Saturday, November 22, 2008
Weekend Update
- It snowed last night! This is how the back yard looked this morning. It's mostly gone now, but since it didn't get much above freezing all day, there's still some left.
- Carl's been outside all day, working on the yard, raking the last leaves, etc. I feel so guilty. Then again, he did sleep in until 12:30. I wish I could do that. I try, but the latest I can manage is 10, and that's if I'm extremely exhausted. Most weekends it's more like 8 or 9.
- Last Sunday, we went back to Neckarsteinach to visit the Schadeck (Schwalbennest) castle that we'd missed the last time. To get to it, you had to walk past the Hinterburg and along some pretty steep and leaf-covered paths. It was great. We had more of a hike this time, but still got there too late to try the longer hiking paths. I can see we'll be going back to this area quite a lot. By the way, in case you were wondering, here's how you find your way in the woods, as some of the paths aren't all that wide or obvious: .
We took a LOT of pictures: wildflowers, which were surprising, since everything else seemed to be dying off, and one of the trails was called the "art path," and we took pictures of the art along the path. Then lots of the castles. I have at least two, probably three Thursday Thirteens worth. Maybe I should just double up one week. Or skip some. But I love sharing the pictures. - Monday was our neighborhood book club meeting... and I missed it. I forgot that we'd changed it to Monday from Wednesday, even though I got an email reminding me. Darn.
It was a busy day, anyway. Camden had an orthodontist appointment in the morning, and I had a follow-up mammogram and ultrasound in the afternoon. That turned out fine, by the way--I've got a lot of cysts, but it was nice--they had the radiologist come in and interpret the ultrasound while the tech was doing it, so there was no waiting for results. Reassuring, especially for Carl, who was mildly panicked (understandably so: his mom had a mastectomy two years ago). - Thursday morning, there was an awards assembly at Camden's school, and the jazz band provided the entertainment, so Camden had to dress up: black slacks, white shirt, black tie. He looked very handsome and grown-up, but I completely failed to take a picture. Argh.
The jazz band was really impressive, and larger than I'd expected. I'd been concerned, because the school is a little smaller, and the regular band is smaller--they had to combine intermediate and advanced band--but the jazz band is larger, and boy, could they play!
Camden received a gold honor roll award (3.5 - 3.99 GPA), and Student of the Quarter. - They did the Student of the Quarter presentation on Friday... at the bowling alley. Six kids from each grade (about 180 students in each grade). They got a pizza lunch, and some prizes, and then got to bowl a couple of games before walking back to school just in time for the end of the day. Nice thing for Camden: several of the other kids there were his friends. Which really made me happy as a parent--not only did his teachers recognize his "dedication to academic excellence and outstanding citizenship," but he picks friends who are great kids, too.
I'm still not thrilled about the amount of homework he gets, but I'm gaining respect for the school administration, and I'm starting to understand their point of view. The principal in particular is so enthusiastic and encouraging, and they're all very dedicated to helping all the kids excel, and rewarding their efforts.
The only bad thing was that the weather was turning--it was warmish and windy in the morning, and got progressively windier, and colder throughout the day. I took a sweatshirt to the bowling alley for Camden to add to his T-shirt and jacket so he wouldn't freeze on the way home. He needed it. The bowling alley is about 2/3 of his way home from school--he walks past it every day--but he didn't have time to collect his stuff before they walked to the bowling alley, so he had to walk back to school, and then walk back home again. Poor kid. He did have a great time, though. - Tomorrow we're going to be planting our winter stuff, if the weather holds. The post gives us a 50-euro gift certificate to a local garden store so we can keep our yards looking nice. Pretty cool. We went Thursday night, in the rain, and got quite a bit of stuff. Only spent about 15 euro of our own, too.
- Tonight, though, we're going to go out to dinner and then to see Quantum of Solace. Yay!
- Oh, and yesterday, I bowed to pressure and joined Facebook. It appears that it's a huge time-sink, though, so I'm not sure how much I'll use it. I'm "Darla Stokes," though, if you want to check it out.
Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe
Labels: about me, weekend update
Comments:
<< Home
What winter stuff do you plant? And how cool that Camden can come to a new school and thrive. You really make that happen.
Post a Comment
<< Home