Busy

Ruth is traveling this week and the second half of next week. Between these trips I've got two weekends of birthday parties and other stuff to cover as a single dad. I'm hosting Beatrice's 11th birthday on the December 14 at a neighborhood pool. Ruth did most of the groundwork, but I'll be the one supervising kids and coordinating with parents. And eating leftover cupcakes.

Both of my kids are changing schools next year. Arabelle is headed to high school and Bea to middle school. This week, all the local schools are having evening open houses and promo nights for prospective students and I'm attending these, too. Not for every school, but one for each of my kids, and that's adding to the busyness. Tonight we went to Poudre High School and got a tour from one of Poudre's senior school ambassadors. Poudre is the local International Baccalaureate high school and also educates kids from the most rural parts of Fort Collins. It's an interesting mix, probably more like my own Intermountain West high school experience than what most Fort Collins kids get these days. We saw classrooms and labs, met teachers, saw the indoor archery range, learned about key hallway landmarks. "Meet me by Yoda after 2nd period" is a thing. Bea has this ambassador role at her elementary school and really enjoyed tagging along. I ran into parents and kids that I'd met when coaching Arabelle's U9 soccer team, which was fun.

Tomorrow, Bea and I are headed to a middle school open house. I'm curious to hear from the principal and meet the teachers. Immediately before the open house is the winter choir concert at Bea's elementary school. Did I mention that I'm busy this week?