September
And now, the long awaited continuation...(sorry about that).
I suppose not much happened besides our lives becoming more busy than ever. I
started driving school bus again as the school year started up on the 2nd.
This means early mornings for me…really early, lol. Like 5:30…I know many of
you can sympathize, and even though I’ve already done it for one whole semester
already it doesn’t get any easier.
I was also offered a job at The Elegant Farmer, a local
apple orchard and marketplace in Mukwonago. Starting on the 7th, I
soon learned a lot about apples, from Galas to Honeycrisp to Grannysmith to
Cortlands. Stocking the apple counters for 8 hours a day, I got to know the ins
and outs of apples, despite the fact that I don’t really eat them myself. Kinda
ironic, the apple expert who doesn’t eat apples…at least I appear to know what
I’m talking about anyways.
At first, Olivia decided to stay home with Tannin while I
worked, but soon she felt too lonely and so ever since, she’s joined me at the
Farm. Tannin has got to ride the ponies all by himself – he loves ponies – and run
all around the property while Olivia chases after him. I’m pretty sure she gets
a full workout just keeping up with the little man. The pinnacle of their time,
I would have to say, would be when Olivia got to take Tannin on his first
helicopter ride! She was freaking out the whole time internally, enjoying the
view and then realizing that Tannin didn’t have a seatbelt on and she was the
only thing keeping him in the cockpit. She had a vice grip on him until they
touched down again. As for our boy, he loved it and sat completely still the
entire time! J
And now that we’re talking about our son, we might as well
update you on all his new developments. As for the toddler bed, he sleeps great
in it now. One of the cooler things is that he has begun to try jumping. He
squats down and then straightens his legs really quick and throws his head
back. At first, we weren’t sure what he was doing, but then after Olivia and I
jumped for the basketball net and then watched him mimic us, doing what I just
described, we realized he was trying to jump. After that, he would just walk
around the gym, randomly stopping to try jumping, then continue on a few more
feet. The amount of squats that guy does, he might just be jumping soon! Oh ya,
and he’s also started dancing. He really likes to do dancing squats and nod his
head emphatically while moving his hands up and down. Occasionally he can hold
a rhythm…. J
As for interning, Olivia has had a bit of a change up.
Instead of doing nursery, she is now a multitasker. Monday and Friday she works
as a receptionist at the front desk, answering phones and checking in guests.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, she works in the school library entering the
books into the cataloguing system on the computer. In her free time, she grades
assignments and tests for various teachers. Once they discovered how efficient
and prompt she was in finishing grading, she was suddenly being approached by
multiple people. She’s keeping up though. I love my wife! She’s such a great
worker.
At the end of September, I got to sit down with the AMT
(Academic Management Team) and discuss the possibility of teaching a module
course in Flood Geology. I was ecstatic when my wife told me that she had
gotten an email approving my course. I am going to teach in early spring once we
get back from Christmas break! I’m hoping that gives me enough time to get
everything ready…there’s so much more to do than I ever thought. At first I
thought I could whip up a powerpoint in a week or so with a reading booklet and
such, but then I began to formalize my course into a syllabus and research
specifics for my course material. I now have two reading booklets (1 for
required reading and 1 for fun reading) – of which I’m still not done Day 1’s
reading yet, the beginnings of a powerpoint, and a lot of notes written down.
Taking what’s in my mind and organizing it on paper is hard stuff!
