It's May Day!

I can't hardly believe it's May already. It seems like the school year just started and now the school year is almost over and we're so close to our big trip!  We've got so much to do before then.

I haven't wrote for over a month. Easter and Samantha's birthday were March 31. Aleah just turned 14 last week. My Head Start job that was suppose to go until the end of the school year was shortened by four weeks. The teacher I was hired to replace decided to come back early from maternity leave. I was bummed for about a day. I will be doing another maternity leave in a rural school the last two weeks of school so with a few subs days the other two weeks it will turn out okay. Preschool is tough. I don't know why those teachers are paid less than other K-12 teachers. They should be paid more. I subbed in high school English the day after I was done in preschool and it was so refreshing-no one wet their pants and nobody cried!

I have a few days left and my library science classes will be done for the semester-one big project and a couple of small assignments left! I'm also sending out resumes already. I hope I find something full time this fall. It's almost maddening to me all the elementary jobs listed I see in the western part of the state. Why couldn't this oil boom happened twenty years ago? Of course my life wouldn't have turned out the same and since I'm very happy with my life I shouldn't complain, but really there were almost no elementary jobs back then.

We did get a massive snowstorm/blizzard April 14. We got almost 18 inches of snow in one day. It broke the all time record for a single day snowfall and record snowfall in April. Some places in South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming are getting snow today so as long as we don't get anymore snow until November I'll be happy.

The long winter has made it difficult for us to get walks in this spring. We want to be in shape for all the walking we'll do on our trip. We did go walk up the University of Mary hill last night. The Tom O'Leary walk is in store probably both days this weekend. We got our first bike ride in of the season too. It was a nice weekend.

I haven't had as much time to read lately. I did read Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler for one of my book clubs. The other book club I haven't been able to make the last couple of months but our book this month is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloots. I just started it. I was in the middle of The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory. I'm pretty sure that I have read at least one or two other books since I last wrote, but right now I just can't remember which ones. I do remember one was about a boy that survived nine different concentration camps. It was Barb's book.

Now I need to do some homework and continue with laundry. What I'm really do by writing on the blog is procrastinating. It's much more fun to do this then try to understand MARC-that's Machine Readable Cataloging for those not familiar with library terms.

Scandinavia Here We Come!

Well, it appears to be happening. The passports for our family of six arrived in the mail about two weeks ago, and this summer we plan to go on a trip to Europe (Scandinavia). On the itinerary is spending several days in Copenhagen and then boarding a cruise ship for a week long tour of Norwegian fjords. While in Copenhagen, we may possibly take a train over to visit Sweden.

The trip is graciously being provided courtesy of my mother-in-law, Karen. In addition to Karen and our family, it will also be the family of four of my brother-in-law. I think our group of eleven might need some prayer as we travel together and make decisions about what to see and where to eat!

Getting in the Groove

I've worked two weeks now. I do like it. The first week was a short week since we had Thursday and Friday off for Spring Break. It was a nice way to ease into preschool. This past week I got my 40 hours in! I did get off early on Friday too. Wednesday was a ten hour day since I had First Aid training that night.This coming week I'll have another 40 hour week but only work four days-we get Friday off and it' a paid holiday!!  I do like this job and if nothing else comes up for next year I'd gladly be here again despite all the paperwork, but the openings for the new school year are starting to be posted so now I'll start job searching again-I've actually never given up the job search this whole school year.

Gerrit turned 16 on Sunday!! We went out the night before to Buffalo Wild Wings-his choice. I think we went because Sunday we had a luncheon at church the kids had to help with for their convention fundraiser and there was a winter weather watch for Sunday night-it mostly missed us. Bruce had to postpone going to Fargo until the next day because they did have a blizzard. We also got our passport photos taken.

The week went super fast and I did finish my homework on time. We also applied for our passports!  They should be here in about a month. The kids had to get out of school just a little early on Friday to get them since Friday is the busiest day to get passports. It was busy and did take awhile.

Tomorrow after church, Samantha is having her birthday party. Her birthday is on Easter but I thought it was better to celebrate with her friends the weekend before Easter. That's what I did today-got ready for the party and did a little homework.

I did finish the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn for book club. It was different. I also read The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Ducks Built a Dynasty by Willie and Korie Robertson. I really enjoyed it. We love the show Duck Dynasty and this was about how it came to be. There's another book coming out in May written by Phil we plan on purchasing as well.

Busy week!

There was no school today-it's our Spring Break-a whole three day weekend. What to do with all that time?? I took mom to her cataract surgery on Monday morning. She hopes to have the other one done soon because her vision is a lot better in one eye than the other so that's quite bothersome-it would be to me anyway. I went to the eye doctor today for a checkup and there were no changes. I had told him my contacts bother me more than they use to but he said it's just allergies.

Monday afternoon I also found out I got  full time teaching job until the end of the school year for the Head Start in Mandan. It pays more than subbing and will be steady so I'm happy about that. It will be really nice to be in the same place everyday and to get to know the kids. I'm still working on my minor in Library Media  so hopefully a job will be open in that in the fall or next year.

Tuesday we had Aleah's band concert. She has two more left this year and she's not taking band next year. She won't say why she's not interested in staying in band, but it's her decision. She never practices, but then after talking to other moms they say their kids never practice either.

Wednesday was my last day of being home by myself during the day. I met Bruce for lunch and Barb for coffee. I subbed Thursday (hopefully my last day ever) and today there was no school. We also found out on Wednesday that Donovan qualified for the state geography bee! He's so excited and we are too! It's April 5 in Bismarck so we don't have to travel out of town.

Aleah is at a confirmation retreat in Minnesota this weekend. I'm going to spend time working on my homework (I can't take Mondays off anymore to get it done by the deadline) and getting things straightened up around the house. Samantha and I started going through some of Aleah's old clothes to see what will fit her. One thing we've both determined is that Aleah likes to be more dressed up than Samantha. Samantha is very happy in jeans and t-shirts while Aleah likes to be a bit more fashionable. I see a big box going to the thrift store full of things Sam will never wear. I've already done that with Gerrit's things. Donovan has different tastes as well, but there's always things they find to wear.

Working full time is going to make the rest of the spring go so fast. We've got three birthdays and Easter coming up and getting ready for our big trip. I think Bruce said it's around 85 days until embarkation. Crazy!

I did finish a book this week for one of my book clubs. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It was over 500 pages but I finished it. I had some free time while I was subbing on Tuesday and Thursday to read. Now I've started Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn for my other book club. Barb said she hated the ending. This does not mean that I will. She quite often hates book endings.

Another week gone

Another week is gone and it's already March! Easter (and Samantha's 8th birthday) is four weeks away and school will be over before we know it. I wish time would slow down a bit. We are working on getting our passport papers done for our big trip this summer. I can't believe we're going to Norway and Denmark. We might try to get to Sweden as well. There's a short train ride from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden, that we might do one day.

For now we keep busy with work and school. My classes are going okay this semester, but the one is a little confusing. The cataloging is hard and I wish this one was  face to face with an instructor. I also question just how much cataloging I'll have to do anyway.  I think new books can come cataloged or at least there's software that can do it for you.

I just read one book this week-The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. It's Barb's book, and it's about a serial killer in Florence, Italy, that killed between 12-16 people from 1968-1985. It's never been solved. It was interesting and after reading it I do think that even with the flaws of the American justice system ours is still better than Italy's.

Tomorrow I'm bringing my mom to have cataract surgery. It will be an extremely early morning. It shouldn't take long though. I plan on bringing my laptop and working on my homework. We also have Aleah's parent teacher conference tomorrow. It's her last one at Wachter. We did go to the freshman parent meeting last week. I didn't think I was told anything new that I didn't find out the last year when Gerrit moved up to high school. They still don't know a lot of answers to questions about how things will work out next year with the ninth grade and sixth grades moving to different schools.

There shouldn't be school on Friday this week-Spring Break. I say this because it's a designated make up snow day so if this snowstorm we're "suppose" to get tomorrow cancels school (highly unlikely) then we would make school up that day. Aleah is going on a confirmation retreat next weekend so hopefully Friday is a day off or she'll have to miss it.

It was lost and now is found.....my motivation!

My motivation has been lacking lately. It occasionally happens in the winter. Today I think I found it. I got the storage room back in order and started cleaning our bedroom!  I'll admit it's pretty bad-very dusty. I'm surprised I've had such clear nasal passages most of the winter. It was just so dusty-I do not like to dust. It's starting to look better. I really dislike disorganization. I think we should just get rid of stuff. It's easier to keep a house clean when you don't have as much stuff. How much stuff does a person really need anyway??

I've been going through my books to make room for some of Bruce's books in one of our bookcases. I love books, but I don't feel the need to keep all of them. I do however stock up on them at rummage sales and the library book sale so I have too many. I have decided (and Donovan agreed) that we will not be going to the library book sale in March. We need to weed (this is actually a term libraries use to when they get rid of outdated books) through what we have and get rid of it before we bring anymore into the house. It does not matter if a book is super cheap-we will not be bringing another book into the house unless we get rid of a bunch first. A free or super cheap Nook or Kindle book does not count though, since they do not take up any actual space.

I have both book clubs this week. I hope to make it to my Monday night book club if my homework is done. I'll be working a good chunk of Sunday and Monday on it. We are discussing Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It was okay. I've enjoyed other books of his more. My other book club will be discussing The Transformation of Things by Jillian Cantor. I really enjoyed that book. There was quite the twist in it. Last night I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I enjoyed this book too. It also had a twist in it and it was different from anything I had read before so I will be passing that book on to someone else. If  I read anything tonight it will be in my textbook and it will be about school library budgets. That should get me sleepy.

This week went so fast because the kids didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday. It was a nice four day weekend, but it went so fast. This coming week we have a meeting for parents of freshman. It's not that we haven't had a freshman before, but this will be a first for us having our freshman go to the high school. I believe that's where freshman belong, but the change wasn't suppose to happen until the fall of 2015, so Aleah is a little anxious. I'm glad Gerrit will be there too. I'm also really hoping that he will have his license by then as well. I know I'm getting tired of driving and picking up at the high school and middle school. If I were working full time they might just have to ride the bus home.

Book list

So the last book I said I was getting ready to read (reread, I had read it in high school about a hundred years ago) was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I like it better the first time I read it. The characters were so self-absorbed. When we discussed it, most of us that had read it and liked it in high school didn't like it now.

The rest of the books are not necessarily in the order I read them-I did at least write them down so I would remember the ones I had read. Both my book clubs read Defending Jacob by William Landay. This was a good book that sparked a lot of discussion. I haven't read many good books lately, but this one is worth reading.

I reread Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado and Vince Rouse. This is the story of a Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes and were trapped there for 72 days. They had to resort to cannibalism to survive. It's an amazing story of survival. It happened in October 1972-so it was the 40th anniversary. There were 16 people out of 45 that survived and they're all still living. I had checked it out of the library for Gerrit to read but ended up reading it again since it had been a few years.

I sheepishly admit to reading Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Seth. This was someone's pick for book club. I never would have picked up this book to read on my own. This is what I love about book clubs-you read things you might never have picked for yourself. The book was surprising good.

Years ago I read The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I found The Nanny Returns by the same authors at the dollar store. I enjoyed the first book since I was a nanny for a summer in New York, and sadly the stories are true. I didn't like the second book at all. It was set ten years later and wasn't written as well. I'm not surprised it was at the dollar store.

My friend Wendy had suggested The Physick  Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. She had read it for her book club and it was pretty good.

I read The Christmas Wish by Richard Siddoway. I think I had read it before. It was okay, nothing special.

I got Home at Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball from a book club book exchange at Christmas time. It was okay. It was a second book in a series I guess. I don't know for sure that I'll read the others.

I read another book I got from the dollar store, Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch. Again I see why it's at the dollar store. I have got some good books from the dollar store but not lately.

I did read a free Friday book on my Nook shortly after Christmas called The Last Noel by Michael Malone. It was a really good book.

We read The Harbinger by Johnathan Cahn. It was full of prophecies from the Bible and how they are taking place now-especially with event of 9/11. I missed the discussion on that one because I didn't feel good and had homework.

I read I Still Dream of You by Fannie Flagg. I've read other books by her and she's a good author.  Her books are usually set in the south and are funny.

I just finished Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini. I've read all her other Elm Creek books and like those. This one was different because it is the fictional account of Elizabeth Keckley who was Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. It was okay. My mom and I saw the movie Lincoln a couple of weeks ago and she's a character in that movie too.

I still have both books to read for my book clubs toward the end of the month-Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks and The Transformation of Things by Jillian Cantor. I'll get to those soon. Right now I need to work on my homework by reading Practical Cataloging and Fundamentals of School Library Media Management-riveting stuff.

It's about time

It's been awhile since there's been a blog post. It's time to start again. Things just get so busy. I can't believe we're almost six weeks into the new year already! I'm writing this on my new laptop I got for Christmas from my mom. It seems like our home computer might be done for as of Tuesday night since the power went off for an hour. We haven't been able to turn it back on yet. I'm glad I have my laptop now since I need a working and reliable computer for my online classes.

Since the last time I blogged Gerrit started a new job. He works at McDonald's. He likes it and they don't give him too many hours which he likes. Donovan played parks and rec basketball. He also won his school geography bee. He took a written test to see if he advances to state. We haven't heard yet. They advance the top 100 scores to the state geography bee. Aleah will be headed to a confirmation retreat next month near Fergus Falls. Samantha is selling Girl Scout cookies.

For the first time in nine years Bruce didn't have a Pinewood Derby car to get ready last month. Donovan didn't do Cub Scouts this year. Samantha is still in Girl Scouts. I guess this is only her third year, but she's been going to meetings since she was a month old so it seems a lot longer.

Tomorrow is Sunday. We have a potluck lunch after church. Plans for the rest of the day include lots of homework for me. I'm not sure what the others have planned yet. Gerrit does work-he rarely works on Sundays but he does tomorrow. I think the temperature is suppose to be okay so Donovan and Samantha could play outside.

I do hope to at least list the books I've read since I last blogged. I have them written down. I will write about one now. My sister-in-law Kelly gave me the book Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic by Martha Beck for Christmas. It was the story of two Harvard professors that found out they were expecting a baby with Down's Syndrome. It was really good.