Happy Halloween

I surprised the boys with pumpkins when they came home from school yesterday. Josh decided he wanted to do other outside stuff and Zach chose the larger pumpkin and the skull and cross bones. He did a pretty good job. I ended up carving up the smaller one here. The afternoon was perfect for sitting outside and enjoying the craft and weather.

It's been a full week. Monday night I had my first Bible Study Leaders meeting. I'm leading the 4th group for our Wednesday morning coffee break bible study at church. Wednesday our group was about half of the group that volunteered to move over, but we still had 6. That evening the boys had their youth group meeting at the Corn Maze. Dave and I took them and sat and drank hot cider waiting for them. It was cooler than we thought, but at least we were dressed better than most of the kids. There were plenty of them wearing shorts and T-shirts!

I had orientation at the school district on Thursday morning, and was disappointed to find out that there are so many subs in the system that most aren't working and the ones that are get 2 days per month, on average. "Don't expect to pay your bills on this" they said. Ugh. I guess it would take me a long time to get on the preferred list that most of the subs use. They said that 96% of the sub jobs go to a prearranged substitute that the teacher has used before rather than the system we get dumped into. Thankfully, Dave has been working most days these past 2 weeks. He's been doing at least 6 sprinkler blow-outs / day. Nice thing about that is..... EVERY house needs to get it done. There are plenty of houses to go around. For those down south who have no idea what that means, irrigation/sprinkler lines will freeze during the winter with our winter weather, so we need to blow the water out of the lines. Makes for good Fall work.

Dave and I went mountain biking this week. It was probably the last one for the season. I'm not really ready to ride yet, my arm wasn't even strong enough for me to use it to get up on the pedals, nor could I hold the handlebar in a customary way. It was nice to get out though even if I had to walk the bike down the steep parts of the hill.

I've been working on the photo albums this week. I'm making progress, and that is encouraging.I should be able to post a page for you to see here... maybe next post I'll drop you a peek.

Josh and Dave got their first taste of school projects. Josh had a science project due today, in which it must be a funcioning "mousetrap" type set up, using all simple machines. He used a pulley, lever and hmmm.... I'll have to think about the other one, all to cut a piece of paper. Dave dropped them off at school today, since the regular carpool is off to Idaho Falls participating in the State Championship volleyball tournament. Before we pick them up today, we're stopping at the big snowboard sale to see if we can get a deal on bindings for the snowboard we picked up earlier. We are anticipating some winter sporting soon! The motorcycles are are under the battery tender expecting to be stored most of the winter.

Fall Colors Catch up

I think the trees decided they better hurry up and color up or they would miss fall!

Just 2 days ago this big red tree was glowing red, the brightest red leaf I've ever seen. It is already fading, but still is glorious in color. Be sure to click on the pictures to get a full size look!

This is a Moses' Burning Bush. It really resembles something like it, if you take away the actual fire. These really stand out in the park and in neighbors yards. Dave thought we should get one, and then put 2 tablets of stone with the 10 commandments on it posted in front of the bush. Unfortunately, it would only be interesting for about a week of the year.



Well, I finally got a return email regarding the job interview. I'm 2 for 2, both negative. Remember he wanted a bookkeeper. 15 of us got interviews, and 2 of us were CPA's. The other CPA had "extensive" non-profit experience, so he says this morning. I figured I didnt get the job when I knew he was looking for someone to start tomorrow.

Since I'm still having hesitation on working year round, even if it is part time, I decided to call the school district and register for the real substitute work. A degree is required to sub as a teacher and the pay is much better. I inquired about getting a transcript sent, and asked if my certification of CPA would suffice since it implies that there is a "Degree" behind it. She decided it would work, so I'm set to go to the orientation at the end of the month. I'm not real excited about teaching in a large classroom, but the hours and the holidays/vacations are perfect for us at this time. I really want to be home when the boys are on holidays & vacations. Especially summer. Dave might be home most of Christmas vacation, but it would be nice to be able to go down south to spend time with the family!

And, I can't forget the best part... they NEED subs, and I've already passed the fingerprint & background search. It's just a matter of getting into the system. I am still on the injured list for the cafeteria, and would probably be well enough by the time I finally get through all the meetings for the new position, but I don't think I'll be going back.

Yesterday I got started on my scrapbooking catch-up project. I left off when Josh had his 8th birthday and zach's 7th. I'm a "few" years behind. We sold the home gym that was in the upstairs "guest" room last weekend. That was done for the money and the space. We went to Costco yesterday and got a nice hobby table that folds down for when we need the room for guests. It's already piled with scrapbooking pages. I had only 1 year's worth of actual photos developed that I hadn't put together yet. Then all the photos were taken digitally and never were printed, moved, tagged or hardly looked at. I scanned all those remaining pics plus all the yearly birthday photos and am ready to get scrapping.

I spent my birthday money on getting an easy digital scrapbooking program so that I can get this done before going back to work. Scrapbook Max! So, now you know what I did with the money! I decided to do something with it that was for me and for fun! Impressed? Surprised? I intend to use the same table for quilting, but don't have enough table space to do both projects at once, yet. As soon as I get everything on the computer, I won't need all the space and piles any more. Then, I can get out my mess of quilting and figure out where I left off, and still be able to scrapbook. Isn't the digital age neat! Now, if I could only quilt on the computer and print out the finished project too.

Did I Say Fall? How About Snow?

It is the earliest snow on record for Boise. We got about 1.5" on Friday night. The boys were on their way to a home football game and we were so glad to see the neighbors going. We pushed the kids their way and we stayed home warm and comfy. You can see the trees haven't even lost their leaves yet, and all our veggie bushes turned brown and wilty.

I'm still waiting for news about the job interview, and I'm still typing one handed. I'm on the mend, I can now tie my own shoes. Guess I have a long way to go yet.

It Feels like Fall

It's October and the days are shorter and we're cooler, down in the 60's. They expect frost at night this weekend. The kids leave for school in the dark. It's a nice to see so obvious change in seasons.

I had another interview today. I'm 2 for 2 in applications and interviews. This one is also part time but much more flexible. They are a start up company serving non-profits and their bookkeeping needs.

Again, I found out there were 70 applicants, I was one of 15 to be interviewed. I'll find out next week what his decision is. I'm concerned about the health benefits, but I'll wait to decide when I hear back from him. The job market is rough!

Josh had his first concert with his choir this week, and Zach gave his first oral presentation today. We saw the concert, and they did well. Zach said he was ok with his report.

My arm is healing well, but I'm on the "do not call" list with the school until further notice. I worked one handed Monday and was exhausted afterward.
Thats what is going on around our neck of the woods.

Thanks for all the Birthday cards!

It's that time of year again... Happy Birthday to me. It's nice to get a mailbox with personal letters, cards, and phone calls. Thank you family :)

I'm taking it easy this week. Over the weekend Dave and I went for a dirt bike ride and I met more than dirt. A log decided to trap me between it and my bike, I'm one handed this week. I got x-rays, and we're thankful that it is just muscle/tendon/tissue damage. Pain pills and ice do wonders.

The boys have off wed-sun this week too so I'm not working, and I didnt make it to bible study or the gym this week. So, its really been a different week. My gym buddies suspected my injury when I didnt show up because I've yet to miss a day in 4 months, except the first week when I had another motorcycle mishap. All I can say is it still is way more fun than staying home!

My job search has slowed down too, since I'm not anxious to explain how I should be able to do things. I am working on an online tutoral for Microsoft Office programs to sharpen my 2007 skills. I havent used the newer version in many years and i'm sure that put me at the disadvantage on the last interview. That wont happen again.

I finished another book on my 888 list. I'm doing good with my daily bible reading, and hope to be able to keep moving along my list. I think my next book to read on the list will be CS Lewis.