And so everyone is ending their summer schedule and heading back to the classroom, or in my case, the cubicle. Jeannie was back to work yesterday morning -- full of meetings and get-to-know-your-new-superintendent things. Today she was in her classroom for most of the day preparing for the sophomores who will be back tomorrow. Then the juniors and seniors come back on Thursday.

This evening we went to the ice cream social (which is really poorly named, I might add. I mean, if you're gonna call an event an "ice cream social", you would think you could expect actual bona fide ice cream, right? In my own experience, trying to pass off a cheap watered down popsicle with significant freezer burn as "ice cream" is enough to get you drawn and quartered in certain crowds. ...I'm just saying...) But anyway, we walked up to the school for the event and learned who were Jessica and Martin's new teachers this year. Martin was pleased to find he had the same teacher Jessica had in first grade: Ms. Stoll. Jessica, however, was not in a class with any of her close friends and not with the teacher she preferred. But being the family's social butterfly, I have no doubts she'll adapt and have a half dozen new friends within a week -- just needs a few days to settle in.

Andrew has one more day of freedom, starting his freshman year at West Junior High on Thursday. He is none too eager about starting the school year routine, but who is, right? He won't find out his exact schedule or teachers until the first day of school. But we at least know he is in Honors Biology, Honors English, Concert Band, and Civics. We'll find out about his requested electives and the rest of his schedule on Thursday.

Logann has a few more days until school starts in Lees Summit. He goes back on August 18th. Today he got his new laptop, about which he is very excited. He's still working for UAC, though his hours are limited, which is good given the fact that he'll be spending more of his time on school.

And tomorrow is my last day of sabbatical before I return to work on Thursday. I'm going to try to fill it the best I can. Getting up w/ the little ones on their first day of school, making them pancakes before taking them to school at 7:45am. Not sure what I'm going to do for the entire day, but I'm going to try to get some time on the water. It would be a nice way to close my sabbatical. It has been an incredible month, being on the water the majority of the days and being able to spend more time w/ Jeannie and the kids than I have ever been allowed. I'll miss that dearly.

And now I'll find something else to do for the next couple of hours while I wait for Kaysia to get home. She is full-on nineteen now. Too little sleep and always on the run. It's wonderful to watch that transformation.

-shannon