Getting Caught Up!

I just realized how much time has passed since my last posting! This hasn't been my intent, but time has just gotten away from me. The days pass so quickly and I haven't been good about recording even the highlights here.

We have been busy.....James with school and Dusty and I with our jobs. I've been working as a substitute aide ("Paraprofessionals" is what we're called in our district.) in our school district, servicing 3 Head Start preschools, 6 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and 2 high schools. Some weeks I'm very busy, working all 5 days and other weeks I work very little. Overall, it's a job I enjoy, though it isn't without it's stressful times. I work mostly with children who are labeled by the district as those with severe needs. These are children with Downs Syndrome, autism, CP, and emotional disabilities. The most difficult children for me to work with are the ones with emotional disabilities. They often have been labeled as "autistic". If they have the ability to be in a regular classroom, the "para", is in that classroom with them, to give them the one-on-one that they require. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes not!

I've learned to be flexible. Flexible, because I rarely know what I'm doing any day, until my phone rings at around 6:30am, requesting my presence at a particular school, to fill in for a para who is unable to work that day. If I'm lucky, I have jobs lined up ahead of time (I now have people calling me directly! I've left my phone number throughout the district as I've worked jobs.) I'm not much of a morning person, and don't "hit the ground running" very gracefully, in the mornings. So the more I can schedule ahead of time, the better off I am.

I have also applied to the State of Colorado for a three year "teaching license", which will enable me to substitute for any teacher in the school district. Though I've been told it might take six month for me to get the license, I'm eagerly waiting. It is my hope to have the license for the beginning of the new school year, which starts here mid-August. Substituting for teachers will offer a sizable monetary raise. Also, it means that I'll be working in regular classrooms, as the teacher for that day. It's a lot different than what I'm doing now. The long and short of it all is that I'm working!! It's not ideal, as the position has no benefits.....no stability of hours, no vacation or sick time, no insurance (which I now have through Dusty's job with the same school district!) but it IS a job!! Jobs are still very hard to come by here, so I'm grateful to have this job!

Dusty continues to work at Montrose High School as one of their evening custodians. This is now the end of his third year, and he really enjoys it. We works as part of a team, but mostly alone. He has a good rapport with the teachers and students. I never thought that we would have the same employer....funny how that worked out!

James is nearing the home stretch of his 4th grade year! That's so hard for me to believe on so many levels. He's doing very well! We've been blessed with an incredibly bright child who, according to every teacher he's had, will never "have an academic worry". Even at our small, rural school they've done a good job of keeping him busy and challenged. He participates in the school district's "gifted and talented" program and receives extra attention with that. He has a wonderful classroom teacher and we were thrilled to learn that she will "loop up" next year with the same group of kids to 5th grade. So we know that James will have a positive 5th grade year, and then we'll be moving on to the middle school! WOW! Where has that time gone?

As I write this, we are preparing to take our very first family vacation! Aside from trips to visit family and friends over the years, the three of us have never taken a vacation together. The last time that Dusty and I took a trip together, that wasn't family oriented was our honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in September 1997. We decided it was time!! In two days, we are heading to Disneyland!! I'm getting so excited!! We will be gone a week, spending two days at Disneyland and a couple more days in the Los Angeles area, visiting my old "stomping grounds"!! We're driving and will spend a night in Las Vegas in each direction.

To say that James wasn't interested in making this trip, in the beginning, is an understatement. The only travel he's really ever done has been to visit my family in California. He's grown up, like any kid in America, watching Disney commercials and being bombarded with Disney movies and products. And yet, I've been dealt a cruel hand.....I have the ONLY child in the country who was totally disinterested in going to Disneyland!!! How could that have happened!? Dusty said that James will be fine once there and will love it all, and I'm sure he's right. But, I'm not embarrassed to admit that at first I was hurt and disappointed! I so wanted this to be something we ALL were looking forward to! James is such a creature of habit, a "homebody" and doesn't really like change. But as the trip has gotten closer, I've seen sparks of interest. We've watched a lot of Disney videos on YouTube and the Disney websites, and last night I actually "caught" him with his nose in our Disneyland tour book! Hehehehe!! Maybe the bug is biting him too! I so wanted to take him to Disneyland before all of the "kid magic" was gone, and it now looks like we might have made it, just under that line!! So Disneyland, here we come!! Mickey...just a few more days and we'll be in your midst!! YIPPEE!

One more "exciting" thing for us....we have acquired a camper!! Yup! We're finally moving UP....off the ground, mostly!! It's not new and not fancy, but it IS ours. It's a 19 foot, 1979 Roadrunner that was in great condition, considering it's age. The only work that needed to be done was cosmetic. Dusty and James are already working on it, to have it ready for the upcoming camping season. For us, it'll seem like luxury.....up off the ground, dry in inclement weather and a bathroom close by for those late night needs! What could be better!! We are so excited and looking forward to using it lots!! We have our favorite spot (Woods Lake), but already have a list of other places to visit!

So stay tuned.....CA vacation photos to be posted soon and then we're heading into a summer of camping fun!!!