Resignation

This week I resigned my position as director at the daycare. Every day was more stressful than the last and these last several weeks has been almost more than I could handle.

Last April when I agreed to become the director, I knew that the center had a lot of problems. It was a sinking ship. My job was to try to repair the damage. Over the past 7 months, I have made many changes to the daycare to try to make it a better place. I know "daycare" and I know "teaching". What I don't know is the business end, more specifically, the financial side of being a director. I also am not a strong leader and really struggle when it comes to dealing with the staff. I feel like I have done all that I can to improve the center. They need to hire a person that has strong business and management skills.

The next two weeks will be busy as I transition myself out of the office and teach the staff about the paper work so they can take over until a new director is hired. Within 18 hours of resigning, I was re-hired at the grocery store. I will also make myself available to do subbing at several preschools and daycares in the area. Life is starting to look up again!

Swine Flu in Boone

So, Swine Flu has started affecting the Lawson Family now. Zach started with a sore throat and cough on Wednesday and came home from work Thursday morning with a fever. He went to the doctor that morning and got a nasal swab and a white blood count which confirmed that he definitely has H1N1. Andrea also started feeling bad that day. Both of them are high risk, first because they are under 24 years old, but also because of Zach's severe asthma and because Andrea is pregnant. They are both on antiviral medications to help lessen the length of time the flu last as well as the severity of the symptoms.

This morning Zach called to tell us that Bryce now has the flu, too. The doctor won't give the kids any of the anti-viral because the side-effects for children are almost as bad as the flu itself. Andrea is still feeling pretty bad, although her fever is down. Zach has his energy back but is still really achy and has a bad cough. I'm headed over to pick up Hailey for a while so they can all rest. I'm hoping that Jeff, Josh, and I don't end up getting it too.

Harvest Party

Tonight we had a great time at our church's Harvest Party. A family from church has some acreage just outside of town and agreed to host everyone at their place. We were glad to have a break from the weeks of rain and enjoyed a sunny 60 degree day. It was very windy which made it a bit chilly.

We had a short horse show, games for the kids (big and little), a hayride, and a bonfire complete with chili, hot dogs, and smores. Jeff and I took Bryce and Hailey. They seemed to have a lot of fun and liked petting all the kitties. I've come home at the end of the night exhausted, muddy, and sticky from sucker drool. I really do have the best grand kids in the world - of course, I might be a little prejudice, too!!

The Train Ride

My parents were visiting my grandparents in Oklahoma last week and stopped in Boone on their way back home. I was excited to be able to treat them to a ride on the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad today. The train in the picture is the actual train that we rode on, although the picture is off of the internet. The bridge that the train is going over is called the Kate Shelley High Bridge. I'll admit that I was very nervous to go across it. While I'm not really afraid of heights, I do get a little wigged out about not having anything on the sides...I mean, what if the wind blew the train off of the track?

Anyhow, we had a good time and really enjoyed the fall scenery. It also gave my mom and dad time to get to know Bryce and Hailey since they went too. Bryce kept calling the train Thomas the Tank. I think he might have been a little disappointed or confused when we got off the train and he saw that the engine was actually black!