Homework, oh homework, I hate you, you stink!

As you may have noticed, I've had very little time to post lately. This is because of the surprising amount of homework that two classes can create. During my days, I'm trying to scrape together every ounce of free time to clean the house or work on schoolwork. In fact, it has become so bad that I realized this last weekend how much I'm having to give up to continue on my current track. After much hemming and hawing, I decided to wait another two years to enter the Master's program, thus taking the time to enjoy Iris' early years. This decision has given me such a feeling of freedom, and I'm planning all sorts of fun things for next term: classes with Iris, Waterbabies in the summer, even training for a half-marathon in may, and a full marathon in October.
But more on all that later. I'm sure you are all missing pictures of Iris (and more than anyone, I know my parents, who are currently in New Zealand, are missing her!), so I thought I'd post some on what she does while I study. Notice her mouth in the second picture. This shark bite (her newest nickname is Sharky) is most typical when she's anywhere near what I'm eating. Otherwise, she spins around in her exersaucer putting her mouth on everything she can reach. The third picture is over attempt to devour the educational philosophies of E.D. Hirsch. At least she's enjoying my homework!

Family First

Wow. Talk about your big decisions. I woke up this morning to the phone ringing. Thinking it was probably family (this happens frequently), I picked it up and mumbled a sleepy "hello?". Well, it wasn't anyone in my family, but instead it was a teacher from Mountain View, a school that I frequently sub at. She was calling to offer me a job. How many times does someone wake you up with an ideal job offer at a place you love to work, with people you love to work with, when you haven't even applied? However, there is a reason I haven't been looking for work, so I told them no. But then, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't sleep for thinking about it. After all, it was the job I have wanted, at a great school, with great people, and it just dropped out of the blue. So, I called back for the details. Part-time, temporary, taking over for someone I had subbed for before. It sounded ideal. But what was best for my family? After two hours of going back and forth and trying to come up with various ways that I could make it work, I realized that I was striving. I looked at my sleeping baby and realized that this is time I won't have with her again. I want to decide on a day to day basis whether I want to work, rather than being scheduled into it every day. I haven't had to make a decision this difficult for awhile--I can't tell you how badly I wanted the job. Even after Josh and I made the decision, I put off calling the school until just now, maybe somehow hoping things would change. But I guess that's part of being a mom--being willing to make sacrifices for your kids. It's not a long-term sacrifices, only a short-term. I will get my chance, just not next week. I know I made the right decision, but now I'm going to go cry a little. I want to be a kid again--it's awfully hard being an adult.