Week in Review ~ 9/11

Shew! 4 down...176 to go! School days that is!

School got off to a fairly good start this week. The 3rd grade as a whole looks like a fairly good class, and I'm enjoying my students from last year and getting to know the ones I didn't have. I already have some stories that could make you chuckle (alot) but I learned from dooce not to blog about work. Third grade is such a jump, at least to me. I'm sure many of you don't understand because it's still teaching and it's just one grade higher, but it's new content, new routines, new grading, new testing, etc. And speaking of routines, boy do we all need one, myself included. Once I have a routine down and once the students have the 3rd grade routine down we'll all be much better. My mom said she was happy because I hadn't been as down about it as she thought (actually I really have), but what she wanted to say was that I haven't been as pissy as everybody in the family was expecting. We'll see what happens when testing rolls around though.

Avery had a good week and is eating somewhat better. Naps are still a little erratic but generic ibuprofin seems to help. The poor child sometimes chews all 10 fingers at once. To say we have some teething issues is putting it mildly. One tooth beside the bottom front ones broke through this week. Jennifer kept a baby Friday that Avery hasn't seen much, and she said Avery tried to smell him. I had told Jennifer that Avery likes to smell Felix, but really I think she is giving him a kiss. Jennifer let Avery "smell" one of her cats after I told her this, so she was convinced she was smelling the baby too!

Avery spent the night with Lolli and Poppa Friday night and did great! She ate like a pig, slept and napped wonderfully, and came home looking bigger, more grown, and feeling heavier. I hadn't been away from Avery for the night, and Ned had only been gone one night, so it was a bit strange. We went to one of our favorite restaurants by the lake and ate outside as the sun set. It was so quiet in the house, especially with no sound machine on. Somehow I was still wide awake by 7 am but still enjoyed some nice break time. She returned home with the runny nose we're still fighting and somewhat goopy eyes. After a chat with our pediatrician Thursday, we'll be going to see her next if we can't shake whatever this is.

And, because no fall season would be without it, we have a little basement construction going on. Although we've known about his issue for awhile, it's the 2nd house repair in a few weeks. Ned said before the last issue that if one more thing happened we were selling. Kind of like in Father of the Bride Part II, except here we still sit.

This week will be more of the same, just hopefully a little smoother. I have been so appreciative of the encouragement I've received here, on Facebook, and through e-mail! I approached the start of this school year with dread, which was a low place for me. As I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about friendships, your support has not gone unnoticed!