Updates

This blog entry promises to be a hodgepodge of information, so haphazard and random that I'll number my thoughts to force some order upon them:

1. Ruby started fulltime preschool this month. We've paid for the month of July, but summer break for the school was the first week of July (preschool teachers deserve some paid vacation days, too) and we were gone to the beach (more on that later) for 3 days of the following week. So, she's only had 2 full days of school and the month's half over! That's like, $230 a day or something! At least she's learning spanish. Anyway, my fretful thoughts about this have mostly centered around whether she'll nap at school, Ruby not being used to napping on a thin foam mat on the floor surrounded by her playmates without her pacifier and "kitty." And no, her first day there, she didn't nap. If you know Ruby, you know she's a beast if she doesn't nap. (Sometimes she's not far from a beast if she does nap.) But on the second day, she napped! Hooray!

2. Why did Ruby start fulltime preschool? Because I'm going "back to work." I don't go back til August, but a fulltime preschool slot opened in July and in this dog-eat-dog college town, you have to snatch up the good daycare spots when they become available to you. This is actually a bit nice for me, though maybe a little guilt-inducing. It ends up that I get about 3 weeks of free time alone at home while Ruby's in school before my workdays start. I do plan to stain the deck, but I must say I am reminded of the freedom I had as a childless teacher on summer break. Ah, the good ole days. But back to the topic. I accepted a job with the Orange County school system a few months back. I'm looking forward to the cycles of the school year, gossip over the copy machine (ha!) and all that. I thought I'd feel sadder than I do about leaving Ruby for so long each day, and I'm sure there will be some sad days ahead, but I must say I really feel like the timing is right and I am ready to be working again. And as much as I've enjoyed tutoring, I'm ready for that to be over, too.

3. Beach trip 2007. We booked a motel room back in the winter months and have anticipated this trip for some time. We were not let down. As you might expect, Ruby enjoyed the sand and water (and the elevator at the motel). We were happy with our suite, designed perfectly for our purposes, and ate dinner at the same place two nights in a row (King Neptune, for anyone who knows Wrightsville Beach.) Ruby took a 4 hour nap on our one full day which was a nice gift and even slept in the car both ways. All in all, a success.

4. In the Garden. I can't say my garden has been a disappointment this year, no I can't. But I don't feel the same excitement that I felt in years past. There's something lacking about this year's garden. Water? It has been dry. Nutrients? Apparently, turning not-yet-decomposed woodchips into the soil depletes the soil of needed nitrogen, and those areas with the freshest woodchips look the worst. But it's something else. Feng shui? Maybe I didn't put things in the right places. On the bright side, I grew some things I've never grown before - carrots, beets, crazy long cucumbers and a ton of sweet peppers. But, I don't know, I just don't have the same sense of fun and excitement that I remember. Tomatoes haven't come in full-force yet but there are a lot of green ones out there. Maybe that'll turn the tables for me. Can anyone relate? Do I need horticultural therapy?

5. In the Wild. What is it about dogwood trees? Every year they look awful by about mid-July. Daran says they're not native to these parts. I hate to water a mature tree, but I also would hate to lose the big dogwood in front of our kitchen window, so I do water it. But I don't like it.