Literacy Workshop

Yesterday I drove to the other side of Eugene for a Leadership in Literacy workshop. You never know if these things will be worth the time, but in our quest to always improve (and the fact that it was a free workshop sponsored by ODE), I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised both by the content of the day AND because Bonnie R was there from Melrose! It was fun to catch up. Seems most of the old gang has retired, just 3 or 4 left. I'm excited to share the things I'm learning but I have to hit the road and do it again today. I wish I'd just stayed down there---the prospect of another long drive in the fog/rain doesn't appeal to me at all. Oh well, it's Friday!!
Dan will be at Hidden Lakes Retirement tomorrow selling some of his handi-work so he's been busy this week even without work, doing odd jobs for a lady at church and getting some things made for the sale.

Beautiful weekend at the coast!

The coast was beautiful this weekend-sunny and actually not too cold! In fact, there wasn't any wind this morning while we went for a walk on the beach. So hard to leave! While there we had an "Owner Update" with a very nice guy who gave us all kinds of great ideas to utilize our credits to help our finances. We have a 2 bedroom condo unit booked for the week of Spring Break at the brand new Disneyland condo (we had wanted to take the grandkids-before the job loss), so we are going to list it on Craig's list. If there are no takers, then we can still cancel it by Feb. with no penalty. It should be worth at least $200 per night but we might take bids. Anyway, it was a great "light at the end of the tunnel" moment to think about being able to do something like that. For now Dan's going to be busy this week doing some odd jobs for a couple of people from church and making some things for a craft fair this weekend. :>)

November weekend

It's been quite a weekend so far. I'm battling the "crud" and trying to stay warm at home when I received a frantic call from daughter-in-law S.K. She'd been in a car accident which totaled the van. Gracey was with her but relatively unharmed, just a "rope burn" from the seat belt. The boys needed to be picked up from where they were so I hopped in the car and went to retrieve them. We went to their house to wait since the police were just on their way to the scene. Finally, they arrived. Gracey stayed with us and a friend took S to the hospital to get checked out. She's suffering with whiplash, concussion and sore muscles. She was uninsured and it was her fault so who knows what she'll do for a car. All the guys are out of town hunting and not in cell phone range, so I took kids and let her rest. Corbyn is at his real dad's relatives for the weekend . Since they are separated, there won't be a car around for her. (Did I mention it was her birthday the next day-what a way to celebrate.) Anyway I'll keep the kids again today, but although they don't have school tomorrow--I do so they'll have to head home this evening I guess. I want so bad to protect these little ones.

Here's to new traditions!

Usually we stay home on Halloween and hand out candy (it was down last year to only about 80 kids), but we spent this year with some of the grandkids. Gary, being the activities director at a retirement home, had planned a "Safe House" Halloween night there. Since he had to work, we helped watch out for the kids. Some of the residents were operating games and having fun handing out candy. Of course, there was also loads of Halloween refreshments! Afterwards, we stopped by Grandma Belle's and then out for pizza. I think everyone else in South Salem was at the same pizza joint, but we eventually got their tummies full of something besides candy!

Application Time

Well, now it's time to fill out applications again. We've been through this in the past and the new road has always turned out to be the best thing for us, but it's hard nonetheless. There's even a job opening in Roseburg. Hmmm...what would that look like? D driving back and forth on weekends like he did when he first got the job in Salem? Moving this summer? We'll have to discuss this application a little more before it gets submitted.

Breakfast & Books

Every year we have a morning parent meeting for Title I and invite families. Yesterday was the day and we had a great turn-out. I love seeing the parents interact with their children! The spread was appreciated and the leftovers made it to the staff room---more appreciation! Some years we have questions about why their child is needing extra help but this time, in response to telling them that children may not need the extra help all year, we had comments such as: "please keep him in your group", "she loves coming to reading", etc. It's a lot of extra work but worth it for the connections we make with parents.

Hunting Success is a lot of work!

The guys came back from hunting this week with a couple of deer. That made them all very happy but there's work involved with success. They spent one night butchering and sometime this weekend they'll try to fit in a sausage making session. Dan has to help with a home remodel of a friend and try to fix Dusty's car also. My biggest chore will be mowing the "back 40"! But oh, this glorious weather will make it enjoyable to be outdoors (just wishing it was on a drive through tree lined roads instead of picking leaves up off the lawn)!