For the fact that having a clean house should make such a difference in my temperament, I blame my mother. August involved rather a lot of yelling. Specifically me yelling at my kids, but it went both ways. Because it is miserable to live in a place where people have no problem dropping their things all over the place, yet feel no responsibility to clean them up. Although it really is their responsibility, and I don't believe at all in expecting somebody else to pick up after oneself, I ultimately broke down and used a groupon that Aaron got me to help get the house properly clean again. From there the kids have been reasonably decent about keeping their rooms clean and beds made, and I, as a result, have become a much more pleasant creature. Apparently messes are my kryptonite, because my yelling has dwindled to practically nothing. I have braved my kids' rooms to read to them, and have even managed my temper at bedtime (which is when I usually start to lose my cool). I really hope the kids appreciate the difference enough to make keeping things tidy their priority instead of mine.
In other news, a month of school has elapsed, and things are shaping up swimmingly. After trying out both schools, the older kids decided to stay with the public school, despite my impassioned attempts to persuade them of the virtues of small classes, no homework, and time in gardens and in the community. I ultimately relented, and am comforting myself that at least they have access to band classes and higher math instruction. We've worked out a carpool with families that live on our street, and both Asher and Addy have started running cross-country. The schedule works out nicely so that I can walk Emerson and Sera to school each morning, which is a beautiful way to start the day. I've also taken on teaching art in each of their classrooms, as the school did away with art classes and art teachers for budget reasons several years since. It makes me so sad to know that there are qualified, licensed art teachers out of work, and I am doing it as a volunteer. Still, it was fun to go into each of their classrooms and spend some time teaching the children to draw self-portraits.
I have gotten into a routine (we all know how much I love routines at this point, don't we?) during school hours, spending the first hour of each day on cleaning projects before sitting down and writing. The one hour time cap has helped me choose manageable projects that leave me feeling accomplished but not overwhelmed. Writing has been going better than expected--I am knee deep into a Clara Wieck Schumann book that has been in the back of my mind for over a decade. I feel stupid for working on something new rather than giving the requisite attention to books I've already written and for which I need to pursue publication, but I guess it just goes to show I really am a writer more than a marketer. I keep telling myself that as soon as I come to a difficult place in my writing, I'll switch my attention, but so far the writing has come entirely too fluidly.
I also passed out about 300 flyers for starting a KinderKeys studio here, but when absolutely nobody signed up, I kind of abandoned the idea. I still have a few people who have asked me directly about doing a class, but I keep waffling. Starting something from scratch is so hard, and I'm not sure my heart is in it right now. I guess I need to find something to put my heart into, though, because I also got word that I did not progress to the next level in my application to become a Foreign Service Officer. Even though I didn't really expect to progress as far as I did on my first application, it still came as a blow. Although a year's time is required between applications, I do intend to apply again--it seems like exactly the kind of career I would thrive in. Meanwhile, I have sent in applications to be a librarian, and am in the substitute pool at Pacific Ridge School, where Aaron teaches. The plus side of my hodge-podge schedule is the time to write, which I am really enjoying--I just feel so incredibly guilty and humiliated that it has yielded exactly $0 over the past seven years during which I have been seriously pursuing it.
Enough about me, seriously! Aaron has been working hard starting the year with the Children's Choir. He has had his own struggles with trying to motivate the administrative staff to do the work required to bring people into the organization, and working to find the best path forward for the choirs. Addy has decided to sing in his Concert Choir this year, and Asher is waffling on participating in the Youth Choir (mostly high school students, but also boys whose voices have changed). We were excited to have Emerson and Sera participate in a new branch of the Intermediate Choir that was slated to open in Carlsbad, but lack of publicity (see above) prevented the opening at the beginning of the year. We're still hoping that it will open soon!
Well, since I spent most of the last post complaining and this one hasn't been a great deal better, I should probably move onto the awesome experiences we've had between the two months! We visited Sea World one last time for the summer, enjoying the last nighttime Shamu show of the year, as well as the last fireworks. We attended the Del Mar races (horse-races) and had such a great time! There are going to be more races in November and we hope to go again. I love the names of the horses--our favorites were "Ivegotafeeling" and "Happy Birthday Song." We made bets with each other, but no money changed hands--I can certainly see why betting on horse-races would be exciting, though. One Saturday I took Emerson and Sera (nobody else wanted to go, though I can't fathom why not) down to the
Festival of Sail downtown, and we were able to board several old sailing ships, including the Star of India that was used in filming both
Master and Commander and the
Pirates of the Caribbean moves. It was just amazing to get to see them up close, and to imagine sailing half-way around the world that way. What an experience!
Addy turned eleven, bringing both a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. She is the most spectacular (not-so-) little girl I know, and I can't say how many times I just look at her and wonder how I got so lucky. Even the things that currently drive me crazy about her make me love her more. She is currently rather shower-resistant, despite going through that thing where she suddenly needs showers at least twice as often as before, she cannot be persuaded to wear socks with her shoes, making her shoes smell awful, and she would much sooner wear two or three favorite outfits than clean clothes every day. And yet, despite my pinched nose, I love that Addy can waltz into middle school completely nonplussed about what anyone else might think of her--that is a great gift for a girl her age. She is kind and friendly to everyone, and lets Asher's rather too-frequent digs about her appearance or unpopularity (both figments of his imagination based on his own insecurities, I'm afraid) roll right off her. We celebrated her big day with a Padres game and dinner at Chili's (using a round of the Kids Eat Free coupons the kids scored with the library reading program this summer). She got a pet--an actual furry little hamster, cage and everything--as a gift from Aaron and I, filling the wish of at least four years now. Well, she may technically have asked for a dog, but a hamster is closer than a fish, isn't it? She has been working hard to make friends with Peanut, who was initially a bit nippy, but who has warmed up significantly to her new owner. She also scored a ukulele, a sewing kit, and a new set of Uno cards from her siblings. Oh, and a cute little stuffed "big-eye guy" monkey from Sera which was quickly reclaimed for the hilarious games Emer and Sera play with their own "big-eye guys," Meep (turtle) and Spells (owl). I guess sometimes that's just how 7-year-olds give gifts.
Aaron and I had a couple of amazing experiences all our own as well, going on a sunset cruise into the harbor on our anniversary (I should probably copy over my facebook post about spending 16 years in the company of such a wonderful friend and husband), and going on a sea cave kayaking tour together one day while the kids were in school. It really is wonderful to have some time just for us these days. The sunset cruise was lovely--we had a gorgeous view of the city, were able to see frolicking sea lions and various ships out on the water, besides delicious food and time to talk to each other and a whole array of people we met on the boat. The kayaking tour was one of my favorite adventures ever--we learned so much about San Diego history and sea life, and got a great workout besides. Some of my favorites were learning about underwater caves where smuggled booze was stashed during Prohibition, seeing leopard sharks and rays swimming in the wild, hearing about houses crashing into the ocean, and learning more about how much the American military relies on sea life to make tactical decisions.
Truly, both August and September were awesome months for our family--we had some great times! But it's nice to keep in mind some of the less-spectacular stuff as well--it helps us maintain perspective and remember that the journey is meant for growth as well as enjoyment. Happy fall (to everyone but us--we'll just have to stick to the beach)!
