First Day Of School, Nelson-Style

The dawning of a new era. The part-time teacher/professor.

Let me summarize.

1. I dropped my kids off at the bus stop for their first day of school, then headed to part-time job #1, where I would take some photos for the yearbook. This was from 8:00 to 8:30. At 8:30, I leisurely left the building to take my youngest son to daycare (temporary for the next week). Then I came back to PT job #1 and taught my ONE class. Then I walked out of the building for the day!

2. Since my college teaching job doesn't start until Wednesday, my husband and I went out for lunch. Then I strolled over to my college office, did about 45 minutes of work, and then leisurely strolled out of that building.

3. I picked up a few things at the grocery store, and then I headed to the library. In the middle of the afternoon! I felt so decadent. In fact, one of the librarians who knows I'm a teacher asked why I wasn't in school. Like a truant!

4. Then I picked up my youngest from daycare, and then we walked down to the bus stop to await the arrival of the two schoolgoers.

And, it was a lovely, sunshiny day. Almost perfect!

I shall report back when the college classes start. That might change things! :)

Really Important Stuff

Commence nutshell:

*Two days of school are done. 177 to go. College classes start this Wednesday.

*Two really important books read recently: Ominvore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and No Impact Man by Colin Beavan.

*One eye-opening documentary watched: Food Inc.

*Friends: Love them lots. They don't even know how much they touch my life.

*Husband: Has been a patchy summer. Feel recommitted...moreso than I have for a long time. We are working on our positivity problem at current.

*Changes: Soda pop will be permanently gone from our house by next week. This is big, especially for Brent...but I am very proud of him for trying. Also, plastic reusable water bottles for every member of this house - no more purchasing bottled water. Furthermore, school rules regarding screens back in effect: no video games/computer games during the week. And finally, this family is making an attempt to limit restaurant eating.

*And hey...let me show you what I did after watching Food, Inc. today...



End nutshell. Have a good week.

New Financial Plan

Happy Lammas!

As a kid, this time of the year held nothing special for me. It was still summer, and school was weeks away. Most of my summer had become that blur of hanging out with friends, work/play, sleeping, eating, watching TV, etc.

When I started my teaching career later on, August first was usually the beginning of the end. School preparations crept back into the corners of my mind, and trips to clean out my classroom began.

At this time of my life, August was usually accompanied by that feeling of dread. The leisure of summer was dwindling - fast.

Two events have since changed my outlook on August. First, when I became a pagan, August first was the holiday of Lammas – the first of the harvest holidays. Roadside stands selling all kinds of produce cropped up everywhere I went, and I suddenly understood this was no coincidence. Mother Earth was yielding up the very first fruits of her labor. Fall was already permeating my environment, even though August was considered one of the hottest months of the summer.

Secondly, my third child was due on August 4, 2004. Since it was my third, I had full hopes of delivering a baby early. So, on August first, my pagan friends from Minnesota and I gathered in the circle at the farm to celebrate, and for the first time in my life, I ate a whole jalapeno pepper. I felt it was a small sacrifice to make if it might induce labor.

Elliot was born two weeks after my foolish pepper digestion. It obviously didn’t work.

Despite this, August has grown on me. It is the beginning of the season of change, after a summer of heat, sun, and dry soil. It will also always remind me of my little baby boy.

Happy Lammas and happy harvesting!