Maria was confident and ready. I took the afternoon off and we drove down to the DMV. We stood in line for 40 minutes during which time a large white woman lost her balance and fell and broke the line pole. We made it. I was missing one paper. No biggie, we'd just come back. Maria takes the test... and doesn't pass. Herb, the local DMV safety "cop", tells her she should study the book. Little did Herb know, she had studied 3 hours... not helpful Herb.
We try again!!
Every single time, I have trouble finding this. DO NOT FOLLOW ALL TRAILS. Head towards sardine lake and take the deer road up. Alex and I saw a big black bear from the car, I scraped my rear bumper on a nasty dirt road, and 30 minutes later we were on the right track.
It was a fairly easy hike, beautiful and I was really surprised Alex made it up the stairs as he hates heights. The weather was absolutely perfect, Alex fell... of course, and he managed to take a rather large chunk of skin off his palm that prevented him from weight lifting for a week.
Papa has had his "hot shot" for at least 15 years. His Toyota was a death trap these last few years though, especially the way he drives. Unfortunately, everyone is always in a rush and during the drop off some lady 2 cars ahead, slammed on her brakes causing a chain reaction no one was prepared for. Papa got the worst of it. We were all a little worried about him. It was a day filled with work trying to figure out what to do. Rental cars would be $1,000. Ridiculous. Our cousin Chris said he could get it fixed for $1000. Jody took him to carmax, just to look... and of course... he ended up buying this hybrid beauty. So grateful he is safe, has a sturdy economical car, and that we are blessed. God is so good to us.
Beginning school is always quite the challenge. Everyone is exhausted, they are long days, and it's a new mix of people that need to learn about each other. I knew this year was going to be interesting, but so far it's been fairly smooth. The great thing about 1st grade is the kids are not jaded. They want to learn, they want to work, and they are motivated if you can keep it positive and respectful. I can say I love my class, every single student. I have one student with some special needs and he can be a real fireball, but he knows I love him and am here for him. He loves drawing scary things, he can do a perfect rendition of IT and has had one major melt down. But for 18 days, I'd say he is doing amazing. We also have another student at school who has special needs and runs all over school. It's been hard, but we are all trying our best. The sad thing is that there are just not enough resources for everyone.
