Happy Birthday to me!

Today I am 41 years old. I can't believe it. Some days I feel like I am still a teenager. Other days I feel like I am so much older than I am. I like the good days better! Tomorrow Randy and I will be married for 18 years. That sometimes really blows my mind. We have been together for almost 22 years. And I met him just after my 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that we weren't much older than Matt is now when we first met. I can't imagine thinking that someone he knows now or will meet within the next year or two will be the person he spends the rest of his life with. But back to us... I think we have done ok for all these years. We went out to dinner last night with John and Cyndi. They celebrated their 20th anniversary this week. we were talking about how between us, we have 38 years of marriage and how lucky we are. Because some of it really is luck. We are still together. We still enjoy each other. Between these two families, we have 5 teenagers...all of them are athletes and good students. None of them have been in any real trouble (knock wood). They are all polite, well-liked kids. We have been so lucky and so blessed. I hope we will have many more wonderful years to celebrate.

hanging in there

Well, we are now three weeks into school. I am still struggling to get in the groove of things. Mornings are tough for me. Our students are ok so far. We just have so many of them. Our roster is at an all-time high and they keep enrolling more. We'll see where it goes form here.
The boys have settled in ok. Matt has dropped one of his honors classes and rearranged part of his schedule. It seems to be working better for him. This weekend he is going to sit down and make a list of some schools he knows he wants to look into more. Then he has to email the track coaches there to put out feelers on whether or not he is eligible to run for them. Patrick is loving Buzz tv. All sorts of expensive electronics equipment at his disposal. What could be better for a 13 year old like him? So far, he is handling his course load and mid term grades will be sent home in 2 weeks. We'll see then if he bit off more than he can chew.
I have a class today at Dan's Camera City. I will finally know how to really use my beautiful DRebel. Ok, I'll know how to use the basics on it anyway. It is really overwhelming!

Back to School

Today was back to school day. Patrick started his first day of his last year of middle school. It was exciting for him. He is on the tv studio team and today was his first day filming the morning news. He was really happy to go to school this morning. At first he was bummed that he didn't get the teacher he wanted, but I think he will like everyone he has. Time will tell. Matt started his junior year. Big year with lots of pressure. He has some serious decisions to make this year and we will see how it all pans out. We are on the college search now... trying to narrow down his list of schools to a manageable and realistic number. What a scary and exciting time for him! And me, well, I just went back to the same old routine. Same classroom, same teacher. Nothing too new or different. Today we only saw the kids very briefly so it is hard to tell how our year will go. Give me a few weeks and I will know more.... for better or for worse.

Roundup for August

What books and/or magazines did I read this month? Prep by Curtis Sittenfield, two of the Highland series of novels from Hannah Howell, Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks
What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month? I don't think I saw any movies and the only tv show I saw was one episode of Fresh Meat Challenge on MTV
What special days did I celebrate and how? Ryan Blacker's grad party
What illnesses or health concerns did I have? Luckily, none
What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family? Spent a week on Hilton Head Island with the Peters, out to dinner with the Arch Street Girls, cookout with John & Cyndi
What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month? The Apollo Grille
What special or unusual purchases did I make? none
What were this month’s disappointments? same old, same old...weight, frustration wiht the mess around the house
What were my accomplishments this month? Finally got Patrick's room cleaned out
Anything else noteworthy to record? not that I can think of