Three weeks

In three weeks I can finally come up for air. While I never doubted that starting a school would be hard work, I kept telling myself that I had been working hard all my life and that I was prepared. I wasn't. Aside from my initial two week vacation (which was really amazing), my entire summer was consumed by work. I don't think I have missed visiting Door County in the summer in the last 20 years! But...because of the balanced calendar, I have a fall break that begins on October 9th and Doug and I will be heading north. We don't know the exact days yet. But I am so excited to see everyone!

Doubts

Typing this on a plane on the way home from a training at Harvard. School starts in 2 weeks and I'm having some serious doubts about my ability to do this. The school has been a dream for so long. So much work and hope and sacrifice has gone into it. How does the dream become a reality? Will it really represent the hopes and dreams of the teacher, families and students? I don't feel ready. Positive thoughts and prayers are much needed right now.

Willie Nelson

Jessica has a summer job as a nanny for a member of John Mellencamp's band and has spent part of the summer on tour with the family. I just got done watching a video Jess took from backstage of Willie Nelson singing "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and I couldn't help but think of Dad and Uncle Ronald. I remember listening to Willie Nelson records in North Bay until late into the night.

Though I'm far away and completly bogged down with work to open the school (3 weeks left) I am thinking of you guys all the time and miss all of you!

Raspberries

Jessica and I are eating raspberries and discussing how much raspberries remind us of Claudia. Right now is that brief window of time that I can actually afford raspberries. I actually smuggled them into the movies last night. We saw My Sister's Keeper. Even though I had read the book I wasn't prepared for how much Kleenex I would need. Be forewarned.

Summer

I can't believe that it's already after the Fourth of July! My summer started off with an amazing 2 week trip to Italy. The weeks leading up to it were extremely stressful with ending my job in order to start at the charter school. Rather than use the term "vacation" I tend to refer to it as "fleeing the country." I think I needed to be far, far away in order to shut down enough to start to relax. It's a good thing we took the time when we did, because I haven't had any since. I'm in nonstop meeting to choose furniture for the school, hire teachers for the school, work on curriculum orders etc. It's all very exciting that this dream is becoming a reality, but it also doesn't feel much like summer.

On the bright side, its been great to have Jessica here. I frequently feel like her "Claudia" and spend a lot of time reminiscing about the summers I spent at Claud's. The Fourth of July is also a holiday that never feels right if not spent in Door County. We went to the parade and the fireworks, but it just wasn't the same.

Eerie

So, on my computer I use iPhoto. In one part of the program you can click on a button that says "Names" and then name the people in your pictures. I just identified myself as one of the faces in a picture and my computer said "Heather may also be in these pictures." It showed me 19 pictures from my collection of hundreds of photos. Eighteen were indeed pictures of me and one was a picture of... Claudia. Even my computer thinks we look alike -- more alike than my sisters and I apparently. Now the real test would be if my computer could tell the difference between Linda and Claudia. I doubt it!

The Cyclist

Doug has become obsessed with cycling. His birthday was Sunday and he got a road bike for the triathlon he's been training for. Right now his bike is in our living room (and has been since Sunday). He talks about it like it's a member of the family. He bought it used and it has the name Andrew painted on the bar under the seat. This moniker comes in handy in conversation. For example, Doug says things like "Andrew and I were watching TV together." or "I just need to get Andrew cleaned up." Can't you just hear it? He's been getting all the accessories and is now fully outfitted. The weather has been warm and he's planning on going on a big ride this weekend. As many things as Doug and I have in common, this type of training is not something I can identify with.

I've been thinking of all you with the sad news from Door County. Doug and I have had it on our minds and have talked about it a lot, so I can only imagine what it's been like for all of you.

I've been at Bradford Woods (which is an outdoor education camp program) with my fifth graders for the past three years and I'm completely beat. It's great fun and the kids absolutely love it, but it's really hard work for teachers and just requires us to be "on" 24 hours a day. So many of my kids have never experienced hiking, fishing, etc; not to mention family style meals and "please pass the potatoes." It's so fun to be there to experience that stuff with them.

We've had a HUGE response to the charter school. Despite our critics before we were chartered, we have WAY more applicants than we have spots for students. We have to do a lottery this weekend for any grade levels that have more applicants than spots and we never thought we would need to do one for any grade levels other than kindergarten. As of now we'll need to do a lottery for every grade level except 6th. We had hoped to have 100 applicants by April and at last count we were at 260. It's really exciting, but also stressful. We don't want to turn people away and are really worried that because it's random, we won't necessarily get the kids who really need this school.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I have a meeting in an hour and then I need to come home and take a nap.

Love to you all!

Here are some more London pics:

Spring Break

I followed Doug to London for Spring Break this year. Well... technically he followed me, as I got there 12 hours before he did, but I went because he was going to be there for work. I was on the fence about whether or not it was worth it to buy the airline ticket and only spend 5 days there, but once I looked at the website for the hotel he'd be staying at and discovered it included things like personal butler service, I realized that it was an opportunity that may not present itself again. When we travel on our own it's more of the "you share you bathroom with the guy down the hall" variety rather than "ring your butler to unpack your suitcase and press your clothes" variety.

So.. I arrived Saturday morning at about 8am, after not doing much sleeping on the plane (I can hardly sleep in my own bed, so planes are a nightmare for me) and had the day on my own. I didn't bring any luggage with me (Doug brought it with him) so that I could roam freely without a huge backpack or suitcase. Doug had talked to the hotel ahead of time and they said I may be able to check in early, so I took the train into the city and set off to find the hotel. I had a vague notion of where it was and ended up finding it fairly quickly. I came around the corner, spotted the hotel and didn't even pause. I was so intimidated I just kept walking. On my best of days I would not feel comfortable showing up at a fancy schmancy hotel, but after stumbling in after a night with no sleep and no shower I felt especially hesitant. I headed around the corner for a cup of coffee and a chance to regroup and pep myself up a bit.

Imagine the scene in The Sound of Music where Maria approaches the mansion gates for the first time -- that was me. I took a deep breath, walked past the Rolls Royce and the Ferrari, allowed the men in top hats and coats to open the door and approached the concierge. He assured me that my room would be ready momentarily and requested that I wait in the "withdrawing room." I perched on the edge of the sofa and tried to appear natural reading the newspaper in front of the fire. After passing on a beverage from the gentleman in the white tuxedo, the concierge arrived to escort me to my room. He took my handbag and led me to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened on my floor, my butler was waiting for me and greeted me by name. Can you even imagine me in this situation? I made my way through the tour of the room and it's many amenities, declined all offers of unpacking, pressing, champagne etc, found (what I hoped) was the acceptable amount of British money to press into his hand and finally collapsed on the bed once the door shut behind him.

Tired though I was, I couldn't justify sleeping the day away in London, but couldn't face wondering the streets of London either. I decided to take a train to Canterbury. I relaxed on the train and then explored the town and the cathedral on my own.








I've always wondered about solo travel because I have so much more time off than Doug ever does, but wasn't sure if 1) I could really pull it off and 2) if I'd enjoy it. Though it was only for a day, I was able to affirm my wonderings on both accounts. By the end of my adventure in Canterbury I felt confident enough to navigate my way home using the Tube after dark and walked back into the hotel as if I belonged.

I'll do my best to share info. from the rest of the trip and post more pictures.

New Computer

We finally got a new computer after the old one truly gave up the ghost. We have bought three houses since we last bought a computer, so I guess it was time. I'm hoping that this shiny new machine will make it more possible for me to work from home instead of spending late nights at school. I'm also hoping it will help me do a better job of keeping in touch.

I've been doing a fairly good job keeping up with my New Year's resolutions using a website called Joe's Goals to track my progress. I think I'll make blogging one of my goals and see if that helps. Maybe if I don't wait months in between goals, posting again won't seem like such a big job.

Quick updates:

The House -- Still not done, but getting closer. Doug is laying tile in the new bathroom as I type.
The School -- We have over 120 applicants for the charter school! We've been doing frequent meetings with families and various community organizations and their response has been overwhelmingly positive and hopeful.
The Family -- Amy is settling into her new job and new life in Boulder. Mom may be coming to visit at the end of April when she and Don will be in Indiana for a conference. Jessica will be in Paris at this time two weeks from now. Kristin... not sure on the details; we haven't talked in a while.
The Husband -- Doug is still loving his job, working on the house when he has time and is training for a triathlon. He's crazy.

Love to all!
Heather