Northern Lights

 

Northern Lights over Fort McMurray

As we drove home from our crazy 36 hour marathon of fun holiday, Dwayne and I caught the northern lights shimmering over Fort McMurray, just outside of city limits.

 

Thinking...

My Julia wants to be a princess, and Elena calls all princesses "Stinker-Ella" (she cant quite get the "Cinder-ella" sounds yet)...

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

After days of intensely hot weather and unrelenting humidity, a day of rain and softened daylight, fresh breezes and occasional thunder is the perfect salve. Throw in some garlicy brushetta on crisp rice thins and a llittle bit of down time with the kids and you have an almost elusively perfect day.

Overwhelmed a bit

I am back from an emotional intense week long Summer Institute for the Advanced Placement program and also from being away from my family for the longest stretch since my kids were born. It was a tough week on so many levels and once I got back, there was no respite from the crashing wave of stuff awaiting me at home.

I finished up the second wedding guestbook of the summer within three days of returning. This will bring it to a total of three and a half brand new scrapbooks that I have finished this summer alone--one wedding shower book for Michelle, Matt and Michelle's scrapbook guestbook, another wedding scrapbook guestbook for Keith and Christina to take to Keith's sister's wedding on August long weekend, and one more surprise scrapbook that will be giving in December-ish but still needed doing this summer because the time was right. Whew. It seems like I worked really hard and I am so proud of the results of all of the books. I have considered doing the wedding guestbooks by commission, as I did for Christina but I am not sure. I have promised to do one for next summer's wedding and already look forward to doing that one!

Tomorrow I will be having a garage sale and hope that it clears out the majority of the stuff in our shed--I mean, it will, becuase anything I dont sell will just get pitched into the truck to be carted off the Goodwill. I still have to sort out all the teaching stuff I brought home for the summer and try to plan out my school year to some degree. I need to draw up a three year plan that will being me somewhat in line with the Advanced Placement Course Audit that is already making me sweat (I have to submit a course syllabus for approval from the College Board).

I havent even been home a week!

I have cleaned the house, somewhat, but there always seems to be more to tidy and the kids are drooping with me in the stifling heat. I cant even throw them outside to enjoy the sunshine because it is far too hot to even contemplate playing outdoors for longer than a few minutes at a time.

I know that it is probably more important for me to take it easy with them in these lazy hazy days of summer and just enjoy setting up the all important routine in their days but I cant sit still for long when there is a mountain of stuff looming overhead.

And so I go...