The way it was: Week of September 4, '06

The past days seem like a blur to me. After an uneventful Labor Day, our emphasis was just getting into the school routine. We all tried to have reasonable bedtimes to help us adjust to what seems right now like unreasonable wake up times. (I have been doing well with the CPAP and last night actually managed 7 hours!)

I tried to fulfill my promise to provide a hot breakfast for Colin and Marley and was successful three out of four days. I realized though, that to keep this up when Paul is out of town, I will need to get up even earlier. Oh well, 6:00 am, here I come. The big hit this week has been chocolate chip pancakes. Great for the kids, but Paul and I are trying to eliminate refined flour from our diet and we can only gaze upon the pancakes and take in their aroma before we dig into whatever breakfast we can come up with.

We had a heat wave this week which is not an unusual welcome back to school for us here in good ole So-S0 California. It did get cooler by about 10 degrees per day making today a beautiful day.

Fundraising fever is here and as I type, Marley is watching Justice League on Cartoon Network and looking over the list of potential prizes. She is most impressed by the Bully Free pen. Somehow she thinks if she has it Colin will not be able to bully her anymore. When it is pointed out that maybe it means she won't be able to bully him, she has no response

If you are contacted by my daughter to purchase something, please do not feel any obligation--unless you are planning on trying to get us to buy some of your kids' fundraising shrapnel. In that case, please pick out and purchase one object in the $5-$10 range. The effort will be reciprocated at the appropriate time.

Other Marley news is her trying to learn to tie her shoes. This is one of those things where you can see the difference from your first kid to your last kid. (Of course, those are my only two, but anyway.) Colin had to know how to tie his shoes to enter kindergarten. He was able to demonstrate that in March before his fifth birthday for the kindergarten readiness evaluation. This is our first attempt to teach Marley. She can't even do buttons. One thing at a time!

Colin seems to be surviving high school so far. He is at a football game right now. I like that we live so close to the high school that he can walk to and from home games.

Nibbler started going bald unexpectedly, so both piggies went into the vet this morning for mite treatement, a common guinea pig problem.

____________________________________

In other news:

As the days go by, I am seriously considering doing a Masters in Science in Reading starting in the spring or next fall. It was mentioned as a possibility by a friend and the more I think about it, the more I see it as a real option for me. Last spring I began to feel that it would be in the best interest of my family to secure some education/training in case I ever needed to actually contribute to the finances of this family. I'll be researaching the degree and asking questions to see if it will work out for me. Chief among my concerns though is the question of exactly how much my brain has atrophied since getting my bachelor's degree in 1990. 1990! How has it been sixteen years since I finished college?

Paul leaves on Sunday for about 10 days. Blech!

____________________________________

I asked Marley tonight:

What had been the best thing about the last few days?

First grade!!!

What has the worst thing been?

S____, B_____ and M_____ !

She immediately listed off the names of three rambunctious boys from her class.

This year's battle of the sexes has begun.