Denny's

The kids and I are back in Delaware from our month-long vacation in Colorado with stopovers in Washington and South Dakota. We had a great time. We found out that that much vacationing was pretty exhausting. My dad drove with me to Colorado and the kids and I made a road trip out of it on the way back by ourselves. It was long, loud, but pretty fun.

We spent the last night in Huntington, West Virginia. We were making pretty good time (for us) and were in Hagerstown, Maryland around 4:30 when it started downpouring. I decided to pull over after numerous times of hydroplaning. There was a Denny's off the highway so I decided to take the kids there for an early dinner. The kids had been well-behaved for most of the day, but watching DVD's in the back for five hours was losing its appeal. Liam's good behavior-meter was completely pegged out by this time. He was being a complete little s#$t when we sat down. I eventually told him I needed to take him to the bathroom. I had to drag him kicking and screaming from under the table. I know, I'm so proud. He scraped his knee on the way out. It was one of those cringe-worthy moments where everyone in the restaurant just stares at you and I just wished I could completely disappear.

After a quick exorcism in the bathroom, Liam calmed down and we went back and had a decent dinner with no more drama. I was still mortified at the earlier events. The poor couple who sat next to us left and after they did, the waitress told me that we were free to leave, our bill had been paid by another customer.

So thanks, Hagerstown couple! I'm more of a glass-is-half-empty type. But you really made me feel like not everyone out there is completely judgmental. Your kindness is greatly appreciated! And I definitely will think twice next time I start judging others' ill-behaved children at the playground or wherever and think of your kindness. Thanks again!

Oreo Day

Rebecca truly thought Memorial Day was Oreo Day. She was slightly disappointed that it wasn't a holiday dedicated solely to the enjoyment of Oreos, but she still enjoyed the day.

We rode to Arlington with Chris and Katrina. It was a decent drive. They might think twice about volunteering to do a 5+ hour trip (both ways) again. The kids were pretty good, just a little loud. I have never heard "Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me" so many times. The DVD players will definitely be packed next time. It really made me think long and hard about our trip to Washington coming up in September. Last time we moved, we planned on alternating between the Jeep and the car with the kids. But driving the Jeep at 75 or so really freaks me out. It starts shaking with the wind and it's so tall that I just drove with the kids most of the way. I think the kids will be fine though - when we drove to Colo they were good and pretty calm most of the way.

The picnic was nice. Really yummy salmon and good sides to go along. The kids ate croissants and more croissants for their main course. They love plain vegetables, but they're not too adventurous on other dishes yet. I brought the same trifle Michael brought last year and it was good.

We had Pat's Pizza back at Chris and Katrina. They're cheesy bacon fries are very, very evil. And Liam is still sleeping at 8:35. Amazing. Rebecca, however, was up before 6 am. Not her mother's child.

I'm cheating on Amazon

Tonight I purchased something from Barnes and Noble online for the first time in years. I looked on Amazon for something I really want on Tuesday for school. They had it, but their free shipping has become slower and slower lately. Also, I've pre-ordered several things. They used to ship immediately or even before the item was released, but lately they've been taking their sweet-ass time. Yes, I know I could order their premium service w/ "free" two-day delivery, but I don't think I use it enough to justify it, I'm scared of how much stuff I would buy if I did order it, and usually I'm not in a huge rush to get my stuff.

So I checked out Barnes and Noble. They have "fast and free" delivery now. It doesn't look like it covers as much stuff as Amazon's free shipping does, but it really is fast. I ordered it and twenty minutes later I got the email saying my order was to be shipped tomorrow. Hallelujah! Granted, their price was pricier than Amazon's, but I know that this shipping will happen tomorrow. We'll see. I am a devoted Amazon customer.

I really, really want this CD to come. It's the audio version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Read by some guy from Monty Python. I was looking forward to a class read-aloud, which we usually do mixed with some individual reading, but honestly, I am ready to hit play. And we hear my neighbor's CD coming through the wall and it sounds cool. The guy does some really good voices. It will be a nice fun way to wrap up the year. And my kids are loving the book. I thought they might be too old for it or already have read it, but they are eating it up.

I am taking a much-needed mental health day tomorrow. I am so excited. I have a lot I have to do, but it's stuff I haven't been able to do with work. I love that my job is so quick on approving time off. I put it in this morning and it was approved by this afternoon. I wasn't sure how many subs would be available with coming up on a holiday weekend.

Completely unrelated, I RSVP'd for the Memorial Day picnic and said I would bring a desert. My spelling has become worse than it ever has been since I have started teaching English.

Good night!

Yelm vs. Lacey

I'm on a roll here. Normally at this time I have been asleep for quite some time. I fell asleep on American Idol the last two nights in a row. Granted, the episodes were far from exciting, but I have a little crush on Adam. I am quite aware that I am far from his type though.

Anyway, Michael has asked me to look for houses in the towns of Lacey or Yelm. Allegedly, your dollar goes a lot further there in the housing department and it certainly looks to be true. But I cannot give Yelm a fair chance because of the way it sounds. Yelm. Yelm. Yelm. It sounds awful. I would never want to place an order for delivery and tell them I live in Yelm. I don't mind the word Elm so much, but Yelm disgusts my tongue when I say it. I don't know why. I like the name Lacey for a town though. But I truly don't think I can live in Yelm. Sorry, babe.

House-hunting online is a strange thing. I have my heart set to live in University Place for some reason and I don't know why. My heart has been broken one time in this process when the house I wanted was taken off the market. IT was in UP and now that is where I want to be.

Stage your house, People!

When we were selling out house in Illinois, our realtor was very forthright with us about our clutter/stuff. She begged us to take our pictures down and put our excess stuff in storage which we did. Our house sold almost immediately. Granted, the market was much different back in 2006. I couldn't imagine at the time that it would make a difference. But looking at houses online now, I can truly see the difference. I have a really hard time looking past people's multiple toothpaste tubes, hairspray bottles, CD's, DVD's, books, ugly curtains, etc. I cannot get past some of these people's stuff! And yes, I have plenty of it too. Plenty of it. But if my house were being photographed for its pictures and I wanted to sell it, I would stuff it or hide it. And also, people on the internet selling your houses, why do you insist on posting pictures of nonsensical parts of your house? A bookcase with books? That is not attached? Why do I care? This is one of 6 pictures, so obviously I want to see what your house looks like, not your book collection of random paperbacks.

That is all. I have been looking at way to many houses online lately.

Bigfoot

Yes, I have big feet. I'm almost six feet tall, so I don't dwell on it. What can I do about it? Today in class, one of my better students said, "Mrs. Wall, your feet look HUGE in flats. Seriously, you have some big feet." The whole class was aghast at this. I couldn't help but laugh. But I told him that the next time he told a woman that they have large feet things might not go so nicely for him. It was a funny moment because I think the kid was quite shocked that he said it too. He's normally not like that. It was a weird class - we're doing Greek mythology and two of my kids got into a heated debate about whether Gaea and Demeter were the same people. I'm glad they're into it, but wow.

Rebecca has certainly inherited my big feet. Poor girl needs to learn to tie because Velcro is hard to find in her size. I hope they have a store like Lou's Bootery when we move. I like taking them there, getting them sized, buying a pair and then heading to the outlets. Because at 50.00 a pop at Lou's they're looking at one pair at a time. I am seriously thinking of going to Lou's. I think my foot has changed. Every single pair of shoes I buy right now gives me blisters and kills my feet. I'm a little scared to go and for them to tell me I'm a 12W or something, but at least I could buy the right shoes. I haven't worked for awhile and wearing dressy shoes or something like it is seriously overrated. At least in the Air Force I could wear boots which were heavy but pretty comfortable. Well, our dress code isn't that strict. Maybe I'll be the one to wear tennies or Crocs.

Barack Obama made everybody, right?

I had a doctor's appointment today so I had taken a half sick day. Liam conveniently decided to choose today to get sick. So I called my principal and changed my half day to a whole day. How sad. We hung out on my bed and watched some TV for most of the day. At one point looked at me very pensively and asked, "Mommy, Barack Obama made everybody, right?" I laughed out loud and told him that God made everybody. He said, "Oh yeah. I forgot." Barack Obama is definitely in his top 5 people. I think he just likes saying his name.

Beancicles

I haven't posted in forever. I've been A) completely overwhelmed or B) enjoying the weather and spring break. It's usually an extreme for me. I can procrastinate until the point of being overwhelmed sometimes. I finished the paperwork I needed for the mentoring program, so that feels good.

I got "the letter" from my school district. The one I knew was coming but still hurt a little even though I'd have to quit anyway for the move. I know it was nothing personal; all temporary employees got one, but to see it was slightly painful.

Although I'm really looking forward to summer. Right now I wouldn't mind being unemployed this fall, but I'll start looking for a job in the nearish future.

Liam came home tonight from his sleepover at Bob and Lani's asking for beancicles. Frozen greenbeans. He ate a ton of them. And made letters with them. I'm sure his doctor wouldn't object to that kind of a treat, although ice cream tastes a lot better to me!

Lightsaber

Pardon me if I spelled that wrong, but the highlight of Liam's month probably has been the warmer weather and opportunities that has brought. Last night while driving home from MomMom's birthday party, Rebecca fell asleep, but when we pulled into our street, I could see two long blue lights across the street from our house. Liam instantly recognized them as light sabers. He RAN upstairs, got his light saber, and played Star Wars with TT and Tim for an hour and a half. I haven't seen him that excited in awhile. He got the light saber as a Christmas present but hasn't had many opportunities to play with it since it's more of an outside toy with its noise and switchblade-like top. He had a great time though. I guess both he and Tim were Anakin and TT was a bad guy. Not sure who. Tonight they came over and they played Star Wars again. I'll have show him the movies again I guess. I never watch them but he and Michael always have fun watching them.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! We had a great Sunday playing outside finally. Hooray for Spring!

Monday

Today was a nice, lazy day. We played in the snow two times very briefly. It was nasty cold outside. Especially when we went out in the afternoon. The snowsuits we bought in Colorado last year certainly paid off. The snow was absolutely gorgeous though. I haven't seen snow like this in Delaware yet.

The only bummer about today was that Momma Kitty was supposed to get spayed and that has been postponed. She is in heat again, so she really needs this surgery. Depending on when they reschedule for, I might just take her to a vet downtown. She is such a good kitty when she's not in heat, but she does a complete 180 when she goes into it.

The best part about today was Liam's attitude. I'm sure you know that I've been having a hard time with Liam lately. Today he was an absolute angel. I don't know what got into him but he was sweet from the moment he woke up until he went to bed. He tried to help me by cleaning out the litter box, washing the sink, and then by randomly selecting some toys he didn't want anymore to give to Goodwill. He was loving and affectionate to me and to Rebecca for most of the day. I certainly hope this wasn't a fluke and that he's adjusting better. I know it's been rough for the kids dealing with Michael deploying and me having a full-time job for the first time since they've been born. And a job that I've been slightly preoccupied with.

And we have tomorrow off again - I got the call earlier that we're cancelled tomorrow due to road conditions. We can go in two hours late if we want. No thanks. Preschool's off too and taking the kids in to work was very exhausting last time. Although I should go and make copies.

Rebecca's continuing to read. She read The Foot Book today with hardly any errors. I think her reading will really take off now. She had borrowed Disney's version of Alice in Wonderland (the book) awhile ago and I read it to her today. Not my favorite!! It was 90 pages long. A lot of it was pictures. Rebecca noticed an error in it too. In the part where the bird laid an egg on her head, the book referred to the bird as "he." Rebecca informed me that only girl birds lay eggs. And as far as I know this is true. I think it was a robin. And I don't remember it saying specifically in the movie that it was a boy. And I have yet to read Carroll's book. And frankly, I have way too many books I'd like to read to ever read that one.

Good night!

snow day

OK, so this is my third today, but three cheers for the weather today! The snow is absolutely beautiful. And school is already cancelled. (One L or 2? It's one of the few words that looks correct either way to me. Lani?) I haven't received "the call" about the cancellation yet (OK - I'm thinking its 2 L's because cancelation looks horrendous). Aha! I looked it up. Both are correct.

Anyways, although this day will be made up one day, I'm off! And I'm a good procrastinator, so if the weather can help me do it, fine by me.

Go, Dog, Go

Rebecca can read!!!! I videotaped her today reading Go, Dog, Go. It's one of those Dr. Seuss-ish books. It's really well done for an early reader. Simple words that can mainly be sounded out and it also focuses on the who what where when why and under, over, above, etc. as well as the colors. So by looking at the pictures and the letters of the words she can figure out most all of the words except the question words which are sight words I guess. She sat down yesterday and read the whole thing and only needed help about 4 or 5 times. And it is a loooooooonnnnnngg book. That's my main gripe about it.

I videotaped it for Michael. She did a great job. She's a little lazy on sounding the words out that she doesn't recognize, but I've found if I pretend I don't know the word, she'll get it 3 out of 5 times. I'm so proud of her! Also, she's writing her name in lower case except for the R of course. She's a smart little girl.

So is Liam, of course. He's just not quite so intrinsically motivated by letters and numbers right now. But he did learn how to write his name at school. I guess a group of girls around him were writing their names and he asked Mrs. Stewart to teach him. She wrote it for him and told him to practice it five times. He did, and he's been writing it ever since. He writes the L first (sometimes upside-down), then he writes his A and M and then he sticks his I between the L and the A.

The kids seem to be on the mend. Liam especially. Rebecca's being a trooper though. I can tell she's really tired though and her nose is runny.

The Body and the Skin

I took the kids to church today. It was communion Sunday, which at our church means no children's service. They have a short children's message, but no children's church. When I was growing up, I remember communion was strictly served to people who had completed confirmation or were grownups who professed to be Christians. At this church though, they will serve it to little kids. I tried to tell the Rebecca and Liam of the symbolic meaning of the juice and cracker - that it represented all that Jesus did for us and we call it the body and the blood. When Liam took it, he said, "I just ate skin and blood!" Quite loudly. I'm glad we were sitting in the back.

Sometimes I "accidentally" miss Communion Sunday because sitting through service with Liam can be trying at times, but they both did well today. I brought some coloring materials and the kids sang along with most of the songs. They had a cool children's message - the woman doing it read "The Three Little Pigs" and related it with the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The kids were really into it and the pianist accompanied the stories which was really cool. It made "The Three Little Pigs" very dramatic and he played "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock" and I love that song.

After church, the kids went to McDonald's with Granddad. They came back with cool toys - Pet Shops and Spiderman. We might be visiting McD's more in the upcoming weeks. I went grocery shopping. I hate the sense of dread I get when I go grocery shopping on Sundays. I don't know what it is - I'm okay when I get home, but in the store I'm thinking about the upcoming week and I wallow in dread. Blech! But the kids are napping now so I can get ready. We're doing a crash course in school in poetry and then we have DSTP's coming up.

This week

This week has been one of the longer weeks I've had lately. Liam's been sick and he isn't fun when he's sick. He's been pretty miserable lately and doing a good job of making me miserable with him. His nose has been rashy and he's been all stuffed up. Now that he's better, Rebecca's sick. So I have a week of this to look forward with her I guess.

On top of that I have had loads of paperwork to complete with interim grade reports and especially my mentoring paperwork. It does not end. And now that I finished one section I have even more to do in the second section. But, I am grateful to have a job.

I just finished filling out the "American Community Survey Form" for the census bureau. That was fun. I like filling those out. I also like taking standardized tests. I guess I like filling in bubbles. It's an exciting life I lead, but somebody has to do it.

Camoflage

Camoflage is very cool to Liam right now. He drew a picture to send to Michael. I couldn't tell what it was, and when I asked him he indignantly replied, "Camoflage!" He was right. It clearly was camoflage. Rebecca usually draws pictures of birds and people and stuff and so far Liam's drawings have been, what Rebecca so rudely calls "scribble-scrabbling." But this was camoflage.

He asked me for some camoflage clothes. Apparently it's not cool this year. I went to the BX, which should have it, but they only had camoflage pajamas. Which defeats the purpose. He wants to wear it to school. Right now he only wants to wear superhero clothes. He wears other things also, but very reluctantly.

Also in fashion is his mind is layering. If he dresses himself, he often wears three shirts. I don't usually realize it until we're at day care and his teacher tells him to remember his other two shirts. I guess he strips down as the day goes by. In my mind though, I'm pretty pleased because he dressed himself.

And Michael, the coolest shirt of all is his Power Rangers shirt you found at Goodwill. It's a little on the large side so the layering possibilities are endless there.

The heat is done...

For now anyways. Momma Kitty went into heat about four days after we got her. What a pain! Meeeeyooooooowwwwwwww! Constantly. I've never been through that before. She also started marking in the house, which according to most people I've talked to isn't that common in a female cat. I was worried maybe she wasn't happy, but I'm hoping spaying her will help. For now, she's in my room. I have everything for her in there and in the smaller space she isn't marking. Thank goodness. I take it personally when something pees on my floor. But she's been great with the kids and she is a loving and snuggly kitty.

This week has been exhausting. I am sooooooo done with Michael being gone. Emotionally it is hard and he's a handy guy so there's a lot he does around here. I have hired someone to clean my house every other week starting next Friday. I'm really excited for that. I just need to take care of my clutter now.

The kids are doing better. Liam stayed dry this morning and I tried to praise him a ton. Rebecca is able to express when she missed Daddy so at least I know. Liam tends to just go into baby talk and peeing his pants which I have no patience for and then we don't get along. But this weekend we're just hanging out around the house and they are doing well.

Momma Cat

We got a cat! I've been wanting one for awhile. A few weeks ago, a beautiful orange and white cat came to our door. I let him/her in and it was the friendliest cat. It genuinely wanted to be at our house and I would have kept it. Rebecca loved this cat. However, I had seen a moving van two days prior two houses down. So I begrudgingly brought the cat to their house to see if it was theirs. It was. But the idea of a cat was there.

On Saturday we went to PetSmart to see what the SPCA had there. The lady that worked there was genuinely busy and she asked us to come back on Sunday. She didn't seem all that anxious to adopt her cats, but I did have both kids with me and I guess they don't want to give the cats to just anyone. But we went back on Sunday. I told her I wanted a friendly cat who would be ok with the kids and wouldn't poop all over our house. She recommended Momma Cat. Momma Cat had been with them since November. She was previously a farm cat who was given up because she was too fertile. God forbid they spay her I guess.

She's been a really good kitty so far and is transitioning well. Rebecca wants to play all the time. But so far the kitty will play, sleep, and cuddle. She has yet to eat. I bought really good food and I think she prefers the other stuff she was fed. Any advice? Just buy her the cheap stuff?

Oh, and they think she's 1-2 years old. I'll post pictures later.

Coraline

The kids and I went and saw Coraline today. It was really really good. I haven't read the novella yet, but I really enjoyed the movie. It was creepier than I thought it would be. The 3D was pretty good, although not as dramatic as The Nightmare Before Christmas. Being the first weekend it played, the theater was packed. I was glad we got there early. I just love watching the people that get there 10 minutes after showtime and expect everyone to move for them to sit together. Ha!! I definitely saw the movie for my benefit. Liam snored loudly through it, and Rebecca followed the basic plot pretty well but the final scene was a little scary for her. I expected it to be a little creepy, but she really enjoyed Nightmare Before Christmas, so I thought she'd be okay. There were tons of little kids there which I thought was weird, given the subject matter. I thought maybe I'd be the only questionable parent (ha!) taking my little kids there. I thought the movie was worth the ticket prices, even if I'm the only one who enjoyed it fully.

Kung Fu and Preschool

I'm not sure the two should really go together. I picked the kids up today. The weather was beautiful here (finally) and they played outside for a lot of the time they were at school. This made me happy - I'm glad they were outside and they are completely sacked out right now. When we got home though, I noticed a slight injury under Liam's chin. If you're reading this, you probably know about Liam's track record of minor injuries at day care. This wasn't major at all, but I asked him about it. He said:

Mathaniel (Nathaniel) and I were playing Kung Fu Panda. I was the Tigress and he was the Tigress. Mathaniel is a much better fighter than I am.

I asked him:

Are you okay? Did you tell a teacher?

He said:

I'm fine. We were just having fun.

Lovely. I guess this is what boys do??

Virginity/Gender

The other day at school, my sixth graders read an article about Lucy Hobbs, the first female in America to graduate from dentistry school. She was denied admittance from one school because she was female. She perservered and finally got her degree. The students were asked what the main idea of the article was. One boy raised his hand and said, "She didn't let her virginity get in the way of graduating." Half of the class burst into laughter and the other half had no idea. The student was clueless so I told him to look virginity up in the dictionary later.

It's Me

Today my father-in-law came to pick up the kids. Thank you, Bob! I made no attempt to clean up my house before hand. He was welcomed to a house with Legos on the floor, random scraps of colored tissue and the blankets from our sleepover last night. Oh well. You might think, well, Sara has a deployed husband, a new job, and two kids. It's almost understandable. Nope. This is me everyday.

And I am better than I used to be. If you come to my house and it is clean, don't look in my drawers or closets. To me, clean is a vaccuumed living room floor, clean bathrooms, and a really clean kitchen and dining room. I give a damn about bedrooms and closets and especially drawers.

I am not easy to live with. I do not file things appropriately. I put papers in a big box in case I ever need them. Usually this works for me. I saw something on Oprah once about compulsive hoarders. I felt like I needed therapy after that because she said the first sign of a hoarder was the disorganized mail. I still might need therapy, but I feel quite functional.

I have the whole day to clean my house. When it is done, the Legos will be picked up, my floor vaccuumed, and my kitchens and dining room will be spotless. But, beware! DO NOT go into my bedroom or closets or especially my drawers. They might bite.

Recess

Rebecca came home from school today. Like usual, I asked her if she was a good girl. She usually always is, but she did say that once she had to go to a five minute recess. She did not sound like this was a good thing. Turns out, in her class, a five-minute "recess" is time-out. Yes, I am aware that the literal meaning of recess is break, but still. She'll be ruined for Kindergarten. "Okay, kids. Line up for recess." I see hysterics in the future! I'm being dramatic, but come on. Let's call a time-out a time-out.

Two weeks

Well, tomorrow will be two weeks since Michael's been gone. It feels like longer than that. I hope that's no indication of how slowly time will pass. It's funny though - it feels like I just started the job and I've been at it for almost two months now. This job is very challenging for me. The kids' behavior is getting better but still not where I would prefer it. These kids deal with things that I never imagined dealing with as a sixth grader. I don't know if they grow up more quickly now or I was just naive. This year will definitely be a learning experience for me. I guess first years of teaching can be difficult. It definitely has its rewarding sides too, but sometimes I still go home feeling beat up. Less now so than the first week though.

Becca and Liam are in bed now. We had a yummy dinner at MomMom's and PopPop's. It was nice of them to remember us and really nice to not have to cook. The kids really chowed down on the noodles and chicken. And the dessert. Rebecca seems to be doing better. It took her awhile to adjust to Michael being gone. And being a Rebecca Sr. emotionally, I cannot deal with her emotions sometimes. Michael is a good mediator for the two of us.

I'm going to grade papers and watch American Idol. Good times!

Long Weekend

We've been having a great, long weekend. I got my car detailed after a horrible, milky disaster during Christmas break. I must say, it is looking (and smelling) pretty good. Hopefully it'll last awhile, but with me and my kids, who knows?

Rebecca had a birthday party to go to yesterday. What could be more fun than 10 5 year old girls and their paranoid mothers trying to decide which Kindergarten to choose for next year??? Oh, and did I mention lots of sugar? But the food was really good and the girls got along very well, so it was a success.

Today we went to Some Guys Bagels, definitely one of my top 5 places in Dover. When I grow up, I want to open up a bagel shop. I think I could get up early enough and make the dough. Dee-licious.

The kids are napping like little angels right now. Hallelujah. I'm trying to get excited (?) about going back to work on Tuesday. I certainly should grade some papers tonight. Funny, I was really excited as a student to grade writing papers...

On another note, Liam tells people they're fat right now. I don't think he does it to be rude, he just says it very matter-of-factly. I don't even think he thinks it's an insult. But it's not going away. He said it in church in Colorado when the praise and worship guy got up to sing. "Mommy, he's fat!" Terribly embarrassing. I've tried to ignore it and hope it goes away, but I think it's time for the talk.

Friday

It's Friday. Finally. Being a teacher now, I completely re-get all the hype about Friday. Having been out of the workforce for almost five years, I had forgotten how completely awesome Fridays are.

Speaking of awesome, Liam's favorite movie right now is Kung Fu Panda. And he really likes to say "There's no charge for awesomeness." It cracks me up each time he says it. Sometimes he'll mix it up though and say, "There IS a charge for awesomeness." I like that movie too. It's one of the few movies we can all watch and it doesn't drive me batty after multiple showings. Yet.

Rebecca is playing her Leap Frog. She's still learning how to maneuver it, so I have to be right there while she's on it. I should really put her to bed now.

Today was a test day at school, so it was pretty quiet. The kids, however, were pretty hyper about the whole 3-day weekend. I have figured out how helpful it is to let the kids do a lot of the work. At first, I thought I needed to do everything, but now they hand everything out and are even starting to grade some of the easier papers.

The kids and I ate at Olive Garden today. I rarely eat at real restaurants alone with them, but we actually had a great time. Michael's absence hasn't completely sunk in. I find it usually takes about two weeks and then I realize the suckiness of the whole situation. Or one major public meltdown by the kids, whichever comes first. Right now, it's somewhat enjoyable to watch tv until weird hours and eat takeout and not do dishes for awhile, but that gets old very quickly. But I must admit that it was nice to have him around this year for birthdays and Christmas and Thanksgiving. He pretty much missed it all last year. I talked to him earlier today and it was so good to hear his voice. Albeit echoey. It's hard to tell when he's gone how the signal will be.

January

OK, so I did a terrible job of keeping up with my blog. Here I am again , six months later. We'll see how it goes. A lot of stuff happened in the meantime. I graduated last month, and now I'm teaching sixth graders English. I was really lucky to find a job so quickly. I'm certainly learning a lot from my kids.

My husband is gone again for six months. Hopefully this can be a good tool for us to communicate. This is my first real attempt at blogging.