CHANGES FAVES

What a weird week!!  I went from summer vacation mode, to going back to work, to being told I was being moved to a classroom with multiply disabled children whom I have NO experience or desire to work with, to quitting my job of 8 years, and being at "stay at home mom" again even though my oldest does her own thing/job and my youngest is a senior in high school.   CHANGES!!

But there are always blessings to be found.....I just have to dig a little deeper to find them this week. Please join me and other bloggers as we link up here.

• BACKYARD BONFIRE:  Last Friday evening, Claire and I were at home and decided, since it was such a perfect summer evening (in fact, a little chilly with that first hint of autumn in the air) that we would have a last bonfire before school started.  We didn't roast marshmallows that evening, but we did just sit and chat and poke the fire......the neighborhood was so quiet.  It was lovely and we stayed outside until about 11 pm when my oldest joined me for a bit.  I love those moments...simple pleasures.

on the trail to Blue Ledges/Hudson River
me & Dave and my
Aunt Helen & Uncle Dave

My neighbor Melissa also joined us on the hike
Hudson River/Blue Ledges
Central Adirondacks

Coming down to the river to watch the whitewater rafts go by

• HIKING!  My aunt and her husband were up from VA visiting family and had wanted to hike with us on Saturday.  Because we weren't leaving for MA until Sunday, we thought it would be nice to do this activity with them so I chose a trail I had hiked before.....a 2.5 miles trail into the woods, along a ridge and down to the Hudson River where the river is at one of its more remote spots before heading down to the cities.  The ledges there are breathtaking and we were able to get some good shots of the whitewater rafts going down to the rapids.  What a fun day we had.  My neighbor Melissa had also joined us.  When we were done hiking, we all splurged on soft serve ice cream cones.  My last of the season!

Claire with her Aunt Kathy and Uncle Peter's dog, Quetu
(pronounced K2)

Dave walking with his mom and Claire in my inlaws neigbhorhood

• WALKS IN WB!  On Sunday, Dave, myself and Claire left early in the morning to go to his hometown in the south shore of Boston known as "WeeBee").  His parents are both doing fairly well and now that they are well into their 80s, life is slowing down a bit for them.  They can no longer travel out here to NY so we go there a couple of times a year.  We walked, ate good food, walked some more, read books, played word games, slept in, visited his brother Peter and wife Kathy who are now empty nesters except for their huge Bernese Mountain dog whom Claire just loves.  So of course we had to walk again with the pup.  It was a lovely 2 day visit and a great way to end the summer.

• ROUTINES:  This might seem strange to some of you but on Tuesday I was actually happy to be getting back to a routine.  Sadly, I found out that day (last minute...NOT ok!!) that I was being moved from the kindergarten team to the multiply disabled older children in the self contained room.  This was NOT what I was hired for and I won't go into that story here but let's just say I was not happy with this last minute phone call.  I decided to just keep going with the routine of getting Claire ready for back to school and getting my home in order.  The day ended up being very peaceful although I was very anxious in my spirit about what I would encounter the next day which was my first day back at work.  I like a routine and it did feel good to get back into one.

Claire is a senior!!

• FIRST DAY!  Yesterday was Claire's first day back to school of her last year at high school.  It was my first day home. I ended up quitting my job on Wednesday afternoon when my supervisor never bothered showing up to discuss why I was moved, etc.  That whole situation is a mess.  We've had staff just quit over the summer because of similar circumstances.  I had told my husband (and he was in agreement) that I was probably going to have to quit.  Someday, maybe I will post the story.  For now...I am doing some projects at church and home and starting to look for a new job as we will need the extra income  this time next year.  The blessing is that Claire loves all of her senior level classes and found out that her fave Russian teacher is her Russian 5 teacher!!  She is over the top excited.  Also, her Sociology class might be given "university in the high school" status like Russian 5 so she can earn college credit!!  That is a real blessing.  The 2nd blessing to come from leaving my job, is that I heard from many teachers and other TA's that they are behind and don't blame me for leaving. They gave me a ton of emotional support!  And the last blessing?  We have always lived on just Dave's income so this little glitch won't hurt us right now.  Please do keep me in prayer as I move to the next step because come college time for Claire, we will need me to be working as my income helps with college costs. 

I hope you all have had a wonderful week of starting back to school or work.

Enjoy the weekend!!