August has come to an end...

Today was my third day at my new job and the first time that I have gone to my old job in the same day as the new one.  Needless to say I am tired.  The first day of school is next Tuesday, that is when I will meet the students.  This first week was professional development and learning some about the student IEP's.  Everyone seems so nice and helpful.

One of the presentations included showing us part of a TedTalk that I had seen before by Shawn Achor.  I'm not sure, and I am not going to go back in my blog right now to find out if I have linked this before or not, but I believe that is the one I saw that started me blogging my happy every day last year.  Many of the concepts that are being suggested for using with the students are methods that I used, or at least tried to use, home schooling my children.

It has taken me 4 hours to write the last 2 paragraphs because I kept falling asleep.  I think that means I need to sleep instead of write.  The last 3 days have been rather overwhelming with all the information being provided and the team building, meeting new people and learning so many things.  I have had a feeling that so much of it is some how familiar too.  Like this is where I am supposed to be now, and that is my happy for today.

August 30th--Gideon's First Day of Kindergarten-Vlog

Vlog

I woke up this morning and was tired and wanted to go back to sleep.  After forcing myself up and going I was actually looking forward to going to work today.  I don't remember the last time that happened.  It isn't that I don't necessarily like my other job, but I went to get it done and come home.  I seldom looked forward to going.  This is today's happy.  Well that and Gideon's first day and excitement.  And topping the day off I spent the evening walking around town with friends.  

Gideon's First Day of School

My dinner from Willow's Plant Based Eatery, Far Out.

Mr.Webster

A lost Teddy Bear.  😢

August 29th-Tuesday- First day at the new job.

Although I headed this Blog 'First day at the new job', and it is, this week will be all training for next week.  The last few days I have been getting more and more nervous about this new adventure that I chose.  I knew that it stemmed from my own adolescence and peer issues but it wasn't until I was driving in today that some things clicked.  I was listening to my audio book, Hamilton: The Revolution, and was getting sidetracked with my mild anxiety.  It suddenly all became clear... I am so not an adolescent anymore, why am I doing this to myself?  And why am I listening to this book when it just isn't keeping me engaged?  I haven't seen the show, I have listened to some of the music because my daughter has it, but not the whole thing and not all at once.  Yes, I find it intriguing and wouldn't mind experiencing it a bit more.  I will listen to the book in pieces, but not today.  Today I have a new job and I need to relax.  So off went Hamilton and back on went Matchbox 20, You're So Real.  And it was good and I felt better.

The new job is as a paraprofessional in a middle school.  There are privacy things involved with a job like this so I won't be able to share as much as I might like.  I'm pretty sure that vague non identifying things that don't involve students are okay.  Let me just say that I was almost blown away by the amount of happy and enthusiasm that so many people had about starting the school year.  Had some of my trepidation not returned it would have been much more contagious.  I look forward to going in tomorrow and seeing what the day will bring.

Tomorrow, Gideon has his first day of Kindergarten.  After work today he and I walked to his new school and back home again to get a feel as to how far away it is.  They will most likely drive, but now that he knows how far and about how long a walk it is, maybe they will walk there occasionally.  My new job means that I won't be able to help out with getting him to school or picking him up.  It may mean that I will be able to be around more in the afternoon though to do things.  This is  my happy for today.

When these mushrooms were new, they would have made a nice fairy home.

August 28th, Monday

Tomorrow I begin training for a new position as a para-educator.  I interviewed a few weeks ago and was told I could have the job last week, when I was having problems with my hand from the job I was doing.  My ideal is that I will be able to continue with my current job in a part time status for a while.  I find I am having anxiety issues with going into the school system.  It is like the kind of anxieties one would have as a kid starting in a new school.  My biggest problem seems to be 'what should I wear' which is so NOT what my biggest problem probably should be right now.  My daughter and I went clothes shopping anyway.

That is it.  It is already very late and I am getting up early to begin a new and different adventure.  I hope I like it...

Finding my Matchbox 20 CD and listening to Feel really loud in the car today between jobs is my happy.  Sometimes it is cathartic to listen and sing to loud music.

27th of August

The person who is staying at my house has been extremely busy.  He has put up walls and ceilings and lights and done some fantastic work.  It almost doesn't look like my house on the inside.  I hope they will be very happy there.

A friend of ours will be going on a 3 day walk in a few weeks in support of a cure for MS and held a fund raiser tonight.  It was held at a pub and there was live music, food and raffles.  A group of us went and had a fun time.  Gideon found a nice lady to talk with and had fun dancing with her for a while.

Random shots from the fundraiser.

The fundraiser took place in Reading, MA.  A few of us stepped outside for a little bit looking for an ATM.  We found that there were some places along the sidewalk that had small snippets of history carved in them.  I left my phone at the restaurant so no pictures.  Any how, I had fun reading these and this is my happy for today.  It is just a neat way for a city to educate and beautify a place at the same time.  The first one we found was about the Civil War and anti-slavery.  Some of the others were Revolutionary War tidbits.  I tried finding something on the web about it but I guess I am not using the right combination of words to find anything.  It piqued my interest.

Peace.

Saturday the 26th August--Vlog

Greetings!  Almost a 7 minute Vlog:

Links to things we talked about on the Vlog:  Lost in Oz and Ingress.  

When I got home tonight I found the light was left on in my room.  This is unusual for me to have forgotten.  Then I saw the flowers on my bedside table.  What a nice surprise!  Pretty flowers from Gideon and my daughter are today's happy.  

A DeLorean

 Sky

Friday the 25th of August

September is just around the corner.  The occasional tree has started to turn as a preview to Autumn.  And I am again exhausted.  Not sure what is up with that, aside from the obvious, I need more sleep.  It was a long day working today and it will be a long day tomorrow.  Maybe Sunday I will be able to sleep?

Before Pennsic I bought The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff from Audible.  We listened to it on the way back and I started listening to it again today.  This book is my happy for today.  The author weaves Pooh and others from the Hundred Acre Wood into a story to teach some Taoism.

What I should ask myself more often... What would Pooh do?

Some quotes from the book I found on Goodreads.

“When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the uncared block: life is fun.” 
― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

“Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you've got.” 
― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

Highway driving...

The 24th of August

I ended up working late so no Gideon Vlog tonight.  I have been having a difficult time being inspired to write lately.  This means that I should be writing more often (not necessarily for the Blog) in order to unclog the writer's block.  For some reason I am feeling a bit drained lately.  This is something that I prefer to not bring onto my Blog writing, but there it is.  While I work to rejuvenate myself (wasn't vacation supposed to do that?) my blogs will be short.

At a department store today I overheard a child ask the adult he was with if he could have 2 of some toy.  The adult said no.  The child comes back with, 'can I have 3?'  This made me smile.  I don't know what toys were vetoed, but in the next aisle the child asked for a harmonica and was told yes.  This is my happy for today... a kid got a harmonica!!  

See, when I get mostly sky, I am cutting out the parking lot.  😛

Feeling better with just the little bit of writing, but sleep is important.  In celebration of the harmonica, here is some Billy Joel.

August 23rd

This morning I made phone calls and plans with my daughter to do things today.   Paperwork in the early afternoon and then off to see our traveling friends, Kimberly and Dennis.   Every year their schedule brings them to this part of the country and we try to see them at least once.   Today is the first time this year, hopefully we will get to see them again soon.

We wandered around Wellesley, MA exploring before the show.  This was also an attempt at getting some of Gideon's energy spent so that he would be able to sit and watch the show.  This is a performance for children.  He probably could have been run more before the show.

The show was wonderful.  They call themselves Activated Story Theatre and we have known them for about 20 years now.  Our kids used to play together.  They travel all over the USA performing for schools and libraries as well as doing some more educational programming.

I just liked the contrail going passed the sun.

Wellesley Town Hall is a castle... 

There is a bell 

Lot's of stones of various colors and a book with acanthus leaves. 

Gideon reading about an Elm tree that we didn't find. 

Geese/water fowl

Special gateway to Narnia, just follow the arrows.  ;)  

The show from far away. 

Kimberly in a tennis racket.

Or as Gideon liked to call it, a Dennis racket!  😜 

Gideon volunteered for a quick trick in the show. 

So got to stand with the rest of the performers.

It was great to see friends again.  That is today's happy.

The 22nd of August--Vlog

Today was hot and sticky, and so am I.  This is the time of year that I start to look forward to winter and snow.  There may be a storm later, maybe the humidity will become less extreme.   Thunder is rolling in the distance.  Thunder is today's happy.  Some summer storms are relaxing for me.

Me, earlier today, melting.

Gideon getting ready for sleep.

Goodnight...

August 21st-Eclipse Day--short

This afternoon I decided to sit in a parking lot instead of going into work and wait for the partial eclipse to be over rather than miss it entirely.   Other parts of the country experienced it in totality, but not here.  This part of the country will have its time in about 7 years.  So here, with the slightly overcast sky, things just seemed momentarily grey.  Pretty uneventful.  I didn't have any special glasses or card board with a hole.  My interest was how dark a partial would get.  The answer being not dark at all.  Had I not know there was an eclipse, it would have gone by unnoticed.  Perhaps if the sky had been cloudless, the slight grey that accompanied the event would have been more noticeable.  Friends posted pictures on Facebook. I think the one with the eclipse viewed through a colander with the holes in a spiral shape was my favorite.

Here is a link with eclipse information.

The rest of my day was filled with work and bad news.  In the morning is where my happy for today is.  We went to where Gideon will be attending Kindergarten soon and had a little tour.  He was SO excited.  The school loos great too.  The office lady that we met and talked with us got four hugs from Gideon as we were leaving.  That is how excited he was.

No pictures today, but here is a clip from today's song.

August 20th Sunday--Vlog

From my walk this morning,

I like the look of the building through the trees.

My youngest child, that I miss like crazy, turned 23 today!  We sung Happy Birthday to him over the phone.  He is off chasing the eclipse.  See NASA for more information about that.  

So much cleaning today.  Getting my room rearranged is my happy for today.  I have been wanting to do this for a while.  Lots of things got sorted and put away better from vacation.  Now I just need to remember to fix all the things that need repair before Pennsic next year.

August 19th

Today was a work day.  It was also a watch Gideon day.  We went for a short hike, 2 miles.  Gideon wasn't on his best behavior after the first few minutes.  The hill we had to go up set him to whining.  When we actually got to a place where there were yellow blazes to follow along a trail instead of a gravel road he started to improve.  By the time we got to the top and he saw some dogs he was happy and full of energy.

When we started he was talking about how we would hike the AT together.  When we finished he was feeling like he could do anything. It was just that middle part that he got a bit cranky.  I like to wing it... just go in any direction and see where it takes me.  My thought is that Gideon needs to know where we are going a bit more firmly than I do.  I knew where we were and could easily find my way around that hill, but he couldn't.  I have been wanting to teach him map skills for some time now.  Since I can't find a book about it like I am fairly certain I had with my kids, I will have to remember it and recreate it somehow for Gideon.  Tomorrow maybe he and I will draw a map of his bedroom.

Up the hill we go.

 Are we there yet?

 Being Awesome.

Mushroom

A Map!  :)

Views! 

You coming? 

There are supposed to be wheels somewhere that were used to tow people up to ski down.

In the trees!

Now which way do we go?

Today's happy is Gideon talking about hiking the AT with me.  He talked about how we were doing good training for it today.  And that maybe we would see animals along the AT and they would have tags and we could return them to their owner.  I told him we might see more of the wild variety rather than pets.  We also talked about the difference between evergreen and deciduous trees.  

And later on the sun sets over a parking lot.