A new week

Last week I felt very overwhelmed again. I am going to try my best to do a better job of juggling everything this week. It felt good yesterday to have completed my Sunday School homework on Saturday as the previous Sunday I was scrambling to get it done on Sunday morning. Similarly, I finished my Nehemiah homework (that is due this evening) yesterday whereas the first two lessons I didn't complete until the day of the study. I also exercised this morning, and hopefully I'll be able to stick with that plan throughout the rest of the week. I got caught up on my grading over the weekend. I graded one assignment from each of my four classes. I have around 30 students in each class.

There are some things I want to try to add into our schedule. The last couple of years Nadia wanted to do a corn maze, but I said no because of the cost. Now we have the money but the time to do it is the issue. I'm determined to fit that in sometime this month. Similarly, I had wanted to go ballroom dancing with Paul more often now that we can afford it. We haven't been on a date yet in 2017. I'd like to figure out a way that we could have time to do this say once a month. For starters, I am determined this week to read more picture books. Where there is a will, there is a way!

Since it's been nine days since I wrote a thankful list, I'll write one today even though the day of the week doesn't start with a "T," ha ha!

1. The Steelers beat the Ravens on October 1. Sadly the Giants are having a terrible start to the season (0-5), and the Steelers had a pitiful game yesterday against the Jaguars.

2. Nadia has been a Christian for 5 years! We celebrated her spiritual birthday on October 3. Paul stopped at Dunkin Donuts on his way home from work last Monday night to pick

Helping make a fence

up the donuts for breakfast on Tuesday morning. She had requested chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. I made those plus an apple cake in honor of her birthday. In August I had pre-ordered the new release from Veritas, and because I pre-ordered it, she received an autographed copy of it. My dad gave her a book and Adventures in Odyssey cd. The kids and I had dinner at Friendly's (using a gift card plus the kids' meals are 50% off Mon-Wed) on her spiritual birthday. I picked them up from the babysitter and we went straight to Friendly's

and from Friendly's to flag football (which is less than 10 minutes from Friendly's).

3. My department chair's son was sick so she wasn't able to come observe me on October 3 as planned, so I asked one of my students to video the class with her phone. The videos were emailed to my chair, and she was able to complete the observation. I hadn't been observed in 10 years.

4. We went to a Crazy Chemistry homeschool program at the

Children's Museum in Bloomsburg on Wednesday morning. It was far more crowded than usual. Because of that visit we took the week off from going to the Children's Museum in Lewisburg, but we plan to return to that one this Wednesday.

5. The weather has been unseasonably warm again. The downside is that we're paying for air conditioning in October (very unusual!), but the upside is that it's been really pretty outside - particularly for the flag football games this past Saturday.

6. The weather was also really nice for the heritage festival on Saturday. The kids and I spent about two hours there. The kids played outside with the neighbors for quite awhile yesterday afternoon.

7. Paul made it home safely on Saturday from the wedding reception. He drove for almost 7 hours total that day on very little sleep.

8. I'm thankful that technology makes it possible for me to attend a faculty meeting this afternoon without leaving my home. I've used Wimba, FaceTime, and Skype in the past. Today I'll be using Zoom for the first time.

9. Vanessa, who had been Ian's soccer coach and then was Oliver's soccer coach in fall 2016 and spring 2017, came by on Saturday night to take some of our apples. We helped them fill up a bushel basket. There are still apples on the tree, but the majority have come down at this point. At some point Paul plans to borrow his dad's pick-up truck so we can give the tree a serious pruning so we won't have SO many apples in the next few years. I'd like a much smaller apple tree.

10. Although the position hasn't been posted yet so it will be awhile before it's official, I am grateful that it looks like I'll have five student teachers plus teach from 3:30-7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays next semester. I'm grateful that this time around I'll have a say in what textbooks are used in my classes. I didn't have any say this semester, which had never happened to me before. I have picked the texts for two of the courses. I just need to finalize my choice for the new class. I'm very grateful that due to far more advance notice I will be able to have my course preparations done before the semester begins, which should make my load far more reasonable during the semester next spring than it has been thus far this fall. I'm very thankful to be earning an income again! It's wonderful to make extra payments on our mortgage and know we can afford to go on a vacation in 2018.

11. Flag football season is almost done. We just have two weeks left. The kids have been exposed to a new sport, which is good. Paul has come home much earlier on Saturdays because of flag football, which is wonderful, but I'm looking forward to a break from games on Saturdays until the basketball games start in January. Sometimes we aren't able to do other things (such as a bone dissection at the Children's Museum one Saturday morning this month) due to flag football, plus sometimes it's nice just to stay at home on a Saturday morning!

12. Oliver is doing a much better job of learning the songs for the kids' choir. Hopefully he'll do a much better job when they sing in church on October 22. Nadia has a small solo in the song they're singing that morning.

13. We are currently reading our longest chapter book ever - it's a little over 500 pages long! In the first 9 days we had the book from the library we read over 300 pages. I probably will need to renew it as I don't know if I can read 500+ pages out loud to them in 14 days. :) It's the fourth (final) book of a series, and we are sad it's drawing to a close. Ian is hoping the author will write a prequel. We shall see!

14. Nadia and Oliver have had a cold since Thursday morning. Thankfully thus far Paul, Ian, and I haven't caught it. Praying that continues to be the case and also that Oliver and Nadia feel better soon.