Preschool Con

Staying at the preschool means that I stay at $21.95 an hour. Not that I'm not appreciative for that amount- actually it's really good pay for a preschool teacher. But without a boost in income the chances of us being able to afford a bigger house are pretty slim. I like our house, and we make it work even with 5 of us. But as the girls get older they are going to need their own spaces, and will be wanting more room without everyone being on top of each other. Now, I know that the housing market is not going to stay where it is forever, and that maybe we could get a good price for our house and also be able to afford something bigger in the future. But when in the future? In only 5 years we will have a 13 year old, a 10 year old and a 7 year old. Those early double digit years are the ones that will be insane if they are sharing a room. Even if only the two youngest share a room it will still be crazy. And I can already hear "why does Sarah Jane get HER own room and I don't?" Of course, if they are in any sports or after school programs or other activities then that limits the amount of time they are all home together during the week. And during the summer we can put them on a plane to Grandma's for a month! What a good idea! OK. So it may work being in this house for the long haul. But I still daydream about a bigger home...

Weekend Update

Steve and I got away by ourselves this weekend. A rare occurrence, every minute of which I took full advantage of.

It started with the hour and 45 minute drive, 90 minutes of which I slept through. We arrived in San Fran and went directly to our hotel. We're lucky if we get one night out of 365 without the girls so we splurged a little. OK, a lot. We stayed at the Westin at Union Square, used their valet parking, and didn't bring any of our own food for meals. I know! Way extravagant!

After checking in we freshened up and set out to find dinner. We walked a total of 6 blocks and finally settled on Max's, which happened to be on the same block as the hotel. They had a great menu and we proceeded to shamelessly stuff ourselves. Knowing that our pre-dinner walk would only put a dent in the calories we had just consumed, we continued to wander the streets around Union Square. We went in an antique shop which felt like a museum, an art gallery that was showing a few Warhol pieces- it was awesome- and then we stopped in at Borders just to see what they had on the clearance table. We didn't buy anything but had a good time looking around. It being almost dark we went back to the hotel. It didn't take long for my eyes to droop, and both of us ended up getting 11 hours of sleep that night.

In the morning we took our time getting ready and hit the streets again to find breakfast. Only this time it was raining. Just a dribble, but enough for us to not want to go very far on foot, so we went back to Max's. Steve and I both had incredible breakfast sandwiches and again had to pry ourselves out of the booth after licking our plates clean. We wanted to see more of the city so we checked out of the hotel, loaded the car and drove to the gate to China Town. Steve had been looking forward to walking through China Town, so we decided to brave the weather, but only on the condition that we could buy umbrellas. And as luck would have it, umbrellas were a popular item at practically every shop we passed. We walked almost the whole length and back again managing to keep mostly dry. But after that we decided that this wasn't the day to do much more sight seeing, so we headed home.

I did manage to stay awake on the drive home, concentrating mostly on lesson plans for this week. We gathered the girls who had been spending time with Auntie Hannah and Uncle Daniel. Steve had missed the girls so much that he took them out to dinner and to the mall this evening. I, of course, stayed home, the mall not being my favorite place. But also because I wasn't invited. Mommy had already had her alone time with daddy and now it was their turn.

Speaking of which, they have pretty well wound down from their fun and are ready for bed. Duty calls.

Yours 'till fortune "cookies" can tell where I will go next on the internet.

I am so hip!

OK- does using the word "hip" to describe myself automatically mean that I am not?

Not only do we have cable TV, caller ID and high speed internet- I also have a Facebook page! Can you believe it? You have Christy Cook to thank for this update. I have never been this up to date in my entire life. I have always been a bit behind the times- hence the use of the word "hip" in 2009. What fun it has been to reconnect with people from Alma and Mott. Yes, I said Mott. I have communicated, in that impersonal internet kind of way, with 2 people from high school and have found a half dozen more I hope to talk to soon. I found my buddy Martha from Alma, too! It's been years!

So if anyone reading this also has a Facebook page, look me up.

Yours 'till I put my Facebook up on the shelf.

Preschool Pro

Today I went to a West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce Connection Luncheon. The preschool just became members of the Chamber and since Mrs. Brown wasn't able to attend the lunch I got to go and represent. As a new member I had the opportunity to stand and speak about the preschool and had my picture taken holding our new plaque. After the lunch and special presentation (a riveting power point on local road improvements) was concluded other members introduced themselves and asked all kinds of questions about the school. Some asked just because they were curious, but I passed out several brochures to people who were genuinely interested in the program for their own kinds.

I really do believe in the Parent Participation Nursery School opportunity. I know that co-ops are a dying breed and that West Sac is very fortunate to have one in our community. And while I recognize that with our state's dismal budget issues James Marshall has a big target on it's door for closure, I am glad to have the opportunity to fight for our existence. To make connections with the business leaders in our community is just one step in making a name for the school. I have written a letter to our school district top dogs and board members inviting them to the upcoming CCPPNS conference to be held in Sacramento in March. (BTW- California Coalition of Parent Participation Nursery Schools) I don't think that any of them will show up, but we had to let them know that there is more to us than just our little classroom.

It is hard to think about leaving the preschool when I feel so strongly about its benefit to the children and families we work with. And with Mrs. Brown ready to leave in the near future, I can see myself being the Director and really digging in to the importance of parent co-ops and standing up as an advocate for this program for as long as I can.

Any thoughts?

Hmmm?

So, I've been thinking.
I know, could be dangerous, but sometimes you gotta' do whatcha gotta' do.

I am really enjoying my job at the preschool. And I must say, I am pretty good at it too. Toot! (that was my own horn) However, as some of you know, I have been teaching third grade math and science in the mornings at Sarah Jane's school*. That has been fun and very educational for me as much as for my students. In fact, during this time at Delta it has occurred to me that I could teach elementary school and be very happy. So I've been kicking around the idea of going back to school to get my full credential so I can do just that, but I can't seem to make up my mind on what I want to do.

It is fairly frustrating to be 32 and still not know what you want to do when you grow up.

There are so many pros and cons for both sides that I am torn. One day I am in love with the preschool and knowing that the director will be leaving in a couple of years and that I could take her place is very appealing. But then again, I could teach half days in a kindergarten class and make twice as much money and never have to worry about weather or not the school district is going to ax our program, which is a legitimate concern with James Marshall Preschool.

Anyway, I'm going to work through this decision and hope that you will help me. Let me know what you think by commenting to this post. I would like to get some outside perspectives.

Yours 'till there's a harvest in the kinder-garden.

*that job had now ended. They hired a second grade teacher last week. I'm glad to have my mornings with the baby whom I didn't see much of before.

21st Century- Here We Come!

Let me begin by saying that this is not an excuse, just an explanation.

I have found it difficult to devote the necessary time it takes to blog regularly. With our super, mega, ultra slow Internet connection, and the fact that it takes up our only phone line (yes, dial-up does still exist) a normal length post takes about a half hour. Add in the constant interruptions by my wonderful children and we're looking at an hour, at least. And don't forget the 5 phone calls on my cell phone because our line was busy...Anyway, you get the idea.

But no more will this be an issue!
21st Century, here we come!

Just this morning Steve set up our brand new Wi-Fi connection. Woo Hoo! I am currently on the internet and on the phone at the same time.

Just a minute, let me hang up...

OK. Where was I? Oh yeah, I can be on the computer and still get a phone call at the house. It's amazing. Not to mention that it took all of 45 seconds to connect to the internet, open my blog, log-in, and start typing. Just that alone before took long enough to make me want to scream. I am so excited! And since it's not connected to the wall, I can move around the house, I can stop and referee an argument, check lunch in the oven, heck, I can take a shower and do my hair and not worry about the fact that the phone is busy. I don't why that always bothered me, but it did. What if someone important needed to get a hold of me right at that very minute?

As if getting an up to date internet connection wasn't reason enough to celebrate- we also got caller ID on our house phone! I know it's you calling before I answer. How weird is that? Caller ID has been around so long that our friends couldn't believe we didn't have it, but since it wasn't free, it wasn't on our phone. But now we got a good package deal through AT&T for the internet, house phone, and one more thing...Satellite TV! I know! Can you believe it? I haven't had cable since I was a kid. Needless to say, my husband is in heaven. I may never get him off the couch again. He may be permanently glued to both the TV and the computer for a while. At least until it looses that "new car smell." Not me, though. I have stuff to do. I just wanted to take a few minutes (literally) to say hello and fill you in our recent arrival into the current decade.

Yours 'till Charlotte lives on the Web.