week one

Yesterday I went for a ride with my dad in the Miata with the top down.  He pulled me away from doing taxes (both federal and state of Illinois) with the lure of the open road and sunshine.  We've been having some gorgeous spring weather, and with the clear day we could see the mountain ranges on both sides while driving north to Marysville on all the back roads. We came south along the Snoqualmie River and went over Redmond Ridge right by my new school, so I was able to take the picture you see above.  That's really only a very small piece of the school--it stretches farther to the right and makes an L shape, and it's two levels in some places.

The rest of my first week went very well.  My time was mainly spent shadowing the girl I'm replacing, absorbing her knowledge and taking many pages of notes on a yellow tablet.  We went through a binder full of information she'd compiled.  One cool thing I found out I get to do is to record a special voice message on the school phone system when there is a snow day.  There probably won't be one of those til next winter though.  I had a tour of the school, which is divided into Lower (K-6), Middle (7-8), and Upper (9-12) sections, which each have their own Head and assistant.  There is a gym, two libraries, a commons area which includes the cafeteria and theater.  The spring play is Pride and Prejudice, so I am excited to see that.  A couple ladies stopped by the front desk to discuss their plans for sewing costumes.  Another mother came by and said she's working on a cookbook of recipes from school families, so I offered to help edit/proofread it, which she took me up on.  I think I have met nearly every staff member and teacher and a lot of the parents and students, but remembering them all is another matter.  Tomorrow is my first day flying solo at the front desk!


I went babysitting Saturday evening and had to take a photo of the view from this family's deck overlooking Lake Washington across to Seattle: