Book Character Day

Madeline and Fancy Nancy

Curlers

Korra with her hair in curlers because she's going to be Fancy Nancy for Book Character Day tomorrow. The hair dye I ordered with 2 day shipping on Thursday arrived tonight, after she was already asleep. And when I sent Nate to Target this afternoon to look for some, they were already taking down all the Halloween stuff and putting up Christmas.  At least I tried. 

Name Tags

We wear name tags at church every Sunday. Today Korra wrote name tags for nearly every person who came to church. She also drew little portraits of each person below their name. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to see so many people proudly wearing and showing off their Korra name tags. I am so thankful for Korra and her kind heart and for this wonderful community of people who love us. 

Ready to Sell!

Nate and his parents worked hard all day yesterday and a good part of today on the LaGrange house.  The bathroom floor has been replaced and now the house is totally ready to sell!

CNN center

Today we took the 6th graders in a field trip to the CNN center. It was not fun. Not only did I have no interest in the location but my students didn't follow directions, complained, talked crap about each other, talked too loudly, and didn't listen to the tour guide. In general they were the absolute stereotype of middle school students and totally embarrassed me and my coteacher. So they weren't allowed to buy lunch in the food court and instead had to eat sack lunches from the school cafeteria outside on the sidewalk. They were not happy. 

No tears!!!

Korra didn't cry at all when I dropped her off this morning!

Half Day

Every Wednesday I teach both my classes at the same time (all 12 kids instead of my usual 6 at a time) for half the day and then I have professional development and planning the other half of the day. Teaching 12 at a time can be harder but there are definitely perks to this system. 

Termite treatment

The termite company is treating today. They say they don't have to pay for damages. Nate and his parents are going on Friday to begin replacing the floor. I am so ready for this to be done. 

Seperation Tears

Korra cries every morning when I drop her off in kindergarten. She cries when I drop her off at dance. She cries when she goes to childcare when we have small group. But then she's fine. How do I help her handle seperating?  Why is it so hard right now?

Termites?

The first thing we did when we got to the house was rip up the linoleum in the bathroom. The damage was way worse than we thought. We thought it was a small spot or two of torn linoleum from popped-up nails and a little bit of water damage underneath. Nope. Small white grubs crawling in little trenches/tunnels all over the floor. Fortunately we are bonded and the extermination company should repair it for us. Unfortunately, we can't put the house up for sale until it's repaired (we were actually hoping to have it up tomorrow). 

Even in the midst of that disappointment, we were so thankful for some of our LaGrange friends who kept Korra all day (playdate with her bf from Montessori). When we went to pick her up, these wonderful friends invited us to join them for dinner (homemade chilli) on their beautiful screened in porch. 

Home Repairs

Headed to LaGrange for the day to get the house ready to sell. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly and we get it all done today. 

College Registration

 Dreamed I was registering Korra for a couple of college courses because kindergarten wasn't challenging enough. 

Little Five Halloween Parade

We went straight from the zoo to another Halloween celebration with some friends from church. Korra was initially get disappointed she was not IN the parade, but once she started getting candy she was perfectly content to watch. 

More Boo at the Zoo Pictures

Boo at the Zoo

Korra is (unironically) a black cat named Snowflake. Waiting in the looooong members for Boo at the Zoo. Meeting up with our friends from Chatt Hills. 

MBMBAM

Seeing My Brother, My Brother and Me live!

Mail

Last night, our doorbell rang at 9:50pm with a package from the post office. At our current address we usually get mail/packages from USPS, UPS and FedEx between 7 and 10 pm.  On numerous occasions, we've gotten messages from all 3 delivery systems that our packages are undeliverable because our address doesn't exist (even when they've delivered to our address multiple times before).  It is incredibly frustrating.  Just one more reason we'd like to move (though probably not as high on the list as "drug lord neighbor" and "no dishwasher")

Pizza and TV

Tonight we ate frozen pizza and watched lots of tv. I didn't even grade any papers. It was exactly what we needed. 

Realtor

We met with a realtor in LaGrange tonight. She thinks the house is in good shape and that we could sell quickly for what we're asking!  On Sunday we'll be replacing linoleum in the bathroom and repainting a couple walls, but hopefully this stress and exhaustion will be worth it.

Another busy night

Last night we went out to an early dinner as soon as we got home and then straight to small group. Today we went from school to dance to a church meeting. Tomorrow we're going straight from school to the LaGrange house to meet with the realtor (and maybe get some work done?)  

Danny Update

Danny just called (from what must be his 7th cell phone number in 2 years) and told me that he was granted permanent residency!

Kindergarten Transition

Korra cried on and off all weekend every time she thought about going back to school. I was really worried about how this morning would go. We got permission for her to bring a favorite stuffed animal. She wore special socks and a necklace. She got a morning pep talk from her Grandad. We prayed and sang. We packed a special lunch and treats to share with the class. And... something worked because she had a great day!  She teared up for a few minutes when I dropped her off but it was waaaaaay shorter than last week. Yay!

Know what she said was her favorite part of the day?  When she got pulled out of class for testing. Oh, my child. 

Pride

We walked in the Pride Parade with our church today. Korra was practically a celebrity as she handed out beads. It was hot and exhausting but so much fun!

30 minutes

The house was pretty clean. The lawn was mowed. The bushes are overgrown. All the walls need to be repainted. The refrigerator was totally clean. The linoleum in the master bathroom has some holes. We argued for 10 minutes about the garbage disposal and I ended up agreeing to split the cost of the repair just to be done. It took only 30 minutes so now we are on our way back to Atlanta to go to church. 

LaGrange House

We're on our way to LaGrange. Our renter is supposed to meet us this morning. The house is supposed to be empty and clean. We hope to sign the move-out paperwork and be back on our way to Atlanta within an hour. Nate and I are both convinced that there is very little chance this will go smoothly. 

Insurance Stress

Thanks to a really shitty benefits package, it will cost me over $600 a month for even the worst possible insurance through my new job.  It's about the same on the marketplace, which feels really scary to use right now since plans and premiums are likely to drastically change with our current political situation.  Since my old job had much better insurance premiums, it means that I will be taking home $450-600 less per month with my new job.  This sucks ass.  

Sick Day

And just like that, my second day of teaching is postponed. Korra's teacher came to my room about 30 minutes into the day to say she was throwing up. Nate's still out of town and so are our other people who might help. The only option left was for me to take a sick day and go home. Everyone was really nice about it (especially my co-teacher) but I can't help feeling guilty and disappointed and frustrated. Especially when Korra seems totally fine now that we're at home. 

Girls' Night

Korra and I invited 2 ladies from church over for our traditional Nate's-out-of-town dinner: popcorn and ice cream. It was a wonderful end to a good day. 

Too Easy

Korra did her math homework tonight and then wrote "this is too easy" across the top. 

Wednesday

This has already been a very long week and it's only Wednesday morning. More planning and meetings today. Showtime tomorrow. 

Confident

Feeling a lot more confident today.

Overwhelmed and Tired

First day of school was good but overwhelming. I can't say more now because I'm tired and can't process. Right after school we picked my parents up from the airport, grabbed a quick dinner, went straight to church for small group, showered, and then spent 45 minutes trying to prepare for tomorrow. 

Eating Lunch Alone

I don't have lunch duty today so I'm not exactly sure where to go so I'm just sitting alone in the workroom eating and looking over insurance packages. It sounds sad (and it is, a little) but honestly the day's going well so far. This transition time is going to be weird and a lot of work but I'll get there. 

Silent Reading

Korra had learned to read in her head. Nate and I are celebrating this accomplishment, in part because reading is now the only time Korra is awake but not talking or singing. 

True Love

Nate and I are watching the My Little Pony movie in opening day. It's true that parents will do the craziest things for their kids. 

Korra Says

"Oh my God. Do you know what day it is? It's October 6th. That means today is My Little Pony ON THE BIG SCREEN!"

"Mom, I really need you to check your attitude. When you were talking to me just now, you were kind of rude."

"Alexa, play Meghan Trainor songs."

New Park

Went to a new playground/park this morning. Korra misspelt mostly played in the dirt. 

Classroom Organization

I went by my new school today with a car load of boxes. I was ready to unpack all my stuff into my new classroom only to find the previous teacher hasn't moved out yet. I had a minor flashback to being 8 months pregnant and taking over the absolute hoarder's den that was the GNMS media center. Then I realized it wasn't nearly so bad. I just left all my stuff in one corner. I'll deal with it later. 

Botanical Gardens

Zoo

The 2 H's

So very weary of hemmeroids and heartburn. I need me body to get out of stress mode. 

Training

At a full day of professional development at the conference center for my new school. Really nervous about meeting new people. 

World Communion Sunday

At the end of our service this morning, we sang and had communion on the front steps of the church. This was extra special as the road was blocked to cars and full of pedestrians because our church is in the middle of the fall festival. Plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous. 

Every 6 Hours

Korra has prescription meds that the doctor wants her to take every 6 hours. I tried to explain that she sleeps for 10-11 hours a night but she said Korra will go back to sleep. Turns out she's right about Korra but I've been awake since 4am.