Overdue Update

Greetings:

Never good when you check your blog and you see that you haven't written since July.   Whoops.

I'll keep the past events concise and maybe in chronological order.   

End of July:  the summer camp ends and ends on a great note.   I made a lot of notes about the program so I can change some parts of the Parent Handbook and better prepare my staff in 2015 for participant behavior issues.   The amount of issues we had related to bullying was ridiculous.   It is pathetic that in 2014, children cannot be kind to each other and have to act like little jerks.

Beginning of August:  finally, a vacation!   I was enthused to escape Central Iowa for awhile and spend time at home.    And yes for some reason I have been dying to wander the House on the Rock for years.   Not completely sure why I like that attraction so much but I do.   I am pretty sure that everyone that reads this blog is already aware that our simple canoe trip didn't end up so simple.   I am pleased that I have a mildly sore foot at this point and numbness.   It could have been a lot worse. I had thought about blogging about the event in more detail but I don't like thinking about it anymore. I tend to think about "what if" when I play through the afternoon in my head too much.   It still scares me that I could have been in bigger trouble if the water had been deeper when I tripped and got caught under the canoe.   I'm holding off on another doctor's visit because I know it just takes time for nerves to "wake up" and function correctly.   I am a little surprised that I cannot feel more of my leg at this point.  

End of August (work):  my meetings and orientation process at the beginning of the semester went well for the new graduate students.   I am pleased with our new TAs.    I teach my ISU classes on MWF and have the after school program on Tues/Thurs.   I had hoped for more prep time on Tues/Thurs but those days have been filled in with walk-in appointments, scheduled appointments, etc.  I already feel like I'm scrambling to complete tasks each day.   I am teaching the Monday night class for DMACC again as well as the online class.   I am already less than impressed with some of my DMACC students due to their communication and ability to come to class or participate in class.   Sigh...I keep reminding myself I need the money to pay off more debt.

End of August (personal):  it was nice to visit NE Iowa for Czech Days and see some family before diving into a hectic semester of work.   I had high hopes for harvesting a lot from the garden but the garden did suffer from weather earlier in the summer.   We've had a small collection of tomatoes but most are still in the garden and green.   The cucumber plants produced a little but it was nothing compared to last year.   The only veggies that are doing well are the green pepper plants.   It doesn't look like I get to use my canning system this year.   

September:  it's been fun watching Gavin play football.   His team is doing OK.  I am happy that I can view quite a few games this season.   It helps that 9th grade plays on both Thursday and Fridays, depending on the week.   In 8th grade, he only played on Thursdays and that constantly conflicted with the after school program.  

And not to sound like a broken record, a big goal is to boost my physical activity levels.   We are eating out more often again too which is a bummer.   I feel drained when I get home and making a meal is typically not appealing.  Thankfully we are entering crock pot season again so I'm hoping to use that to crank out more home-based meals.   

Here's hoping to another blog entry in September!