Friday, April 03, 2009

April 2nd

2 April 2009
Tea water is on and a plate of biscuits and fruit await us, so this will be quick. It’s 8:30 and the boys just went to bed. Their schedule has shifted a lot since arriving here. School for Finn and daycare (or child minding, as they call it) start at 9:15 a.m. so our usual 7 a.m. scramble remains back in Maine. For the second morning in a row I’ve gone for a run at 7 while the guys sleep in. I get back around 8 and rouse David and the boys and we eat breakfast and get dressed and head out the door at 9 for the ten minute walk to daycare/school.

Finn’s first day at school went well. He didn’t seem nervous walking in that first day and at day’s end was full of tales of misbehaving boys in his class; that boy loves the drama of the “bad guy”. He also roped several students in his class into playing spiderman at recess. He said that the girls were better at playing at it than the boys. The kids in his class have already tackled writing numbers and letters and so Finn is being thrown in the deep end. He came home with homework and I got my first taste of nudging my son through homework last night. More nudging was required this morning when it was time for Finn to wear his uniform to school today. He didn’t have to wear it yesterday because it was gym day. Today it was a regular school day and so the collared white shirt, red v-neck sweater, navy pants and navy and red striped tie were on deck. He grumbled his way through getting dressed but David told me that on the way home today Finn asked if he could wear his uniform tomorrow even though there’s no school tomorrow. School is on break for the next couple of weeks for Easter vacation.

Corin will be in daycare through next Thursday, then they go on break for a week and a day. So the bit of routine we’ve worked out these past couple of days will shift into some new version of a schedule. It’s easy to roll with it. The pace of this place is slower and things like no commute to work/school creates pockets of additional time. Corin’s in daycare for just 3 hours each morning, but it was enough time for me to work on some strategic planning for COA’s admissions efforts.

This morning’s run was nearly 6 miles, the longest I’ve run since last fall. David scouted painting locations yesterday and scoped out running routes for me too. Today I ran past several farms, greeting cows along the way with a curt “Ladies.”

I connected with a local woman who grows greens and herbs in her hoop houses and, come warmer temps, a broad variety of veggies in raised beds. Today she sold me a basket full of lettuce, arugula, tarragon, thyme, cilantro, parsley, scallions, chives and sage, with borage and calendula blossoms tucked in among the greenery. Her name is Ursula, a charmed name in my life these days.

OK, I have a date to eat dessert and have tea with David while we watch the Veronica Mars dvds we brought with us (thanks to Ann’s generosity). Sleep tight.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved reading this, Sarah. It's so great that you are all transitioning into this new adventure with ease. So fun to hear about Finn's school days too.(Bill was wondering the other night if half of the class would stand when the name "Finnegan" was called, but one other Finn is not a bad ratio.)

xo, Tricia

(P.S. I love the name Ursula.)

Beth said...

I only just now checked the blog and was rewarded with 2 posts!! Yay! Do you have easier Internet access that you were expecting? I haven't managed to send a real email all week but I've surely been thinking about you all. So happy to read the detailed descriptions -- it all sounds dreamy. Can't wait for more tales of the boys in school. Love to all the Bakers! xoxxo

Leslie said...

So wonderful to find you writing about this journey - yippee! I've just found the blog and am enjoying all the posts but had to comment on this particular one, because I'm absolutely blown away that you have to rouse your kids at 8am. My kids rouse us each morning well before 7, ugg. Glad you're settling in! xoxo-l