How time flies!

I went to my High School Reunion last weekend. It was wonderful to see people I haven't seen in years. How many years? One of my friends asked if I was going to my 10 year or 20 year reunion. Wow - thanks :).

Angela, Me, Taneia, and Heather

 Seeing some of my friends from high school was amazing. When Susan, Norman and I got together it was like no time had passed at all. The three of us were such good friends in school.

Susan, Me, and Norman

I also got to see my friends who played saxophone with me in band. I don't know if it's like this with all instruments (because all other instruments are inferior), but our saxophone group was pretty tightly knit.

Now that I've switched to online my workload has increased tenfold. I thought on my session off I'd get a break. Apparently no. I'm a subject matter expert for several classes and am doing a ton of modification on courses with tight deadlines. It's been pretty crazy. I feel like I have a real job. Bummer.




Matthew really loves hats. He has been carrying hats on his hands and calling them "hand hats" for awhile. I even bought him a hat at goodwill for him to carry around. Erik didn't want him playing with his "good" hats.

Matthew <3 hats

Speaking of how time flies - my friend Jen was planning on getting rid of her blue chair. Prior to that, we snapped a picture of Jenna and Nicholas sitting in the chair. We had several pictures of them together when they were babies.We had to get a picture now that they are older.

Jenna and Nicholas (1 year old and 8 years old)

I also had this picture of when Jenna was only a month and a half old and Nicholas is about 5 months old. You can see the size difference between the two kids. Although the size difference is much smaller now, they are still good friends.

Jenna and Nicholas in March 2005

WITO

This weekend me and four friends embarked on an outdoor adventure. I attend the Women in the Outdoors event hosted by the NWTF which I believe stands for the National Wild Turkey Federation but I'm not sure. There was a lot of turkey talk over the weekend.

Beautiful Camp Muskingum

The camp was picturesque. It is an FFA camp with 370 acres of beautiful trees and a lake. We had no cell coverage either which is a good or bad thing depending on your opinion. The women in the outdoors event is a 3 day event similar to Becoming an Ohio Outdoor woman. Last year Michelle and Susan came to the BOW event with me. This year Nicole and Virginia joined the three of us. I think they loved it. Since I brought 4 other people with me (apparently that was a lot) I won a $25 gift card to cabelas (that's going to my bow and arrow - shhhh don't tell Erik).

Nicole, Virginia, Me, Michelle, and Susan

 I chose 5 different sessions:

1. Fishing - Nicole, Virginia, Michelle, and I all took this class together. Michelle caught 2 fish but I came up empty handed.
2. Zipline and climbing wall - Fun! Fun! Fun! The zipline is part of their high ropes course so to get up to the zip line, I needed to climb a ladder until I could put my feet on these tiny metal rings sticking out of the trees. That was a climbing wall in itself. At the top, of the tree was the zipline. I loved the zipline! The first time I scooted off the platform (since I was a beginner). The second time I leapt off! The climbing wall was a lot of fun too. I would love to do this more.
3. Archery - My favorite. All I want is a bow now. After an introduction our instructor let us shoot arrows at the targets. After warming up, he put balloons on the targets near the bulls eye. I popped two balloons before anyone else did. I ended up with a total of 5 balloons popped! More than anyone else in our group. I was so excited!!
4. Fish fillet - Our instructor had three bags of fish he wanted us to fillet. I basically spent this class cutting and gutting fish. Then he breaded the fish and fried it up for us to eat. It was yummy. My hands smelled like fish the rest of the night.
5. Tree rodeo - We took a hike through the woods and identified trees. There are so many trees - it made me realize how little I know. I didn't even realize poison ivy could climb trees and has berries. Yikes!

The climbing wall and me at the top

Yes - I'm really climbing it

The climb up the tree to the zipline

Michelle and her fish and lots of sunlight

Nicole ready for fishing or walking the plank

We really had a blast this weekend at this event. This event had several raffles. I entered to win two guns but didn't win them. I thought it would be great to come back with a gun. Erik would send me every year :). Even so - I'd rather have a bow. I did win some hair care products though. Not quite a gun but it is something. 

I can't wait until next year! I guess I need to be a women in the indoors until then.....

Erik's feats of strength

My session off has been spectacular thus far. Every time I have a session off I wonder how I do everything and work too. I've been able to catch up on lots of projects that I've put off (ie cleaning).

We went to the Renaissance Festival on Labor Day and it was a perfect day to go. The weather was nice (a little warm) and it was kids get in free weekend. The rides at the Ren Fest are all human powered. The kids love them! We bought tons of bottled water, cherry and lemon ice, and other drinks to cool us down. Erik participated in feats of strength to see how strong he is. He almost made it to the top! I did not participate - I didn't want to show everyone up.

Ride at the Ren fest

Erik = manly

 We moved Matthew back into the crib. I didn't really want to do this. I am very much in denial about his delays and diagnosis. This is very hard for me. I also blame myself since the cord was wrapped around his neck. Not something I could have done or changed but somehow it seems my fault. Lots of tears shed about this.

Matthew was not sleeping in the big boy bed. Since he could get out and turn on the lights, he was not sleeping - even until 11:30 or midnight! He really loves lights. Since he was not sleeping well, he also stopped eating. That's not good so we had to put him back in the crib.

Books I'm reading:

1. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. This is a King Arthur story and I'm enjoying it. However it is very pro-Druid and anti-Christian. 
2. The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore. We are reading this for our book club. I read it a long time ago. It's a fun read.
3. The Gripping Hand by Niven and Pournelle. This is a good book - just not as good as the first one.
4. Basic French - I need to learn some French before we go!

The book is always better than the movie

I'm free! I just turned in my grades and am all done teaching for 8 weeks! This 8 weeks is going to fly by but I'm going to make the most of it by packing in tons of fun. 

We've had a rough start to the school year but I'm sure it will get better. Getting back into the groove of school after the relaxing summer can be difficult. Sarah is not a fan of lunch and recess at kindergarten. There are many people there and it is overwhelming. Really, she can read and do math better than some adults. What else is there to learn in kindergarten? 

Jenna just read the Secret Garden and loved it. Then she watched the movie with Grandma. After watching the movie, she said, "Mommy, I liked the movie but the book had so much more in it. I liked the book better." Jenna has discovered an important universal truth. Books are always better. 

Grace, Jenna, and Abigail on a ride at the St. Joan of Arc festival

 On Saturday we went to the OSU-Buffalo game. Seeing the script Ohio, walking through campus and eating Tommy's subs always bring back memories. I loved playing euchre all night long and eating pizza in the middle of the night and going to the games.

Go Bucks!

 Erik finished my new standing desk. He bought some maple plywood and cut and stained it for my desk. Then he wanted to build a platform to raise it above my regular desk but we just stacked books on top (very high tech). So my standing desk top is teetering on some books. I think it works though.

I've also been jealous of his dual monitors so he bought me a new monitor and now I have two dual monitors. Yipee!! I love it already.

My new desk

 On Thursday we moved Matthew to a big boy bed. He has Thomas the train sheets and a Thomas comforter. I'm not sure he really likes it but I'm hoping he will get used to it. He has stayed up late playing at night not sleeping. The next step is potty training!

68 points on Quiddler today.