Whew! What a week it has been! The first week back is always hectic, but it seems more so, as Daryl had lots of meetings (due to teachers being furloughed during pre-planning...they had to meet some time) and I had lots of meetings (because...well...I don't know...I think we just like meeting at my school!)and the kids had lots to do after school. I cam home totally and completely exhausted, swollen, and ready for bed each and every day. So I didn't even think about taking pictures (OK, OK, I couldn't find my camera).

So, here are a few highlights, and lowlights, of our week!

First a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR highlight....My brand new dishwasher...that really washes dishes!!! For months we have been having to hand wash our dishes before putting them in the dishwasher where they would get anywhere from 5-13 minutes of washing before it would stop, and depending on whose dish night it was, the dishes came out anywhere from pretty clean to "oh my goodness what is that chunk stuck to the plate?" clean. On Tuesday, though, I came home to a new dishwasher that my wonderful husband installed while I was conducting first grade orientation. Bless his heart, I didn't even notice until I got ready to go to bed, despite Hannah greeting me with "We have a surprise for you...dishes!" and when I didn't notice, she cried. (And may I mention that said wonderful husband did put his clothes in the hamper for the rest of the week!!! Love you!)

The car. Sigh. We had to do some major readjusting to our schedules to get everyone picked up from practices and the babysitter, get me to and from my doctor's appointment, get tags and get it picked up on Monday, but we did it, and Josh declared..."It has never driven this well!" And someone from church did it for only $350. We were encouraged. We were excited. We were relieved. And then three days later, it started dying again. And last night, it died three times. Why it only happens when Josh is driving it, we will never know. The person who fixed it drove it for an hour with no problems before getting it back to us. Again. Sigh.

But on to happier things...last Sunday, Daryl's family got together and gave us a shower. I hadn't wanted one...I felt bad because everyone had been so good to us when Hannah was born...we got so much and had to spend so very little out of pocket, and then got rid of most of it. Plus, I know...same sex baby...second baby...it's just not politically correct. They did it anyways, and it was so nice and we got so much nice stuff. Here's a picture of it all...Sarah arranged it all...and now we have lovely piles of baby stuff in our living room AND in our bedroom. Can I tell you that I am beginning to panic just a little bit? We cannot live off of piles...but have nowhere to put it. Hopefully Sarah and I will get the dresser finished today and will at least have somewhere to put clothes, blankets, etc.

Yes, back to work. Back to reality. Back to the "new and improved" lesson plan form that our school is now using. SEVEN pages for one week. Complete with Georgia standard numbers, best practices codes, essential questions, alternative lesson plans for advanced and slower learners, and Biblical Worldview thoughts. Oy-vey.

Sleepy kids (who sometimes can be just a little bit grouchy), sleepy momma, sleepy daddy.

The only one who isn't sleepy, it seems, is Hannah...who wouldn't even slow down enough for me to take a picture this morning! I've seen way too much of ELCA and way too little of Hannah this week. I know she loves Kay, that Kay loves her, and that she is so much more entertained and stimulated when she is there, but I do miss her so much. And then the mommy guilt kicks in and I think about how much less of my she will get when baby noname (soon to be named, by the way. We are thisclose)gets here.


By my calculations...2 weeks, 6 days to go! And as a warning...if August 28th comes and goes with nary a contraction, I will be just a wee bit disappointed...and very grumpy!