Lovely October

October and November are my fav months...because it is cooler outside (usually), because the kids are back in school (yeah!), the color of the leaves are lovely, and the garden is winding down (no more watering/feeding/weeding!) Also, we were married in November and I choose fall colors for my bridesmaids to remind me of autumn! There is still enough sunshine to keep the afternoons warm, but it depends on where you are in the garden. The back deck no longer receives more than a few short hours of light, and the back bed is in full shade all day. Washing can still go outside, but I have to get it on the lines before 9 am or it won't dry. But there is a cool breeze and I can sit in the shade with the dog and watch the leaves fall...terrific!

Halloween is a Sunday this year, so it may or may not be crowded. The past several years we have seen a decline in the number of trick-or-treaters, but this is okay. At our hayday in the late '90s, I would go through 15 HUGE bags of candy and then hunt through the kids if anyone came to the door after 9 pm. Last year, I had bags leftover, so my CCD kids were rewarded! Abby did "door duty" last year, but has hinted she may be up for going out with some of her friends this time around.

Thanksgiving may be small for us. Maggie can't come, if at all, until after Dec. 25th. Kate is working, so she and Tracy will be down on Friday to help us decorate for Christmas and then we will reciprocate by going up to them on Saturday. Wendy is "depressed" and doesn't want to come. Haven't heard from Doug. But I will still make a turkey, pies and watch the Macy's Parade, followed by "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" on tape. Good times....

Enjoy the color of autumn!

This is Autumn???

OK, first full day of autumn...and it hit 89 degrees, people! The dog and I have had it. Both of us are just dragging ourselves around and, luckily, I get to go into the airconditioned car! I am leaving in a few to pick up Abby from her hospital volunteer job...and at 6:12 pm, it is 84 and high humidity. I officially HATE summer!

On another note, why, oh why, do young beautiful girls in my family get tats??? I am not speaking of Kate, who has only 2, one small on her ankle and one on her back by her waist, but of a certain niece who shall remain nameless here. Actually, my other nieces also have them...I think maybe only Maggie and Abby are without...and they both share a fear of needles! Thank God for that.

Religious Education classes going well, though the building is NOT airconditioned and the kids were drooping this week. Many of the students in my evening 7th grade class I had last year as 6th graders....MAWAHAHA! Mrs. Dull strikes again...divine retribution??

Keep cool!

Religious Ed classes start!

OK, got home about an hour ago and have completed my first class...out of about 85, I figure. Nice group of 6th graders, 16 in all, so the classroom is a bit full, but we will manage. Our pastor walked in and quizzed the kids briefly, as he is wont to do, and we seem to be a great bunch! Abby is my assistant on Mondays, so she is a big help, being "old" enough for the kids to respect her, but "young" enough for them to relate to her.

Summer seems to be making a brief return, it hit 80 degrees here, but at least the nights are getting cooler. We really, really need rain, not the brief shower that passed through while I was in class. I hate water restrictions, but they really are a pain in the winter, as you seem not to be aware of a drought then! Hoping for a regular snow amount this year...last year was a bit much! We had over 3 feet in one day...

I hope to continue on the reading jag that I am on...have done quite a bit this summer, but I am too lazy to put them all on Good Reads, so just trust me, I am reading! Finished Dragonriders of Pern and associated tales, read 4 Brother Cadfael mysteries, and The Lady in the Tower and Mistress of the Monarchy, both by Alison Weir. Currently on Queen Isabella by Weir, another Cadfael and a book of SF short stories. It's great to get back to reading, after all the probs with my eyes.

School days...

Ok, tomorrow is the big day...and I don't mean just because Raymour and Flannigan are delivering my new living room set...Abby becomes a JUNIOR in High School!! She gets her ring next month, she takes the PSAT for "real" in October, and she starts her AP courses this semester. For the first semester, she has AP Chem every day, AP US History every other day, Pre-Calc and English 11 Enriched. We have 84 min. blocks in our block-scheduling. On the alternate days of APUS, she has band. In the spring, she will have AP US History every day, AP Chem every other day alternating with a study hall, French Grammar (4) every day and Gym alternating with Band. She will have one January Regents (English...please pray for no snow days!) and one June regents (Amer. History) and 2 AP tests in early May. Busy, busy year.

I sell books next week for Religious Ed and then the Catechetical Mass on the 12th with luncheon and we start classes the week of the 13th. I am doing Monday and Wednesday afternoons for 6th grade and Thursday nights for 7th grade. Remind me why I am doing this in December, when I am going nuts!

Ken has been busy doing catch-up chores from 5 1/2 yrs of school, so our LR/DR and Kitchen have been painted and the patio is nearly done. Next weekend, working on the front post and tying up my monster mums. He should hear by next week about his part-time nursing job. Fingers crossed!

So, I am now going to get Abby going, to make sure her new bookbag is packed and clothes out, etc. Good luck to all of you who have to do the same with your kids....and let's remember how lllloooonnnngggg this summer has been!

HE PASSED!

Yeah....Ken passed his NCLEX exam! He is now officially an R.N. and can start to do part-time work at the hospital. After vacation, he will call and set up orientation and all that entails. But we have a cushion now and can breathe after almost 6 years of his hard work!

In the meanwhile, he has been a darling and has been working on painting my kitchen cabinets...more than halfway done. Next weekend, we will start to repaint the LR/DR...same colors (red accent wall, white for the rest), just to freshen it up. Our new living room sofa and loveseat SHOULD be here by October, but who knows? I'm hoping before Thanksgiving.

Well, Maggie should graduate in June of 2011, then Abby in 2012. Then the Dulls should be done for a while....unless Kate goes back to school.

Enjoy the rest of the summer, folks.

Ken

Ok, today Ken was in Albany taking his NCLEX...Nursing Boards, for us dummies! He finished in just over an hour and won't know for 48 hours or so how he did. But Kate, our very own professional RN, who took them 4 years ago, said it's a good sign that he finished early. Supposedly the test takes you from easy to hard questions, and if you flub a hard one, it moves back down for several easy/medium ones...so, the longer you go, the more you have messed up?!#

Anyway, this is the end of a VERY long haul for all of us. If he passes, Ken can worry a bit less about IBM's corporate B#!@S#@% and get on with his life. He won't leave IBM...will hang in there as long as he can...but he doesn't have to worry soooo much if they do pinkslip him!

Our "long term" goal is to get Abby into college, and hopefully through it, before we have to move/change jobs/go nuts.

Cross your fingers Ken passed!

Now it's August....yikes!

OK, I really have to make a schedule to post to this thing. Another month almost has passed...but besides record temperatures here in NY, nothing much is new. Kate and Tracy had their Open House party last weekend, and Maggie flew in as a surprise...you should have seen Kate's face when she opened the door to her twin standing there!!

Abby loves volunteering in the hospital the two afternoons, and the nurses have quickly learned she is efficient and reliable and she has already done the Nursing Schedule on the computer...plus watering the patients, doing filing, running errands...she has learned the hospital layout, has yet to go to the morgue, loves the grilled cheese in the cafeteria, and all this will be for naught when the new hospital opens in September of 2011. But I think it is helping her confidence and to make up her mind of what she might want to be...all good things!

Hershey Park in two weeks, then a week to shop for school and then September 2nd is the BIG DAY! I am looking forward to more of a schedule, less driving to Middletown for me, and for cooler weather. But I don't love getting up at 5:30 am and when I get back to teaching religion, I am sure I will wonder where the summer went!

Enjoy!