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.

Time vs. Money

This week I started getting up earlier every day, not just on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I *have* to get up earlier than usual. On Tuesday I woke up way too early (3AM) and then when I was still awake at 4AM decided it was better to get up and get something done than just lie awake in bed. I wrote most of my narrative for my performance review. It's due next week. I hadn't written once since 2007 because I had earned tenure in 2008. Tuesday night when I got home at 7:40pm for the first time since we left home at 6:35am, I was only up for about 30 minutes before I went to bed. This meant I went to bed even before Nadia or Ian that night. Wednesday night I went to bed as soon as I got home from choir rehearsal. Thursday night I decided I should stay up a little bit later as my goal was to be in bed by 9:30 each night not before 9pm. I didn't really see Paul for more than one minute on Tuesday or Wednesday. He got home at 8pm on Thursday so we did have a little time to talk that night. Last night he got home at 9pm but by the time he came down from taking his shower and such it was 9:30, and I headed straight to bed. So one downside of me going to bed earlier and getting up earlier is that I will have fewer opportunities to have a conversation with my husband, but this will just be for the next two months. I have no idea how Paul functions on the limited amount of sleep he gets. He got home at 9pm last night, went to bed sometime after I was asleep (no idea when), and then he left at 2AM to go back to work.

Last week I set a goal of exercising for 15-20 minutes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Last week I achieved that goal on Monday and Wednesday and then that plan went by the wayside for ten days until I got back on the elliptical again this morning. Hopefully next week I will do a better job. I really intended to exercise on Monday, and because of that I didn't take my shower in the morning as I usually do because I was going to take it after I exercised. When Paul came home that evening it hit me I had never exercised or even showered that day. He was also surprised to find out that evening I didn't know about the shooting in Las Vegas, but I hadn't been listening to the radio, watching tv (I only watch it once a week - football), or even checking my email or anything like that so I was oblivious. The moral of the story is that I just need to exercise in the morning, even if it means our homeschooling starts a tad later than usual (we usually start at 8:00), or everything else on my to do list will take precedence over exercising.

I definitely was never bored over the past 5 years that I was a stay-at-home mom. I already felt like my schedule was busy enough, but now I've added a FT job and there's a bit too much on my plate. I could give up Bible study and/or choir and use that time to get work done, but I don't want to do that. I keep telling myself it's just for two more months. If I wasn't still working on preparing two new courses, the load would be much more manageable. My first request for next semester didn't involve any new classes, but I ended up agreeing to teach one new class next semester because it fit well with the other two courses. Since I have far more advance notice this time around, I am certain I can have the course preparation completed before the spring semester starts. It looks like I'll be teaching 3 courses from 3:30-7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Two of the classes I've taught before (math methods and an assessment course), and one will be a new one for me (Home, school, and family partnerships). I will also have five student teachers. Because I will be teaching what is technically four different courses (and faculty are only to teach 3 different courses), I'll be paid a little bit more for being on "preparation overload." I plan to drop the kids off at Tab's house at 1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which means I will be able to do most (or possibly all) of their homeschooling with them those days. Paul will pick them up from the babysitter those two days. The unknown is exactly what days/times I'll do my student teaching observations. Thankfully there is a lot of flexibility with those! When I schedule them will partially depend on where they are located geographically.

I have also struggled to complete my Bible study homework and Sunday School homework. I've been getting it done at the last minute, which is not my preference. Last Saturday I brought my Bible study homework in the van thinking I would do it during the flag football games as that's one of my rare moments of "down time" each week, but then I decided not to do that. Today I brought my Sunday School workbook instead and worked on my homework during half-time. That seems like a good plan. I brought my iPad with me when I took the kids to the Crazy Chemistry program at the Children's Museum on Wednesday and to their gym class on Friday. I did get some grading done both days, but I also talked some to other moms. The other Fridays I had stayed out of the gym and sat in the coffee house instead. I got a lot more work done that way, but it was also nice to chat with other homeschooling moms.

Naturally me taking on a FT job has meant giving up some things. I really don't miss Facebook, and I'm reading so many books to prepare my new lectures that I don't miss reading fiction (although that was far more relaxing). I still play a tiny bit of Boggle so I am okay with giving up Words With Friends (Scrabble). I miss having time to play with the kids. I really haven't played with them the past several weeks. I also haven't been reading picture books. I must find a way to get that back into our schedule as poor Oliver is getting the short end of the stick. We read LOTS of books from the library related to what we're studying in science and social studies (which would mean insects and the Romans right now), and we're still reading chapter books during meals (although not as much as usual on Tuesdays and Thursdays since we don't eat breakfast or lunch together those days). I miss field trips. The kids and I had a very enjoyable one this afternoon. We spent two hours at a historical festival less than 10 minutes from our house. The military reenactment was a little scary for Oliver (he thought the soldiers were really dying), but otherwise we had a great time. It's not that we aren't going on any field trips, but we're going on far fewer than usual. I also miss taking the kids' pictures. I sometimes go a full week without picking up my camera. I really miss getting fresh air. Aside from flag football, I'm usually inside all the time. I used to walk the kids to the playground regularly. I really miss that. I went back to work because we needed the money and because I love being a professor. It's been wonderful to have the financial strain taken away, but now the commodity I'm lacking the most is time.

Making horseradish

Paul met us at the football field. He stayed awake for all of Nadia's game, but he slept through part of the boys' game. The sleep deprivation does catch up to him now and then! We only had 2.5 hours with him today because then he went home and then drove to Harrisburg (almost 2 hours away) for his cousin's wedding reception. He was struggling to stay awake on the drive there in the afternoon, but thankfully he made it home safely at 9:30 tonight. I will say that I think in Upward basketball and AYSO soccer the coaches did a better job of letting all the kids touch the ball than in Upward flag football. I know it's their first season, but I admit it was discouraging today (game #6) that still none of our three kids have pulled the flag from a ball carrier. I don't mind that Oliver hasn't been given the ball. The only time he touched it this season was the one game he played center for a few snaps. He basically just stands like a statue on the field so he doesn't deserve the ball in my opinion. But I wish the coaches would give Ian and Nadia at least one play each game where they have the ball. The last two games neither of them had that chance. In the six games thus far Ian was given the ball once on offence (he ran for a few yards before his flag was pulled), and Nadia has been given the ball three times (twice in one game) in six games. The football pics below are from last Saturday. I'll post the ones from today next week.

Making a corn husk doll

Making rope

Three videos

I know some day the kids and I will really appreciate the videos of my children. I wish we had some of my siblings and I when we were growing up. Over the last few days I recorded several videos. I made two of Oliver - one of him reading his very first story and another of him saying John 3:16. Ian has really been enjoying one of his piano songs. He plays it multiple times without me asking him to do so. I took a video of that. I need to take one of Nadia playing the piano. Taking those videos is a bit bittersweet for me, as I always think of my mom, since she taught me how to play the piano and since she loved to hear Nadia play. She never heard Ian play because he started after she passed away. I also took two videos of Ian and Nadia reading, but I did that primarily for my students in the reading class because they'll be learning how to do a running record next week, and I'm going to have them practice doing that assessment with my videos of Ian and Nadia reading. I usually do my gratitude lists on Tuesdays or Thursdays, but here's one on a Saturday.

1. Oliver said two verses at AWANA on Wednesday night. He is off to a good start. Memorizing verses was very difficult for him the past two years, but it seems like it's coming more easily this year. It was crazy hair night. I just messed up Ian's hair (sort of a bad case of bed head), Oliver wore a clown wig, and I put four pigtails in Nadia's hair  (one on each side and two in the back). Oliver is in his first year of Sparks, Ian is in his third (and final) year of Sparks, and Nadia is in her second year of T and T. I have a video below of him reciting John 3:16. I cut Ian's hair today, and the bad hair day look would be much harder to achieve right now.

2. The man who was the janitor on the floor where my office was the first few years I worked at the university (he was later moved to a different building) put a space heater in my office Wednesday night. What a blessing to be in a warm office on Thursday, as my office has been FREEZING cold the past four weeks!

3. Oliver is making progress with reading. The lightbulb hasn't totally clicked on yet, but as seen from the video above (where he was reading a story called Jam), he's starting to read some short "a" words. He's depending too much on the illustrations right now. I remember needing to cover those up with Ian, and I'll likely need to do the same with Oliver.

4. All three kids have been doing jigsaw puzzles lately! Nadia has been doing one almost every day.

5. I've really been enjoying my new dresses that I bought this summer. The first five weeks of the semester I wore a dress to work every day (which amounted to 9 days of work since I missed the first day due to my contract not being issued yet). I have sometimes gone an entire  year without wearing a dress even once so this is a big change. I've worn skirts far more often the last ten years. I bought one for myself at a yard sale today. I haven't tried it on yet so we shall see if I actually keep it or not, but for $1 it seemed

worth the gamble.

6. Yesterday and today our town had their annual community yard sale. Due to homeschool gym class yesterday morning and flag football games today, I didn't spend as much time shopping at the yard sales as I usually do each September, but we did shop for at least one hour both mornings. I had a list of things I was looking for, and I got almost everything on the list including black Sunday shoes for Nadia, leotards for Nadia for gymnastics, cleats for Nadia, pants for Oliver, plastic containers for their sandwiches so we don't use as many sandwich bags each week, light coat for Nadia, etc. Of course we picked up a few things that were not on the list. Oliver spent his $5 that he got for his birthday on a Wii game. Nadia and I also stopped at Sears on the way home from flag football today, and I got two bathing suits, one swim shirt, one dress + necklace, and a pair of shorts for a grand total of $7.34 which was in some cases cheaper than yard sale prices! I don't think I've ever made so many trips to Sears in one year before let alone in one month before, but they keep sending me great coupons, and we pass the Sears on Tuesdays and Saturdays due to flag football. I'm sure I won't head up there very often once flag football is over.

7. I got to talk to my sister, Yvonne, on Thursday morning. I'm thankful for technology that makes it possible to keep in touch even though she lives in Turkey.

8. Paul's parents were able to join us for the flag football games today. What a difference one week can make! The temperature was 30 degrees cooler today than last Saturday.

9. The kids had their third trip to the new Children's Museum in nine days on Friday after gym class and a trip to the library. I was able to get work done on my laptop while they played.

Thankful Tuesday

1. Last Tuesday evening I made a quick trip to Sears during the boys' football practice. I bought Oliver a Spider-Man shirt and short set that he had seen and asked for earlier (in size 6 for next summer) and a gorgeous dress for Nadia for the future. The original prices totaled $80, but I paid $6.54. I did even better on Saturday on our way home from Nadia's football game. I got Nadia two more dresses for $2.72 (original prices totaled $84), and one of those dresses even included a necklace! The four dresses were four different sizes so some of them she won't wear for awhile. I am definitely shopping at Sears more than I used to now that JCPenney has closed the stores in our area. Even though the temperature got up to 90 on Sunday, she wore one of the new dresses, and she looked so pretty in it! She had fun picking them out.

2.We are thrilled that the new Children's Museum has opened about 15-20 minutes from our house! I took the kids there on Wednesday, and Paul took them on Saturday afternoon.

3. I could say it almost every week, but we love the public library. Lately we've been checking out many books about insects, the Roman Empire, Barbarians, etc. We also have been checking out DVDs about insects, the Chronicles of Narnia, etc. Paul and I recently watched the movie "The Case for Christ." It was excellent! On Saturday Paul went there to return some things en route to the children's museum only to discover they were having a Maker event. That was totally coincidental. Normally I carefully scour the library's calendar for upcoming events, but that is one of many things that I haven't been doing lately since I've gone back to work FT. The kids enjoyed the robot, Legos, 3D printer, etc. Plus since Paul took them to these two places, I had three hours to get some work done at home without any interruptions, which was a blessing.

4. On Wednesday night we had our first choir rehearsal for the new season, and we sang on Sunday morning. We had some new people join our choir, and the attendance was great the first night. Hoping that continues! I love singing in a choir, and it was great to have that resume.

5. On Thursday night Paul came home early from work to pick the kids up from the babysitter. She also kept them for one extra hour so that I could attend a social. Some members of my department met for dinner that night. It made for a very long day for me (I was gone from home from 6:35AM to 8:15PM), but it was great to reconnect with former colleagues and meet one new one. I did have a few moments in my office that afternoon where I thought about skipping it because I missed my kids so badly, but I tried to just focus on getting as much work done as possible.

6. The weather has been unseasonably warm lately. Thank goodness I didn't pack away the kids' shorts yet because the temps have been in the 80's again (even the high 80's!). It's warmer now than it was in August. Although it means we'll have a higher electric bill than usual since we're still using air conditioning, it does mean it's a lot more comfortable weather for watching the flag football games on Saturday mornings. Paul looked really tired on Friday night (he had gotten up for work at 1:20AM that day), and I remembered the previous Saturday he had driven for 2 hours to be at work for only 1 hour. So I suggested he take Saturday off if he was planning to attend the boys' 9AM game. He did take the day off! What a blessing!

7. I got myself a new welcome mat last Tuesday. I had a $5 off coupon for Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and I used it for a mat that was on clearance. Most of my welcome mats are 9 years old, and last year I was wanting to replace them but felt we couldn't afford that "splurge." It's so nice not to worry about small expenditures like that any more. Similarly my 21 year old can opener wasn't fully functional, and I bought a new one on September 6. Now if Paul could just install it because I've been using the old fashioned (hand powered, non-electric) kind since September 6 because Paul threw the old one out and the new one hasn't been installed yet. Unfortunately I am not handy enough to do it
myself.

8. We got a new refrigerator last August, and you're supposed to replace the filter every 6 months. We hadn't replaced it at all because I saw they cost $40 each. Thankfully I found a much cheaper price, and now we have a new filter. I paid less than $15 for two filters so we're set for a year!

9. It was nice to be invited to the field hockey game last Wednesday even though the team my student is on didn't win.

10. Gym class is such a blessing to me these days. I get 90 minutes to work while they are in gym class, and each class costs me $10 for all three kids. They played flag football two Fridays ago and soccer last Friday. I bring my laptop to the church. I wish my laptop was smaller, but it gets the job done. I got a big one because Paul wanted a large screen, and he has hardly ever touched this laptop. Whenever this one dies, I am getting one based on my preferences, not his. Live and learn!

11. I joined a parenting Sunday School class being taught by the Pastor's wife. It started two days ago and will last for a couple of months.

12. I'm thankful that several of our neighbors have kids close in age to my kids. They have fun playing with kids in our neighborhood!

13. The kids are having fun with flag football. Nadia's coach has moved her practice to 6PM. What a blessing!!! This means all three kids have practice at 6PM on Tuesdays. We had trouble getting there at 5PM last Tuesday as I hit some traffic coming from the university to the babysitter's house. With a 6:00 practice we'll have time to eat a quick dinner at home before going to flag football practice. Nadia was given the ball twice when on offense. Ian was given the ball once when on offense. Nadia's coach said he was going to try to help her get one TD before the end of the season. That would be very exciting! Ian and Oliver both took some turns playing center. The boys' team lost by one point. Nadia's team won by a large margin. The Panthers' (boys) record is 1-3, and the Chargers'  (Nadia) record is 3-1. There weren't any boys playing on either team when the boys played. There was one girl (Elsa) on the team playing against the Chargers. The season is half done. When it's done we're going to switch gears and the kids will have eight weeks of gymnastics (something that is possible only because I have a paycheck because we hadn't been able to afford it lately).

14. Paul helped me with some yardwork on Sunday by trimming some bushes. Nadia has started helping me do the laundry.

15. I have adjusted to my bifocals!

Week Five

This week is the fifth of the semester. Not counting the week we have off for Thanksgiving, there are fourteen weeks of class plus one week of final exams. After this week is done, we will have completed one third of the semester. I am determined this week to do a better job of exercising and completing my Bible study homework. We're meeting tonight, and I didn't start my homework until yesterday, and I finished it today. Two weeks ago I did it all in one day. I don't want to do it all in one or two days before we meet again in two weeks. When Paul was a professor, in a typical week I ran at least 16 miles a week (four miles a day, four days of the week). I haven't gotten much exercise at all since he went back to the family business. We bought an elliptical in July so that I would be able to exercise at home while he's at work. I definitely prefer getting my exercise outside, but using the elliptical is definitely better than doing nothing. I have been doing it probably at most two times a week over the past four weeks of the semester, and I'm only doing it for about 16-18 minutes a day. My goal for this week is to do it four times. I'm going to try to do it on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings prior to my shower. That will only amount to about one hour a week, which is drastically less than the four hours a week I was doing two years ago, but one hour a week is more than I have been doing. Once that becomes a habit, I can start increasing the time each day.

My goal this week is to not push myself so hard that I end up with bloodshot eyes, a fever, or a headache from trying to get too much done in one day. We shall see whether I succeed with that. One important step in making that possible is for me to go to bed around 9:30 each night. Sleep is important. Paul might be able to function on four hours of sleep a night, but I can't. I also have given up on the notion of having all my lesson plans and PowerPoints completed for the semester even though I've never taught before without already having them done before the semester began. Right now I have two courses (of three) ready for next week. I hope to complete the lesson plans and PowerPoints for the reading class next week in the next couple of days. I am pleased with what I was able to accomplish today - picked up some apples from the ground (believe me right now I wish we owned ZERO apple trees), helped Nadia do a load of laundry and clean three bathrooms, did a load of dishes, cooked dinner, vacuumed the family room, homeschooled three children, graded one assignment for one course (involved me reading about 90 discussion board posts), exercised, finished my Nehemiah homework for tonight's study, registered the kids for the next session of gymnastics, helped Nadia clean the guinea pig cage, and put some time into the lesson plan and PowerPoint for the reading class next week. It's been a busy day, but I haven't felt overwhelmed. Progress!

Working Momma

In reality all moms are "working moms," but that term is used to describe moms who are earning an income. I had been unemployed for 4.5 years when I went back to work last month. My mom was a stay-at-home wife during her entire marriage. I had always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but since Paul was an unemployed, full-time graduate student from January 2005- January 2013, I needed to continue to work after I became a mom in 2008. Had I been a principal when I was pregnant with Nadia, I can guarantee that I wouldn't have agreed to continue working, and Paul wouldn't have been able to earn his doctorate. The reason I was willing to continue working was because I was only required to be on campus 17 hours a week (if FT). Also, I was able to teach at night and teach online courses from home. I also was able to work PT some semesters (50% or 75%). Although I enjoyed being home with the kids, I missed teaching and was hoping at some point I could be a PT adjunct professor whether that was teaching an online class, a face-to-face evening class, or supervising a few student teachers.

The reasons I longed to work part-time included: I love being a teacher educator, I missed the intellectual stimulation, I missed having regular opportunities to talk with adults, I like earning a paycheck, and I like having a reason to get dressed up more than just for church on Sundays. The fact that we were struggling to live off of Paul's income greatly increased my desire to be employed. I love being in the classroom again and relieving our financial strain. I am thankful I can have a FT job and still homeschool my children at least three days a week. It looks like with my schedule for the spring I might be able to homeschool the kids all five days because I will be teaching two afternoon/evenings instead of two morning/afternoons. Paul is planning to come home earlier from work those two days next semester to pick the kids up from the babysitter. This means we won't spend as much money on babysitting next semester, and more importantly it means the kids will get more time with Daddy, which is a definite plus of me going back to work. My going back to work is also resulting in the kids learning to become more independent in a few areas such as Ian learning to make (or pack) his own lunch and Nadia learning how to do a load of laundry. I paid her $1 on Friday to move clothes from the washer to the dryer and then separate the laundry into five piles (one for the each of us) and fold everything. She is planning to do our laundry for the next several weeks with me paying her $1 per load. She earns some money and learns a new skill.

Naturally there are also some disadvantages with me going back to work. Being away from the kids for at least nine hours two days a week is hard for me at times. After being at home with them for five years, I have moments when I am really missing them to the point I could start crying, but I try not to think about them too much while I'm at work. I also know they miss me. Ian has expressed this the most. Thankfully they really like being at the babysitter's house. They love her kids, her dogs, etc. Even when I am at home I have less time for them because I need to email students, grade assignments, write lesson plans, make PowerPoints, etc. I feel a stab in my heart sometimes when they ask me to do something with them, and I have to say no because I need to get work done. And I have been rather overwhelmed over the past month, primarily because two of the courses are brand new for me and I had such little notice before the semester began. At times I have felt that I might have bloodshot eyes, a headache, and a fever for the next three months (all signs that my body gives me to let me know that I am pushing myself too hard). I'm hoping this particular negative is just a temporary one. That is why I'm doing things like paying Nadia to do our laundry to try to make my load more manageable. Also my exhaustion and additional responsibilities have meant I am taking the kids on far fewer field trips than I did the past few years.

Members of the department have formed a committee to work on a request for one or more permanent positions for the department. Approximately nine faculty have resigned, died, or retired over the past five years, and none of them have been replaced. Most of the faculty in the department are teaching 5-6 classes, and 4 classes is considered full-time (they are on overload or double overload and are paid extra). At least two more professors in the department are planning to retire in May, and there are at least two others planning to retire in the next year or two. The department will definitely at the very least be needing more adjuncts, but they are hoping the administration approves their request to search for at least one permanent person (which could be me). If that happens, I hope and pray the administration will allow me to come back as a tenured, Associate Professor as I had been since 2008.

The question is, do I absolutely want to go back to a permanent position? I would have more say about my schedule and would be able to teach online classes during the summer and also during the winter break. Teaching online courses is definitely wonderful, as I can do it from home. I would have more expectations for service and scholarship. I have already been looking into what conference proposals to submit so that I can present at a conference in 2018. How much time I put into getting published would in part depend on whether I wanted to go up for promotion to the final rank (Full Professor). It would only take about two more years of me working FT for us to be able to pay off the mortgage on our house. Without the mortgage it would be a little easier to live off of Paul's income. I would be making enough that Paul wouldn't need to have a job. He could stay at home, but I don't think he would make that choice. Basically I could possibly have three choices - go back to staying at home, continue as an adjunct (either PT or FT), or go back to a permanent position. If they actually conduct a search for a permanent position, I think at this moment I would pursue it, but I want to make sure that would be the correct decision for our family. I wouldn't even be considering this if it was a job that required me to be there forty hours a week, but considering I can do a lot of it from home, I am seriously contemplating that option. If I did accept a permanent position, then I think we could move closer to the university which would shorten my commute and also Paul's commute. The houses in the area we had considered before are more expensive than in our town, but we would be able to afford that price increase if I had a FT job. We shall see what the future holds! I never thought I would be working FT while homeschooling three kids in K, 2nd, and 4th grades, but life has many unexpected twists and turns. Although I have felt overwhelmed the past four weeks, I will say I am doing two things that I love very much - teaching at the university and homeschooling my three beloved children.

New Children's Museum and Field Hockey

Last Saturday the new children's museum in our area (about 15 minutes from our house) had their grand opening. They are closed on Mondays, and I'm at work when they're open on Tuesdays, so we made our first trip there on Wednesday morning. I let the kids skip a couple of subjects that day so we would have time to go to the museum and the library. The museum is more of a classic children's museum whereas the one in Bloomsburg that we've gone to for several years has more science and history exhibits than many children's museums. Nadia's favorite exhibit was a mock Weis grocery store. Many children's museums have a pretend grocery store, but this was the first one that had functioning scanners/ computers. I was stunned when the item and price showed up on the screen after they scanned it. They could also select the correct produce if it was something that couldn't be scanned. The museum is more spacious and more money was definitely spent on the exhibits than the one in Bloomsburg, but I get the impression that every event will cost extra at the

Lewisburg museum, and also they are only targeting preschoolers thus far with their programming. So we'll enjoy the museums for different reasons - the Lewisburg one will be a fun place to play when we're in Lewisburg for some other reason (ex. going to the library). Also, they said in the future they plan to join ACM, and that would be helpful for us when we're visiting children's museums in other cities/states that aren't a part of ASTC. The Bloomsburg one offers wonderful programs for the general public and also some targeted for homeschoolers that are free if you're a member. So we'll enjoy the Bloomsburg for the programs more than the exhibits, and there's very little overlap between the exhibits at the two museums. The Bloomsburg one is twice as far away from our home, but I plan to renew our membership the first week of October (it expired the end of August as it was a birthday gift for Oliver from my dad in 2016), and we usually go at least twice a month.

On Wednesday the field hockey team at my university had a faculty appreciation game. The players were each supposed to invite two faculty members to the game. One of my students in my 8:00 class invited me, and so I took the kids to see the game. Oliver was totally uninterested, and so I decided we'd leave at half-time. It was the first time the kids saw a field hockey game, and I'm not certain if I ever saw one in person myself prior to this.

On Wednesday night Oliver said John 3:16 and thus was given his very first Sparks book and Sparks vest. He was very proud! Choir practices resumed for me on Wednesday. This meant we had three very full days in a row as we were gone from home from 6:30AM to 7:30PM on Tuesday, and I was gone from home from 6:30AM to 8:15PM yesterday. I was grateful that aside from homeschool gym class this morning, we were home the rest of the day.