Bits and Pieces

I decided to do this post in bullet form. There have been so many things happening and I haven't updated in a while so here goes....

► Our duckies flew away the other day. Four of them took off, leaving one little pitiful girl behind. It was the saddest thing to hear her yesterday, quacking over and over again, calling to her friends. However, about mid-afternoon two and then later on, six male ducks flew into our pond. She swam right out to them and was happy as can be. She never came home last night so one can only assume that she flew off with them.

► The roosters continue to be an annoyance! All five of them crow from dawn til dusk and run all over the place. So far, though they haven't bothered anyone though they follow at a safe distance with an evil look in their eye. I just make sure they see the stick I'm carrying and I remind them quite often that the stew pot is waiting if they get out of line. That seems to calm them. :-)

► The kids have settled into their new schools and are doing well.

► On top of pastoring the church, Dan is working a full time job for an agency that works with teens and adults with disabilities. He is a job coach for the school system I worked for last year. He picks up ten teens and takes them to various job sites where they get experience in the working world. He is definitely loving it and at the same time, has been running into church members all over town so he gets to visit briefly with them at the same time.

► I'm going to a grant-writing seminar next weekend in the hopes of getting some money to start a preschool enrichment program in our church. I want to combine my literacy background with my preschool background and provide pre-reading activities for preschoolers in our community. Since I live right next door to the church, this will allow me to still focus on home as it would only be a couple of times per week. The state of New York keeps raising the standards higher and higher and by the end of Kindergarten, students are expected to read at a certain level. This program would give children going into Kindergarten a bit of a head start.

► I had given up on selling at the community market since the last few times I probably lost money. However, I decided to try it one more time. The main reason is that it has been a wonderful way to meet people in this community. Since our church is here, we need to establish contacts over here. So tomorrow will be my bread making marathon for the market tomorrow afternoon.

► I've been able to get a lot of crafting done and I'll show you some of those projects tomorrow.

► Money is extremely tight but I'm seeing more and more the benefits of my decision to stay home this year. I've had to be available for a number of things already this year that I wouldn't have been able to do if I was working.

Well, that about does it for now. I wanted to let you know too that I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my blog and I especially appreciate the encouraging comments. I very rarely respond to the comments because I really do try to limit my time on here. But I read each one and I really appreciate you all!