9/6 - Good morning!!!

So, it was inevitable, I should have been expecting it. But the 5:30 a.m. call to report substitute opportunities was just annoying! I received instructions during the summer about how to enroll in the substitute reporting system that my district uses, but since it only gave instructions for the phone version and not the online system, I ignored it.

So today, now that students have been in school for a full week and teachers almost two weeks, they need subs. My former colleagues have instructions to shoot me if I ever came in to sub, and most of them do own firearms. Remember, it's Pennsylvania, where we even get the first day of deer hunting season off. I actually might have to rescind the instructions, since my retirement was earlier than I had planned, but I certainly was not ready for the call this morning. I never really got back to sleep, so this morning was fairly productive.

The weather dictates that all household accomplishments will be taking place indoors for most of this week, so I did get to some tasks that had taken a back seat to the landscaping extravaganza. Sunday we managed to put in some shrubs, just in time to catch the rain that's been falling since. Today I am legitimately wearing jeans and long sleeves, since it is only about 60 and doesn't promise to get much warmer. I am still waiting for the perfect "second cup of tea on the porch swing" weather.

Some former students on facebook are struggling with papers they are writing about Huck Finn. I forgot how much I enjoy those discussions. Maybe if I do sub, I can make sure to get some English classes. In the meantime, I have actually made time for some meaningful reading. Bob read and passed on 1491. It's an account of the Americas before Columbus, based on some new research, interpretations and thinking. Some of it is slow going, but it feels good to flex my "brain muscles." When I finish it, I will follow him in a reading of "The Island at the Center of the World," a history of New York recommended by our friend Carolyn.

My early start earned me some extra time later in the week for such pursuits. So I continue to tackle the jobs one at a time and work on mom's physical well-being.

Dinner tonight: Mexican chicken with sour cream and chilis, accompanied by leftover penne with black beans, spinach and peppers and some homemade guacamole.