Job Interview

A middle school in Hawaii left me a voicemail asking if I would come in for a job interview. As much as I love my job, it sure is tempting. 

Author/Illustrator

Korra had been working on a book for 45 minutes. She wants to be an author and illustrator when she grows up. 

20 Year Old Letter

I've had this unopened letter for 20 years.  Tomorrow I'm going to open it.

Impatience and Anxiety

Those are my emotions regarding the house.  I keep waking up and 5am and I can't go back to sleep.  We're waiting for our renter to tell us what day he will move out.  Then we can let the realtor know when we can officially put it on the market.  Then it will be more waiting and worrying.  I know I shouldn't, but I can't seem to make my brain turn off.  

So I'm doing the next-best thing.  We're going to the cabin for the weekend.  No phone, no internet.  Just the 3 of us and movies and naps and walks and maybe even some prayer and stillness.

House For Sale

And just like that, we've decided to put the house up for sale.  We need to negotiate a move-out date with our current tenant and then it will be official.  The realtor is optimistic that we can sell it for more than we owe (though not much) AND that we can sell it fast!  Please, oh, please let this go smoothly and quickly.

Bananas, Take 2

This banana is so innocently unaware of its embarrassing future. 

Elusive Sleep

I don't feel like I'll be able to fall asleep tonight. Too much to think about. I wish I could stop worrying about things, especially when I can't do anything at 11pm. 

Renter Woes

I got a text message from our renter.  He wants to move out ASAP.  He lost his job, he and his wife are getting divorced.  It's really sad for him and really stressful for us.  So I've spent my evening calling realtors, emailing out rental applications, and trying not to eat my feelings.  Not really what I had planned for this evening.

All-Day Hike

Took the kids on a 6 hour hike today. We went to 3 waterfalls, had a nice picnic and the kids went swimming. 

Banana, Repurposed

Due to some last minute scheduling changes, I am unexpectedly teaching a lesson on condom usage this afternoon.  The banana from my lunch is no longer for consumption and a very awkward text message was sent to a couple of staff members inquiring if they might have a prophylactic they would be willing to part with (the PE teacher ended up having to go to the corner gas station to make a purchase for which I am quite certain she will not be turning in a reimbursement receipt).  This might be the best school day ever.

Party Weekend

We went to a housewarming party on Friday night, met my parents and brother for lunch on Saturday, went to a farewell party on Saturday night, went to a birthday brunch this morning, and had friends over for dinner tonight.  Quite the friend-filled weekend!

Boyd Tires

Thankfully, Korra enjoys the waiting room at Boyd Tires because our oil change is taking over an hour. 

Glasses

Looks like Korra needs glasses. Astigmatism in her left eye. 2 pairs of glasses orders. Will have pictures in 2 weeks when they come in. Thankfully she looks adorable in glasses (every single patient and employee at the office told us so!)

Eye Dr

Getting her eyes checked the first time. 

4/20

Totally didn't consider the ramifications of meeting for a playdate at the park on 4/20 at 4:30 pm. Trying to keep the kids away from the bathroom so they don't get a second hand high 

Moana

Found some excellent lesson plans that go with Moana so I'm showing it to all my kids today. They acted like they were too cool for it at first but they are really enjoying it. 

Warning

I got a warning from a police officer this morning right in the school parking lot. He was parked past the school (I didn't even drive past him). He followed me into the parking lot and said I was going 44mph in a school zone. Not sure how he figures that since I was slowing to run into the school, I never drove past him, and it wasn't even school zone hours yet. He turned on his lights and everythjng- all in front of the other teachers. So frustrating and embarrassing. 

New Yoga

Tried out a new yoga studio today and reality enjoyed the class. Looking forward to there next 6 weeks (that's how long my Groupon is good for and it'll take me right to the end of there school year). 

Monikers

The kids LOVED playing our Moniker style vocabulary review game!  Feeling like a rockstar teacher for successfully engaging middle schoolers in learning this close to standardized testing!

Pictionary

Today's hike was glorious. After lunch we played Pictionary with vocabulary words from the whole year (all 4 subjects) and the kids really enjoyed it. Tomorrow (after testing) we're going to essentially play Monikers with the same deck of vocab cards- should be fun!

Zen Hike

This morning's hike theme: tranquility. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that only 9 kids signed up for my hike. That should make it even more peaceful. 

Dance Show

Conflicted

I don't write this as a judgement on anyone else's choices. I just need to my own internal turmoil. 

I don't love our house or neighborhood (especially not when compared to our old house and neighborhood in LaGrange). Only having one bathroom is hard sometimes. The kitchen is tiny. I miss having a dishwasher. I really wish our windows were not all painted/nailed shut. I miss having enough space to have friends over comfortably. I hate that we don't have sidewalks or many places we can safely and easily walk. And of course I miss my wonderful friends and sense of community. 

We spend a lot of time driving to and through much nicer neighborhoods in Atlanta. I think often about moving into a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood. Next year we'll have more income and could (if we stretched our budget) afford to live somewhere nicer, cooler, closer to fun restaurants and nicer parks. But those areas also tend to be wealthy and almost entirely white. Atlanta has the greatest income disparity of any city in the United States. It's hard to find a neighborhood that is in-between rich and poor, much less mixed income. And then there's the fact that I don't want to live in an entirely white community. I want economic and racial diversity in all aspects of my life. It is so hard to choose. So I guess for now I'll pray. And keep talking over our family priorities with Nate. And probably keep looking at the houses for rent on Craigslist.

pre-test hike

While other grades began testing today, middle school decided to spend there morning in the woods (rather than trying to be quiet on our classrooms). We spent 3 hours hiking and encountered several places where the trail was completely blocked by fallen trees from the F1 tornado that hit there area over spring break. We climbed over, under, and all around huge trees and had a blast. Only at this school would middle schoolers ask after a 3 hour hike: are we still going to get recess?

Last Lesson

Today was the last math lesson I have planned for the year. Tomorrow begins standardized testing so I am done. I'll help teach science. I'll take a lot of hikes. I think I'm even going to teach a class on outdoor cooking. But no more math. I am all mathed out.