When does life slow down?

Alright folks out there who have (perhaps) reached the happy age of retirement.....

Does life EVER slow down? When? 40's? 50's? 30's??

The first day of school came and went yesterday with its own "normal" craziness, but then add to that....a 5:55AM phone call from the post office that "Your chicks have arrived. Please pick them up ASAP"

SERIOUSLY!!?!?!? The FIRST day of school!?!??!!? It's crazy enough to make sure all the girls are up, fed, and ready for the bus on the first day....to add to that missing Paul for 20 minutes while he drives to pick up the chicks.

BUT! The morning was a success! Everyone was able to eat...get dressed in their "First Day" outfit... even teeth brushed and hair combed... :0)

Out the door by 6:55 AM to catch the "typical" 7:00 AM bus.

Big Sister Caitlyn excitedly pointed to First-Time-Bus-Rider Candace that the bus was coming.

Ya think Candace was excited??? ;0) And Cassie, the ol' pro heading off to 5th grade, simply gave the "staged" smile.

For those of you with my Facebook page....you already know. Behind the lense of this photo, some Proud Mommy tears were welling up in the eyes. MILESTONE at the Skattebo house: ALL THREE OFF TO SCHOOL.

MY first day----FLEWWWWWWWW by! A whole lot of excitement; a whole lot of organized chaos. For those of you who don't teach 7th grade.....BOY! This is a WHOLE NEW WORLD for them! At our school, students transition from 6th grade elementary to 7th grade Junior High / Middle School. And LOCKERS are introduced to their daily routine.

OH

BOY!

I was ready though.....or at least my patience was ready. :D

THEN.....
afterschool, a few errands needed to be run; pick up perscriptions; pick up my new glasses; buy a few supplies needed for school yet......

and during all of this, we get a call from Cassie's dentist that she won the NO CAVITY CLUB award for the month of August. Wa-hoooooo! The nurse admited that she was a bit worried picking the winner this month since ALL THREE GIRLS had NO CAVITIES at Wednesday's appointments. WoW! Mark that on the calendar!!!!

And now...the weekend is here.
LOTS of goals and ambitions for school plans/lessons. Oh lordy...where to begin. New texts for Math 7A and Math 8. Only the 2nd year using the Pre-Calc textbooks (that I taught TWO years ago), so it'll be almost like starting new again.... New Common Core Standards for the Nation's math, so as I plan, I'll be making sure I'm aligned to those......a rewrite on the Algebra curriculum since we've been progressing so much with the younger grades; these students KNOW much of the first quarter material.....

:0)

LOADS to keep me busy this year.

Cassie and I have our 5K race in the morning...
We're off to a football game tonight...
heading up to the Farm after the race tomorrow...
hoping to come back early enough to get laundry done...
dishes have piled the last few nights because no one has done them while I've been at school working and watching Vball......


Yeah......WHEN does it slow down?

Happpppppyy Weeeeekend!

Crazy morning and NASTY weather!

UGH! Bad weather moved in late last night--several tornados all the way from Kansas area all the way up to us in Wisconsin. The short version: I woke at 1:50 with a HUGE clap of thunder; and ABSOLUTELY could not get back to sleep---the wind was howling something FIERCE! The house was creaking, swaying, and all the scary stuff that goes along with gusty winds! I was up out of bed by 2:05, and THANKFULLY DH awoke with my movement. He and I searched radio station after radio station, but no live DJ's on with up-to-minute weather. We tried the TV, but satellite was out. He then came up with the BRILLIANT idea to try online. Thankfully, phone lines were good-to-go, so we kept an eye on the motion-radar for the next 30 minutes or so. Finally, around 3:20, it appeared that the worst was beyond us, so we ventured back to bed. That was the worst weather we've had in a LONG time. Just too scary for me---really. I was scared for the girls whose rooms are all on the upper level of our "loft-cabin-style" house. I ALMOST went up at one point to grab them and head to the basement. I really should have----I'm just thankful things turned out okay.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for some towns along the entire line of storms. I can't even imagine what it must be like to go through a clean-up after a storm!

So, with very little sleep, I was up a bit earlier than normal because I needed to get all under way in order to get to my 8:30 dentist appt. So, the plan was to drop the kids off early at summer school. (8:00 instead of 8:30.) After dropping them off, I needed to take a quick stop at my school-year daycare lady to drop of the littlest one; and then I was to be off for the dentist.

Yeah, well.....with the storm, power was out all OVER the place. (except us---we missed that one.)
BUT, when I pulled into the school parking lot, the Head-lady was outside informing us school needed to be cancelled today because of a power outage! Aghhhhh! Panic mode! 30 minutes to appt time---what to do? what to do? So, I at least headed off to the daycare and crossed my fingers that she had 2 additional openings to cover the older girls.
Pulled into the driveway, and my lovely lady was on the walkway, escorting another mom and child out to the car. SHE WAS CLOSED! AGHHHHH! She didn't have power, either, so we was closing for the day! Oh Dear!!!! 23 minutes to appt---what to do---what to do. I could call babysitter, but she starts her summer job at 9:00, so she wouldn't be available. So THANKFULLY I remembered my cell phone today (I have a BAD habit of forgetting it on the counter at home), and I called DH. Some little angel was at least prepared for this fiasco today, because he was still at home. He works construction, so the crew was going to postpone the start time today until NOON! Heaven bless me! So....back off to home I went.....dropped off the girls, took out the car seats because DH had some errands to run for work, and off to the dentist with 10 minutes to go until appt. At 8:32, I pulled into the Dentist's parking lot------whew!

The appt didn't go too bad. I absolutely HATE the dentist. I had terrible "luck" with them as a child---cavities, cavities, cavities! And, ever since the one time way back when, when I wasn't quite "numb" enough and the drill caught a nerve....(SHUDDERING at the memory), I have been VERY apprehensive when that blasted drill starts whizzing away! ICK! UGH! OW! But, I've had a new dentist since last summer, and he is SOOOOO nice, friendly, and explains EVERYTHING as he's working. PLUS, his office is so high-tech---we can listen to music via Syrus (sp?) satellite radio---any station of my choice--while he's working. Today, a temporary crown was put in place; molds taken of my teeth, and I'll be back in 3 weeks to get my permanent crown. The plan for next summer: (SHUDDDDDDER AGAIN)----wisdom teeth need to some out. ICK! UGH! OW! Too many nightmare stories heard about THAT ordeal!!!!! (sigh)

So, now I'm home---DH just got back and brought me lunch, so I'm off to eat with a still-numb-mouth.
Then, I'm anticipating an afternoon of ironing and sewing.