WHEW! What a Week

Life got over full last week, so none of the blog posts that I wrote in my head ever got posted. Fortunately my granddaugthers were busy blogging and chronicled reports about some of my activities.

Anna Mae wrote about homeschool for the pre-schoolers at her house on her blog Sunrise. We were working on the letter "C" as in "cupcakes for cousins."

Taylor wrote about the American history project we've been working on at her house. You can see her creativity in the sample she posted on her blog, June Special.

Also, Anna Mae discovered gmail chat last week, and so she and I did a lot of instant messaging in the evening. We are planning our trip to Arizona next week to see my Aunt Jean, and we were discussing our route which she was checking out on Google Earth and our hotels which I was reserving on Expedia.

My work at the college has gotten easier but also more intense. I have 25 students in various stages of learning disabilities assessment, and so I work solid from the minute I get to the college until I leave each Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. I have a goal to complete all of these assessments before my contract ends in December. It's ambitious but possible, and it sure would help DSPS get back on their feet if I could accomplish this.

Cindy is equally busy, and I tried to help her a little last week. She is doing a huge job at a bunch of pharmacies, setting up gift card displays, so on Wednesday after work at the college, I went to Angels Camp to help with one of those. I had helped the week before, so she didn't have to train me, making the work pretty efficient. I also helped her work on a gift for her nephew's 18th birthday. She puts together photo albums for her nieces and nephews for this landmark birthday. It's a big project but well worth it watching the kids get their albums and enjoy looking at their life thus far in pictures. We celebrated nephew Rex this weekend with a trip to the casino Saturday night followed by a birthday gathering with cake on Sunday. (Cindy was a winner at the Casino which made us both happy.)

Wednesday was also my writing group day. We had a great meeting as always. Some of us are preparing to do NaNoWriMo in November. This will be my second year, and I'm still not sure which of two "books" I want to work on. Guess I'll just see what comes out of my fingers on Saturday at our kick-off Write In.

Thursdays I leave the college early to go get Huck and Nell at Waldorf. I got there a half hour early last week, so I could visit with my friend Trish who has 8th grade twins at the school. We rarely get to visit but realized this was one way to fit in a quick chat. We sat under a tree and talked as fast as we could.

I managed to fit in one yoga class on Friday which was without a doubt a highlight in my week. The Yoga Loft is my stress saver and I adore my teacher, Cherie. My body is so grateful for her guidance.

Friday was also "Meet the Author" at the College. I got all worried that no one would show up but the turn-out was wonderful--about 33 people. I was nervous at the start and did a lot of stuttering, but it smoothed out as I got warmed up and the crowd asked great questions following the reading. The Democrat had a nice article in the Weekender, and low and behold my picture was in Monday's paper too as Teresa Chebuhar, the editor, came to the event and took photographs for the section called Weekend in Pictures. Nice publicity all around.

And I feel full of hope that Barak Obama will be our next President. I am not watching the news as I dislike all the negative stuff, but I've discovered some heartwarming and encouraging pieces in my blog reading. Two of them gave me a rush of satisfaction along with the desire to jump and dance! YES! Here they are if you want to feel good:

First, Donna Brazile is simply inspiring in I'm not going to the back of the bus!

Second, watch this lovely video answering the question Who is Barak Obama? I watched it 3 times, grinning, grinning, grinning. I see this man as MY President!

This week is as full as last, but I'm going to try to post small bits more frequently. Stay tuned!