Monday Mania ~So done with Last Week... So Ready for a New Week with a New Start

Last week was not our best.

Hubby was sick in bed and missed a whole week of work.

I was a victim of identify theft...so my debit card has been deactivated.

Temperatures went down and gas prices went up.

I received some bad news about my job.

My mom's funeral was two years ago on the 15th of February.

And, of course, we miss our girls and their guys!

I am looking forward to a new week.

I hope all is well with all of you.

Take care,

~Natalie

Labor Day Labors

My Personal Development Class keeps a journal for the term. Their first assignment is to personalize their journal cover by creating a collage of pictures, words & phrases that represent their personality.





This takes one class period of browsing through a variety of magazines. Some of these collages are very impressive. If you look closely, you will see little pics and words that, although small, may represent a huge part of their life their character.

The students receive a grade for their personality profile. They need to find a variety of items, they need to cover their background and they need to consider neatnesss. These samples are some of the most impressive.
Every other weekend, I bring the journals home...This helps me get to know the students much faster than I would otherwise. I am not critical of how they write, but interested in what they have to say.One of their journal prompts this week had been to write about...if you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be...

...answers included "a soldier fighting in Iraq"... to ..."Kendra from the Playboy Mansion" ...and most were somewhere in-between.

Another journal prompt was to write about a time when you felt out of place... One student wrote about that his brother died within the last two weeks; another said that "at school, I feel like I'm not good enough for anyone to hang out with"; and another said "always-when do I never feel out of place?" These are 3 students that will get extra attention from me tomorrow and all week.... And the girl that says "I dislike when I get used by my loved ones"... What exactly does she mean by that?

Most of the journals were typical teenage thoughts, but one was particularly refreshing...

"I love life...

I would never sleep if I had a choice."

A little Mother / Daughter Time

Our daughter, home for the summer, is working as a lifeguard. She leaves for lessons before 9 a.m. and comes home after they clean after 9 p.m. She is home for about 35 minutes at lunch and suppertime. (our oldest daughter had a similar job when she was her age) College students need summer jobs with lots of hours...but...this is just a little crazy?! Yesterday was her first time off after working 10 days straight. She only had to work till 11. She was soooo excited. Me too, cause she wanted to go out for lunch and do a little shopping. Here we are...in the courtyard of Canterbury's, a special little deli downtown. It is owned by good friends. Stephanie is a great cook. Greg, is a principal so available in July, was helping in the kitchen. It was fun to see them and we had great food!
We had smoked turkey and provolone (Emily on sourdough and me on marble rye). Emily's side, broccoli salad; me, tomato basil soup. Delicious!

We also had the courtyard to ourselves...lots of people were eating inside...

Municipal Band Concert

In the evening we attended the weekly concert in the park. It was big band night. My husband played drums. Guest soloist was one of his friends from high school.

Not exactly her type of music, but she was a good sport to go with me!