Well, hello there, October...

Wow. The time, she sure does fly. Let's see what's been going on around here.
After the first weird week at school, we rolled into a normal year. Our normalcy hit a little bump last week with a small epidemic of three different family suicides within our district. Follow that with the news yesterday of a substantial layoff at a major employer in the district, and to say the mood is a little gloomy around the building is an understatement. We soldier on, though. The kids are pretty resilient, and the staff is first rate.
I got out to Meander a little this weekend. In the past I've always worked these weekends, so it was kinda fun to be out and about for a bit with all the other artsy farts, wishing I had more money to spend.
I treasure my weekends at the moment. All too soon, my Saturdays will be claimed by Knowledge Bowl meets, and then, pending school board approval, speech meets. I think common speculation is that I'm a bit cracked to take on so many extracurriculars, but being part-time gives me a little more time to devote to such things, and the extracurriculars pad my itty bitty paycheck just a titch.
Thing 1 is taking a recreational vehicle class at school, and has made the Purple Ride her project for the term. She transferred to my school this year, and frequently pops in on her way to her class across the hall from me, smelling of motor oil and happily mussed up. What a kid.
Our borrowed daughters for the year seem to be settling in. The Swiss Miss is quite busy with volleyball. Our VIetnamese daughter plans to try basketball. I, of course, made both daughters at my school try Knowledge Bowl for the season, and from the interaction I see there, they both seem to be fitting in just fine.
Now I'm off to plan and set up for my week. I'll talk to you in another month!

One down...

...15 to go.
Tuesdays just got longer. The 8:00 am class is moving to 7:15 to accommodate some history majors who have a conflict with one of their other required courses. That puts me on the road at 6:15 to have plenty of wiggle room for coffee stops, pee breaks, etc. Getting out of the house early is a small blessing. I seem to get hung up when we're all trying to leave at the same time. I can be up and out before they get started. I spent my very long break getting my online Alcohol awareness class straightened out, passwords and the like, as it is through Lake Superior College. Then I spent some time online and found an online Brit Lit survey that the department head will accept as a substitution, if I switch to the 3 credit Brit authors course, and out of the 1 credit Tennessee Williams course. I'm a little sad about that, and If I had extra $$ I'd keep 'em both 'cuz it looks to be really interesting, but unfortunately they meet at the same time. I opted for the Austen/Bronte course over retaking the Shakespeare. I actually did quite well in the Shakespeare course, and had I competed the stupid paper my grade would have been good. This way, since I have to cough up the money anyway, I get more bang for my buck. I spoke with my Ed dept. head, and with a trip to the registration office it looks like I will be DONE the first week of May. Hallelujah.
I am hoping to use that long break to do my reading and course work. My fees also pay for health services, and there's a fitness center and a pool I may take to using. We'll see how it goes. I got roped into a NTSO officer's meeting. Love to be of help, but need to avoid the distractions.
Got home to the bosom of my family and frozen pizza. College life, indeed...