Nearly Friday

I'm so happy it's nearly Friday. It's been strange to have this whole house to ourselves. Nice in the sense that I don't feel like we're imposing on them, but also hard because we're not in our own place and don't really feel "settled". And, really, we miss them. Kathleen even said "Maddie!" several times the other night. It was so cute. I hope she'll say it again when they get back home.

It was my hope to have an apartment lined up before the Phelans returned home from their trip. That's a little more challenging than I expected. There isn't much to pick from around here. Much of it is subsidised and we wouldn't 'qualify' (nor would I want to, I think!) for those apartments. There are several BEAUTIFUL, brand new complexes that have just opened -- but it's all senior living or assisted living. ARGH!! One place looked convenient since it is about 1/2 way between school and daycare; but a person on staff told me that they aren't the greatest apartments and from their website, they seem awful expensive. Their 2 bedroom apts are 850 sq ft for $650/mo; but Todd found apts that were 1200 sq ft for $690! THOSE are the nice ones -- and the ones with a waiting list. We are thinking about looking for duplexes to rent, but I'm really not sure how many there will be in this town (the population is only 50K. And unlike Appleton, it really IS only 50K. There aren't a lot of suburbs that all melt into it around here....)

I'm also praying that our house sells quickly. The whole process is stressing Todd out, I think. And transitioning Bucky to the Hanson's. We want things to go for them and for him, so it's hard to wait & see how they'll go. I think KPVI really is anxious to get Todd out here -- and, judging from some of their news coverage lately, they sure could USE him!!! But, mostly, I miss him and am more than ready for him to be out here!

Daycare is slowly getting better for K. Stills cries and screams when I drop her off in the mornings but then she plays and is fine. She even gave the asst. director a hug this afternoon. She was acting all shy and clingy when I picked her up this afternoon -- but then she was smiling as we were walking out of the building, so I really do believe that she has fun there. I left her there a lot longer than I had planned because I got busy at work and lost track of time, but that's probably a good thing for her. Still hoping next week goes better. She's eating better and sleeping longer, so I *think* that is a good sign! I think she's fighting off some sort of cold. Still has a runny nose and now is coughing. My poor girl!

My job is great. I spent a big part of the day working on a master schedule because last year some of the teachers who teach "specials" (music, Spanish, PE, etc) barely got a lunch break while other teachers had plenty of 'prep' time during the week. The workload wasn't fair so I tried my best to redo the schedule. I may actually end up teaching LESS (not sure if that's good, though) because many of our 'specials' are in the afternoon. Oh well! We'll see how it goes the first week or two. So far, so good on the teachers' feedback. I'm sure there are bound to be SOME sort of glitches.

More kids are enrolling! We especially need to fill the afternoon PS (3 year olds) and PK (4 year olds) because we're at like 2-4 kids in each class...and that's not really good. I've never seen a Lutheran school struggle to fill classes for little ones! But it's not unusual for the PS to add kids throughout the year. As soon as their child turns 3, parents think, "Maybe I should sign them up for preschool". Nevermind that it's not typically how schools do it. OH well. We'll still take them!

I'm enjoying the chance to get to know most of my staff better. They are so positive and are genuinely willing to try new things. It's so nice. You have NO idea. Well, OK, maybe Jodie can imagine since she was out at St Paul's for VBS this summer!

That's all I have for tonight.

- Tanya