End of Summer

Summer is over. This crazy, crazy summer is finally over.

My oldest is happily married to her wonderful new husband. All of my kids have started back to school--whether it's college, high school, junior high, or elementary. Finally, things have settled into a predictable routine.

I'm still freelance writing, but with the start of school, I started back up with bus driving, as well.

I was given my own bus route a little over a week ago, and that made me very happy. Being a route driver has advantages over being a sub: less stress because you know where you're going and when; a slight pay raise; and the ability to bid on other routes when they become available. There are people who love being substitute bus drivers because they don't have to drive in the same circle every day, but I didn't like never knowing where or when I'm driving. When a bus route became available and I was the next person on the seniority list, they gave me a call.

I'm now driving a preschool route with three runs. Between runs, I have enough time to drive back home and check on Joseph (13) and see how his schoolwork is coming along. I managed to get him into the middle school's Homebound program due to his crippling anxiety at being in crowds, and it's been really good for him. He has an outside authority to whom he has to answer, but the work is not overwhelming. His teacher is really great, actually.

I've written probably a dozen drafts over the summer, but they were all long. I couldn't be bothered to edit, so I just didn't publish them. The summary of all of those posts is that lots of stuff happened (mainly getting ready for Sian's wedding) and I was very busy, which is not a state I enjoy being in. Fortunately, we have all survived, the reception went off smoothly, and nothing seriously bad happened.