More of the same

It's been a crazy week at work, had some staff call in sick, we're working really shorthanded, and then we found out we had to cut 5% off our annual budget, about $661,000 for the whole system. Could be worse, at least our county manager will do everything she can to avoid layoffs, so that's good.

School is going well, it's nice to have the big stressful project out of the way. Capstone for an online degree program is like comps for any other, but we don't have to orally defend it. It's a series of essays, and leading up to it was REALLY stressful, but now it's over! We had to do three essays, and then each of our essays is read by two subject expert professors, and a third if there is a question of pass/fail. So, the professors at UNT now have 600 essays to read! We should find out around Halloween if we passed. It's one week out of your life, I took the whole week off work, but probably didn't have to. I also have three classes that don't stand still for capstone, so I had to keep up in those classes as well.

Allison is doing well in the dorm, she's on dorm council, she has great friends, and she's pretty social, so this is a great experience for her. She's still looking for a job, and I hope she get's one soon, she wants to live in the dorm again next year, but without a job, or a job as the RA for the dorm, we probably can't swing that for her. Alexander is still at home, but starting to assert his independence! He wants to buy a house, and the market is right for someone who saves the cash for a down payment, and he can get a steal in the next couple of years if he positions himself to do it.

House feels empty some of the time, but it's okay. I think we're happy with the decisions the kids make, for the most part!, so being on their own doesn't especially scare me. I'll always be concerned about their safety, but they don't do stupid things, so it's all good!

Well, I have a conference next week, that should be fun!