Rain, rain, go away!

Ruth teaching 32 kids in K-2 on Sunday morning.

We have had a LOT of rain the last five days. Usually we don't hear anything from Camp Susque during the week of camp aside from seeing some pictures that they post on Facebook. This week we've received emails from the camp director and more detailed posts on FB because they realize some parents might be concerned about their daughters' safety. The camp is near Lycoming Creek, but thankfully the camp is on high ground and shouldn't be impacted by any flooding. Various roads have been closed in our county and neighboring counties. Thus far our sump pump is keeping our basement dry. Oliver donned his bathing suit and some boots and had fun jumping in very large puddles in our neighbor's back yard.  One of the neighbor boys was kayaking around that same "lake" this evening. Hopefully Nadia is having a good week despite the wet weather. The footwear she took included tennis shoes, sandals, flip flops, and water shoes. I wish we had also packed her rain boots! Hopefully in future years I'll remember to check the weather forecast before we pack. I didn't do that, and if I had done so I'm pretty sure I would have had her wear rain boots when we took her to camp on Saturday. Tomorrow it's supposed

to be warmer (highs in the low 80s) and DRY. Knoebels and Hershey Park were closed on Monday, open on Tuesday, and both of them are closed again today. Our local Christian radio station has an event at Knoebels once each summer, and that was supposed to take place this Friday. Due to the flooding they've cancelled the concerts that were to take place from 2-6pm (local groups) but have relocated the national artists to a local church (6:30-9:30pm) on Friday. I'm planning to attend.

Nadia at a hymn sing at Camp Susque

Due to the rain I would have skipped the Kids' Café today, but I knew it was "Christmas in July" so we still went. They have been having the lunches this week in an indoor pavilion at the park. Today they had the place decked out - tablecloths, Christmas decorations, Christmas carols playing in the background, some adults wearing elf costumes, etc. They served the kids rolls, turkey, mashed potatoes, grapes, oranges, and home made cookies (chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and brownies). The craft today was making a birdseed feeder with a pinecone and peanut butter. The police department provided toys (games, coloring books, dolls, etc.) for the children. They were each allowed to pick two toys. They also each received a little bag that contained pencils, candy, bubbles, balls, etc. Friday is "water day." They could just send the kids outside without an umbrella, ha ha! 

Seven girls staying in Shawnee Tent with their counselor (Tia)

Yesterday I found out what my spring 2019 schedule will be at the university. I'll be teaching two math classes from 2:00-4:45 on Tuesdays/Thursdays (compared to 8:00-10:45 this fall) and an assessment class from 5-8pm on Tuesdays (compared to 3:30-4:45 T/Th this fall). I will also have five student teachers both semesters. I prefer the spring schedule to the one this fall as although I almost always get up sometime between 6-7am, I found out last fall that my first preference is not to be out the door before 7am. I noticed that someone else is teaching an online version of the assessment class in the spring. I taught it as an online course from 2010-2012. Oh my goodness I would much rather teach that online class than supervise five student teachers, but as an adjunct I am the lowest on the totem pole. I mentioned the fact that I have taught both the math class and assessment classes as online classes in the past, and the department chair responded that I might be able to teach the math class as an online class next summer. That would be fabulous. I can teach an online class from home in the summer. I taught it while in the hospital in the summer of 2012, which shows you can teach an online class from anywhere as long as you have Wi-Fi. 

Life is full of umpteen decisions - choices of activities for the kids, curriculum, field trip, how to set up my courses at the university, etc. For the first time since 2012, none of our kids will be in a team sport this fall. They did soccer from 2013-2016 and flag football in 2017. I'm planning to sign Nadia up for a gymnastics class on Tuesdays from 5:00-6:30 from August 28 through December 18, which means Paul will be the one taking her there and taking the boys to the library because I won't get home until 5:30pm in the fall and 8:15pm in the spring. I have signed the kids and I up for a Bible study on Monday nights from 6:40-8:00 from September through May. Six of those Monday nights this fall the kids will be in a music class at Lycoming College (which is in the same town as the Bible study) from 4:30-5:15. Nadia and Ian will be in a choir (singing in parts, etc.) whereas Oliver will be in the younger music class. I have signed the kids up for Upward basketball, and we're hoping they will also be able to take ice skating lessons. I'll also sign Nadia up for one more gymnastics session in the spring (probably March/April). I will still be singing in the choir (rehearsals are on Wednesday nights), and the kids will still be in AWANA on Wednesday nights. I looked into the various co-op classes in our area and once again decided not to participate. I'm not saying we never will be in a co-op again, but I don't feel it's the best choice for us at this point.

One decision I haven't made yet for the kids is their gym and art class. The Miller Center in Lewisburg is offering a homeschool gym class and you can add an art and 4H class with that on Tuesdays. I was thinking of giving it a whirl for 8 weeks, but Nadia said she'd rather keep going to the homeschool gym class at our church on Fridays. If our church would also offer a homeschool art class that would make the decision easier. I'm also checking into what times/days the Christian school will have art for grades 1, 3, and 5 next year to see if any of those art classes would fit well with the gym class. I'm also considering doing the gym class at our church on Fridays and only taking a four week art class at the Miller Center. The art class there is one that all three kids could join.

Another decision I've been contemplating is whether to attend a conference in Chicago in November. Last January I submitted two conference proposals. Then I found out that I would receive zero funding from the university even though I am FT. I had received funding to attend a conference in New Orleans when I was a FT adjunct years ago at KU, but that's not the case here at BU. The other conference will be in DC, but unfortunately that proposal was rejected. It would have been a lot easier and cheaper to travel to DC. The conference in Chicago is a social studies one, and I'm not even teaching a Social Studies methods course (although I have done so years ago). When I submitted the proposal I did so in part because I thought I'd be applying for a permanent position this fall, but I don't think they are doing a search this year after all (even though three more professors have retired). I was trying to make my resume more current as the last time I spoke at a conference was 2012. So now I am trying to decide if it's worth going to the trouble and expense (airfare, registration fee, etc.) to travel to Chicago to do a presentation *just* to update my resume if I am most likely either going to return to being a SAHM or continue as an adjunct for a few more years.

Paul and I met with the lawyer yesterday whom we first met in 2010 when we did our first wills and power of attorney documents. We added Oliver and made some other changes. I am thankful to have those decisions behind us and hoping we don't need to revise the will for many years. Hopefully these documents won't be needed for at least 30 years, but if I have the same life expectancy as my mom then I have less than 30 years left here on earth. You just never know. I doubt I'll live as long as Paul's grandma; she'll be turning 96 in December!

In light of all the rain we've gotten, I am very glad I mowed last Thursday and weed wacked on Friday. Whenever it dries out, the grass will need mowed again. I've been working on projects indoors in between reading books to the boys and playing games like Trouble, Sorry, and Blokus with them. I've been emptying *everything* from cabinets, the entertainment center, closets, etc. Some stuff is thrown away, some things are moved to different locations, everything is dusted, etc. I also looked through a cookbook today that Margie gave me in January for the instant pot. I am determined to try it out before the fall semester begins.