Dingoes Step Into September YMMV - Page 4

[mommajb]

I subbed in right away this month but I don't think I have posted.

revolting. I have rarely used bag check and would advise not worrying about it for a 5k. Sign up and go. You will have a blast, feel awesome, and find something new to obsess over before a race.
bec, I am glad employment issues were settled satisfactorily. That must be a huge relief. Another big way to go on getting your girls out to run. The lesson that a bit of discomfort has big payoff is a great one. Sorry about the skunk. Your wild animal luck continues. Are you replacing the 305? With what?
Gaye, did you go for the braces? My teeth are still okay but dh could use another go around but we have two in braces and are waiting for Ian to lose them before we start paying for Helen unless it becomes imperative sooner. All this to say I hear you on the $$ question. Funny about your son's class; Charlotte had only 3 boys in her first grade class last year.
Real, I am impressed with the extra efforts you are going to for the school. Looking at the people spending so much to fight for and against the initiative makes me wonder what the total amount to be raised is. You have said it is $18/$36 a year for homeowners. What does that total up to for the schools?
jo, I hope your party planning goes smoothly, that your mother returns to her senses, and that your dh makes it back in plenty of time.
sparkle, I hope you settle into a groove and feel better about it all soon. for less anxiety and more routine.
jaygee, for painfree runs!
plady, it sounds like soccer went perfectly well.
dimitrizmom,
juvysen, great job getting the run done.
nic, I hope you have a quiet, productive week that just rolls along as smoothly as possible. Wouldn't that be nice?
I hope I didn't forget anybody.

DH was running with me but pulled a muscle and has been riding the bike very slowly while I run. Training officially starts for my half this week but it is the same as I have been running lately so I should be able to handle it. I need to get food under control. I have no idea why I struggle so with this lately. For so long it was not an issue.
This will be the first full week of school for everybody too. Even though some went back three weeks ago there have been holidays and retreats and such until now. Good thing they have a 4 day week next week for a teacher in service.
Oddly enough, dh cannot drive decently on a cyclical basis.

[kerc]

bike ride today. uber slow.

but forward motion.

and now I'm sore. go figure.

and I have a lecture to write for tomorrow 830 am. Joy.
 

[tjsmama]

dmitrizmom~WTG!

jaygee~

mommajb~I made the appointment (for Tuesday), but am still a little on the fence. I really want to chat with the office manager about financing before I definitively say yes, so hopefully I will have that opportunity on Tuesday. It stinks that I didn't see this coming because I could have socked a lot more money into my HSA, but I only put in $1000 planning on only (hopefully) needing to pay for my meds.

So, I totally skipped my workout on Friday in favor of a 5 hour nap. Yes, 5 hours. Think I'm tired? I worked Friday night, so no real workout yesterday, but DS and I did play Just Dance on the wii for an hour. That counts, right?

XH is still giving me grief about childcare $. I think he just truly does not understand how much childcare costs. He thinks it's ridiculous to be paying $1000+ a month in childcare when DS is in school...he has no idea how much it would cost if our nanny wasn't so reasonable.

I finished off the last of the 25 lbs of peaches today with some peach butter. I almost want to buy some more, they're just SO darned good.

rr~In search of my missing mojo....went out for a trail run with the trail running group this morning. It was a good choice. I didn't actually find the mojo in its entirety, but there were glimmers of its existence, which is a heck of a lot more than I've seen in a long time. I love trail running in Colorado in the fall. It was exceptionally slow, almost entirely walking on the uphills, but it was nearly 9 miles of "ahhhh."

[kerc]

Originally Posted by tjsmama 

XH is still giving me grief about childcare $. I think he just truly does not understand how much childcare costs. He thinks it's ridiculous to be paying $1000+ a month in childcare when DS is in school...he has no idea how much it would cost if our nanny wasn't so reasonable.
 

Holy crap a mole. That's a lot of $$. (vs. the $250 we would pay for one kid, full time). Don't get me wrong -- I'm not agreeing with your xh. I'm  at the cost. When do you stop working nights?

[revolting]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantimama 

I don't know what it is but I am exhausted. I have been mostly taking it easy all week but I think I feel worse instead of better! Maybe it is the detoxing thing as I get back on track eating wise but I don't remember it being this bad last time. I could sleep all day if I didn't have the day partially booked. I hope this passes soon. 

I think my freezer has just about reached its limit - I got the last of the blackberries and tomatoes in this morning and I think there is just enough room left for some garlic and that is it. My house is almost under control again too after the summer. I spent a full hour in the girls' room yesterday, mostly pitching stuff. I was very glad to discover that their bedroom floor wasn't just a rumour, there really was one down there! Best and most relaxing part of yesterday was pulling out my Cricket loom and weaving an alpaca scarf for this winter in my favourite colours. It is drying now and I am thrilled with it AND with having the time to sit down and just do something creative like that.

 Yum! I love blackberries. I never knew freezing tomatoes was such a thing!

Originally Posted by babybugmama 

Shanti - I've been really wore out too...and I hate the political ads. I'm sorry, but something on facebook, or a commercial is not really going to inform me and if it does...well we're in trouble folks.

My son cracked me up this morning...he's 5, but I'm going through first grade math.  So I draw a bowl with three apples and tell the story of going to the store and buying two more apples.... After I'm done he says, "okay mom, let me do something" takes the notebook and proceeds to write 2x2, solve it...then 10x10...solve it with minimal help.  Aaaaahh.

My daughter continues to gather friends like bees to honey, while my son...whom I am working hard to find more kids to hang with...I can't.  He's awesome people! Funny as all get out, loyal to a fault, articulate, and obviously smart.  Maybe that comes with time. He's not too stressed, but I am. I see my dd's friends and she's so blessed. I want him to have that too.

Running nowhere near as much, I have aches and pains on my aches and pains.

 Are you homeschooling? He sounds like my daughter, lol.

Originally Posted by tjsmama 
in this year. Good stuff, all around. Except that I had to miss kickball for it, which was a major bummer, but necessary.
rr~Ugh. I did it. That's about all the good that I can say about it. I accomplished 17 miles of forward motion. I can't really call it a run, because the last two were almost entirely walking. I realized just a few miles in that, hello...only had 2 hours of sleep yesterday after work, even if I did get a respectable 7.5 last night. Remember when I barely made it 3 last week after doing the same thing? I didn't! And then, of course, I ran out of water around 14, it was 90-ish degrees, and not much shade. Sigh. I'm actually wondering a little bit, too, about my hypothyroidism. My dosage is apparently dialed in and my TSH levels are back to normal, but I don't feel back to normal. I am literally tired all the time. Now, I do have poor sleep habits on top of working night shift, but still. I don't feel like it should be this hard. Even my short runs are a struggle these days. I've trained for two marathons before, the second one while in school full time, and those training cycles were a cakewalk compared to this. I've already decided that it's time to get serious about sleeping. No more taking the kindle to bed with plans to read for "just a few minutes." No watching pointless tv. No pointless internet surfing. Go to bed and get some sleep. Period. Hopefully, I can do that and maybe things will turn a corner, cuz if not then I have no idea.

Maybe it's just because I'm new to this whole thing, but I think running 15 miles is amazing.

Originally Posted by bec 

Took a rest day yesterday, and probably will today,too.  I've been taking the dog for at least an hour walk every day this week, so that is something.  I'll do that again too.  My oldest had her mile assessment in gym, and in spite of doing well in cross country, came in with a 14+ minute mile time.  She had to miss practice yesterday, so we are going on a run tomorrow and are going to be doing mile repeats.  She needs to learn that a little bit of discomfort is not going to actually kill her.  I would say, right now, given what I see of her, she should be running around a 9:00 mile. 

In other running news, my Garmin 305 is dead.  It won't hold a charge.  I cleaned all the contacts, charged it overnight, and it just won't keep a charge.  Turned off in less than a mile!  So, now, I'm looking at needing to replace it. 

Gym class is so different than sports or at home. I remember in sixth grade, I had gym with my best friend who was in track, and I'd run 7 minute miles (oh I'd love to be able to do that now). In seventh grade, the only friend I had in my gym class had really bad asthma and struggled with keeping her mile under 20 minutes, so I had really slow miles.

I'm thinking about getting a treadmill...but I'm so overwhelmed by the prospect.

Originally Posted by JayGee 

NRR ~ DD1 has been begging for horseback riding lessons for years.  Our neighbor's daughter goes to a place in our town, that is very reasonable, and you can go every other week.  So today, DD1 and I tagged along with neighbor girl and her Mom.  The farm is SO awesome!  About 40 horses, 3 english shorthair pointers, tons of chickens, two pygmy goats, two lop ear rabbits, quail and a new foal!  And at the end of our friend's class, the owner let DD1 ride in the ring for about 15 minutes.  She was in heaven!!!  So, it looks like she'll be riding every other weekend and I get to hang out at the farm while she rides .

That sounds awesome!

Originally Posted by Dmitrizmom 

pufferbilly 10k results:  1:06:31.... not too shabby for my first 10K.
 

just had to add 2 things...

1. OMG - sub-11 min/mi!  woot!

2. Holy cats - when I did my 1st 5K two years ago, it took me 52ish minutes!!!  Talk about improvement.

That's amazing! Good job, mama!

Originally Posted by tjsmama 


I finished off the last of the 25 lbs of peaches today with some peach butter. I almost want to buy some more, they're just SO darned good.
rr~In search of my missing mojo....went out for a trail run with the trail running group this morning. It was a good choice. I didn't actually find the mojo in its entirety, but there were glimmers of its existence, which is a heck of a lot more than I've seen in a long time. I love trail running in Colorado in the fall. It was exceptionally slow, almost entirely walking on the uphills, but it was nearly 9 miles of "ahhhh."

Yum on the peaches! And a trail run sounds wonderful. We are moving to a home right next to a forest preserve, and I'm hoping to find a trail to run regularly. We will see.

RR: I didn't run over the weekend due to other commitments, but I'm hoping to start week 5 of couch 2 5K. We're in the process of moving into a house that needs a huge amount of work, I don't have a treadmill, neither of my kids are in school, I have a double jogging stroller, but it's complete junk, and my partner will be gone a lot to fix the house, so I'm guessing it's going to take me a LONG time to finish this week, but I just figure it's better to do what I can now than wait for some time when I have the time, right?

[tjsmama]

Originally Posted by kerc 

Holy crap a mole. That's a lot of $$. (vs. the $250 we would pay for one kid, full time). Don't get me wrong -- I'm not agreeing with your xh. I'm  at the cost. When do you stop working nights?

Never? I'm on nights permanently. Or at least until I decide I can't take it anymore. I'm thinking at least 5-7 years. My nanny gets $10/hr, but just a flat rate of $70 for an overnight, which is really cheap, comparatively speaking, for our area. Even if I worked days, I would still need her for about 7 hours a day (2 before school and 5 after), so it really wouldn't save much money to work days. And I make a lot more money on nights. Before/after school daycare would be cheaper, but doesn't work very well (or at all) since I'm not on a set schedule...I would end up paying for childcare that I didn't need. What really costs us $$ is having to pay the nanny to watch DS while I'm sleeping if I work on the weekend.

rr~Holy crap, my legs are sore from my trail run yesterday. I nixed the idea of going for a run and went to spin class instead, which still hurt a lot. Ow.

[mommajb]

It is so, so quiet here lately.

RR: 4.4. mile slog through very humid air this morning. I am ready for a night time low below 70.

NRR: This school year in full swing thing is way too much with 5 kids. I keep saying the balance is right for each individual child but the load on me (and the van and the forced tag along kiddos) is too much. I am not sure how to handle this. I've consolidated as much as possible, put out feelers for carpools, and I am avoiding some appointments that need doing (well checks, derm, ortho, etc).

[1jooj]

mommajb, I think my sis is in similar shoes (6 kids). The olders are starting with public transit now. Should help some. Her dh is stepping up a lot more, too.

Gaye, that just stinks about childcare costs, but it doesn't sound like you really have much in the way of alternatives.

RR: It has been long enough that my legs are sore. Tomorrow morning, maybe I will get out for a run before we start the day's lessons.

NRR: OK, so the food is handled, the tent is confirmed, and I will cut checks for stuff this week. Few more details, and then I can worry about gathering a few decorations (nature does a pretty good job, IMO). Found some boots for dd today (cheap! yay!). School is mostly fun but a lot of work, esp since ds is in remedial mode for LA. But he is coming along nicely and I think in another month or so this stuff will be second nature to him. Both kids have been great with their French lessons, and both have been pretty motivated to do their work. And I am thankful they are in the sweet spot, already reading but not yet doing advanced math and sciences.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by tjsmama 


Never? I'm on nights permanently. Or at least until I decide I can't take it anymore. I'm thinking at least 5-7 years. My nanny gets $10/hr, but just a flat rate of $70 for an overnight, which is really cheap, comparatively speaking, for our area. Even if I worked days, I would still need her for about 7 hours a day (2 before school and 5 after), so it really wouldn't save much money to work days. And I make a lot more money on nights. Before/after school daycare would be cheaper, but doesn't work very well (or at all) since I'm not on a set schedule...I would end up paying for childcare that I didn't need. What really costs us $$ is having to pay the nanny to watch DS while I'm sleeping if I work on the weekend.
rr~Holy crap, my legs are sore from my trail run yesterday. I nixed the idea of going for a run and went to spin class instead, which still hurt a lot. Ow.

oy. I'm so not a night person!

I forget your set up - 2 bedroom? 3 bedroom? I wonder if you could basically offer a college student room and board in exchange for nannying. And then figure out what room and board might be and charge xh his share. But I think you have a 2 bedroom and that would not work.

Mommajb, we're at the one month of crazy soccer and then free and clear for a while. But I feel your pain. And I have two kids. But I do have a 25 mile round trip commute daily. And a dh who is adjunct-ing for 4 institutions and working about 150% time right now.

I joined a xc ski training group. I am making a commitment to making it happen 2 x a week for 90 minutes. and I learned a bit today. yay!

[bec]

mommajb - Yes!  On the balance for the kids and for the overload for you!  Feeling that right now!  Monday was dance for my older two, and Junior girl scouts for my middle (new troop and we meet at my house).  Tuesday was flute lesson and cross country practice for my oldest.  Today is a cross country meet for the oldest (cross country takes most of my time right now, and, frankly, I'll be ready for it to be over in the middle of October!).  Thursday is dance company class for my middle and cross country practice for the oldest.  Friday, is a cross country meet for the oldest and Daisy girl scouts for the youngest (also meeting here).  Saturday is an away meet for the oldest (for which we have no ride to as of yet), dance company class for the youngest, and the middle and her friend are going with DH to a ham radio festival.  Oh, and I have to work on Friday and Saturday! 

[kerc]

Originally Posted by kerc 

I joined a xc ski training group. I am making a commitment to making it happen 2 x a week for 90 minutes. and I learned a bit today. yay!

And today I can barely walk up stairs. Hello calf muscles. wow.

[Dmitrizmom]

Lisa – it would be fabulous if full-time with benefits positions opened for both of us!  Crossing my fingers.

Revolting – welcome to the group!  (I like your name too!) I still feel like a newbie here, but the support of the dingos is wonderful!  I don’t do the gear check – if I need it for the run (or tri), I carry it with, otherwise it stays in the car.

Shanti – thinking about your freezer has me drooling. :p  and your crafting sounds like so much fun!

Babybugmama – my kids are similar with the friends situation.  Dd1 is a very social child – she can make friends with just about anyone. Ds is socially awkward initially, but if given half a chance is a great friend.

Gaye – 17 miles is amazing! You inspire me to keep on trying. J I need to wean off the electronics at night too.  Glad that the stuff at your kids school is looking promising.

Bec – sorry to hear about your Garmin biting it. I would love to get my kids out to run with me.  I’m betting that they are way faster than me (and maybe that would be the prod I need to build some speed!).  So impressed with your hands on to get them moving.

Sparkle – I remember those days. Even though I’ve been out of school for 5 years, I still have days when I wonder why the heck I put myself thru that. LOL.

Waving at everyone else!

NRR: I'm home today, sick. Dang it - I have too much to do to be sick! So, I'll be doing grading and exam writing from bed with frequent naps.  Made it to boot camp on Monday, but nothing yesterday. Didn't go today - can't breathe and don't want to get others sick (especially since most of the people at the Y when I'm there are senior citizens or moms with small kids). Hoping I feel better tomorrow.  Dh is starting a new, part-time, second job. Hoping that it will develop into something that pays well and he likes. I'm on the hunt for a house to rent (would prefer to buy, and it would be cheaper, but we aren't sure we're staying in this area). Really want to be in our own space by 10/1.

RR: Thanks everyone! My 10K was great.  Weather was perfect - about 50F and clear when we started, about 60 at the finish line. For those in mountains, you'd probably say it was a flat route... for a flat-lander like me, it was rolling hills with a few flat spots.   The route went thru residential neighborhoods, into the cemetery, back into neighborhood and through 2 city parks then back (minus the cemetery).  They had water stations at the 5K and 10K turnarounds.  About 3/4 of the way thru I realized I has something in my shoe and was getting a blister. Ow.  I finished strong though and found my friends that did the 5k waiting for me.  Because i was so slow, there wasn't anything left for food but a few granola bars. I'll just have to run faster next year.  My calves screamed at me until yesterday - I need to find a better way to stretch them out!

[mommajb]

So after a very rough day yesterday I suggested that my oldest dear child, the same one that isn't interested in getting his driver's license, start taking the city bus home in the evening. My husband gave me the craziest look. He may need to make a transfer but the bus stops at school and at the intersection 3 houses down from us. I think he can do it and if not I think he can learn.
This whole "I don't feel like it" was heard from one child regarding math, another at swim lessons, and then popped up again here. I think it has become a trigger phrase for me. They are finding out there are so many things in which I am not interested. A big one is driving in the dark/going out after dinner. Yes, I might be that old. It could be a long winter.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by mommajb 

A big one is driving in the dark/going out after dinner. Yes, I might be that old. It could be a long winter.

Well hey, fortunately for them you don't live at 47degrees north. Dark comes around 430pm in winter.

Bravo on the bus idea! *and* not just because you're tired of driving. It's green. And hey, gas is $4/gallon here I don't know what it is where you are. Maybe it gets easier if you say take the bus, but I'll agree to get you a flip phone with paid minutes so you can call me in case you miss the bus.

[Geofizz]

When I was in 7th grade, my mom announced that if I wanted to continue piano lessons, I needed to get myself there.  I rode the bus.  It gave me some very basic life skills:  I can now get from where I am to where I need to be without a car in almost every possible situation. I very quickly discovered that I could hop on the same bus going in the opposite direction to get to the mall.  I ended up taking the public bus home from school everyday in high school, which is the only thing that enabled me to attend that school.

Still running, still reading.  I'm also teaching 5 days a week, so I'm exhausted.

[sparkletruck]

This morning, after 2/3 of my kids whined and complained about what I'd made for breakfast (blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs), I said; "when I was your age, there were no adults even awake when I got up. My clothes were draped over the back of the kitchen chair, I had to get myself breakfast and then walk myself to school!! Maybe we should start doing that - I'll wake up at 7:50 for the drive to school..." I left out the part about my mom being a drunk and sleeping it off every morning as the reason for this regiment ... or that breakfast was instant oats that we just had to boil water for; my kids would actually want this regiment if they knew that


NRR: Omg I had such a mental health crises the past two days, it was literally scary. My cycles have changed such that in the olden days (summer) day one of AF was , now I get a boost two days prior, and then day one if AF is (those equal "gloomy", "bawl", "surrender", and "loss"; pretty accurate) I think I just came out today, but in the meantime, I finished a horrible paper for that prof. who corrected my tone in the email, and who I've decided I just do not jive with, and sure enough, she sort of turned up her nose at the paper, and I nearly quit right there. So after working on it some more and literally talking myself through every step of yesterday, I think I have an idea for the semester project, and if she gives me the cold shoulder on it I might have to drop out of the program, I'm that fragile. Meanwhile, I have to come up with 5 possible paper topics for my classical rhetoric class - plato, socrates, protagoras, anyone - and I cant think of how anything we've talked about is going to affect how I teach a writing class. i.e., if I dont see the practical utility to what I am doing this g.d. program for, um yeah, not into it.

RR: my leg has been in pain (possibly another reason for my gloom) so I'm waiting that out and hoping it just "goes away"!

[JayGee]

sparkle ~  Can't help you on the paper as I emptied those mental drawers years ago! But I also had a miserable Day1 of my cycle yesterday.  I think my family thought I was possessed.  And I kept bursting into tears because it was 9/11.  I hope your mood improves today and going forward.

mommajb ~ the bus sounds like a wonderful option.  I never, ever took public transit until I moved to Philadelphia at the age of 24.  Wish I'd had the experience earlier.

Dimitrizmom ~ tht 10K sounds great!  Hope you feel better quickly.

We've got the crazy schedule going here too with soccer, swimming, etc.  Add in my library volunteer work and PTO and my house hasn't been clean in weeks.  Luckily we are training 15 new library volunteers next week, so I won't have to pick up all those shifts that have been empty.  I also go yelled at by a parent this week (who knew that overdue notices "clog her e-mail inbox"), asked to teach two classes on how to use the online card catalog (ummmm.... I'm a parent volunteer, not an actual teacher), and had an argument with the computer teacher about where we will teach said classes.  Overall though, I really am loving the "job"!

RR ~ PT is going well.  They did a huge adjustment on my SI joint yesterday and today and WOW!  My back and hip feel so much better.  Now, to keep it that way.

[Plady]

I hear all of you on the overscheduledness of modern life!  Alison has just spent the the third day in a row of being out of the house for 10-11 hours a day!  And she's only been 5 for two weeks! 

I'm just dropping in as a placeholder for myself.  I had Day 1 of auditions for the kid's Macbeth and had 48 kids show up.  Tomorrow I expect a minimum of an additonal 12.    At best I have 40 parts to hand out.  But I love that there were all these short little smiling girls ready to play Scottish thugs and soldiers and evil witches.  So sweet.

[MelW]

I miss the dingoes!!!

Dimitrizmom and JayGee, big congrats on amazing run progress!!

On the insanity of schedules: here, here. I'm really looking forward to the new school starting next week so I have the occasional morning to do class prep without kids. Trying to work and do our homeschool component and stop a 3-year old from parkour-ing all over the furniture is not my most successful mode. When I was a teenager and the oldest of 5 my mum pushed me into learning to drive by refusing to let me take jazz piano with the teacher I wanted until I could drive myself. The added benefit was that I could do some of the driving to sibling's activities, too.

RR- Bootcamp started back last week, and my legs handled it well but my abs need work. I'm glad to be back and hope that it will help with my mediocre at the moment running program- 5-10k once or twice a week. I don't know if I mentioned that I ran into a bear on the trail again a few weeks ago. It was running away from me, so no major drama. Judging by the steamy poop on the trail it was very well fed on berries.

NRR- Tomorrow is our meeting with the main teacher for my the new fine arts e-cadamy. Next week my daughter will be doing on site school 3 days/week, and the rest at home. Fingers crossed that it works well. She also just moved up to a half size violin (yep- a giant 6 year old) and joined a fiddle group which involved getting over a lot of anxiety about not being good enough, not knowing the songs and needing to try to play along by ear.

In work news, I had an interview today for what would be a dream job if it was only more hours- 2 days/week as a community health nurse for a nearby first nations community. Lots of the community-based capacity building, doing whatever best meets the needs of a very disadvantaged population (85% unemployment rate, etc. etc.). The downside is that it conflicts with some of the work with the college which is giving our family much-needed benefits until the spring. In isn't the world a crazy place news, I had another job offer for a position teaching in continuing education that I was not the successful candidate for in July, but that my colleague who got the job has now dropped the contract. I was happy to turn it down since my hope all along was that my colleague would take it and leave other work for me- but now I wonder what is happening with all of the work and keeping my fingers crossed that she can't displace me from my classes that start in October. I'm feeling really fed up with my work instabilty in general- working shifts at the hospital on short call, piecemeal contracts and feeling torn in lots of different directions career-wise. My dream is to do community health work and start and MPH part-time next fall. I would happily teach and work on the MPH, too.
 

[Realrellim]

Dropping in, mostly because I need to give up on accomplishing anything and just go to bed, but can't seem to get up from the chair and make lunches.

DM--yes, it would be great if work just opened up for us, wouldn't it? I feel cynical about that, but then again, you never know.

1jooj--sounds like you're making great strides with the planning and schooling.

tjsmama--as usual he's being unreasonable (not to mention that if he'd stuck with the program, he wouldn't have to worry about child-care expenses. Heck, if he'd stayed in the state, I'd imagine that would have made a huge difference).

MelW--I'm chuckling over the 6yo with the 1/2 size violin. R's still in a 1/8, which I know because the tip on her bow is coming off (again) so I need to call the rental place about replacing it. OTOH, R's the size of the average kindergartner (or maybe a little smaller), and will turn 8 in December. And I seem to be the size of the average 10-12yo these days.

mommajb--the bus is a great and often underutilized resource. Denver's mass transit system is no where near some of the really good ones around the world, but it's good enough given the resources they (don't) have. Also, I think being familiar with a mass transit system early on makes it easier to navigate overall. I can't imagine a reason a driving-age teenager couldn't successfully take the bus. We have middle-school kids who take the bus here, by themselves. And if R and later, J, end up attending the high school that many of the kids from her elementary school attend as opposed to the one all of a mile away in the neighborhood just south of us, I will ask her to take the bus, at least sometimes. It's a straight shot along the main road and it's a bus I used to ride (by choice!) way back, when we were first married and still lived in an apartment. The kids have been on the bus with us before so I don't think it will seem particularly scary to her. We took the bus downtown just last month.

JayGee--glad more volunteers are helping lighten the load, and that the PT seems to be helping.

sparkle--hang in there. Though I totally see the practicality of Plato for a rhetoric class. His rhetoric is beautiful. I've used it more than once in both writing and conversation, though not strictly in that sense. Rhetoric gets short shrift these days, which is really too bad because so many people both don't see when they are being manipulated through rhetoric or how to use it in their own writing. I attempted a writing assignment with class discussion before this last year to try and make students aware, though it didn't work out as well. This time it's going to largely be an in-class attempt to understand that arguments for or against funding the arts (or sports stadiums or student loans) are largely based on rhetoric and then deconstruct it. (Wish me luck!)

kerc--hope your muscles recover quick!

bec--sounds like a busy schedule.

Sorry for anyone I missed.

RR: none. It was raining today, and then DH headed out on a business trip. I had fantasies of running on the TM once J was asleep, but she didn't fall asleep until 10, at which point I was also asleep. Doh.

NRR: made the decision to not apply a second time for the tenure-track positions at the university up the road. I more or less agree with DH's assertion that they didn't find what they were looking for last time (it's not like I got contacted for an interview or anything), and on a personal level, I do not want a commute that's going to be an intense 80-90 minutes of driving one-way (in good weather) for the foreseeable future.

I kinda feel like a loser for not going for it, but reality also suggests that I could put a decent amount of time into getting new recommendations and all that and end up nowhere. Also, I think all signs point to doing what I can with my current contacts. I met someone this morning at another one of our community q&a sessions with the superintendent who happens to know the president of my current institution and said he'd mention my name the next time he sees him. Mostly this makes me because the president of my current institution has absolutely no idea who I am. At least half our faculty are adjuncts, and there are a ton of part-timers. But hey, it can't hurt! So I'm going to submit to the local CCs and keep my eyes open for other opportunities in the Denver metro area.