first day of third

On August 27th, Seth started third grade.  He has two fantastic teachers, one for language arts and one for science, math, and social studies, as well as classmates who are more willing to learn this year, and he is off to a great start.  He loves school and says the best thing about it is that he gets a hug at the beginning and the end of the day.  We can tell he is learning a lot.  It's his first time getting letter grades, and he had straight A's on his first report card.  Third grade also means he is learning to play the recorder.  (Nathan has much more patience with it than I do.) 

2013 book list

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb
*The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Esther's Gift: A Mitford Christmas Story by Jan Karon
The Mitford Snowmen: A Christmas Story by Jan Karon
Fancy Pants by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
*The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
*State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand
Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James
*And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Inferno by Dan Brown
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
*Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield
*Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve
True Colors by Kristin Hannah
Stunning by Sara Shepard
*Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly
The Nosy Neighbor by Fern Michaels
Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
*The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
Listen to Your Heart by Fern Michaels
The Wedding Party by Robyn Carr
The Woods by Harlen Coben
Second Chance by Jane Green
This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
*Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
The Delta Ladies by Fern Michaels
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
In the Company of Others by Jan Karon
Sweet Trouble by Susan Mallery
Drive Me Wild by Julie Ortolon
A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen

Hopefully that's all of them; I may have missed one or two.

I was invited to join by a mom from Seth's class to join a book club in April, and it has been one of the best things to happen to me since the move.  I have put asterisks in front of the book club selections.  With the exception of Gone Girl, none of them were on my radar of things I thought I'd like, and with the exception of The Casual Vacancy, I have enjoyed every one.

In 2013, Seth and I finished the Oz series by L Frank Baum.  I thought that would be the end of our bedtime tradition, but we are now four books into the How to Train Your Dragon series.  Since that series is kind of long, his new plan is for me to alternate between it and Lemony Snickets after we finish the book we're on now.  Amelia continues to prefer short books at bedtime, but she cannot miss one night.  Even if she has fallen asleep in the car, she must have a book.  Nathan read over forty books himself this year...we are a family of book nerds, and I love it!

let's try this again

Okay, people.  Here's the deal.  Since I last posted right at the end of summer, I will try to catch you up a little bit.  While I was at school's open house, bragging to anyone who would listen that I was going to spend Amelia's first day of school on the deck, in the sun, reading a book; life had other plans.  When I left the cacophony of the gym, I realized I had missed a call.  It was for a job interview for the following week.  Amelia only went to school two days the first week, and I had two doctor appointments on one day, so that left me with her first day of school to interview.  The last time I interviewed for a job, I drove from my dorm room.  I don't recommend interviewing for the first time in over thirteen years the day you send your baby to kindergarten. 

Anyways...less than 24 hours later I was offered a job, and I started on September 30th.  While we were getting into the swing of things with both kids at the same school (LOVE LOVE LOVE it, by the way), I was frantically trying to catch up on all the nurse stuff that had lapsed in the past sixteen months.  And get ready for my big consignment sale.  Nathan worked from home the week I had to drive uptown every day for orientation, and we hired a sitter to pick the kids up from school and watch them the days I work.  Then we had to all learn another new normal...mommy working day shift.  Most weeks I work two 12-hour day shifts.  I leave before the kids wake up, Nathan gets them ready and takes them to school, the sitter picks them up if it's not a Friday, and between she and Nathan they get homework done.  By the time I get home, they are fed and settling in for the night.  I tuck them in, and somedays the process repeats itself the next day, but most weeks my workdays are split up.

So add the what turns out to be 26 hours out of the house each week with a computer I don't love, kids who need computer time for school-related stuff, a husband who works from home on Fridays, the fact that I've taken over 50 work-related computer tests in the past three months, and a volunteer position on the PTO that requires several hours of computer time, something had to give, and I'm afraid the blog did for a while.  But I've used it as a reference lately, and realize it is important to keep it going.  So I am going to try my best to get it caught up in the weeks ahead and revive it.  My next post will be my 2013 book list, because while I didn't find time to blog, I still had time to read!