Thursday, December 4, 2008
Job Loss
We found out this afternoon that Jim will be losing his job January 9. We are in a bit of an emotional upheaval right now so please, keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we figure out how to deal with this new situation.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Goin' to Charleston!
Wow, three days of blogging in a row. This must be a record.
Okay, so my church choir is singing a song in our Christmas program called "Going to Bethlehem" and I have it stuck in my head. It's a great song and I made up a new verse as I was sitting here:
Going to Charleston
to a conference
Going to Charleston
With my man.
Going to Charleston
leaving my children,
Going to Charleston,
gonna be real fun!
Jim and I decided to try to get away without the children for a weekend each fall and spring. So far, we've only been able to go away once since Katie was born. Last spring we spent several days in Charleston relaxing and sightseeing. This fall, we haven't managed to arrange a fall weekend. Between trying to get a grandparent here to stay with Katie and Ricarda and our crazy schedule it just hasn't worked out, until now. I got the opportunity to go to an ESL conference in Charleston. I suggested that Jim try to go with me in lieu of a whole free weekend. I have to pay my own hotel anyway so why not? A hurried phone call to the MIL and all was arranged. My MIL arrives tomorrow evening and Jim and I are going to try to drive a couple hours tomorrow night and stay somewhere between here and Charleston. That way we can sleep in (for a change!) and drive the rest of the way tomorrow. It's not the best but it's better than nothing. We'll start planning our spring weekend next week. :) Babysitters? Anyone?
Okay, so my church choir is singing a song in our Christmas program called "Going to Bethlehem" and I have it stuck in my head. It's a great song and I made up a new verse as I was sitting here:
Going to Charleston
to a conference
Going to Charleston
With my man.
Going to Charleston
leaving my children,
Going to Charleston,
gonna be real fun!
Jim and I decided to try to get away without the children for a weekend each fall and spring. So far, we've only been able to go away once since Katie was born. Last spring we spent several days in Charleston relaxing and sightseeing. This fall, we haven't managed to arrange a fall weekend. Between trying to get a grandparent here to stay with Katie and Ricarda and our crazy schedule it just hasn't worked out, until now. I got the opportunity to go to an ESL conference in Charleston. I suggested that Jim try to go with me in lieu of a whole free weekend. I have to pay my own hotel anyway so why not? A hurried phone call to the MIL and all was arranged. My MIL arrives tomorrow evening and Jim and I are going to try to drive a couple hours tomorrow night and stay somewhere between here and Charleston. That way we can sleep in (for a change!) and drive the rest of the way tomorrow. It's not the best but it's better than nothing. We'll start planning our spring weekend next week. :) Babysitters? Anyone?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Like Mother Like Daughter
I love to read. In fact, that is a bit of an understatement. My husband says that, if I were reading when the house caught on fire, I wouldn't notice until my book started to smolder.
When I was a kid, I used to stay up until all hours reading books. I was a huge night owl and a horrible morning person. I would lie in my bed with my reading lamp on and listen for Dad's footsteps coming down the hallway. Our house was pretty creaky so, unless he was trying to be quiet about walking, I would almost certainly hear him. Everytime I heard a creak I would rapidly switch the light off, hide the book on my chest under my blanket and pretend to be asleep while my heart pounded loudly in my ears. I had many a false alarm that gave me adrenaline rushes to put parachute jumpers to shame. The few times that Dad caught me, when I didn't hear the creak or was to involved in my book to notice, all he had to do was look at me for the shame of disobeying to cripple me inside. Dad never had to yell, he just looked at me in disappointment and I was crushed. I would apologize, put the book away, and turn out the light. It must not have crushed me too much because, unfortunately, probably 50% of the time, 5 minutes after he walked down the hall my book would come out and the light would go back on, almost of it's own accord. So great is my love of reading and my need, for it is definitely a need, to find out what happens next. I never understood that the characters would still be in their same troubled state the next day if I did not read on. As if they would somehow continue on with the story without me.
The last few months Katie has begun exhibiting symptoms of this disease, and she can't even read yet! After being put to bed, she gets up and brings a few books from her bookshelf over to the bed and "reads" by the light of the night light. When that isn't enough after a few minutes, she goes over to the room light switch (which, being tall, she has been able to reach since she could walk), turns it on and returns to her bed with more books in hand. She stays in bed, as requested by her parents, and we watch her on the video monitor laying on her stomach flipping through book after book until one of us goes upstairs, tells her to turn the light on and put the books away because it is "night night time".
More than almost anything, I wanted to foster in my children the same love of reading that makes me have to stay up to read "one more chapter...". When Katie would not sit down with me, even to look at pictures, much less read a story, until she was almost 18 months old, I was concerned that I would force the issue, making her dislike reading, or that she simply wouldn't be interested. Now she tries negotiating her bedtime with a hopeful "How 'bout one more?" in her cute voice. Obviously, I needn't have worried about Katie.
When I was a kid, I used to stay up until all hours reading books. I was a huge night owl and a horrible morning person. I would lie in my bed with my reading lamp on and listen for Dad's footsteps coming down the hallway. Our house was pretty creaky so, unless he was trying to be quiet about walking, I would almost certainly hear him. Everytime I heard a creak I would rapidly switch the light off, hide the book on my chest under my blanket and pretend to be asleep while my heart pounded loudly in my ears. I had many a false alarm that gave me adrenaline rushes to put parachute jumpers to shame. The few times that Dad caught me, when I didn't hear the creak or was to involved in my book to notice, all he had to do was look at me for the shame of disobeying to cripple me inside. Dad never had to yell, he just looked at me in disappointment and I was crushed. I would apologize, put the book away, and turn out the light. It must not have crushed me too much because, unfortunately, probably 50% of the time, 5 minutes after he walked down the hall my book would come out and the light would go back on, almost of it's own accord. So great is my love of reading and my need, for it is definitely a need, to find out what happens next. I never understood that the characters would still be in their same troubled state the next day if I did not read on. As if they would somehow continue on with the story without me.
The last few months Katie has begun exhibiting symptoms of this disease, and she can't even read yet! After being put to bed, she gets up and brings a few books from her bookshelf over to the bed and "reads" by the light of the night light. When that isn't enough after a few minutes, she goes over to the room light switch (which, being tall, she has been able to reach since she could walk), turns it on and returns to her bed with more books in hand. She stays in bed, as requested by her parents, and we watch her on the video monitor laying on her stomach flipping through book after book until one of us goes upstairs, tells her to turn the light on and put the books away because it is "night night time".
More than almost anything, I wanted to foster in my children the same love of reading that makes me have to stay up to read "one more chapter...". When Katie would not sit down with me, even to look at pictures, much less read a story, until she was almost 18 months old, I was concerned that I would force the issue, making her dislike reading, or that she simply wouldn't be interested. Now she tries negotiating her bedtime with a hopeful "How 'bout one more?" in her cute voice. Obviously, I needn't have worried about Katie.
Monday, December 1, 2008
an update
Well, I haven't blogged in awhile but, the good news is that I have been enjoying life instead of writing about it. I would like to blog more and, perhaps in the new year I will get more regular about it. I need to find a way to put it into my daily (or at least every other day) schedule. One more item for the list... :)
Anyway, I talked about balance and how I need to find more balance in my life between work and home. I'm still working pretty late on a regular basis but I feel reasonably on top of my classes right now. This will change in a couple of days as I am finally able to split my biggest class into two classes, a low English level and high English level class during separate periods. While I will suddenly find myself with an extra prep since I will now have three Language Arts classes instead of two, I think it will be easier because I will be planning along with the basics level book for the lower class and able to spend enough time on the skills that they really need and I can start really taking the higher level class where they need to go with higher level grammar and reading comprehension skills.
One way I put some balance into my life recently was on Veteran's Day. This year, our school system took the day off entirely. It wasn't a teacher workday or anything. It was one of the few days during the school year that our daycare is open when school is not. A friend called me the night before and asked me what I was going to do with Katie that day. Incredulously I replied, Katie is going to daycare and I am getting a massage! I actually got a massage, had lunch with a friend, browsed the book store (a favorite pastime) and got my hair cut. I also met Jim and Katie at the park and had a friend take some pictures of us in hopes of getting "cheap" professionalish pictures taken. Jim took some really great ones of Katie and Katie with me the weekend before so I was hoping for some family ones. All in all it was a great day and a good opportunity for me to get some me time. Now I'd better do something else smart and get some shuteye time.
Goodnight. :)
Anyway, I talked about balance and how I need to find more balance in my life between work and home. I'm still working pretty late on a regular basis but I feel reasonably on top of my classes right now. This will change in a couple of days as I am finally able to split my biggest class into two classes, a low English level and high English level class during separate periods. While I will suddenly find myself with an extra prep since I will now have three Language Arts classes instead of two, I think it will be easier because I will be planning along with the basics level book for the lower class and able to spend enough time on the skills that they really need and I can start really taking the higher level class where they need to go with higher level grammar and reading comprehension skills.
One way I put some balance into my life recently was on Veteran's Day. This year, our school system took the day off entirely. It wasn't a teacher workday or anything. It was one of the few days during the school year that our daycare is open when school is not. A friend called me the night before and asked me what I was going to do with Katie that day. Incredulously I replied, Katie is going to daycare and I am getting a massage! I actually got a massage, had lunch with a friend, browsed the book store (a favorite pastime) and got my hair cut. I also met Jim and Katie at the park and had a friend take some pictures of us in hopes of getting "cheap" professionalish pictures taken. Jim took some really great ones of Katie and Katie with me the weekend before so I was hoping for some family ones. All in all it was a great day and a good opportunity for me to get some me time. Now I'd better do something else smart and get some shuteye time.
Goodnight. :)
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