Steve, you'll be jealous of this one...

Oliver built himself an amazing drum kit...don't be too jealous, Steve. I'm sure he could work one up for you too.

Just shy of a week...

Great weekend...not too cold. We finished digging the holes for the egress windows that we are putting in our basement as the initial project for finishing our basement. Oliver was a huge help. I also received an early birthday present. Ben found a moped for me that needs a little work...I get it for my birthday and then we'll fix it up for the summer.

So as not to break my momentum

Just thought I'd post quickly. I'm the chair for the professional development team at our high school. It's been a rough job and probably the responsibility that I like least. Last month, the meeting was awful. Teachers are frustrated at how the school is moving and I felt like I was getting blamed for it...the whole "shoot the messenger thing". Well, today went better. Teachers are coming around and realizing I'm not to blame. They are beginning to see that I'm just continuing a plan that was started 5 years ago...way before I was hired on. Anyhow, work is feeling a little bit better and now all I have to do is tackle a big paper that I've been putting off revising.

The best thing...I've now posted two days in a row. I knew I had some resolve and stick-to-it-ness in me.

As for family, it's nice to have Ben back. He was in Oregon for the weekend picking up a jointer for his shop. Oliver is very excited to have his dad back, though he asked if he could have a new dad without a beard while Ben was gone. He changed his mind quickly though and said he liked the beard because it made his dad more "bear-like". Who doesn't want a dad who is more bear like? They built cardboard houses and painted gourd birdhouses yesterday while I was at work. Oliver also asked if he could have a brother and sister. Without skipping a beat, he said, "If I get a brother and sister, our family will be five rather than three people. Can we name them brussel sprout and green bean?" I'm in awe of his math skills because the kid really can do simple math functions (at age 4), and not so in awe of his name choices. We'll be waiting on the kids until he can be rational in this...:)

way longer than it should be...

So, it's been a lot longer than it should be. I thought things might slow down as a new semester began and the inconsistencies of my summer schedule were resolved. Not so. It's been busier than ever. I'm teaching full time at the high school, taking two Ph.D classes, teaching a Master's level writing course to elementary school teachers and teaching a Master's level reading endorsement course to my fellow teachers. I also just finished giving a big presentation at a regional International Reading Association conference in Seattle, Washington. It went really well, and was even better to get done. I'm in the middle of a research class right now that emphasizes writing and I realized I don't do enough of it to be comfortable in my own skin as an informal writer or potentially published author. I'm also working on writing up our presentation to be considered for publication. So, I'm resolving to get a little writing in at least every other day here just to increase my practice time.

We just had fall break and I had a chance to regroup. I got to spend this last weekend with Oliver, my mom, and my sisters in SLC. We had a great time attending the planetarium and eating out. We all got to eat at Benihana's restaurant on Friday night and Oliver was wowed! He kept telling the chef how "amazing" he was and decided there that he wants to be a chef. Maybe we'll apprentice him and start living off his wages?

Pictures of Oliver