Quick Check In

We are trying to get back in the swing of back to school. This year is tough because I have four preps. I am forcing myself to stay organized and stay at least an hour after school every day. Liam's new room does outside playtime from 3-4 so he would rather be there anyway. I get more done at school without distractions. Liam gets to play outside with his friends. When I pick him up, the rest of the night is ours. After he goes to bed, I usually go over my lessons for the next day. He adjusted to the toddler room at school. We went an entire week of tear free dropoffs!
We went to a first birthday party for the son of Mike's coworker. Liam loved the balloons. He loved letting them go. We tried tying one to his wrist of belt loop but it just wasn't the same.

When we got home, Liam had to play basketball. He is obsessed with basketball. He loves to "swoosh." I was thinking of getting tickets to take him to a Providence College game but I would be scared he'd get upset that he couldn't play. We'll wait a few years for that. He sticks his tongue out when he concentrates. He is such a boy.

Tuesdays With Morrie

I must start with a confession: I hadn't read a single book since buying my iPhone. I spent any such time checking the news, surfing, playing Angry Birds, etc. When I got back to school and students wanted to talk to me about what we'd read over the summer, I had to bow my head in shame. I am trying to make up for it by reading two books; Tuesday with Morrie and rereading Erma Bombeck. After my seventh grade English teacher told me I would replace her one day, I read everything she'd written in middle school. Rereading her as a wife and mother is like sitting for coffee with a fellow friend who fully admits she isn't close to having it all together. I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven early in my pregnancy and cried like a little girl. Tuesdays with Morrie is therapeutic. It has been making me think about my mom a lot. I was 1,500 miles away for the worst of her sickness. There are so many things I wish I knew about her. It wasn't until after her death that I learned her own father, unable to deal with the loss of his wife when my mom was only nine, sent my mom to live with her older sister for two years. My mom lost her mom at nine. I remember turning nine and trying to imagine not having a mom. At thirty-four, it is still difficult. I know so little about her childhood, her dating Dad, and her in general. I'm sure I can ask my dad a lot of these questions I have about her and about their relationship. I've asked my dad about me as a baby a few times simply out of curiousity and to compare myself to Liam. I was embarrassed to admit that the only things I knew were what I remembered and say in pictures. When did I started walking? (11 months.) Was I as happy of a baby as Liam? (Yes and I loved pans and wooden spoons, too!) Did I also get ear infections? (No.)

Anyway, we survived the hurricane. We were on the windy side rather than the rainy side. We had a lot of leaves to rake up and only lost our power for nine hours. We were very fortunate. This is a tree at the end of our street.

Liam was amazing by the rain.

Others were not as lucky when it comes to electricity. My sister lost power for five days. I went into my school year having four days to make up because schools were without power. Since we paid for daycare, I dropped Liam off and let him get used to school again. He is in the next room with new teachers. It was a rough start but now I have to drag him out of there in the afternoon. I used one day to organize my oddly shaped closet.

It's a lot of shoes when you take them all out.

Let's see how long this lasts.

Liam is turning into a little boy. He loves his Mega Blocks

He is a little man: