Beethoven and decisions

Lately we've been checking out DVDs from the library of movies the kids have never seen before. Two that recently saw were Babe and Beethoven. Beethoven (the movie about the St. Bernard dog) will always be memorable to me because it was the first movie I saw in a theater. Although we got a VCR when I was in middle school and had watched movies on tv (such as the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights), we weren't allowed to enter a movie theater. I graduated from college one month after I turned 20 years old, and that summer I started my master's degree at a university in Virginia. While in graduate school that summer, I went with my suitemates to the theater for the first time. It was a nerve wracking experience for me. I literally thought God might strike me dead just for walking into the building. Once I got over the trauma of entering the building, I did really enjoy the movie. I should add that somewhere along the way (when I was an adult), my dad started going to see movies with my brother, and sometimes we all go see one together at Christmas (ex. Star Wars).

Last spring I only signed Nadia and Ian up for the 2019 season of Upward Basketball because the first two years of team sports for Oliver (basketball, soccer, and flag football) seemed like a complete waste of time and money because he mostly just stood on the field/court and wasn't actually a contributing team member in any fashion. Taking him to a practice 1-2 times a week plus 1 game a week is too big of a time commitment if he's not really going to try. When I reminded him of this recently, he objected and said he really wanted to play basketball and promised to run and try to make a basket, etc. He has matured quite a bit in the last year so I signed him up this week (cost a bit more than if I had signed him up in the spring). Hopefully he will be a contributing member of the team this year! I wish that two of the kids could be on the same team, but since they are each two grade levels apart that's not possible. I am reminding myself though that we used to do three seasons a year of games on Saturdays (two of soccer and one of basketball) and now we're down to just one season when we have three games every Saturday.

On Monday Paul and I made a bigger decision. They are just starting to work on the summer and fall schedules so I haven't been informally asked yet (and a form offer wouldn't happen until probably May), but it is very helpful for me to know what my answer will be when they ask (I figure the latest they'll ask is in January). Paul thought I should work 50% (two math methods courses). I was asking if he thought I should work 25% (one night class), 50% (two afternoon classes), or 75% those two put together. This semester my two math classes are from 8:00-10:45 on T/TH. In the spring they will be from 2:00-4:45 T/TH. I am going to ask if they could be from 2:00-4:45 both semesters next school year. If I only teach those classes I would be gone from home from 12:00-5:30 two days a week. This means I would be able to homeschool my kids five days a week with the exception of if we had a field trip on a Tuesday or Thursday that would last past 12pm then Paul would need to take them. I'm very grateful that we have made this decision together. There are downsides to this choice such as I won't be eligible for orthodontic coverage for my kids. I would have been eligible the ten years I was FT at this university, but the kids didn't need braces during those ten years. My timing is off, but even that is not enough to convince me to work FT. If I could be FT without having any student teachers, I might be making a different choice. Thus far I haven't been given any online courses. I had taught several different online courses when I was there previously. Maybe I'll be able to teach an online version of the math class this summer? Considering I was at 125% last spring and this fall, 50% will be a drastic reduction. My working PT will enable us to have the money in the coming years to replace our roof, replace our minivan, etc. Now to decide what to do about Bible study. The kids (primarily Nadia and Oliver) really like going to BSF on Monday nights. I'm not a huge fan. I prefer the inductive Bible studies at our church. I will probably sign up for a study at our church starting next fall, but I am not sure what to do from December through May. We are going to keep going to BSF through November 19. Life is full of SO many decisions!!!