So Frustrated!!

So I got a call last night from our new babysitter. She left a message to call her because she needed to talk to me. I had a bad feeling when I got the message. I called her back this morning, she put in her notice to quit!!!! AHHHHH! She told me she is not able to handle the demands of school, babysitting and being a single mom away from home for the first time. She said she will work for us until we can find another sitter. But it was so hard to find her in the first place. I'm hoping that now that all the students are back in town it might be easier. What a way to start the week. I go from the great news with my classes to this. I suppose it could be worse, I suppose she could just not show up again.

Meanwhile, I am thankful that Katrina did not pay us a visit. My prayers are continually with those who are being affected by this monster of a storm. And we are watching the Atlantic as TD 13 forms.

The week could only get better right?

Schedule Changes

I did a little switching around in my schedule last night. A seat opened up in the French Literature course I have to take. This class in only offered in the fall the the 2nd part is offered in the spring. So, I went ahead and added Intro to French Lit 1 and dropped Man's Food. I still have to take a biology, but Man's Food is offered year round online, so I can take it any time. The French Lit class falls right between the 2 classes I already had on MWF, it works out perfectly.

I haven't uploaded any new pictures, so here are a couple more from our trip to Orlando. Elisabeth forecasting the weather at the Orlando Science Center. A weather exhibit done Magic School Bus style, very fun! The manatees above are from the exhibit at Sea World.

First day of classes

Well, the first day of classes went well yesterday. I had my Writing in French and Latin I classes. It was wonderful to be immersed in French again. The class will be a lot of work, but it will be a fun challange. Latin should be an easy class to relearn everything I learned in highschool Latin.

Today I have Structure of French, I think it will be an interesting course. I also have Man's Food, this is basically a course on nutrition. It is an online class, I only have to go oncampus for it for the exams.

The kids were great for the sitter yesterday, hopefully that will last, at least for a little while.

Well I need to go and get ready for our day.

I will post more pics soon.

Another Questionnaire...

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

30% Yankee

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Morning Musings

Well, school started here in Alachua County this past Monday. Elisabeth started her new curriculum, she started the new school year on July 1st, but we never really stopped because we are schooling somewhat year-round.

It is so nice to go to the stores in the morning now, they are so quiet. That is unless you are close to the UF campus. Its move-in week for all the students.

I went and got my student ID yesterday, driving was crazy on campus! I am ready to start my classes on Wednesday! This longer break is driving me crazy. At least I am able to get some stuff done and work on the kids routine.

I have been knitting in the evenings and during the kids nap a little. I've worked on the baby blanket and Elisabeth's birthday socks. I got in all the yarn I ordered from Knit Picks, georgous stuff!

I had wanted to share some more pictures of our Orlando trip, July 4th. So here are a couple more of the kids.

Eating sno-cones at the zoo.

Taking the little train ride around the zoo.

Watching the animals.

Feeding the goats.

And I couldn't resist, a llama. And a kookaburro.











Here is the progress on the baby blanket.

And the progress on Elisabeth's sock. This is tht 1st one. You can't see very well, but there is a row of beads on either side of the heart detail, on each side of the sock.

That's it for now...Gotta go wake the kids.

GRADUATED!!!

This just posted today on SFCC's web page!!!!


SHARON BAYER
Graduation Status Summary
AUDIT NOT AVAILABLE - YOU GRADUATED WITH AN AA DEGREE


What a great feeling!

Now if I can only get UF to process my residency status faster...Fees are due September 2nd, and right now they think I am an out-of-state student. Almost $8000 for tuition vs. $1200.

I am getting anxious and excited about my classes that start next week. I will be ok, I will be ok. I just have to keep telling myself.

I also have to figure out where I am going to park for my classes. I refuse to pay for a parking pass to hunt for a parking space on the opposite side of campus.

I am not going to worry today, I will just enjoy my accomplishment!

What kind of coffee are you?

OK this was too cute to pass up...

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear. What Kind Of Coffee Are You? Take This Quiz :-)

Graduation and Swimming Lessons

I am finished at Santa Fe!!!! I took my last exam yesterday!! I should be getting my diploma in about 6 to 8 weeks. Now on to the next step. Two more years for my bachelors at UF, then two more years for my masters.

The kids have been doing great in their swimming lessons!
Here is Joseph swimming, he still refuses to put his face in the water! Here he is blowing bubbles into his teacher's hand.
And here he is jumping off the wall, not by himself yet though.
Now here is Elisabeth swimming with a kick board. And believe it or not, here she is floating on her back!

Elisabeth has been catching all sorts of critters in our back yard, here she is with a baby lizard, and a couple of toads....





















Joseph and Maisey...









I finished the colorwork portion of my sock and started on the rest of the leg. It has clock patterns going down the sides of the calf, clock patterns are simply a design knitted into the sock down both sides of the leg, not really a clock design. If you look closely at the bottom, you can see the beginnings of this design element.
Well that's it for now. I decided to order the solid colored yarn I wanted for the next sock I want to start from KnitPicks, then I had to add to the order to get free shipping so I got some multi-colored yarn; one is called Flower Power and the other is Carnival both seen here. I also ordered on called Spring Prarie, here. And then some solid colors. My graduation present to myself!

Anyway, have a great day! I know I will enjoy my time off until my next classes start!

Of Puppies, Water and Yarn

Life with Maisey has been good so far this week. Elisabeth is very much into helping out to teach her tricks. First she needs to learn not to jump and nibble, but I'm not complaining that Elisabeth is interested. Joseph is still unsure around her because she is so excited. She has calmed down a lot since we have gotten her though.

The kids have been in swimming lessons this week. Elisabeth was refusing to put her head under water, she has always hated having water on her face. But she did it yesterday!! I was so happy! She has really made me proud with all of these things she has tried lately :) Joseph still is not going under willingly, but he seemed pretty interested that Elisabeth did it and liked it, so maybe he will now.

I have one more week of class at SFCC. My professor decided that he wanted us to finish the course early, so our final will be on Monday or Tuesday instead of Thursday next week, yeah!

Last week I got the kids school desks from the school board surplus sale. We decided to give our old fouton to the youth at our church. So now we are waiting for them to pick up the fouton, then I can work on setting up/cleaning/rearranging the school/play room. I'm hoping to get it set up into a really fun and functional room this year. I think we are going to have to get rid of some toys to get that accomplished, oh well, we'll make some other children happy!

On the knitting front, I have completed my Ahoy socks and the first of the Coolers. I worked some on the baby blanket last night, I really need to get moving on that, I don't think it will be done before the baby is born, but soon after. I also got in some yarn I ordered from KnitPicks, their yarn is beautiful and very affordable. With this yarn I started my first color work pattern, the Estonian socks from Nancy Bush's book, Folk Socks. Here is my start...And here is the finished picture from the book...

I also received some really pretty sock yarn in pinks and purples, it is destined to become a pair of socks for Elisabeth for her birthday, you can see the planned socks here. They are from the Sock Journal by Catherine Wingate. The turquoise yarn will be a light scarf. I want to get started on the August/September sock for the 6-Sox Knit-Along, I joined the Yahoo group last month but never did the June/July pattern (which I will make in the near future). Both patterns need solid colored yarn, which I don't have enough undedicated solid colors, so I need to get more yarn for these socks...I see another order from KnitPicks as soon as I sell back my SFCC books:)