As our time in North Eastern PA (NEPA) comes to an end, I am attempting to regain a routine of writing that (if I ever get another assignment) will bring in some extra cash when we move back to Chicago. For the time being, I am hoping that my forgotten blogs will benefit from my new schedule. I'm sure my poor children will be more often in front of the TV (well, more likely, they will spend the same amount of time in front of the TV, I will just be writing instead of doing nothing on Facebook), but I've also scheduled in some time to "do school" with them in the morning (we purchased Volume One of Five in a Row, a children's-literature-based, early childhood education curriculum), followed by getting out of the house to a park, a playdate, or just on a walk. I'm not sure I'll have time for everything I've scheduled (especially that pesky housework), but it's worth a try!
In the next month, in addition to trying to get some more productivity out of our days, we will be wrapping up our time in Simpson. Andrew is finishing his second to last week of classes this week and turned in a major paper today. Maggie is coming to the end of her year of Suzuki piano lessons with Mrs. Lichtenstein and will have a Progredi Class on Friday (a sort of group lesson/pre-recital) and a recital at the end of the month. (For those of you incredulous that a three-year-old would have anything to do at a recital, apparently all the little ones do is their bow, which they begin and end piano time with -- her teacher says that you only do something for a recital if you are completely confident in it, and Maggie is very good at her bow). Susannah continues to add words to her vocabulary and is very verbally communicative; she also loves to climb and "walk with Mommy's hand" around the block with the family. As for me, tonight I am attending a dinner in honor of the "graduating" seminary wives (and I am not sure whether I am considered one of those or not, since Andrew is not graduating, per se).
This next month will bring many goodbyes and a ton of packing, with a good measure of uncertainty as to our future. As we know more, we will share. At the moment, all we know is that we are being sent back to Chicago to serve with Fr. Pat Reardon at All Saints, which we are looking forward to immensely. We don't have a new address yet, and may spend some time living with my parents, although we keep threatening to do this and keep disappointing them, so I'm not going to commit to anything right now.
In the next post, I'll add some of my favorite poses from a recent trip to Cracker Barrel, which most likely, you've all seen already, but for the few of you hold-outs not on Facebook, they will be new.
