I had a bad week last week, but I am convinced that this week is going to be better!
I’ve been out and about enjoying the amazing fall colors and trees and leaves as much as possible, and will have some images and stories to share about that soon. It is my favorite season of the year, and right now the trees are at their very best. I love being outside.
There was a potluck at church a little over a week ago. In my family, a potluck at church meant : run, run, as fast as you can! Potlucks were not popular in my family at all. We avoided them whenever possible. In Dr. Peds’ family, everyone lived for potlucks at church, where you got to sit down and have interesting conversations with people and try every kind of casserole available, and your mother was thrilled she didn’t have to worry about lunch. When there is an upcoming potluck announced at my church, I make a quick mental note, and then promptly forget about it. Since potlucks make me feel extremely uncomfortable (Will my food be good? Will I have to make conversation with people? Will I find something to eat that isn’t comprised of a lot of weird food combinations all mixed together?) I don’t really ever feel bad about forgetting to bring food and then as a result missing the potluck and taking all my kidlets home where it is much easier to manage lunch in the first place. However, it turns out that my kidlets have inherited the potluck gene from the paternal side of their heritage. When Mr. Sneaky Pants saw the announcement that there was a potluck that morning in church before the service started and then realized that I forgot to bring food and we’d have to go home to eat, he started crying big tears of sadness. That prompted Dr. Peds to go out and purchase a bucket of chicken to bring to the potluck so we could all stay. The kidlets didn’t eat any of the chicken. Instead they devoured every kind of casserole that incorporated red sauce that they could locate in the serving line. I tried not to watch them eat and made my husband clean their faces when they were done.
Given the fierce rivalry between the two schools, It occurred to me as I left my car for a hike at Bagley Nature Center on the UMD campus that it might not be the best place to wear the ratty old UND Medical School sweatshirt I tossed on along with pajama pants. Luckily I did not meet any thugs in the forest.
I took pictures of family friends last week, and they introduced me to the neatest candy shop just a bit up the North Shore at Knife River. Somehow I managed to get there three different times in one week, and my experience was delicious each time. In fact I bought some of the most amazing peanut butter cups I have ever tasted in my life to mail to my mother who is also a fan of peanut butter cups. They were so good I ate all of hers and mine. Clearly I have no ability to resist the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Sorry mom. The candy shop is now one of my favorite local “rustic” places. It’s old fashioned and terribly fun. The kidlets and Dr. Peds were fans too.
The transition into our school schedule has gone really very smoothly this year, which I am extremely grateful for. I’m transitioning to a different teaching schedule this fall, which has both positive and not quite so positive aspects and is a bit of a change in how I lay out my week. I think it will be fine once I get a little more used to it.
I love my job so much! It is so neat to be able to work with students longitudinally over consecutive years and get to see them grow and mature and improve. It’s so much fun to remember how they sounded a few years back and compare it to their progress now. I love watching fine motor skills develop and musicianship develop, and most of all, the ability to focus on long and difficult projects grow and grow. Plus, I just have so many students with neat personalities. I love spending time with them every week.
I’m working on getting ready for preschool music class at the assisted living centers. I’m super excited about all the farm music we are going to be singing and all the imagining we are going to do. Mr. Trouble on Feet is going to have so much fun.
Speaking of Mr. Trouble on Feet, unknown to me, when I left to walk the big kids to church last Wednesday night, he escaped from the house. Dr. Peds was finishing up mowing the lawn and didn’t see him take off after me, carrying his shoes, in the direction of the church. The tyke was missing for about 20 minutes, and Dr. Peds was frantically searching the house and neighborhood. He even stopped all the construction equipment on the next street over to ask if they’d seen him, and was searching in holes and everything. It turns out a bicyclist found him in the middle of our street and took him to the Montessori school where they called the police and kept a lookout for frantic parents. When they saw Dr. Peds they waved him down and he got Mr. Trouble on Feet back before the police arrived and I arrived back from church, wondering why no one had picked me up to go to small group like we had planned. Needless to say, we felt like parents of the year around here. Luckily people were mostly very understanding. It was a might stressful.
We ARE going to that candy shop the next time I come, I could almost taste it. Hey watch out for trouble on feet, now he knows how to leave you are going to have to be extra careful he will take off all the time. I knkow I used to do that to Gramma Jan, and boy did she get upset.
![web analytics](https://c.statcounter.com/<!-- Start of StatCounter Code --> <script type=\"text/javascript\"> var sc_project=5565910; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_partition=60; var sc_click_stat=1; var sc_security=\"0e7adf24\"; </script> <script type=\"text/javascript\" src=\"http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js\"></script><noscript><div class=\"statcounter\"><a title=\"wordpress hit counter\" href=\"http://www.statcounter.com/wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"statcounter\" src=\"http://c.statcounter.com/5565910/0/0e7adf24/1/\" alt=\"wordpress hit counter\" ></a></div></noscript> <!-- End of StatCounter Code -->/0/var sc_security=\"0e7adf24\"; /0/)
One Comment
Robin
We ARE going to that candy shop the next time I come, I could almost taste it. Hey watch out for trouble on feet, now he knows how to leave you are going to have to be extra careful he will take off all the time. I knkow I used to do that to Gramma Jan, and boy did she get upset.