Summer's Over...Finally!

I know that I am not alone in this feeling...I know there are others out there who share my particular distaste for super hot, super sunny days. My husband is one...of that I'm sure.  My friend, Tiffany, is another. But surely there are others. We can't be the only ones looking forward to the cooler days. 

For Ken and I, at least, the reasons are rather selfish. The days of doing hours of yard work in blistering heat are coming to a close.  Ken is happy about that. For me, it's the clothes. I really don't like summer attire.  Oh, the casual clothes are great, but really, I only get to wear those a couple of days a week.  The other days, I go from a cool house in the morning to a freezing office during the day back to a cool house in the evening...almost always interrupted at some point by a few smoldering moments when I can not avoid being outside and the decision made hours earlier to wear a light sweater for the office comes back to haunt me. I've actually started wilting in the heat now.

With the end of summer, of course, comes school.  There are two students in our house now.  Mindy started kindergarten on August 12. I took the day off work so I could take her and pick her up on this special day.  I think it was more special for me than for her, truthfully.  She takes everything in stride. I was just happy there were no tears ... from either of us!  She looked awfully cute. 

I love this picture, because that backpack was about as big as she is!  LOL This was actually taken at the end of the day - well, school is only three hours, so it was still the middle of the day! This next pic of Mindy and Grandpa Harry was taken just before we left for the new adventure!

The pigtails were my idea...so blame me.  :P

Mindy's been in school now for about three weeks.  She seems to be doing pretty well. Her class is VERY large, 30 kids.  Her teacher, Mrs. Borell, is a saint in my book.  The group is very diverse, some kids come in knowing their letters and numbers, some kids didn't. And, of course, there are at least a few kids who most likely don't speak English at home. Ken and I try to work with Mindy a bit each day to ensure she's learning her letters and she even has some words down.  She can recognize words like DOG, CAT, BALL, ON, OFF, MOM, DAD, ME, and her name. We're also working on phonics. So she can spell those words, not just recognize them.

As for the other student in the house...that would be me...I'm taking two classes this semester.  We'll have to see how this goes.  Both courses are online - Microeconomics and Report Writing.  I'm hoping they are 'easy' enough that I can get everything I need to get done even with the travel I'll be doing this autumn. Classes start in two days...yikes!

I don't think I mentioned in previous blogs that I got a new job. That's been a challenge, to say the least.  I'm still transitioning out of my old job. It has made it difficult to focus on some of the things I need to start learning for my new position.  But, eventually, these last few projects will go by the wayside and I can put my all into preparing for the big changes in store for the health care electronic transaction sets. There is a lot to learn.

Ken is still plugging away at HAC.  He's the second most productive Voucher Examiner in his grade. He really does hate the job, though.  There's not much challenge in it for him.  Hopefully, there will be a change in hiss near future so he can start enjoying work as much as I do!  LOL  Or maybe I'm just a freak...

Later today, my folks are having a BBQ at their house.  Monday is their 30th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it?  And they said it wouldn't last.  ;)  If we get pics, I'll throw some up.

 

Later...