Workshop in LaGrande

I've been preparing all day for a workshop I'm doing in LaGrande. I'm at the point where I'm reviewing the material that I'm teaching but I feel like I can't prepare anymore. I'll probably read my book on the drive up the pass but not much more than that. The parents in my class are really excited about the class and have spent a great deal of effort/money to get me there. I hope they go away from the experience feeling relaxed and comfortable with the idea of birth (really, thats my job).

I have to go shopping for groceries. I hate shopping, it's right up there with laundry on my bane of my existence list. But we'll need to eat on the trip and have some stuff here at the house when we get back. I'm taking the whole family with me to LaGrande, we'll try to make a camping trip of it since we'll be up on the mountain. I hope it goes well.

Meet Ms. Maxwell

Ainsley had her Kindergarten evaluation this morning. She did very well I have to say. She was able to identify the basic parts of a book, point to words as they were read and she identified most of the alphabet( uppercase and some lowercase). She counted to 40, named all her shapes and colors and did some object counting. I was pretty impressed. She's a smart cookie :)

Ms. Maxwell is a nice teacher, Ainsley is going to have a great time in Kindergarten. Ms. Maxwell is pretty young, younger than me. I'd say 25 - 26ish, and quite pretty. Ainsley was charmed (I get a pretty and nice teacher) I think she's a perfect fit for Ainsley.

The Kindergarten program at Livingston is awesome. Even in the evaluation, I could see that the methodology behind their teaching program is right on. When she was testing to check Ainsleys knowledge of the parts of the book. I could see there was a listening, following directions and comprehension test going on as well. Ainsley was thrilled to perform all the the tasks Ms. Maxwell gave her, like a culmination of everything she's learned before Kindergarten. It was very exciting.

Broken Down Blues

During the past month I've had a few breakdowns in the truck while I was out and about. The first time I was stranded after a class at the clinic. My battery wouldn't turn and I had to call my sister-in-law for a jump start. That got me home. The next morning my truck wouldn't start at all so we went out and replace the battery. The truck worked great after that and I drove it around for 3 or 4 weeks when two days ago I stopped by Matt's parents house to invite Matt to lunch. (he's in town for a bit) My truck died right in front of his house (which luckily is a few blocks from my father-in-law's tow truck business). I made Matt take me around town for a little bit, I had an errand to run and lunch to eat still. Then we went to Ken's Auto Rescue and got my sister-in-law to come rescue me again. The truck wouldn't hold a charge so we knew that the problem was with the alternator and not the battery... we left the truck at the shop and repaired it yesterday. $160.00 for a new alternator and whatever Kenny paid for a new battery that we probably didn't need. My fingers are crossed that there are fewer car repairs next month.