Two Weeks In

I have made it through the first two weeks of my new job. Names and faces are getting easier to remember and recognize, and best of all I'm learning the system. My background clearance still hasn't come through but it's expected I should be cleared in the next week. It will allow me to be alone with the children and I will no longer have to hear coworkers say, "Martha can't be alone with the kids." It really the weirdest thing even though I know and appreciate all the reasons. It's a good and needful precaution in a long list of measures intended to keep our children safe from abuse and appreciated more on this side of life than it ever was years ago.

I've stopped at the lake a few times this week and found the tiny strip of pebble beach just barely accessible. My son Nathan found me there on Monday. (I already wrote this but I've been tired and didn't bother to look or remember, LOL!) I'm still collecting bit of glass and other "treasures" from the shoreline, whatever catches my eye. The waves are soothing when I'm stressed and the water is still warm from months of summer sun and temperatures. I got my sneaker toes wet on Thursday evening even though my flip flops were in the car. It was well into sunset and I didn't bother to change my footwear for the ten to fifteen minutes I would be by the water. Needless to say, my shoes spent the night in front of the fan. Flip flops are frowned on at the daycare. LOL!

September arrived yesterday morning and the weather was perfect. Cool morning, bright sunny day, and a warm afternoon. I drove to work early, came home on my break at 11:30 am, left my car and keys for Sergio, and walked back to work. It was too nice for him and the kids to be closed up in the house all day and with Idris still struggling to walk after his broken foot, I though they might appreciate being able to get out. They met Hannah for lunch and went to the park. It was a beautiful walk back to work. The walk home was felt but the pain in my back and leg were due more to bending over to wash little tables at work than the distance home.

After three weeks away, I returned to Potter Night with my cousins and made just under a dozen bud vases. It's our plan to have a booth at the Naples Grape Festival again. I missed a lot of time to make cups and such, but I do have a few to set up. I'm looking forward to spending a weekend with my cousins. They are forever friends.