First, I want to thank all of you who were able to come to Mary's Illinois birthday party. A good time was had by all. Mary's Texas birthday party was just as great! We held it at a place called Pump It Up--an indoor bounce house facility that specializes in birthday parties. Mary and many of her new Texas friends had a great time.
One of our first orders of business when I returned was for Gene and I to pick a day care. We decided on Kids R Kids: Schools of Quality Learning. It's a wonderful facility, pricey, but wonderful. Plus, we love the fact that we can watch the kids during the day via Internet through the school's surveillance system. They started going full time on August 10. It was hard to let them go; I have enjoyed my stint as a stay-at-home mom, but I know they are in good hands. The teachers say that Mary is quiet and that she is a rule-follower. Geno has been quite a hit in the infant room. One teacher said that he's the happiest baby they've had in a long time.
One of the highlights of the past few weeks was my Mom's visit. She came down to help with the kids while I recovered from my hysterectomy. The procedure went smoothly and other than the anesthetic-induced migraine, I recovered quickly and felt pretty good a few days later. It was great having Mom here. She cleaned the whole house and did all the laundry! Mary loved all the attention. While she was here, Mom got to see Mary's and Geno's new school, Sweet and Sassy (Mary's hair salon), and Big League Dreams (where Gene plays softball). Mom and I also got pedicures.
I want to thank all of you who sent get well cards my way and called to check up on me. That was very much appreciated! A few of my former teaching colleagues sent me an Edible Creation--chocolate covered strawberries. They were gone in about two minutes. Mary devoured most of them. My mom and I split the rest. Thank you, Beth, Jessica, Amanda, and Kerri! It was wonderful.
I have been busy getting materials ready for the school year. I've been assigned Junior and Senior English. Luckily, I've taught these before at Herscher, so I have a few tricks in my bag. Texas is huge into teacher accountability, so I have to do a ton more pre-planning work in terms of typed, daily lesson plans and objectives, but I'm getting there. It's tough being away from Herscher; I really miss that school, but I hope that Mansfield High School becomes a new family for me. They are the Tigers too, and they have the same school colors--go figure!
Gene STILL loves his job, and he is still active in some work-related softball leagues. In fact, while we were in Illinois, Gene inundated himself with softball and other league sports; one weekend, he played 7 softball games, 36 holes of golf, and 1 soccer match. Even for Gene, this is a lot of sports. His work bowling league will begin in early September. He is looking forward to changing his Friday night routine from playing softball to attending Mansfield sporting events with me.
Gene's Note: In case you were wondering, the second picture in this month's blog is not, in fact, a new pet. That was the Black Widow spider I stumbled across while moving the hose to mow the lawn. In a strange bit of coincidence, that very same day, Angie stumbled across a Brown Wolf Spider in our garage. While not poisonous like the Widow, the Wolf Spider is actually larger and more visually intimidating. If I hadn't poisoned it into oblivion, we would've snapped a picture of him as well, may he rest in peace. I'll say this, Texas has some wonderful qualities, but the critters are certainly not one of them. Now, I'm just waiting to stumble across a scorpion or, heaven forbid, a snake. When that happens, those of you who truly miss us may be happy because I may just pack the clan up and head back to Illinois! I know we have nasty little things back there, too, but I didn't seem to stumble across them nearly as often!
Well, I guess that's all for now. As always, we hope that all of you are well. We miss you!
Love,
Angie & Gene
