can abandon most of it and concentrate on moving house, they're going to be choppy at best in terms of getting things done. It might be that serious editing and other work has to happen after they're in bed. Regardless, I'm handing the magazine over on the 16th/17th.

David will probably finish work on about the 13th, so at least he'll be around after that, at least most of the time. His head is full of hand-over tasks too.

Occupational Therapy Congress

The opening ceremony will be here!

One of the things I've been doing this morning has been checking out the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress in Yokohama that I'm attending from the 17th to the 21st. It is mind boggling. I think upwards of 800 therapists are presenting over the four days! I was searching the tiny print of the programmes, trying to find possible sessions to attend. 

It is going to be a serious shock to the system. I haven't been to an OT conference since I was 22! I don't know anyone else who's going, but perhaps I'll be surprised. Actually I wonder if it is mainly people who are presenting who are going? But probably not, as the opening ceremony is in a hall that can hold 5,000 people! But having a conference like this just "down the road" (it will take me a couple of hours on trains to get there) was too good an opportunity to miss, even if I am an OT who's largely "on ice" at present. One of the interesting things will be hopefully meeting Japanese Occupational Therapists, and also hearing of some of the OT work that's been going on in the wake of the tsunami/earthquake disaster.

31 Days of Prayer for Japan booklet
I'm also excited because I've been looking at the draft proofs of the 31 Days of Prayer for Japan booklet. It looks great. We're proofreading it this week. I'm also preparing marketing information for OMF offices around the world. Wow! Never done that before. It is such perfect timing. I'll be able to hold it in my hand as we talk to churches and say, "I did this!"

God's blessings overflowing all over us
The other thing I'm excited about it counting up all the things that God has provided for us so far in this journey of faith to go on home assignment. But that is another entire post. Today's latest, however, is a trampoline! I can't tell you how many times in the last 15 years of parenting that I've longed for a trampoline in the backyard.