September 12 of 12

12 of 12 time again, folks! For the uninitiated, check out the details with Chad. Basically, it's 12 pictures taken on the 12th day of each month. Check out Chad's blog for links to others' 12 of 12 entries - its a fun, cheap way to take a trip around the world!

12 of 12
September 2008

Home
o'dark hundred (nearly)
Up early this morning to get in my morning walk with Lauri




7:00am
Arrived home to find all three kiddos up for the day.



7:15am
Cup of caffiene compliments of two birthday gifts. The girls gave me the french press and my awesome friend Tux sent me the huge mug. I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist - aka SLP - and the mug says "SLP - We have ways of making you talk!" LOL


7:35
Lunch prep for my two grade-schoolers - Eldest girl's lunch is on the right, middle girl's on the left.


8:30am
Showing off my new camera. This month I am taking my 12 of 12 pics with my brand spanking new camera (another awesome birthday gift! Thank you, Rick!) and since it can't easily take a picture of itself I opted to take a picture of the website showing the model I got. Mine is silver.


Stop & Shop Plaza
10:40am
Youngest girl went on errands with me this morning. Stop & Shop for groceries and the Dollar Store for goody bag items for Middle girl's birthday party.


A 'tea and eatery' place
12:45pm
I dropped Youngest girl off with my mother-in-law and joined a friend for a belated birthday lunch. This was the dessert we shared.


The Common
2:00pm
'Trash to Treasures' sale on the Common. Every year there is a used furniture sale to benefit the local survival center here in town. Since we live an area flush with college-aged kids it's held at the start of the fall semester and there are lots of cast-off plaid couches to be had!


Home again
4:45pm
Looking at the front hall closet with Rick and taking some measurements. We want to install some shelves on one side where the girls backpacks can be stored when they get home from school.


6:15pm
Dinner has been eaten and enjoyed. Rick is putting away the leftovers. Bowtie pasta, chicken and broccoli with a cheese sauce on the side (since a certain 5 year old prefers to eat her food unadorned).


8:20pm
Kids are in bed and now it's time for some knitting and a movie.


10:05pm
Movie has ended and I managed to finish my second sock!



Bonus picture with a bonus question: What movie did we watch last night?

Overheard in E.W.*

[Sitting at the computer in the living room in the middle of the afternoon]

Eldest girl (running into the room): I am a vampire! I just bit you and now you are a vampire, Mom!

Middle girl: Grrrrr! I bit you too! You're a vampire!

Youngest girl (being the mimic as usual): I bite you so you ah a wampiya! Arrrrr!

Eldest girl: We are all vampires!

[Mayhem ensues as the vampires rush around the room, growling. After a few moments the 'vampires' flop onto the couch to catch their breath.]

Middle girl: Hey! You wanna pretend we are piggies now?!

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*Idea for this title shamelessly stolen from this site where I have wasted time amusing myself now and again.

Working Mom

Phew.

Made it through the first couple of "prep" weeks at work. The real down-to-business work starts this coming week. And it will be my first three-day week. The last two weeks I have worked two days a week and even that was exhausting and required some scheduling forethought and planning.

I have not yet found my work groove. The transition back to work is harder than I had thought in some ways, although I do have a significant amount of support and help in making it work. At times I question my sanity over my decision to become a working mom. Having two girls in school full time makes it more doable but it still requires orchestrating the day so that there is coverage both in the early morning and in the late afternoon. My work schedule does not allow me to be here at both ends of the day - and on some days I can't be here for either time and need to rely on Rick and his mom to fill in the blanks. And I need to make sure we are all on the same page so everyone knows who is responsible for what. I am hoping that it is just a matter of time before we become accustomed to the busier pace and the schedule is just part of the fabric of our lives with only a little stitch here or a patch there to keep it going smoothly.

And please God, don't let anyone get sick. I have already suffered a head cold this past week and actually went into work thereby potentially infecting my coworkers. In my defense I was unsure whether I was suffering from allergies or a cold but now that Eldest girl developed the exact same symptoms I can be reasonably sure that I spread my 'joy' throughout the work environment last week. Anyone who is sick this week is going to blame me for it (rightly so). But me being sick is one thing - having to decide how to manage a sick kid (or two) at home might get a bit dicey because it will be the double edged sword of mommy guilt vs. work guilt with a sprinkling of guilt over leaving my sick kids in the care of another. Here's hoping they continue to be the hearty and healthy souls that they have been in the last few years.

I had other reasons for going in to work last week even though I felt like absolute crap. I am still unclear on my itinerant work schedule and was waiting to find out about a particular classroom where I might (or might not) be working. I had waited a reasonable amount of time for someone to get back to me on the issue and I had left her a voice mail message on her cell phone. But, if you followed my previous blog posts about this workplace you can probably already guess that the message went unanswered. So, I was left still wondering about my schedule and figured the best way to get the information I needed was to show up and get the answers face-to-face. It seems the only way to get any answers from certain individuals. Upon arrival I found out from a different source that I would not, in fact, be working in that classroom. I was relieved to hear this answer but a bit annoyed that someone else was given the information days before and yet no one felt it necessary to clue me in. I am still unclear about just what my third day of work will eventually entail but it is looking promising that I will be in a school district not far from my home. I will hopefully find out more this week.

The girls seem to be mostly adjusting to the fact that mom is working more now. It actually hasn't impacted the older girls greatly. Sometimes I am not here to get them off to school but usually I am the one getting them off the bus on those days. Youngest girl is having the most difficult adjustment because she is spending two days a week with my good friend/neighbor/walking buddy/daycare provider Lauri (just how many hats can one woman wear?). She is being very brave but she has let it be known that she is not thrilled with the arrangement. She becomes easily upset when people unexpectedly arrive at the daycare (even Lauri's daughter coming off the bus was seen as an unexpected intrusion by Youngest girl. Lauri explained that her daughter LIVES in the house so it's OK for her to be there which seemed to help Youngest girl calm down a bit! LOL). I am hopeful that this year her adjustment will increasingly improve (as opposed to last spring when things started out great and deteriorated over time). Last spring she was only there sporadically whereas this year she is there twice a week so the regularity might help the situation.

Today is Monday and one of my days off. I think I will like having this day to hang out with Youngest girl and get some errands done for the week. It starts the week off on a good note.

Speaking of getting started, I really need to take a shower and get dressed so Youngest one and I can make the most of our day together!

Middle Girl Gets on the Bus

Middle girl had her first full day of kindergarten yesterday! She was so excited to get on that big yellow bus right along with Eldest girl. Unfortunately, I had to be at work early so I was not there to witness the big event. I made sure that Rick took a few pictures for me and consoled myself with the fact that I did get to bring her to orientation last week and I would be watching her climb on that big bus for many days...and years...to come.



When she arrived home she had a big happy smile on her face and the first thing she said was "I love kindergarten!" - awww... I recall Eldest girl coming home from her first day with the same teacher and she said the same thing. (I love Ms. W.) The next thing she did was show me her scraped knee and told me that she had fallen on the pavement on the way in from recess. Ouch. She was no longer wearing her tights which had taken a beating in the fall and the nurse had patched her up with a bandaid and some medical tape. I joked with her that although I showed her the nurse's office and introduced her to the nurse last Friday she really didn't need to make her first visit there on the first day of school!

Later in the evening I received a very nice phone call from Ms. W. letting me know that Middle girl is a delight and that she had a very successful first day of school. (Have I mentioned how much I love this teacher?) I let her know that Middle girl loves kindergarten and thanked her for checking in with us on the first day. We also got a sign-up sheet for a 'home visit' so that Middle girl can welcome her teacher to our home and show her where she lives. I remember Eldest girl being very excited that her teacher was coming for a visit so I know Middle girl will be just as excited. I love that this teacher values the home-school connection and makes such an effort to foster that relationship from the very beginning.

After school yesterday Middle girl had her first gymnastics class of the year. Even with the scraped up knee she did a great job and had a ball. Eldest girl was upset that she was going to have to come and watch because she thought she would be bored. However, once we got there she was enthralled with watching the class and even said it looked more interesting than she had remembered. I had offered to let her try gymnastics again this year - she attended for a few sessions in preschool but gave it up in favor of art classes the last few years. But she insisted that it was Middle girl's "thing" - not hers. Now that she's seen it in action she is actually excited by the idea. I checked with the gymnastics school and found out that there is room in the older kids class that meets at the same time as Middle girl's class. Perfect! I waited until this morning to be sure she wasn't going to change her mind and this morning I will be calling to sign her up as well. I've also decided that in the best interest of everyone's sanity that I am going to cancel the Monday afternoon swim classes. Between work, school and gymnastics once a week I think our plate is full enough. Swim classes might just put me (and them) over the edge. And as depressing as it feels I am going to drop the Y membership as well. I just can't fathom when I will find the time in my schedule for the two hours I need to drive there and back and get in a workout (20 minutes each way, changing, working out, showering and changing again translates to almost 2 hours!). I am going to have to step up my efforts to use my "home gym" of videos and treadmill. I really like the idea of "getting away" to do my workouts but it just isn't in the cards right now.

Off to get showered and dressed and run some errands with Youngest girl. On my list is a big ole box of tissues to get me through this stupid head cold I picked up somewhere. Ugh.

School Begins!

Thursday Eldest girl was off to her first day of third grade. She was excited and happy to be headed off to school again. She was anxious to see her friends and maybe a little nervous about meeting her new teacher. We had been able to ascertain ahead of time that at least two very good friends would be in her class. I think that helped to give her some level of confidence in heading off for her first day.

She had a successful day at school and came home with stories to share of her new teacher, what her classroom is like, where and with whom she sits and all the usual first day kind of stuff. She was allowed to choose where to sit and she is at a desk next to her crush best friend, J, and there is another boy whose name begins with a J who sits on her other side. She found out on the first day that the "other J" likes Harry Potter - so they are off to a good start seeing as she is reading the series again for the third time...

Her second day went as well as her first. She has come home with two practice worksheets for cursive writing and has received 100% on both for her efforts which pleased her to no end. She also said that she was nervous about her teacher but has been pleasantly surprised at how great she is. I had heard mixed reviews on this teacher so far from those "in the know" who had kids in her class and she has a reputation as being a yeller. So far, so good though. And Eldest girl is already aware of the fact that if you follow the rules you'll be fine. She told Middle girl as much at dinner the other night. LOL Eldest girl is very much a "stick to the rules" kind of kid and she is very bright so I think she will get along fine with that teacher (who I have also heard works well with the kids who need/want to be challenged academically).

When did she start looking so grown-up?


Traditional 'first day' picture by the brown-eyed susans.


Picking flowers for her teacher.


Off she goes!


Just for comparison...her Kindergarten picture from 2005!

(I am laughing right now as I realize that she *still* has that Jacket!! It's a little too short on the sleeves but she likes enough that she still wants to wear it!)

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Friday was Middle girl's Kindergarten orientation. I drove her to school at 9am to meet for an hour with her teacher, assistant teacher and a few specialists who will spend some time each day in her classroom (primarily the ESL folks since we have a large spanish-speaking population in our elementary school). She got to check out the layout of the classroom and I also took her on a brief tour of the cafeteria, library, and gym. She is very excited and can't wait for her first real day on Tuesday when she will be able to join Eldest girl on the big yellow school bus.

So big...and yet I still one of my babies. She picked flowers for her teacher, too.


Standing in front of the school.


She found her cubby!


I wanted to get a picture of her with her teacher but she adamantly refused! She is not one to be camera shy so perhaps she was thinking - "enough with the pictures, mom...it's embarrassing!" LOL Or maybe it's just not her style to share the limelight.... ;-)

Middle girl has the same teacher that Eldest girl had for Kindergarten which makes me very happy (especially considering the fact that the other two K teachers are brand new to the school this year and both are very young --- in fact, one is a brand-new grad this year from a local college). She has one boy from preschool in her class - but unlike her big sister she is all about the girlfriends. In fact, we were recently spent some time hanging out with a family that had two boys and she told me before we left, "ya know mom...boys are just not my type." She is very sad that one particular little girl from preschool is not in her class but I'm sure she'll make new friends very quickly with whatever girls are in her class. She met two girls and three boys at the orientation but both girls were extremely shy. Hopefully, Middle girl will befriend them quickly and help them feel more at ease! She had become somewhat of a leader and was more than willing to help the younger kids at preschool last year so I'm thinking those skills will be useful in her new classroom. I know she is going to love school this year!

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As for me - I'm back to work as of this week but it was mainly procedural and planning meetings. Next week I will be visiting at least one classroom where I will be providing assistive technology support/consultation. I met the new SLP in that classroom on Monday at the SPED orientation meeting and she seems great. We are both new to the middle school environment so it will be a challenging year for us both but she seems up to the challenge and I think we'll work well together. Phew.

I have yet to completely figure out what the rest of my weeks are going to look like but I will definitely have enough consulting work to do!! My biggest challenge once I have a more or less set schedule will be to figure out childcare coverage for morning and afternoons. In most cases, I have to juggle an early start day at the middle school or high school I'll be working at with the later bus times of my elementary schoolers and the fact that some of the schools are somewhat far away which means I won't be home right at 3:20 to catch them off the bus! Thankfully, my MIL is around the corner and will be available to help out and Rick will try to work his schedule so that he can do some of the morning or afternoon coverage. We just to get a set schedule worked out so that everyone is on the same page! Ah...the life of a working mom. I'm only part-time but I have a feeling it's not going to seem like part-time once things get rolling!

To add to the crazies I'm also doing some volunteering at the school through the Parent/Guardian Organization (PGO), I'm on a committee at church for Christian Education, and I'm hoping to continue with my weekly knitting group that I joined recently. Oh and how could I forget - Middle girl has one gymnastics class a week after school, and the two older girls are signed up for an 8-week swim class which starts in a couple of weeks.

Let the crazies begin!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Wait. It is August...isn't it?

Then why am I wearing a jacket to walk in 40 degree weather at 6am? And why is it still only 60 degrees at 10:30am. What happened to the three H's of summer? It's not hot, humid or hazy around here. In fact, it's feeling rather like fall. Crisp and cool.

The first day of school is next week for Eldest girl so fall is right around the corner but it is not usually this cold the week before my birthday. On Monday I brought the girls to Old Navy for some new school clothes and today Middle girl is comfortably wearing a pair of jeans that we bought there. It is seriously too cold for it to be August.

However, the cool weather has not stopped us from enjoying our last days of summer 2008. Yesterday I took the girls - and my in-laws - on a picnic outing to a local state park that has a nice beach. I had never been there before but Rick and his family used to camp there every summer when he was a kid. I have been meaning to get out to visit this park for many years but every year it seems to elude me and I kick myself for not having made the time yet again. I was not going to let that happen this year so even though the temps were not supposed to reach more than 70ish degrees I decided that we would go ahead with the plans we had made earlier in the week. Part of the motivation to go was also the chance to find another geocache. I entered the coordinates in the GPS, packed a lunch and a swim bag (just in case the girls were brave enough to try a bit of swimming on such a cool day) and we were off.

The park is only about 35 minutes away so it seems ridiculous that I hadn't been there before. And the park itself is a gem. Nice clean beach, clean restrooms and changing area, picnic areas with grills, plenty of hiking trails and a beautiful lake which I hope we can take a canoe and/or kayak out on one of these days (We own a not oft-used canoe but we can't all fit in it and I am soooo tempted to buy a kayak. I just can't seem to justify the expense right now even though it would mean we might all be able to get out on the water together and therefore use the canoe - and the kayak - more frequently). We enjoyed a nice picnic, took a 2-ish mile round trip hike to the cache and the girls actually did enjoy swimming in the lake once it got a tad bit warmer in the afternoon sun.








The girls and their grandparents on the trail.








We also recently traveled down to Cape Cod to visit my parents for a few days where we spent some time at the beach, found some geocaches, and visited with various cousins, aunts and uncles. That trip was during the week so Rick had to stay home and work but the girls and I enjoyed that one last jaunt to the beach. I had also hoped to visit with my good friend K and her boys but she ended up in the hospital with a broken ankle the night we arrived on the Cape! Poor dear! (But, I mean really K - if you didn't want to see me you could've just said so...) ;-) I'm hoping to get down to the Cape again in the fall - perhaps she'll be healing nicely by then and we can get together for a few much-needed drinks out on the town. No excuses!








































Next week we are back to the grind - at least partially. I have a meeting Monday morning and will be working on Thursday getting prepped for the new year. And since I agreed to work on my birthday I informed my coworkers that we will be going out after work for a drink or two to drown my sorrows over the passing of another year celebrate. Eldest girl starts school that day and I was so pleased to learn that she will have at least two very good friends in her class this year - both are boys and one in particular she has a HUGE crush on (and which is fully reciprocated! Yikes!). The following week we'll be in full swing with Middle girl starting Kindergarten and Youngest girl starting back to daycare with my neighbor. She had such a rough time of it at the end of last spring that I'm a bit nervous. However, she is a bit older and she will be going more consistently to daycare (twice a week rather than somewhat sporadically). She will also spend one day a week with grandma and grandad which will please her to no end.

I have the older girls signed up for Monday afternoon swim classes and Middle girl is also taking a gymnastics class on Tuesday after school. Youngest girl wants to take dance classes but I have yet to find a class that fits our schedule and I already feel like this fall is going to be packed now that I'm back to work 3 days/week. Oy.

And I was thinking that summer flew by in the blink of an eye? Fall is shaping up to go even faster.

12 of 12 - August 2008

It's time for some 12 of 12 fun again!

I assume you know what I'm talking about (if you don't - click here for more info from dear Chad).

This month we are fortunate to have some visiting family who are making a cameo in this month's 12 of 12. Rick's brother and nephew are visiting here from Virginia. Since it was expected to be a rather drizzly gray day we decided to take the kids to a local science museum. So, most of today's photos are from there.

Home
My morning joe in my Curtains mug. The little white things on the counter behind the mug right next to the sink are two ant baits. We are having significant ant issues this year and they are driving me batty!



My current obssession read. Great book - hard to put down. I'm less than 100 pages from finishing this 1000ish page tome.



Springfield Science Museum
10:30am
My three girls and their cousin in front of the huge dino that greets us near the front entrance.


A huge and beautiful Josh Simpson blown glass planet. I have a small one of these that a former boss gave me when I was leaving my job to start graduate school. This one is much bigger! I think mine could be compared to a golf ball and this one is more like a beach ball. They are so amazing - this picture does not do it justice.


The kids putting coins in the big black hole/vortex thing. (Middle girl is not actually picking her nose...).


Grandma was with us on this outing. Here she and Middle Girl are examining part of the dinosaur egg exhibit that was currently on display.


Uncle W, cousin T, Middle girl and Youngest girl checking out the "shake table" that was part of the earthquake exhibit.


Resident Rock Collector (Eldest girl) next to a large amethyst geode. She has had a particular affection for amethyst since finding out it is her birthstone.


A replica wigwam is a great pace for goofing off.


Teapot restaurant - Northampton
The museum was fun but it was time for some food. We went to a great little Japanese/Chinese restaurant where Eldest girl thoroughly enjoyed a plate of beef lo mein.


Youngest girl enjoyed a bit of this and a bit of that (mostly rice, dumplings and scallion pancakes). I'm most including this picture to show her boo-boo chin from Sundays stitches incident (per Tuxbaby's request). It's not much to see because I'm keeping it well protected with a bandage. She's healing quite nicely and by the end of the week they will take out the stitches.


Home again
I'm taking the girls to visit my parents for a few days this week. We are hoping for some good beach weather so we can get one last beach fling in before the weather turns. So, this evening aside from doing my 12 of 12 job I'm also packing up so we can hit the road bright and early tomorrow!

A stitch in time...

It was only a matter of time.

We have been parenting for nearly eight and a half years and not a stitch to be had on any of our kids.

That is - until yesterday when Youngest Girl achieved the distinction of becoming the first to injure herself to the point of needing a quick trip to the doctor's for stitches. Five, to be exact.
(She just had to be first at something, I guess...)

She had been outside with Rick, her two older sisters, her cousin and her uncle and they were playing a variety of games requiring a ball. At one point the girls decided to start throwing the ball onto the play structure platform. However, there were a lot of rocks (collected by Eldest Girl/resident rock collector) sitting in precarious positions along the edges of the platform. Rick suggested that all the rocks be moved into a nearby wagon and the girl complied. Youngest Girl was interested by the assortment of rocks and apparently found a piece of slate in the wagon and then decided to climb back up to the platform by way of the rope ladder. Climbing one-handed while hanging onto the largish piece of slate did not go well and she slipped and fell, catching her chin on the sharp edge of the rock. Rick carried her in screaming and I saw the amount of blood and immediately ran for a wet towel. She calmed down rather quickly and we were able to assess the damage which looked very much in need of a few stitches to my completely untrained (and uninitiated-in-the-ways-of-huge-gashes-to-my-baby's-face!) eye.

We were fortunate to have an uncle and two grandparents in close proximity at the moment so Rick and I left the older two in their capable hands and rushed off to the doctor's office . I had called seeking advice (having never dealt with huge gashes in my baby's face in 8 years of parenting as I may have already mentioned...) and they told us to bring her right in. I was thankful that we were not going to have to go to the ER and sit and wait interminably for help.

Rick sat in the back of the car and held some gauze to her chin while I drove. I was feeling pretty high strung and concerned about what was to come - as was Rick. Youngest Girl was either completely exhausted from lack of nap or so shocked and traumatized by the experience that she promptly fell asleep. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. She slept for about 15 of the 20 minutes it took to get to the office. Once there she woke up but was rather groggy - which may have helped with what came next.

The nurse checked us in and shortly thereafter the doctor arrived to assess the wound. One of the nurses in the office suggested that they might be able to use a kind of wound super glue to repair the gash but we were soon to learn that due to the angle and location of the wound stitches were going to be necessary. Youngest girl sat very still and quiet while the doc prodded and probed around the site of the wound (which was too much for me to watch and I was thankful that Rick was the one holding her). Once the proclamation of stitches was made the doctor and nurse got to work prepping the room and Youngest girl was laid on the table and restrained by a straitjacket-like device that was slyly referred to as a "papoose." I thought for sure she would kick up a fuss at being removed from Rick's lap and restrained but she remained amazingly calm. The nurse was stationed at her head to keep it steady while the doctor worked so I sat by her feet and held on to her legs to let her know I was close. Rick stayed near her head and she was able to see him.

She was so very brave during the whole process. Much braver than I felt. The hardest part was the novocain when her eyes welled up and she whimpered but she stayed very still and let the doctor do what needed to be done. It was very quiet in the room during the procedure and I was so tense that I realized I was not just holding her legs but actually griping them to the point that I was probably restricting blood flow. I would not make a very good nurse.

Once it was all done the doctor put a bandage over her FIVE stitches and gave her a special sticker just for kids who had gotten stitches! She was also allowed to pick five stickers - one for each stitch - from the general sticker bin which made her very happy. She walked out with two princesses, two SpongeBob, and a Big Bird and with big plans to share her loot with her sisters and cousin.

She was given extremely high marks from both nurses we encountered as well as the doctor. They all said she was by far the bravest kid they have ever encountered who needed stitches! In fact, the nurse who was not in the room during the procedure could not figure out what was taking so long because she figured she'd been hearing howls and screams coming from the room if there were stitches involved. She could not believe that Youngest Girl got five stitches and there was not a peep to be heard!

Way to go, Brave Youngest Girl! But, for mom's sake please avoid the need to be so brave in the future! No more stitches, please.

Home Again.

We've been home for almost a week actually. Just have not had the inclination to write about the vacation. I think I've been enjoying the lingering feelings and not really ready to share them just yet. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. I promise I will post some choice pictures soon. As soon as the mood strikes.

I had dinner with a good friend last night. It was a lovely dinner and I enjoyed getting back in touch. We haven't had time to get together in many months. She shared with me some stuff she is going through right now and my heart aches for her. If you want to say a prayer for "Jeanne's friend" I'm sure she would appreciate it. I know God is keeping her close right now and will know she is the one who needs the extra prayers.

We are getting yet another insane thunderstorm this evening. The sky has been rumbling on and off all day and the skies are randomly letting loose in torrents of rain. This has been the Summer of the Thunderstorms. Somehow we lucked out last week and had fair skies for most of our vacation and very little rain. But, now that we are home again, the rain seems to be making up for lost time. And if you believe the weathermen there is plenty more rain in our future.
Geesh - enough!

This morning I went to work for an organizational meeting to get ready for the upcoming school year. I can't say we got incredibly more organized but it was fun catching up with everyone and getting a slightly clearer picture of what my schedule is going to look like for the new year. I will be starting the year off doing two days a week, but the understanding is that I will increase to three days once the schedule begins to fill in. I also found out that I will be getting (hopefully sooner rather than later) my very own brand-new laptop. Talk about feeling officially official! I nearly bought myself a laptop last spring but really couldn't justify the expense since most of my hours were on-site in our office where I had access to a desktop. Any other computer needs were easily met here at home on my desktop. But, starting next month I will be out in the field most of my work days and a laptop is going to be a necessity, not a luxury. Thankfully, I did not have to plead my case too strongly. The SPED director does have to justify the purchase but I didn't have to go into much detail because she realizes that a traveling "assistive technology specialist" needs to have a portable computer. Apparently, the organization is in general trying to move away from laptop purchases because they don't last very long and many of the other specialists do not have laptops. But, in our area of expertise the technology really needs to travel with us wherever we go. Period.

We have a few more weeks left before school begins. My brother-in-law and nephew are arriving on Saturday from Virginia for a week's visit and at the tail end of that visit I have plans to drive to the Cape with the girls for a mid-week visit with my parents. I am sorely missing the water and the smell of the ocean so I'm trying to fit one last beach visit in this month. Rick has to work so he's going to be staying home (and probably enjoying the peace and quiet of an empty house...I think I may have to figure out a way to work out a deal like that for myself some day!! I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be alone in the house for a few days...and how I would make use of all that free time!).

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month and although Rick has asked what I would like to do I have no really great ideas. In fact, at today's staff meeting I found out that orientation is three days before my birthday and we ended up scheduling a planning day ON my birthday. It just so happens that my birthday is also Eldest girl's first day of school (which seems way too early for me because school always started the Tuesday after Labor Day when I was growing up). So, I'll be busy getting her on the bus, getting the other two off to some kind of yet-to-be-arranged childcare situation (Middle girl's first day of Kindergarten is not until the following Tuesday!!), and spending the day getting prepped for our first full week of work. I also made plans to out for a quick drink with my coworkers to celebrate my birthday!

Life is flying by. Summer has been great so far and I can't believe that the need to go shopping for school supplies and clothing is essentially upon us. But, as much as I'm enjoying summer I have to say that autumn is my favorite season and I am looking forward to it. I love crisp blue skies in the morning, apple-picking followed by warm apple pies, walks in the woods with leaves crunching underfoot, and all the goodness that is autumn in New England.

Christmas In July

I feel like a kid at Christmas!

I woke up before six this morning and could not go back to sleep. I was too excited. We are off to Maine today!

Rick and I got the packing done last night - all we need to do it find a way to fit everything into the car, get breakfast for everyone, make sure the rats are set for a couple of days and do the last minute stuff that is required when leaving a house empty for a week.

Our fabulous neighbor Lauri is going to keep watch over things for us - she's going to check in on the rats a couple of times, water the garden if it needs it, and put out the trash for us on Monday. In fact, she is so fabulous she is even going to make a run to Michael's during the week to get us some more Sculpey clay which is finally on sale again -we have been waiting for about a month for it to go on sale so I could buy them more and of course the stupid stuff is on sale this week, Sunday to Saturday! Yes, she's a keeper.

Before we leave we are going to give Youngest girl a dose of Dramamine and hope that she doesn't end up with a bout of carsickness. She has had about 3 or 4 incidences of vomiting during car rides seemingly at random. These bouts occur anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour into a car ride and we can only assume that it is carsickness because she never seems very sick after emptying her stomach of its contents. Most local drives have been incident-free, thankfully - it's the long hauls that seem to be the most vomit-inducing. Today I would like to avoid a puke scented car on our 4-5 hour journey so I'm giving the Dramamine a try. Here's hoping it works. It can also cause drowsiness which might not be such a bad thing for our long trip...

I've packed some reading materials for the trip. I'm midway through Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner, which I am enjoying. I also packed a novel by Tracy Chevalier called The Lady and the Unicorn which I had actually started a while ago and was enjoying but hadn't found the time to finish for some reason or other. And lastly, being completely overambitious in regard to my reading list for the week, I included a copy of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Rick and his mom have given it rave reviews (I just asked Rick for the author's name and he said "don't start that book on vacation - you'll get sucked into it!") and so I threw it in the bag to start if I finish the other two books. I'll hopefully be having too much fun sailing, swimming, walking along the beach, and playing shuffleboard to actually read much but I'm bringing them as insurance against rain. If I don't bring any books it is sure to rain...right? That's my theory anyway. In fact, we are also bringing along some board games like Monopoly and Sorry to ward off the raindrops. Maybe I should pack a 1000-piece puzzle while I'm at for a little extra insurance. Actually, that might be like hand-delivering the rain an invitation to our little vacation party. Scratch that idea. Besides, I'm not sure we are going to have room in the car for more crap essentials.

OK - off to get ready for our Big Maine Adventure! I'll probably be able to check in on occasion since we'll have our laptop along and there is internet access at the resort. So, feel free to comment or email me but don't expect a speedy reply!

Have a good week! I planning on having a great one!

Two More Days Until Maine!

On Saturday we are driving to Boothbay Harbor for a week-long vacation. And it will be a real vacation. No cooking, cleaning, or other household duties! Our first honest-to-goodness vacation since 1999 - the year before Eldest girl was born.

We've talked to the girls about the kinds of things we can do at the resort and they are most excited by the idea of the heated salt-water pool and the kids' camp. I must say I'm looking forward to those things as well but I'm also excited by the thought of learning to sail on one of their boats (they have instructors who will go out with you, thankfully, otherwise I would not be so brave stupid to attempt sailing on my own) and having all my meals cooked for me - including a lobster bake or two.

And then there is the fact that I've never actually been to Maine before. I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life and have never had the opportunity (or made the opportunity) to drive up to Maine. I'm finally going to Maine and I can't wait!

Just two more days.

And lots of packing to do in the meantime.

Wish You Were Here

We just made blueberry muffins.

If you were here you could help us eat them.

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Some Kind of Wonderful

Wrong! I was sooo wrong!

And I'm more than happy to admit it.

Eldest girl surprised the heck of me (and the rest of the family) by actually choosing to stay overnight at camp!

I was convinced that we were going to have to deal with a meltdown about whether or not to stay. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. She was still undecided when we got there but I told her I had brought along all her things and she still had time to decide. I asked if she had talked to the counselors about the evening plans and she had not. She is the kind of kid who likes to know what to expect and I thought that hearing about the evening's activities would help a bit in making a decision. So, I offered to go over and talk to the counselors with her. After the counselor gave us a brief run down of the evenings events Eldest girl made a surprising turn around. She said "That sounds like fun! I want to stay!" And from that moment on she never looked back.

Eldest girl seems to have found her confidence. She is becoming a 'can do kid'! It's exciting and makes us all so proud of her.

While the kitchen crew prepped for the BBQ we took a bit of a walk and allowed the girls to show us the nature center and nature trail. We also checked out the cabin where Eldest girl would spend the night.

two happy campers in front of the Nature Center building



eldest girl in front of her cabin


showing us her bunk


with her counselors



the fearless camper hamming it up for the camera


After dinner it was time for the skits that the kids had been working on during their two weeks at camp. There was a variety of performances from a dance number (to Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC but with no puppet strings, trains, psycho chicks with dogs, or car chase scenes involved) to a mock news broadcast of the days events at camp. Eldest girl took her new 'can-do' attitude to a new level when her group got up to do their skit. I am still not quite sure how to describe their skit other than to say it was filled with the antics of a gaggle of soon-to-be 3rd-grade girls. I do know that it had something to do with waiting for the camp bus. Here are Eldest girl and another girl waiting at the bus stop...



She was so proud of herself last night. Once she finished she came running up to me and said "I did it!"

Indeed, she did.

And it was every kind of wonderful.