Busy Days

The Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony. Apparently, Julia was in motion, and is therefore out of focus as she received her flowers!

I am always amazed at how busy this time of the year can be. Earle is only home for one more day before his next trip and we've been working feverishly to get all those springtime chores done before he is whisked off to Germany again. We've planted the rest of the garden except the tomatoes and peppers which will go in shortly. We fenced it in too, after our local rabbits had feasted on our spinach. Little buggers. It's a good thing they're cute! We even planted our deck pots with annuals, but we had to bring them inside last night because of danger of frost up here on the hill. It is a little early still for annuals, but with Earle going away again we wanted to get them underway.

This trip he will be taking Julia along for the ride. Twelve days in Germany, she is thrilled! She has waited for this for two years now. Whenever Earle had to go she was unavailable to accompany him. School. Work. More school. Finals are over, summer employment hasn't begun yet, she is off! It will be a nice reward for a job well done at school. Last week she participated in the induction ceremony for the Honor Society of Two Year Schools. We're not sure which professor nominated her, but it is a nice honor and will translate to scholarship dollars at a transfer school. All A's and one A- to round out the year. Way to go Julia! Next year will be tough, but she is very capable. She has signed up for: Organic Chemistry, Abnormal Psychology, Genetics, and I don't remember what else off the top of my head. Anyway, they are all upper level courses and all four or five credits I think. (ETA: The other course is Creative Writing) This summer she can give her brain a rest. She goes back to Kohl's for a summer job. They welcomed her back gladly. She has already started to unwind a bit with a trip down childhood lane as she rereads an old favorite, The Wind in the Willows.

We've been busy with Shawn's educational plans too. He will be taking British Lit with me over the summer and will be studying Medieval History next year using the Teaching Company lecture series as a spine: The Early Middle Ages, The High Middle Ages, and The Late Middle Ages. He also took the placement test at the community college and will be signing up for classes with an advisor of Friday. He will be taking College Composition I and Statistics. This year is not yet complete. I suspect we will need until close to the end of June to finish up. It seems as though the junior year of high school ends up being the most taxing year with the most work. After all, when you are preparing to launch into college classes the next year you can't slack off.

Speaking of slacking off, I'd better go watch Shawn's Art History lecture with him. Back to work, Mom! Tomorrow will be a busy day. Earle and Julia leave for Europe at about dinner time and I will be spending the day at the school with the present art teacher, learning about the make-up of the different classes, the schedule, the supplies, etc. It will be a busy day all around.

I will try to get my Wordless Wednesday up tomorrow before I go. We'll see. I Already have an idea for a picture. Hopefully I'll have time in the morning to post it before I head out. Also, what do you think of the new template? I needed a break from the black. I liked how it made all the colors pop, but it was looking a bit too wintry for me. I thought about installing a custom template, but Julia, my html guru won't be here to help me, so I went with one of the presets that Blogger gives you. It's a nice change though.

Lastly, did you catch the season finale of House last night? It was awesome! Now I can't wait until next year. Is the door open, perhaps, for a personality change for House? Will there be regret? An irrevocably broken relationship with his only friend? Poor 13 though, I felt so sad for her.