Life Update

My carefree summer of blogging, facebook, and this schedule are over. Here is my life now:

• Second grade. Not too bad but definitely more different work than PreK. PreK was high intensity, in-your-face, don't look away for a second. I had no bathroom break, lunch break, or special areas. But I never took work home because PreK is not really a grade you plan for. You just wait for teachable moments to arise. Second grade is high intensity planning and assessment, but not as intense during the actual school day. All in all, second grade is definitely better. I haven't had snot wiped on me yet!

• Allergies. It took 3 years for my face to adjust to Knoxville Worst-in-the-World Allergies. Now I'm back in middle Tennessee, and I have allergies before the weather has even changed. It's going to be a long year.

• Missing Knoxville. Especially my church family. I miss Market Square, the Old City, Turkey Creek, the Apple Barn, and of course UT's campus. Sitting in traffic on I-24 is just not as entertaining as sitting in traffic on the Strip. I tear up just about everytime I see a UT bumper sticker. I think I actually did tear up when I saw a Knox County license plate. I miss my old life.

 

• My parents' pool exploded. For the second time.

Pool collapsed. Fence broke.

 Thus began Operation: Build a New Deck.

My parents made a crazy decision to get rid of the pool after this season and finish the deck that was partially built around the pool. Fortunately, Chris is super awesome at building stuff, so he's been heading up this project. We helped though!

 My job was to use this thing to screw big silver bolts into the pieces of wood. I don't know what it's called, but it made my elbow hurt the next day.

Dad's pretty handy using a very loud hand-held machine and a hammer at the same time! (See...I know the names of some tools!)

Chris will be finishing the deck this weekend, so I'll try to remember to take some pictures of his masterpiece.

• Chris also goes back to PT school next Monday. I will miss all the house-husband meals and being in the same room with him. But I also know he will inspire me to get more work done when I'm home. I get a little distracted when he's around.

• We are looking for a church in Nashville. We're a little frustrated, especially with the church hunt. It's almost impossible to find a church by just searching for them online, and even scarier to just pop into one. If you know us and the type of awesome churches we're coming from, pleeeeeeeease help us out with suggestions in Nashville. I think church family is the most significant thing we're missing in our new Nashville life. And it's a big one.

That's about all I have tonight. It's 9:02 here and I am out of steam. This 3-am-bedtime girl is quickly becoming a 9-pm-bedtime girl. I don't remember the last time I didn't feel tired.

But you can look forward to a pretty informative post about the perks of living in the ghetto.