Summer 2010 is a good one! I have had some great times with my mother who is 82 years old and beginning to show some signs of slowing down. For the first time, she has had to have someone help her with yard work. I've done a lot of it but she has also hired Steve, someone who works for nearly every member of our family. Steve's a Viet Nam vet who earns his living doing hard labor. He has a work ethic like none other and can do almost anything. He has weeded a lot of my mother's garden (the parts I didn't do), removed stumps, and taken out plants (to his home) that my mom has wanted removed. She's putting a lot more of her yard into lawn as mowing grass is easier than weeding.
Steve has also worked for us. He removed six huge stumps from our yard, helped my husband build a switchback trail up our backyard hillside, lined it with really big rock, built a retaining wall on the side of our house, and in a few days, will take out a spruce tree in our front yard that is soon to conflict with our pink dogwood. There's no question, the dogwood is staying! It's the talk of the development. It has been gorgeous this year and the blossoms stayed on for a really long time. I think our cool weather has helped. Our backyard is amazing! With just a bit more planting, we will be finished.... other than buying a bench for the hilltop.
Next week is our vacation. Of course I'm off all summer but principals aren't so fortunate. My husband works all summer other than a week or two off, usually end of July and first of August. There are a ton of new student interviews to get finished. He has also redesigned the school's website (not launched yet, still getting final approvals), rewritten the very outdated student handbook, and dealt with several course changes for teachers. He does a lot of work and I am so proud of him. Hopefully someday I'll be able to teach in his school. I think I'm ready to go back to high school after several years in junior high.
I am grateful for my K-8 teaching certificate with the K-12 English endorsement! It's so nice to not only be ready to do the job but to have all the certification that makes me legal. Many private school teachers don't work to maintain their certification since it isn't mandatory for most private schools. I spent the past two summers finishing classes for my next certificate renewal. I'm done! I like having no questions about my qualifications!
Anyway... vacation... we are heading to a cabin in the Cascade Mountains, just an hour from Leavenworth, WA - a quaint Bavarian styled village. Our cabin is a gorgeous 2500 square foot log house with room to sleep twelve! There are seven of us going this time (we'll do this again!) since our younger son and his family are in France. It will be a week with three grandkids, their parents, and lots of fun outdoor recreation! We are ready!!! Speaking of which, I need to prepare menus for the week. It should be great fun! Time to make some plans that will help us create lots of great memories.
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