Autumn Update

Since my last entry we plunged headlong into fall and the new school year. Liam has taken to Transitional Kindergarten well, although he thinks his preschool class was more fun and complains that the playground at his new school has no sand. His teacher says he is chatty, smiley, and fun to have in class. Connor and I walk to pick Liam up from school every day, which is about 2.5 miles round-trip. The hour of walking allows Connor to people watch and wave at planes and helicopters flying overhead and I get some exercise built into my day.

Liam's reading lessons continue, and he is doing very well. With a couple of family visits and the occasional afternoon off because we have something going on, we won't finish the lesson book as soon as I anticipated. However, my goal is quality, not speed, and there we are right on track. Liam is doing excellent work, even if it is still an uphill battle to get him to sit still. (A lesson that is supposed to take 15-20 minutes typically takes 30-45.)

The Getty Center, where I often give tours.

I continue my work as digital assets manager and lecturer for Art Muse LA. Right now I give one or two tours a month, but business is relatively brisk right now and sometimes I have the opportunity to do more. I can't always get away, but when I do it's nice to feel like an adult and not a mommy for a few hours. 

Connor has handled Liam's daily school departure well and can't wait until he's the big boy heading off to school. Even though Liam is only gone for a half-day, they miss each other. Every day when Liam runs out of the school gate at dismissal, he runs straight for Connor and gives him a hug and asks, "Did you miss me, Connor?" If Connor is on his feet he does the same thing and runs to meet him. 

For the most part the fall season has been about school and reading lessons, but we have had some fun as well. The boys and I went up into the mountains near Yucaipa and did some apple picking. We also visited a mummies exhibition at the Natural History Museum and had fun at the Western Night Carnival at Liam's elementary school. 

All that, and we still managed to have a short but sweet--and chaotic--visit from my sister and her two boys. Having four boys under five under the same roof for a few days was exhausting, but we loved every bit of it. 

As October begins to wrap up, I'm looking forward to an end to the SoCal heat wave. I'm ready for cozy sweaters and hot cider and November weather!

Halloween Poetry

A couple of years ago, I was going through old papers and such, and I ran across a very old green spiral notebook with one of my early literary efforts preserved in it. It's not Shakespeare, but it made me smile--in third grade my homeroom was classroom #3, and my class was known for being a bit rowdy. I reproduce the poem here, just as I found it. Hopefully it will make you smile too... Happy Halloween!

The Ghost of Classroom #3

by Amber Myers (age 8)

There’s a tapping at the window,

A moaning at the door,

And something ectoplasmic

Is sticking to the floor…

But don’t panic, don’t be frightened

By anything you see,

It’s really nothing special,

Just the Ghost of Classroom Three.

It doesn’t come out often,

Just once or twice a year,

It wanders around then,

Poof!

It disappears.

Sometimes it sits at the desk,

Marking books continuously,

But it’s really nothing special,

Just the Ghost of Classroom Three.

Some say it was a teacher

Who met a nasty end,

She had a class of nasty kids

That drove her around the bend.

And sometimes there is screaming,

And it weeps dismally,

But it’s really nothing special,

Just the Ghost of Classroom Three.

She swore she’d come and haunt them,

But they laughed and didn’t care,

And now she haunts the cupboard

(Which otherwise is bare).

And sometimes there are others,

A whole classroom full you can see,

Doing endless homework

For the Ghost of Classroom Three.

Some say it isn’t possible,

And it’s just a story,

But classroom three you must admit,

Feels different, sort of eerie.

And once upon the blackboard,

Someone wrote mysteriously,

‘I’ll haunt this school forever,

I’m the Ghost of Classroom Three.’

There’s a rapping at the desktops,

A rattling at the door,

And something is trying to get out

Of the teacher’s locked desk drawer.

But don’t panic, don’t be frightened,

Don’t scare too easily,

It’s really nothing special,

Just the Ghost of Classroom Three.