Fall 2015

Here are the highlights (as best as I can remember!) from our Autumn.

We were very excited for preschool to resume, as it brings a welcome and peaceful rhythm to our lives.  This year Josef would be in the Golden Roses classroom 5 days a week, for about 4 hours.  He has several friends in the class from last year and quickly made several more.  Everyday they play outside–rain or shine–and they help prepare, serve, and clean up simple meals.  The classroom and atmosphere is so rich and welcoming, when I drop him off in the morning it is hard to tear myself away.  It is really heartwarming to see a little community of children who are so clearly loved and thoughtfully cared for.

Unfortunately, the joy of getting up early and riding to school with my darling boy only lasted for about a month, at which time the “too tight” era, as it will forever be known, commenced.  Just as we were beginning to teach him how to dress himself, Josef became extremely sensitive to the fit and feel of his clothing.  Every single morning for the remainder of the year was an excruciating trial of wailing and flailing as I tried to get him dressed for school.  Now, even in the best of circumstances I am such a grump in the morning that it takes extreme effort just to be civil to my cheerful mother, so needless to say I struggled to handle this new development with calm and grace.  I must say that the dark and wet mornings of the “too tight” era were probably the most challenged I felt as a parent since he was a newborn!  This, coupled with a lasting respiratory illness that plagued me well into wintertime, conspired to make the end of 2015 rather dreary…

Nevertheless, there were plenty of wonderful happenings to relate, which I will now do!  Probably the biggest news was that Rachael and I both found new jobs.  Rachael started working part-time in the law office of a local attorney, having recently passed the Oregon Bar.  It could not be a better fit.  She works the exact same hours as Josef’s school, it is just down the street from hour house, and the staff are very laid back and decent people.  She feels very fortunate!

After sending out stacks of resumes, running the gauntlet of career fairs, and sitting through 4 or 5 interviews, I have been offered a staff accountant position starting in the summer with a firm in Eugene.  I am terribly excited to be making the career change, and I feel very positive about this firm.  Everone there seemed friendly and happy, and I know I will receive top notch instruction and mentorship as I begin my career.  Now I just need to graduate so my real education can begin!

Other autumnal happenings included a visit from Rachael’s cousin Brenda and her husband Keith over Halloween, Josef’s first football game down the street at the stadium, and of course his big birthday party, previously mentioned.  Josef has started attending a weekly German school every Friday, and I have been busy in my free time trying to build a bit of a rec room/lounge in our basement.  Josef loves to go downstairs and play drums; he is quite the music lover.  He has also started to be quite obsessive about what gets played in the car.  Last winter it was Darlene Love, but lately he wants to hear The Dynamics every single time.  Fortunately it’s a great album and I have yet to grow tired of it.