School days

School has been in session now for almost a month, and I've been too busy to write anything about it. I think the kids are all having pretty good years. Caleb hasn't said much about school, but then again, he never does. This month he learned two new skills that are giving him lots of pleasure--bike riding and origami. Sierra is adjusting to kindergarten pretty well. She is a little stressed sometimes, but I think she's also having fun. I'm teaching pre-K at Madeline's school, and the teachers say Madeline is very easy and well-behaved. She particularly loves singing time.

I think things are finally settling down for me. It was quite the job getting my classroom set up and all the beginning of the year paperwork prepared and filed. I think I've got a pretty good class. Some of them have never been to school before and we have a lot of learning to get them ready for kindergarten in a year. I'm still coaching Caleb's Destination Imagination team, and this year I'm coordinating the DI teams at the elementary school. It has been really time intensive answering all the parents' questions and trying to find and train coaches and organize teams. We have more kids who want to participate than teams available, and I've been feeling the stress of trying to figure out how to place the kids when I don't have enough parent volunteers. I'll be glad when we have the teams going and I can get back to the fun part of DI again. Walking to school on the first day

Sierra and her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Spalding

Madeline waiting in my classroom before the first day of school begins

September 7, 1975

In honor of my 33rd birthday today, I thought it would be fun to list 33 random facts about me. Here they are in no particular order.

1. I'm the oldest of four children--one brother followed by two sisters. My dad has worked for IBM his whole career and my mom stayed home with the us. My mom became a high school English teacher just after I did, but she's stuck with it a lot longer!
2. I've been a vegetarian since I was 12-years-old, although strangely I have leather couches and leather shoes and have never liked animals enough to get any pet other than a fish.
3. I've won every hoola hoop contest I've been in--I even won one when I was six months pregnant with Sierra.
4. Of my children, I think Madeline is most like me in looks and personality.
5. I can make a schedule and stick to it rather rigorously, but when I don't have to be anywhere, I love staying at home and improvising creative activities with my kids.
6. Sometimes I wonder if my house is the least decorated and organized in all of Frisco.
7. I love to read and taught high school English, but you'll never see me pick up Shakespeare on my own. I prefer recent bestsellers and non-fiction to the classics. I eagerly await Newsweek and Time arriving in the mail each week, and my favorite book I've read this year was probably A Thousand Splendid Suns.
8. Jobs I've dreamed of having include writing children's books, giving tours in an art museum, and philanthropy work overseas.
9. I'm freaked out by seafood.
10. I've always loved fairy tales.
11. I could eat chocolate chip cookies and spaghetti my whole life and never miss another food.
12. I love to talk--especially on walks and at Starbucks.
13. Bargain hunting gives me a total rush. There's nothing like a great garage sale or thrift store find.
14. I enjoy exploring both sides of political arguments and usually have moderate opinions on controversial issues.
15. Unless I'm under pressure, I work and think slowly.
16. I draw so badly even my stick figures look pathetic.
17. When I got married, I didn't know how to cook much except spaghetti. One of my shower gifts was a book with recipes on how to cook hard boiled eggs, baked potatoes, and rice--and yes, I did refer to it.
18. Two trivial things that attracted me to Ted were that he could spell well and sing on key--traits I'd found sadly lacking in other guys I'd known.
19. I didn't have a middle name until after getting married when my maiden name "Cannon" became my middle name.
20. When I was in kindergarten, my biggest interest was dinosaurs. Sometimes when Sierra begs me for Barbies and tea sets and tiaras I wonder if we're related.
21. The place I'd most like to visit right now is probably the Greece/Turkey region.
22. I wish I had family nearby.
23. I think it's easier to drive on the left side of the road--in countries where that's legal, of course.
24. I get upset when someone tells me what to think.
25. I'm pretty bad with directions--Ted does all the navigating in our family.
26. Caleb and I love word plays, so when I make up bedtime stories for him I try to throw in some Amelia Bedelia-style double meaning jokes. I know I've told a good story when Caleb laughs so hard he cries.
27. I've been to every continent except Antarctica.
28. I find that as I get older I worry less about pleasing people.
29. I'm very particular about my physical comfort, especially with my shoes, my driver's seat, and sleeping conditions.
30. I enjoy exotic food and music.
31. I used to be on a synchronized swimming team, and I may be one of the few people in the world who thinks it's a real sport.
32. Halloween is my favorite holiday, especially in a place where there's a real fall.
33. Thirty-three years ago, my mom's plan was to ride her bicycle to the hospital when labor began. She and my dad didn't have a car and she says she didn't know having a baby really hurt. (I was her first.) When the contractions started, she quickly decided to ask a neighbor for a ride!