Week in Review

Last Thursday I finished grading and posted the final course grades for the semester. The Dean offered me a FT job for the next academic year on Thursday night. We were eating dinner when she called so I didn't answer the phone. I was thankful for the job offer but demoralized by what she offered as far as rank/step (also salary). She said I could leave a voicemail or send an email with my response. I wrote her back very early last Friday morning and basically said I'd love to teach again next semester, but could we negotiate the rank/step? I reminded her that I will have been at the university for ten years total, what rank I started at in 2004 and what rank/step I was at in January 2013 when I resigned. I haven't heard any response from her yet. I'm sure they won't put me back where I was in 2013, but I surely hope they won't keep me lower than I started in 2004. It's all the more important because I learned on Saturday afternoon that they didn't request any permanent positions as they had been saying they would for the past nine months. This means there's no way I can be permanent again in August 2019 as I was hoping. What they offer me as far as rank/step might influence how many years I stay there. I don't want to have to be an adjunct for five years, especially if they are cutting my salary by a large margin. I attended graduation on Saturday morning. It was held outside, and it was raining during part of the ceremony (which lasted about 1hr 45 minutes). Thankfully the faculty were under a covering. Many parents went inside and watched a live stream so they could stay dry. I enjoyed giving handshakes and some hugs to students I had in class and some of my student teachers as they walked across the stage. One of the most emotional parts for me was seeing Emma graduate (she was student teaching this semester and then a car accident lead to her being in a coma for one month). She was discharged from the hospital yesterday and is hoping to eventually be able to finish her student teaching. The other part that was emotional for me was when the senior class president (who happened to be an education major) talked about our former department chair who passed away suddenly eleven months ago. We miss you, Charles!

Last Thursday was also the last day of "school" for my three kiddos, and we celebrated twice last week. Last Tuesday was the last day the kids were with the babysitter (while I was meeting with student teachers), and so I decided I'd take the kids out to eat for dinner to celebrate. I gave them the choice of Perkins, Chipotle, and Country Cupboard. The first two were offering teachers a free meal that day, and I had my faculty ID with me in case the kids picked one of those restaurants. I figured there was no chance they'd pick Chipotle, but I knew they like Perkins. Perkins would have been the cheaper option, but they picked Country Cupboard. I had a gift card that I received for my birthday in 2017 for that restaurant, and so we used that (which only covered my meal). We splurged and got the buffet. It's fancier (and more expensive) than Bonanza. The second "celebration" was an all day field trip on Friday. I had invited our babysitter and her boys to join us. I hope they join us for more field trips in the future! Usually I do those by myself, and it was wonderful having another adult to talk to during the 4 hours we spent in the van (round trip). We drove to Lancaster and toured the Herr House. that was built in 1719.  They had 4.5 hours of activities planned for school groups and also 30 minutes for lunch. We also toured a longhouse and did a variety of activities. The weather was absolutely gorgeous that day! When we got home, I started mowing the lawn after we ate dinner. Paul has been coming home from work around 7:30pm most days, and he forgot he had promised to come home earlier so he could take the kids to the Art Show at the Christian school. I had forgotten to remind him that morning so it was partially my fault. Anyhow this meant I didn't finish mowing the lawn, and I needed to get back in the car and take the kids to the art show. Three pieces of Nadia and Ian's art work were on display. I now have their clay creations on the fireplace mantle and have hung two of their pieces of artwork on our walls.

After graduation on Saturday morning (I had to be there at 8:00AM), I drove directly to Knoebels to meet Paul and the kids. I was dubious in light of how it had rained during graduation, but we had free handstamps for the day. Thankfully it didn't start raining until almost 6pm, and the sun even peeked through enough at one point that we shed our coats for a little bit! I was really tired in light of the field trip the day before and the fact I  hadn't been sleeping well for several days due to back pain, the low offer for my salary, etc. In hindsight, I shouldn't have ridden any rides because  when I woke up on Sunday morning, I was in so much pain I was crying, and I couldn't even get out of bed without assistance. I never made it back to sleep after waking up at 4:30am. Usually I absolutely love to be at an amusement park with my kids, but a headache, backache, exhaustion, and emotional distress interfered with my ability to find any pleasure in being there that day. Thankfully the kids still had a great time!

Sunday was Mother's Day. The day that I think will forevermore be bittersweet for me. I think of happy thoughts about my own Mom, and then I grieve her absence. I am incredibly thankful for my three miracles, and then I think of all the women out there who long to be moms and for a variety of reasons it hasn't happened yet (or maybe all their babies are in Heaven). I still cringe when I hear a Pastor ask all the Moms to stand. I want to scream at the top of my lungs - NO! STOP! Don't do it! But instead I just pray for all the women who are single and longing for marriage and motherhood and all the women dealing with infertility, etc. And instead of smiling at the thought that I finally can stand, I usually have a few tears streaming down my cheeks as I still remember how painful this day was for me for many years. The choir stands during the first 30-45 minutes of the service so ALL the women and men in the choir were standing when they asked the Moms in the congregation to stand. Paul's parents joined us at church, and while we were at church during the second service, Paul went to the grocery store and then came home and started cooking. It was very sweet of him. I don't ever recall him doing this before on Mother's Day. The only problem was that he wasn't done cooking until at 1:15, and we had tickets to see Miracle Worker (about Helen Keller) in Williamsport at 2:00. We ate part of our meal and then hurried out the door. We managed to arrive on time, and we all enjoyed the show. In addition to celebrating Mother's Day, it was also Paul's parents 51st anniversary. When we arrived back home, we finished eating the meal we had begun a few hours earlier. Paul's parents took our kids home with them as we had planned for several weeks for them to spend May 14 at their house.

I have had very few days over the past almost 10 years where I didn't have a child with me for the majority of the day (and I was at home). The other times it has happened I have tried to get SO much work done - might be painting a room or freezer cooking many meals, for example. This time I was torn between trying to get a lot done and part of me just wanted to stay in bed all day and either cry, nap, or read a book. I ended up starting the day slowly by reading (would you believe over the past 9 days I read two novels?), and then I did get some work done - finished mowing the lawn, laundry, dishes, straightening up the basement, etc., but I didn't exactly light the world on fire. I have pushed myself so hard for the past nine months I just didn't have it in me to work like crazy that day.

There were two things on our agenda for Tuesday - voting in the primary election (just me because Paul is registered as an independent) and having a play date. My kids wanted their babysitter's kids to see their toys, guinea pigs, bedrooms, etc. So they spent about 2.5 hours at our house on Tuesday afternoon. We also started some of our summer routines. We are still whittling away at their spelling lists. As of today Ian is down to 10 more words, and I think Nadia has about 24 left to master. We've started reading more picture books (at least 3-4 per day) in addition to continuing reading of chapter books. We finished The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic this morning and started a book about Pompeii at lunch today. This was our first of fifteen weeks of summer vacation. It feels like it just flew by, and so I know the next fourteen weeks will be done before I know it. I haven't started with Oliver's summer reading program. I really need to get in gear with that ASAP. Ian and Nadia only spent 20 minutes per day on the iPad. I gave them several choices as to how to earn a turn such as reading, math flashcards, practicing the piano, practicing the recorder, etc. If they want a second turn, they MUST write in their journal. They can earn a maximum of three turns a day (60 minutes total). Since neither of them are keen on writing (sadly) they opted to only earn one turn a day. Ian practiced the piano every day, and one day he also read some of his Paddington Bear book. Nadia read most days, and she practiced the recorder another day. Right now she's reading the second Wonder book (Auggie and Me).

On Wednesday we were at home in the morning, and then after an early lunch we drove to Mill Hall (about 45 minutes away) to see a play about the stories Brother's Grimm wrote, and then we had a wonderful private (free) hour long tour of a fish hatchery. We liked the golden trout the best. I wish I had brought my camera! I am so far behind in editing and posting pictures that I didn't take my camera to Knoebels on Saturday or to our field trips this week. The pictures in this post are from our trip last Friday to Hans Herr house. On Wednesday evening Nadia and Ian had a rehearsal at church, and because Paul didn't get home before we left, Oliver and I just sat and waited for them while they rehearsed for 75 minutes. The play land was closed unfortunately.

On Thursday we were at home most of the day. We spent about 90 minutes at the annual Emergency Preparedness Day at a FCC less than 10 minutes from our house. We saw a demonstration with a search and rescue dog, watched a breaching demonstration (how they would get through a metal door in a prison), saw mounted police, etc. One of the six LARGE horses that the mounted police were riding was named Oliver. I took a pic with my phone since I hadn't brought my good camera. I'll have to download the photos from my phone sometime. We also made a stop at the grocery store.

Today Nadia and Ian had art class, and all three had gym class from 10:00-11:30 and a dress rehearsal for their musical from 4:00-6:30pm. My main project for the day was preparing for Nadia's surprise birthday party. About a month ago I invited four girls to her party. All four moms said their daughters could attend. I recently tried to invite a fifth girl, but the date didn't work for her. Then late on Wednesday night one of the mom's texted me that her daughter wouldn't be coming after all. So I thought three girls were coming, but in fact only two came. Oliver was with me when we bought the paper products and balloon at the dollar store today. Thankfully he didn't spill the beans. We managed to actually surprise her! As they ate pizza at their rehearsal, I had the following foods ready for the party (all favorites of Nadia): Jello jigglers, dirt cake with gummy worms, Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese Doritos, and string cheese. It was an Odd Squad themed party. I had cut and taped Odd Squad things to their cups, party hats, etc. Ms. O (one of the main characters on the show on PBS) loves juice boxes, and so I had plenty of juice boxes as well. I had a couple of Odd Squad activities prepared and also got Nadia a custom made Odd Squad shirt that has her name on the badge. It turns out Bailee also loves the show. Grace had never heard of it, but they watched a couple of episodes tonight (via Amazon Prime). We let the boys stay up until 9pm. We let the girls stay up downstairs until a little past 10pm. They are all in Nadia's room right now, and I am planning on turning off her light at 11pm in light of the fact they have a rehearsal at 9am tomorrow. Hopefully this has been a very special (early) 10th birthday party for my princess! She attended her first sleepover last year, and this was her first time having one at our house.