I spent the weekend at my mom and dad's house (on the other side of the state from me); as usual, good stuff and not so good stuff.  (Mostly good stuff).

Neither my mom or dad are doing so great physically.  They're doing "ok" - Mom is looking forward to two knee replacements (numbers 4 and 5) and my dad is diabetic with heart problems.

Those "little" things aside, they're planning a three day trip to Mackinac, leaving at 7:00 tomorrow morning with my dad's two sisters and my cousin.  They'll be spending Wednesday on the island.  I hope they're planning on renting a carriage (motor vehicles not allowed) - three of the five can't ride bikes and two of them can't walk (at least very far)!  But they will have fun.

Saturday was spent with my sister and brother and their families (along with Mom and Dad).  It was a good day.  I am the farthest removed (geographically) and I can feel cut off from my family; it was good to get together.

It's the "little" things that I remember.  My kids had a "sword fight" with cat tails...all that fuzz...everywhere.  About 100 Canada geese spent the night in the field across the road...and my dad and Manda had to go "visit".  We went to a nearby gravel pit and the kids did some target shooting.

At this point, my kids are used to the city (walking to McDonald's), and get bored in the country (driving 12 miles to get to anywhere).   Work and school start tomorrow and we're (mostly) ready.

For a "Carnival Post", this is less "posty" and more informational.

Last weekend was the last weekend before school starts for real. Life is going to be a little crazy.

I'm not quite sure you can call a blog a "ministry", but I want to be able to share, and my blog truly is a journal of what I'm learning and doing. I've been working on blog posts ahead of time, and "pre-posting" so that blogging doesn't get in the way of life and I'm going to be strict with myself about that. August was the first month ever that this blog had a post every single day! I don't know if I'll keep that up, but I'm going to try to be close. Between photo scavenger hunt (which I really enjoy!) and Wordless Wednesday, I'll have two days of photos! "In Other Words" and "Carnival" will keep me structured. That's four days right there! I'll have a lot of fodder for Thursday Thirteens - five days worth of posts! Together with one theological thought post and a book review (I have lots that I've read), I can be posting pretty regularly; and I may have to recruit some help! (another 😉
This could work! 😉 But the blog is not a "real" priority, it's an outlet.

My two biggest priorities are going to be "fitting in" at a new church and keeping my family on an even keel.

The biggest challenge is to keep my life in sync with my kids. This might be going out for dinner so that we sit and talk without distractions - this MUST be a priority! A dear friend told me, after talking about my classes, that I might end up having to repent to my children for this semester; scheduling "family time" is essential.

I've chosen a new church, but summer time is a difficult time to "get into" it; I purposely scheduled classes to leave Wednesday nights clear. I want to do a "women's study" and just "be". I've been a leader of various kinds of groups and right now, I just want to "be" and to seek God and to make friends. For right now, new friends at a new church seems like a good goal.

About my job: I really like my job, but this year is going to be "challenging". I'm with a different lead teacher and one who is very organized and regimented (that's not a put-down, it's probably exactly what I need!) The students are older and "quieter".

The new room is in a different part of the school, which means that I'll have more contact with a different set of staff - that will be very nice! This room is also already into its schedule; this is good thing.

Every classroom I work in gives me a different insight into the very special children I work with and I don't expect this year will be any different.

This is my "first job".

The second job is the two classes that I have opted to take.

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