Back to School

 Jackson went back to school on Tuesday. He has one friend in his class, but a few other kids he knows as well. So far he seems to be enjoying it. But he doesn't eat much while he's there, he has a big "snack" when he gets home. Today that was two plates of leftover chicken fried rice. Then half a pizza for supper an hour later. So that will be fun. I am glad he is doing well so far. Math is his least favourite class, of course, and he loves gym. The gym teacher is his fav as well, and also teaches Science and History, so he has her twice a day every day. Other than homeroom, followed by Language, the rest of his classes are all mixed up. He has math, language and gym daily, then French, history, geography, science, religion/family life make up the rest, 6 classes a day, two then snack, two then lunch/recess, two then done! He is allowed to have his phone, and texts me between classes and at lunch. It's super cute and I love that he fills me in on what's going on. 

I have to admit, it has been really nice to have him gone during the day while I work. I do take him to school and pick him up, though he walked home today. It is good. I like having the house to myself, the first couple days I was off work and it was really nice. I miss "me time". Tonight he is off playing basketball with friends, probably done soon as it's getting dark. I will see how the weekend goes, he goes for his second covid shot on Saturday but otherwise we have no real plans, maybe laundry? I'm sure he will want to play basketball. Maybe go for a hike in the woods. It's still warm and the leaves haven't started to change yet. I'm sure that is coming soon enough.

Now that I am home alone all day, I want to have a nicer space for working. It's a bit of a mess, and while it doesn't really matter if there is no separate room since no one else is home, I'd just like it to be a little better. I will need to figure out the layout of the room, I don't want to move upstairs since I still want the guest room to be a cat room for Olaf over night. I will also need to fit in the cat wheel when it comes. And I have some things to get sold, but still need to sort out a couple things before I can sell them. I was waiting for school to start and see what's what. I should be able to take some time this weekend, and week, to work on that.

I do think the year away from the school system was good for him. And me. I know he will do ok this  year, and I will advocate for him whenever I need to. He is learning things, and making some friends. He looks forward to trying out for basketball in February, and I wonder if there will be any other teams he wants to try out for. I hope so, but not sure. 

KitKat and Olaf napping together

The last summer hurrah

 Soon it will be back to school. We are hopeful it will go well, and I am really hoping kiddo stays and doesn't let his anxiety overwhelm him. I think he is looking forward to it to a certain extent, at least seeing his old friends and playing at lunch, doing sports as well. The summer weather has cooled, but it's still pretty nice. Yesterday we took the day and went back to the water park, it was a lot quieter than when we went at the start of summer. We had a lot of fun, went on quite a few slides, and he had a lot of fun doing certain ones over and over with little wait. My feet and calves are so sore today from all the walking and stairs. We also got a little sunburned. But it was a super fun day. 

Now we have a few more days, and then it's back to it! I have the first couple days off when he goes back, so I'll be taking him to school those days. I also have some errands to run, and cleaning to do. His room will get a deep clean, he has been keeping it a bit tidy but things get messier over time and it seems to be where water bottles to go to get lost. I look forward to getting things clean and sorted, his room and the main living space. I need to make room for a cat wheel. When we got Olaf, our new bengal, and with our other cats, a cat wheel seemed like a good investment. Hopefully it'll fit in here somewhere. I may have to get rid of a few more things, I had planned to sell some of the toy storage so just need to actually try and do that. 

I think we will move in the spring, depending on how winter goes. Over the winter I will probably try and replace a few things, get rid of others. I'll need to keep distracted from the fact I probably won't be able travel for awhile still. This whole mixed vaccine thing is just making me upset. No one even bothers to make it look like they are doing anything to help. I am worrying about our March break cruises, and if we can't do them then I don't know what we'll be able to do instead, because I really must get away this winter. We will both be vaccinated and I just can't imagine we won't be able to finally travel. Even at the water park yesterday he was saying how much he can't wait to travel again. We miss cruising. I have a lot of vacation banked to use, just need to be able to travel!

Work has been busy, I covered for my boss for a couple weeks, that was too much. I have no desire to be a manager. At all. Now it's back to it, as people wind down their holidays and we move into a busy fall. One team member is leaving so it's the time to shuffle things and Lean the process. I am very excited, and know my manager is behind me. The changes are small but with a big impact. I do love Lean and getting rid of unnecessary steps. I feel like I'll finally be able to get this work into shape so anyone can step in and do the job. For now I am not looking to change positions. They are still allowing us to work from home, and I hope that I will be able to continue doing so forever. If the current boss has a problem with it, I will likely look for something else that will allow it.