Wahoo!

Just heard I squeaked in to the Madison conference, so its time to plan the road trip and get ready for John Taylor Gatto! Debating whether we'll go through Cleveland again, or just get a cheap motel halfway... the dog complicates things a bit. Madison peeps - we'll be in town about a week so if you want to get together, get in touch!

Thanks to all who have chimed in about the vaccines. We're still reading and thinking, and very grateful to be able to add your ideas and experiences to the mix.

Our homeschool Girl Scout troop is just about ready to begin and I'm so excited. And Caitlin. Caitlin is excited. This is for her, of course. I'm just leading, again, just to, um, be helpful, right? Its not that I totally love Girl Scouts and wish I was 11 again and could be earning all those cool badges and going to camp and everything. (Ok, yes, Mom, I did quit when I was 11 and cried through my entire Girl Scout camp career... but don't we all deserve another chance?) Love. It. All.

Swim team is also up and running (swimming?) now. Caitlin had her first meet last weekend, which was a challenge. She's never been a fast swimmer, and a year and a half out of the pool didn't do anything to change that. She was disappointed. Really disappointed. But she seems to have tuned-in, smart, sensitive coaches who helped her adjust her attitude about her times and set some realistic goals. And lucky for me, a good friend from knitting has an older swimmer and she helped me get through the meet. [One of the many things I love about getting older is how much more I appreciate all of the older (even just a tiny bit older) women in my life - its like I'm suddenly finding all the big sisters I always wished I had.] Anyhow, swimming continues and I'm motivated to get my butt in the water now too, which can only be good.

Ben continues apace, and the spouse-person keeps insisting he'll come up with a finished dissertation sooner or later. Here's hoping our trip to WI will help speed that up.