Today is my Birthday

Now I'm an official grown up.

But Can I Find a Snorkel & Flippers that Match My Purse?

Apparently I spoke too soon.

Once the eye passed us late yesterday afternoon, it began to rain. It is now almost 7:30pm the next evening and it hasn't stopped yet - that's over 24 hours of rain, folks. Our pool has not flooded, but I do have about a standing inch of water in the front yard.

The wind has picked up considerably again this afternoon - so much so that I was incredibly nervous driving home, and schools have been closed again for tomorrow.

Fay, GET OUT!!!!

Wet With Cabin Fever

Thanks to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Fay, we've been out of school for 2 days now. Thankfully, neither day was really warranted for where we are (And be assured that our hearts go out to those whose lives have been drastically changed by this storm. There are folks who are going to need a LOT of help after all this.)

But seriously, the storm path has pretty much looked like this:



So the school boards keep shutting down the schools! I can't blame them, but there's only so much time you can stay indoors before you begin contemplating putting yourself on ebay.

A friend and I decided to combine forces. There is some weird law of nature that says the more kids you combine, the more they will occupy each other & stop annoying you. (up to an unspecified limit!). Since our kids are essentially the same ages, it worked well.

We baked lots of chocolately goodies (krispy treats, chocolate chip cookie bar, cheesecake cheeseball, and chocolate pudding pie, pictured here)



The girls played Barbies.


Lots of dress up.


Pop in a movie when we can't think of any more indoor stuff.


Toss the kids outside when we can't take the running around anymore!


They're ingenious - check out their rain shelters!


Checking out the storm that isn't there (this was while the eye was over us).


The storm inside was far greater than the one outside!!


The eye has passed us, so we are back in wet, rainy conditions. Schools are supposed to be open tomorrow, though. Fingers crossed - we are not out of the woods yet, since the storm is going to pass back over us AGAIN (remember that road sign?!), but we are in good shape for now.

Hurricane on the Horizon

Well, it's starting to look like Hurricane Fay is headed straight for us!! Granted, it's still a little early and she could still head in another direction, but I did stop at the store on the way home to pick up a few things. It helps to be a little prepared. Thankfully, although the stores are full of people, we do not seem to be in panic-buying mode yet.

I think I'm most worried about losing power for an extended period of time. I am slowly emptying our ice dispenser into Ziplock bags & stashing them all around the freezer. Then the icemaker will work all night long making more. We're eating our dinner out of the fridge/freezer tonight!

School has been cancelled for tomorrow, so now the dilemma is... what to spend the day watching? There are Olympics, but a well-selected list of movies could be just as fun. So far, I've thought of The Wizard of Oz, Twister, and Joe vs. the Volcano.

The Rest of the Week

I seem to have forgotten that this is MY blog, and that occasionally I do like to talk about MYSELF. Because, quite frankly, it eases the need to endlessly talk off other people's ears about me.

I have all sorts of jumbled thoughts in my head, yet they seem to be unable to come out in a coherent format. The reason for that will eventually become apparent. Therefore, we will revert to a bullet-point list. Without the bullets. Hopefully not without points.

* My first day of school went quite well. Even with five completely different classes. I managed to maintain the light-yet-serious tone, conveying that they are about to have their heads spun in all kind of direction, but that they would love it. Or at least tolerate it.

* Amazingly, I have not lost anybody from my roster during the past week once said speech was made. (The two who dropped before they even got to class don't count.). We are nowhere near the end of add-drop yet, though.

* In an unprecedented move, I convinced a student to JOIN my regular chemistry class. I am still reeling with shock.

* Thursday & Friday were the high school retreat. Once we have the business of Wednesday out of the way, it allows us time to grow together as a group, dig a little deeper, and try to lay a strong spiritual foundation for the year.

* Translated: Retreat involves lots of group games, potentially gross stuff, and lots of bonding because the groups are comprised of students from all four grades. We also have lots of worship times - singing & listening to a speaker.

* Friday night, I chaperoned the all-night senior party, as they needed another female chaperone. At one point, we went bowling. I still have it!! *bragging warning* Scored a 147, 164, 156, 167, and 135. I was pretty tired by the last game. Wondering if I can somehow use bowling skills to start hustling on the weekends.

* I managed to grab about 4 hours of sleep this morning, but even I can't rationalize sleeping past 11am.

* I am continuing to feel very positive about this school year & the new administration. This next week will be the true test of us all, and I know it will be painful. But it has to be done.

* I am not looking forward to doing lesson plans tomorrow. Ouch.

First Day

The morning started off like many others - dark and quiet. I heard my alarm clock for the first time in a couple of months. Can't say that I liked it, but it was necessary or I never would have gotten out of bed!

By 6:15 I had woken up enough to see if Bird was up yet - by some small miracle (or is it Murphy's Law?) she was still sleeping in her bed. Naturally, I spent a moment watching her breathe (even though she's five, it's still as pretty as when she was an infant) before pouncing on her.

Amazingly, when she's waking up she still stretches just like she did as a baby. And when I whispered in her ear that "Kindergarten starts TODAY!", she was sunny side up in an instant.

Everything about the day seemed bright and sunny to her. She even ASKED me to take pictures, rather than run from the room screaming "No more!!" A bit concerned over the size of her tote bag, she complained it was too heavy. I suspect the straps are still so new they are slippery, since I'm pretty sure she can handle carrying 10 pieces of paper.

It was very strange having someone in the backseat all the way to school, considering that normally I jettison the kids off partway. But it was nice having someone to talk to.

When we got to school they had the red carpet all rolled out and the music playing. (Really, they did! We try to celebrate the first day as much as possible.) The school mascot was out & roaming about, and we took our picture with him.

The elementary school has a tradition of starting the first day in the gym - it's the only place that will hold all the kids and at least one of their parents. It was neat - we pledged to the flag and sang a few songs together.

Eventually, they began dismissing everyone to their classrooms. They save kindergarten for last. Mainly because they ALL had parents, and we were all armed with cameras.

I was allowed to go with her as far as her classroom door. She had no problems waltzing right in.

I'm amazed at how one can feel joy, pride, and pain simultaneously.

It's Either a Really Big Clock or my Heartbeat

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm not sure if I'm more nervous about teaching, or about bringing Bird to kindergarten. Pretty evenly split!

To quote the song from Les Miserables that's been stuck in my head all day:

Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in heaven has in store.
One more dawn...
One more day....
One Day More!!!!