Two Pennies on the Beach

P had the best birthday surprise, and even better for me, I did not have to arrange any kind of birthday bash. My kind of party planning! My former colleague and good friend, Marta, and her daughter Jeweleanna came over to the coast with a couple of their horses, boarded them at a nearby facility, and took us out to the beach for some horseback ridin'!

Happy 4th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our little girl who is growing up too fast! Low-key birthday celebration this year with just her buddy, Bode and family, the night before with Pizza Port and cake afterwards. There are lots of things to reflect upon this past year with P and her developmental milestones. 

The most impressionable personality trait that came through loud and clear was her strong-will. There are some things where once she made up her mind, there was no swaying her. She's so fiercely independent in that. She's her own person and doesn't back down from what she believes. At times this has been so frustrating (and for someone who's a control freak, to some degree), it has been a lesson for all of us.

Getting Back in the Game

I am officially hired as a substitute teacher with SLO Coastal Unified. What??? I still have my “day job” working for The Land Conservancy, but I am slowly getting my feet wet again with teaching.

It’s been 5 years since I set foot in a classroom, so why the sudden change of heart? Well, lots of reasons, really. First of all, having a child without family close by and not being a stay-at-home-mom makes it difficult to juggle a work schedule. Now that our child is approaching school-age and witnessing a colleague at work trying to juggle her schedule with her children’s school schedule and a newborn, it seems to make more sense for me to go back to teaching and be on the same schedule as P. Ideally, I’d love to be able to teach at the same school where she is attending or vice versa.