Weekend Wrap-Up

Thank you to everyone who participated in the BlogBlast for Education! Everyone's posts were so thoughtful, heartfelt, and inspiring. Inspiring because they told me that this is an issue where we all do have a lot of common ground. I do not believe that the problems in our system are insurmountable. Because this is so important, we're doing it again :) New buttons and date to follow, but it will be in September sometime.

And have I mentioned my undying love and gratitude for CableGirl for designing our very cool buttons? There is simply no way I could've pulled this off without her.

I have more good news - can you believe it? The owners of the condo have agreed to sign another lease to let the girls and I stay here for another year. They are keeping it on the market, so I may have to deal with potential buyers, but I told them either a year or I move out. They chose the $$. I'm not dancing in the streets yet because we have not yet signed the lease, but I hope to take care of that this week. This, as most of you know, is such a huge weight off my shoulders. Particularly with the KIPP situation, I need this year to know whether or not this is where we want to stay. Plus, with my promotion and all, I could use a year to see if I can save $$ and maybe even be able to afford to buy something - maybe even the condo.

But that's next year's problem. And that's all I really wanted. Another year to breath and think. And Riley can stay in her same school. And I don't have to use vacation time to move.

The cloud that was hanging over my head every time we came home, every time I entered my address, every time I tried to contemplate the future will soon be a speck of gray that doesn't need my attention for a WHOLE YEAR!!

A dear friend tried to convince me that maybe this means things do work out in the end. I'm really not a negative, pessimistic person. Hey, I love musical theatre. Anyone who loves musical theatre as much as I do cannot be a pessimist - the art form doesn't allow it. But I still feel like a part of me needs to remain on edge, ready to deal with whatever else comes my way. Because it's only when I'm not prepared for it that it knocks me down completely into a crying, depressed mess of a girl. So, once the lease is signed, I will take a moment to celebrate, but keep myself sober enough to deal with any other problems and challenges that come our way.

Speaking of musical theatre :) the Tony's were okay. I was disappointed that Sondheim didn't get a proper tribute for winning his Lifetime Achievement Award, and that he wasn't there to accept it, but I found a new favorite musical: In the Heights. I'm not a rap fan. Like at all. But the combination of rap, Latin music, and Broadway harmonies is something I cannot resist. I downloaded it while the Tony's were still on, and don't regret it. I also downloaded Passing Strange and Xanadu, but have not fallen in love with either of them the way I have In the Heights. Xanadu seems like fun, but is something that probably needs to be seen in order to be fully appreciated. I can't get past the Strange in Passing Strange yet.

Riley completed her career as a second grader. To be honest, her last few weeks, she wasn't the type of vigilant student that she's shown she can be in the past, but she also had a lot working against her. I was spending so much time dealing with the KIPP situation, Sylvia went on her 3-day field trip, plus the knowledge that she might not go there next year must've been a lot for a 7-year-old to try to handle, so I'm not giving her too hard a time about it. I just hope that she remains focused next year at the end of the year...and that I have no major KIPP-like situations going on at the time.

Next weekend, we're celebrating the end-of-school-year down at Disneyland. I hope that it's not 112 degrees like it's been this weekend! I've used our a/c at home this weekend much more than I would like. But since we're staying down at the Resort, we'll also have the benefit of a pool and hotel room to go to when we need some downtime. We may have visitors come and go to help us celebrate, which would be nice. If not, we'll manage to have fun, just the 3 of us.

The job's going well. It's a little bit surreal still, having people take me seriously as someone who knows what the heck I'm doing! And there's still so much to learn. But my freaking out has remained at bay for the most part, thanks to so many people cheering me on, available to answer all my stupid questions, and giving me the chance. And the days go so much faster as I exert so much more brain power at work!

Oh, and I've started reading Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. He's so thoughtful, so aware of his own biases, as well as the biases of others. If we are so lucky, he will make a great Commander in Chief. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend...and I'm only on the first chapter!!

Wow, this wrap-up is long. I'll shut up now.