Trying to find time to blog!

Life has been busy!!! And to any friends or family watching here for updates on life here, I'm sorry that I haven't had time for posting much on my blog.

I'm now into my second week of teaching at Hollydale and starting to get a feel for my schedule and the people here. I probably know only 10 or 15 student's names at this point and am trying to figure out who everyone is and what I'm to teach them. There are 18 classes of students in our building and I see most of them twice a week.

At home, we're still trying to unpack the scores of boxes that are piled in the garage and in many corners of our house. We don't have room for quite a bit of the stuff we own and are really trying to let go of a lot of things. We've got a bunch of furniture that just won't fit in this house that I'll be craigslisting (when I have to time to photograph it and post some ads!). I'm also still finishing up many of the remodeling projects that we started. This week I should be able to put the downstairs bathroom back together now that I've finished grouting and sealing the slate floor (and painting the walls and wiring in new lights, etc.). We have painted every room in the house, put slate floors in the entry and three bathrooms, put new light fixtures in almost every room, and reworked the walls in the kitchen/dining/living room area. We'll replace the main electrical panel in the next couple of weeks and then totally gut and redo the kitchen sometime around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Ah, the joys of home-ownership!

Hannah and Micah seem to be adjusting to Gresham H.S. pretty well. Hannah has been driving them to school each day (at least for now). Hannah is trying out for their musical today. They're doing "Into the Woods". Micah is in band again and also got into a men's choir. Caleb & Levi go with me to Hollydale and we've been walking together since it's only about a block and a half. They seem to like their teachers and are starting to make new friends here. Lani is busy doing two jobs in the David Douglas School District: 2 days a week on a long-term sub/job share, and two and a half days a week teaching TAG. She's been very busy!

Well, I'd better go and get my plans ready for today's classes!