Apologies and Sharing

Okay, faithful readers. I must apologize profusely for my failure to post AT ALL during the summer. Unfortunately, you all know how life gets in the way of the best intentions. Not only did I have to get the house ready for Daddy-o to come home, I had to find a job for the first part of the summer. I also had to keep the secret from Little Man. Girl was on top of keeping me from giving it away, as best she could. Daddy-o got to leave the facility July 6th. I picked him up at 8:30-ish, and thankfully Little Man had summer school, so the wait for him to see his daddy was fairly short. I can't tell you how amazingly wonderful it has been to have Daddy-o home. It has been a very long 8 and a half years, and the family unit is doing mighty fine! Daddy-o got a job 3 days after getting home, and has worked his buns off since. Between the paying job and the ever-growing list of honey-dos, he has been a busy man. But he's thrilled to be able to do them for his family. We have so much enjoyed seeing him every morning, and definitely have profited from his amazing cooking skills - although I have lost(?)some weight. So, between the job, getting ID, a driver's license for Daddy-o, Girl studying for a permit, a vehicle for Daddy-o, visiting other family, and keeping up with local visits, our little family has been on the go for 2 months straight. We feel like summer was too short (although Girl was very ready for school to start. In all honesty, I was too. Daddy-o told me to take the month of August off and rest up because "you earned it baby." Who was I to argue? But I was bored after the first couple of days. *shrug* Daddy-o has adapted to life here well, and we could not be more proud of the man he has become. Our relationship is probably at the best it has been in the 11 years we have been together, and things just keep getting better. Now, sharing some....Girl was able to get her hair done for school, and it looks fabulous! She covered some of the roots, and the stylist added some purple and green streaks (not crazy, but pretty). Girl has been experimenting with some new hairstyles and has really come out of her shell and rut. Color this mama a bit worried. Little Man has been dreading the end of the summer since the day school got out in May. Poor guy. I hope the teacher this year can help him find the joy I felt in school. Both the children went to visit Daddy-o's family for 2 weeks this summer, and came home with new skills. They both got to drive on Papa's land, and Little Man practiced his bike riding skills. Girl helped Nana run the shop, and met a lot of new people. So, I hope that my apology has been worthwhile and the sharing has helped ease the pain of missing the blog for the summer. Please feel free to comment, and if anyone of the readers has any ideas on how to help me with adding photos, I would sure appreciate an email with that. I also hope everyone's summer was outstanding!

Last Day of the Month

So, watch for the comment winners. I hope this month has been fun and different for you, dear readers. Next month will have a different schedule and new photos for sure! Have a fantastic day! Enjoy your time with your family and friends.

Wednesday

Last day of school (and strangely the busiest), and second to last day of the comment contest this month. Who will the secret winner be? I am considering using Random.org to help me pick the winner of the contest.

I am also sure that when the contests start again in September, I will have tons of new ideas for the winners of the contests. I am contemplating on a writing package of a journal, pens, post-its, and index cards. I am also thinking of gift certificates to various stores. Feel free to add your input. I would love to know what would interest you for prizes.

What other contests should I have? I was thinking about working on my writing, and thought of the great Twitter contest of writing a story in 140 characters. I also thought about the 6 Word Sentence or seeing what responses I can get with some other memes.

I just found one called 30 Days of Me, and am considering it for one of the months. It certainly would help me with some of my blogging skills. Best look into it before I dive in.

Let me know if you have any further ideas - and for the record, I think I will keep the snowplowing of piddle story for a rainy day!

Tuesday

Today is the second to last day of school for this year.

The year has flown by. I have seen a lot of changes over this year. I was sorry to see some students make the decisions they made, but have seen some good come from other students opting for alternatives to our school.

I am proud of the students who forged ahead, setting the goal for themselves to complete the requirements. I wish the other students good luck for their future.

There are 2 faculty who will retire this year, and although this was a surprise, it was not a big one. One teacher taught me when I attended here, and I know he has also seen a lot of changes, and some of them aren't so good. Not all of them are bad, just some aren't so good. The other staff member has been here awhile, and has been a strong IDP and aide. It is time for her to be a grandmother though.

I am sure that the summer will also fly by, and that next school year will be here all too soon. However, I am going to be thrilled when I get paid again!

I hope that you are all ready for summer vacation to start, and will be just as ready for school to begin in the fall.

Have a great day today! Enjoy the weather, the birds, the flowers, the children.

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, so I will be spending it remembering those who are gone but not forgotten.

I will return tomorrow to regular posts.